An Impromptu Witcher Lets Play - now with the Witcher 2!

[The Madman]

And yeah, the point of them torturing her to signing something saying her children aren't Foltests wasn't Foltests idea, he's dead, remember? It was the people who want to take power in his wake and not have to worry about a pair of kids one day rising up as the true heirs and taking Foltests place.

 

[DementedSheep]

Yeah Geralt probably should have checked the priest but to be fair he isn?t exactly a professional body guard, he hunts monsters for a living and he is sick of this shit. Still he is usually more observant.
How did you get that Baroness was being raped?
It?s not Foltest who wants the kids declared not his. He is dead and has nothing to do with this. If the kids aren?t Foltest?s then they aren?t in line for the throne anymore. It?s the barons who want take over and don?t want any pesky true heirs to the throne getting in the way who want this.
The timed dialogue is meant to put pressure on you and make you react on gut. There are only a couple in the game. The one after that one will likely have you swearing lol. Although before you get to it so you don?t panic like I did, while it looks like it the decision that would determine which side you are on it isn?t. It just changes what happens in the next little bit.

 

[Norrdicus]

Prologue, part 2:

Having found all the herbs I can find, I move along with the plot and go down the well. The game pointedly reminds me to make a Cat potion, but unlike the impenetrable darkness from the first game, I can see just find down here, so... fuck it. I'm saving my cat potions.

Next time you're in a cave or stealth section, even if it's lit enough to see, use a Cat potion. The thing works very differently in Witcher 2

I've noticed that the Z medallion scan only sort of works. Sometimes stuff just won't show up. I have no idea why.

The Z function on the meddalion only works when the medallion's eyes are lit up. I don't know why it's there, maybe spamming it caused some major bugs during QA testing so they needed to give it a cooldown?

Inside, the King yells at some people. I use the Intimidate spell again in dialog, which continues to be made of Win. We learn that the kids are in the Solar.

The bald man beside the priest in that conversation was actually a former member of The Order of The White Rose.

BUT COME THE FUCK ON!!! Geralt, how fucking distracted were you to NOT CHECK the hooded figure that the King was approaching, leaning on, and practically fucking hugging for fucking KNIVES?! I'm not asking you to realize that the hunchback is a Witcher, but he could have been an elderly woman with a fucking knife. He could be two dwarves, one standing on the other's shoulders, for all Geralt knew.

I would have been fine with Geralt being careless around the priest if the assasin had taken off THOSE GOD DAMN SPIKED GLOVES!

Besides that I found this to be an extremely good scene, got me seriously mad at the assassin because Foltest was such a bro during the Prologue. I was swearing vengeance with my fist shaking in the air

And here's my question - why not have the two KIDS vouch? They didn't witness the murder, but they certainly know that there was a mysterious Monk with the King who vanished seconds later. Just knowing that there was another person there would do a LOT to validate Geralt's story. But no one thinks to do this - to ask the ONLY other witnesses, the only other people besides Geralt to see the King alive in that tower.

They did ask the kids, but they're in shock and won't talk

When it comes time to introduce myself, I realize that this is also the sister of the guy I dueled earlier. Ah. I point out that he wouldn't want her to team up with Milfguard, which makes her feel better about me killing her brother, and probably annoys the Mr. MILFGuard.

Mary Louisa isn't Aryan's sister. She's his mother. She's certainly kept herself in shape all this time.

Outside, I continue looting - and herb collecting - until I stumble into some guards. These guys are a bit tougher than the last lot (or maybe just better equipped) and I end up using the doorway to my advantage to keep them from flanking me.

You could have actually bypassed these guys if you completed a certain side-quest back in the camp in the Prologue.

Cut Scene! Where we see the assassin meeting up with the Squirrels. He has a decapitated king's head, which confuses me for a moment (since Foltast never lost his head) but it's quickly identified as the head of either Recluse King or Racist King (I'd need to check my notes) - the one from the kingdom that starts with A, anyway. The one he got in the pre-main menu cutscene. Ah! So THAT'S who he was killing.

... why did I need to memorize all the kings again? I'm not out of the Prologue and two are already dead. One's married to Adda and the other is either a Recluse or a Racist.

The memorization of the countries is a bit more important that knowing the kings. Makes it easier to gather more information when you remember which country is which because they get name-dropped a whole lot in 2nd act.

A random note, I really like that Squirrel's voice. Both the assassin and the squirrel leader used to have different voice actors in the very very early trailers. The Squirrel used to have a smoother voice, this new voice actor is rougher and more emotive.

The only other game I've ever seen that pulled shit like this was School Days, a pornographic Visual Novel. And that was because "silence" was an acceptable option.

There's also The Walking Dead and Alpha Protocol that also do this, though far more frequently than The Witcher 2

In town, we hear about a hanging. A BARD being hung. Oh my. I run off and find that Dandelion and my dwarf friend from the previous game whose name I can never remember are about to be hung.

You can't remember the name of the glorious Zoltan Chivay! WHY YOU LITTLE...

...okay, I confess I didn't remember his name during my Witcher 1 playthrough either. Zoltan gets a hell of a lot of screen time in this game though. You'll learn to love him

Anyway, after more Simon Says, Geralt gets up on the gallows and... someone else shows up and FUCKING KILLS DANDELION! HOLY SHIT!! What did I do wrong?! I'm gonna have to reload and...

...oh, wait, no, there's Dandelion. There was another guy with his same hairdo and beard. Weird. Scared the shit out of me though.

You can actually get yourself hanged if you lose the fistfight. The stupid thing about it though, is that Roche and Triss just watch and do nothing when it happens.

So... Squirrels not being nice. Is there any way I can resolve this by being a friend to non-humans rather than murdering them?

You can. I can't promise those were the last Scoia'tael you'll be forced to kill, but it all depends on what you do on some of the side-quests.

You're just going to have to pay attention and stick close to the keyboard and mouse because quite a few of those quick decisions will have major consequences. Like, really major, as in changes the entire plot of act 2 major.

I think you're confusing some of the decisions. Sure there is that one timed decision in the latter half of act 1 that'll affect the next hour or so of gameplay, but the truly important decision will let you take all the time you need. Heck, the decision will be marked as 2 separate quests on your journal and you have to walk a long way before you can finalize it

The one after that one will likely have you swearing lol. Although before you get to it so you don?t panic like I did, while it looks like it the decision that would determine which side you are on it isn?t. It just changes what happens in the next little bit.

Quoted For Truth. That timed dialog, while seemingly important, will be just a taste of what happens next

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

No you can't turn off the timed dialogue, they become pretty important later on when the game demands you make some quick decisions.

I didn't want to turn off the dialog choices - just the timer. I can make fast decisions, but inputting them with sleepy mouse - which even an awesome FPS doesn't entirely fix - is quite difficult.

And yeah, the point of them torturing her to signing something saying her children aren't Foltests wasn't Foltests idea, he's dead, remember? It was the people who want to take power in his wake and not have to worry about a pair of kids one day rising up as the true heirs and taking Foltests place.

Ah, that makes sense.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

There's also The Walking Dead and Alpha Protocol that also do this, though far more frequently than The Witcher 2

I've never played either of those games.

You can actually get yourself hanged if you lose the fistfight. The stupid thing about it though, is that Roche and Triss just watch and do nothing when it happens.

^^;;

I was kinda wondering why Triss (or Geralt) didn't just burn the ropes. Geralt can pinpoint his Igni spell to light torches - why not to burn ropes?

You're just going to have to pay attention and stick close to the keyboard and mouse because quite a few of those quick decisions will have major consequences. Like, really major, as in changes the entire plot of act 2 major.

I think you're confusing some of the decisions. Sure there is that one timed decision in the latter half of act 1 that'll affect the next hour or so of gameplay, but the truly important decision will let you take all the time you need. Heck, the decision will be marked as 2 separate quests on your journal and you have to walk a long way before you can finalize it

The one after that one will likely have you swearing lol. Although before you get to it so you don?t panic like I did, while it looks like it the decision that would determine which side you are on it isn?t. It just changes what happens in the next little bit.

Quoted For Truth. That timed dialog, while seemingly important, will be just a taste of what happens next

Okay, so following this exchange, I get the following:
1) What I said during the first Timed Dialog wasn't all that important.
2) Dialog chosen during timed Dialog will NEVER be important to the plot.
3) I should just Chillaxe and roll with it.

Well, if it really won't change the plot, then that's fine. I won't worry about it.

Also because I just spent five minutes searching for (and failing to find) a mod to remove the timer....

 

[Norrdicus]

^^;;

I was kinda wondering why Triss (or Geralt) didn't just burn the ropes. Geralt can pinpoint his Igni spell to light torches - why not to burn ropes?

Geralt's Igni has really crappy range

Well, if we don't say that this was a moment of writer oversight, I'd guess it's because they don't want to write Geralt as a kind of guy who turns into vigilanteism just like that. I mean, Geralt didn't just run to the gallows and release Zoltan and Dandelion because he'd be marked as a criminal immediately. He just sort of talked and talked until the guards got pissed at him

Okay, so following this exchange, I get the following:
1) What I said during the first Timed Dialog wasn't all that important.
2) Dialog chosen during timed Dialog will NEVER be important to the plot.
3) I should just Chillaxe and roll with it.

Well, if it really won't change the plot, then that's fine. I won't worry about it.

Also because I just spent five minutes searching for (and failing to find) a mod to remove the timer....

That's just about right, I think. I don't really remember any major timed choices at this moment.

Heck, not only are you given a good amount of time to decide on the biggest choices in the plot, sometimes you get one of those damn motion comic cutscenes elaborating on the choice before it

 

[DementedSheep]

There's also The Walking Dead and Alpha Protocol that also do this, though far more frequently than The Witcher 2

I've never played either of those games.

You can actually get yourself hanged if you lose the fistfight. The stupid thing about it though, is that Roche and Triss just watch and do nothing when it happens.

^^;;

I was kinda wondering why Triss (or Geralt) didn't just burn the ropes. Geralt can pinpoint his Igni spell to light torches - why not to burn ropes?

You're just going to have to pay attention and stick close to the keyboard and mouse because quite a few of those quick decisions will have major consequences. Like, really major, as in changes the entire plot of act 2 major.

I think you're confusing some of the decisions. Sure there is that one timed decision in the latter half of act 1 that'll affect the next hour or so of gameplay, but the truly important decision will let you take all the time you need. Heck, the decision will be marked as 2 separate quests on your journal and you have to walk a long way before you can finalize it

The one after that one will likely have you swearing lol. Although before you get to it so you don?t panic like I did, while it looks like it the decision that would determine which side you are on it isn?t. It just changes what happens in the next little bit.

Quoted For Truth. That timed dialog, while seemingly important, will be just a taste of what happens next

Okay, so following this exchange, I get the following:
1) What I said during the first Timed Dialog wasn't all that important.
2) Dialog chosen during timed Dialog will NEVER be important to the plot.
3) I should just Chillaxe and roll with it.

Well, if it really won't change the plot, then that's fine. I won't worry about it.

Also because I just spent five minutes searching for (and failing to find) a mod to remove the timer....

I can't actually remember any others outside of those two. I've not played the game in quite a while so I could have forgotten but if there are any others the fact that I can't remember them suggest they weren't significant to the main plot.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Upadate: Chapter 1 Begins

Geralt heads into the Inn to talk with Zoltan (ha! I remembered his name this time) and Dandelion. We have a brief conversation, mostly about politics, before some rube runs in to yell about a monster. So out Geralt and Triss rush. I notice that Dandelion and Zoltan remain behind to continue drinking.

Anyway, it turns out that the monster is a MOTHERFUCKING KRAKEN!!! Hell fucking yeah! Some Sorceress chick that Triss doesn't like scares it off and the local yokels ***** about it. I use a Sign to tell them to piss off so the adults can talk.

She calls it something else, a "Kayren" I think, but it's obviously just a mispronunciation of Kraken. I am quite psyched about this. Kraken are awesome.

Triss doesn't trust the Sorceress (who knows Geralt - ah, so Geralt's fucked her too, since no female character who Geralt knew in the past has escaped his Witcher's Cock) which is par for the course. Whatever, I'm in for some Kraken killing. I pause to chat with Triss and tell her about my memories partly returning in the Prologue. She... is kinda evasive. Weird.

Anyway, since I'm not due for the plot until evening, I decide to go after the Kraken for now. I talk to a Merchant who doesn't want to increase his pay. One Sign later, he's doubled the reward. I fucking LOVE this sign bullshit! I can't see a reason NOT to use the Sign any chance I get. Is this going to bite me in the ass at some point?

That done, all roads to the Kraken lead through Cedric the Elf. Cedric the Entertainer (yes, bad pun; bite me) is outside in some sort of tower. And... there looks like there should be a gate out of town nearby, but I can't find it, so I end up going out a different exit. Triss shows up and decides to join me... and then stays behind. ???

Whatever. I'm outside in a forest now. And I get attacked almost immediately by giant scorpion things. Kick ass! I have a contract about them, so begin to slaughter them with glee, occasionally fleeing to regen. After murdering the first four that attacked me (simultaneously) Geralt has Researched them! FUCK YEAH! No more spending all my money buying books for the first half the game. Apparently I need to kill more for more info, so I continue onward, wandering at random through the woods. I kill more scorpions, and some Neckers, the other creatures I have a contract for. I haven't 'researched' them yet, so I need to find more to kill.

Question - are Neckers formed from the corpses of the beheaded or hung? Because there's something very weird about their "heads" and, well, "necker". Plus, I thought the Big Bad Assassin mentioned the King's body becoming a Necker during that cutscene.

Anyway, I could move on to the plot, but I'm enjoying the monster slaughter, and so I head the other direction, deeper into the forest.

I kill another Scorpion duo and stumble across a Pod thing, and my research updates - I need to destroy pods to piss off the Queen(s) to spawn them. Righto. I kill some pods, but nothing happens. Yet.

I see some water so I head that way. A pretty water fall, and a couple of Neckers. Charge!

Make that half a dozen neckers. Charge!

... make that over a dozen neckers?! FUCK!!!!

Geralt crashes into the swarm, slicing and dicing - and constantly changing targets. One or two fall, but the little bastards are everywhere. I keep hacking, RAPIDLY losing HP. And then I start rolling. Rolling away from one group, getting hit by another. Fuck fuck fuck!!!

I escape from the swarm with a sliver of HP left. DAMN. I keep running until Geralt regens some HP, with a few on my tail. I turn and cut them down with Fast style... and then stand there in the forest for a minute Regening HP. I can see some of the remaining neckers at the edge of my view, so once I'm feeling better, I approach and agro them. It's only four, and they're already wounded from earlier, so I kill them easily. Slowly, I head back to the swarm. Which is now quite depleted - only a few remain. I kill the rest and loot their corpses.

At some point during this, Geralt finished "Researching" - probably while I was running for my life. Geralt needs to find the holes they use to get around and destroy them. Nearby, I find a mound of bones. More neckers spawn, and I find out what you guys meant about "that sound" as they flank me for high damage. I'm at about half HP when I finally finish killing the bastards. I loot them and go to destroy the Mound and... Geralt comments that he needs something to destroy it with.

Ah. So I need some sort of bomb other than my "stun bomb" type that I can currently make, huh? That sucks.

Unable to blow it up, I note its location on my map so I can find it again, and then head north.

And... pods! And scorpions. I smash three more pods and the Queen spawns! And she is a *****! She doesn't like Igni, though, so I hit her with that, and then spam Strong style while she's distracted. She breath-weapons me with poison. OUCH. I keep hacking at her, and setting her on fire, until she finally dies. I got to loot her corpse - and get BACK ATTACKED by another fucking scorpion. Bastard!

Once I've killed that one, I loot the queen's body. The loot includes a mutagin! Cool. Now... if only I knew how to use Mutagens in this game. I also leveled up, so I meditate and do that.

I go looking for more pods, to summon the other queen, but instead I stumble across a guy being attacked by neckers. I save him and he complains about the Troll. Apparently the Troll is drunk. He says that I shouldn't kill the troll, but should instead talk to the village chief about him. Okay then, I will.

I head back towards town. And, finally, I see where Cedric is. I try to get to the ladder to climb up and see him, but the game won't let me. It looks like it wants me to use that wooden sky-bridge from... up a hill or something. However, at just that moment, time Dings to Evening. Ah. I'm expected back at the main plot. I guess the Kraken will have to wait until tomorrow.

So I save, then I head inside the town. Oh, THAT'S where the gate is. Okay, that will make it easier when I come back to see Cedric again.

The guards, however, are less than thrilled to see me. Normally, talking to someone will sheave my weapon for me. Yes, NOW I know that pressing 1 or 2 will do it, but at the time I didn't remember that. So the guards attacked me. Fuckers. I reload the game, google how to put away Geralt's sword, and then head inside.

I head to see the guy I'm supposed to meet, and Roach joins me. We head inside (after a brief pause to make potions) and Roach immediately asks me to sabotage a Ballisata. Ooooo Kay... that's random. But fine. After looking around, I determine that the prostitute named after my spouse's favorite drink is the way to go. She will seduce the guy for cash... or I can humiliate two people who've upset her. I'd like to just punch them up a bit, but Geralt refuses, so armwrestling is the only option.

New Minigame - I save first.

Okay, let's do this. And... the minigame is unplayable. After failing several times simply on "huh" I googled how to do it properly, and found that I WAS doing it properly, but that the game automatically INCREASES mouse sensitivity to make it harder. Considering that the mouse is still sucky, even with all the adjustments and a good Frame Rate, this pretty much makes the minigame impossible. Hell, I tried turning the mouse over so it couldn't register and using the mouse pad on the laptop, and even THAT didn't work.

After a dozen failed attempts, I gave up, reloaded the save, and just bribed her. 50 gold poorer, the plot moves onward.

She goes and takes the guy into the bushes. I loot the item from the ballista and... peer over the top of the bushes. Yes, she's giving him a blow job. It would be quite graphic except the game didn't bother to remove his pants, so she's performing falliatio on a patch of empty air. How wonderfully random.

And it gets worse, for when I walk down the stairs away from the ballista, the guard talks about her "using her breasts" so apparently he's getting a tit-wank. And then they both stop, because I've completed the quest.

**giggles** He was only back there for, at most, 30 seconds. I guess that really is her "specialty".

Okay, enough ribald humor. Onward with the plot -

We get refused entry because the Sorcerers lady is there. Well screw you too, guy.

Instead, Roach wants me to sneak in back and steal a Kraken trap. OKAY. I save again because Stealth is not my strong suit.

Several failed attempts followed (where I reloaded as soon as I was caught). The Cat potion, while neat, didn't help much. I decided to check the internet to see what I was doing wrong... and learned that I can knock guards out.

THANKS FOR TELLING ME GAME.

Armed with this new knowledge, I easily knock out both guards. The door is locked, but I can climb over. Also, there's herbs to collect.

On the other side, there are three more guards, and a scene with the Sorceress in the tower - a scene much weirder due to my cat potion. Nice circulatory system you have there.

I knock these guards out too, loot the area, and pick up an Iron Frame which is apparently important for Kraken traps. And then I climb up and eavesdrop on the Sorceress. And... then I head back to see Roach.

And that's when my spouse came home with lunch, so I had to save, turn the game off, and eat.

So, I'm about the meet with the guy about the thing. And I've sabotages his ballista, knocked out five of his guards, and stolen his Kraken trap... and about 100 gold. This is going to end well.

The new cat potion is pretty neat. Being able to see people through walls is helpful. The whole black-and-white thing is a little annoying, but it does make my medallion scans show up quite nicely.

Question: What crafting plans are the best to buy? I've built up quite a pile of random crap. What should I be crafting with it?

 

[Norrdicus]

Anyway, it turns out that the monster is a MOTHERFUCKING KRAKEN!!! Hell fucking yeah! Some Sorceress chick that Triss doesn't like scares it off and the local yokels ***** about it. I use a Sign to tell them to piss off so the adults can talk.

She calls it something else, a "Kayren" I think, but it's obviously just a mispronunciation of Kraken. I am quite psyched about this. Kraken are awesome.

Nah, Kraken aren't usually shaped like a giant bug with an octopus head

Question - are Neckers formed from the corpses of the beheaded or hung? Because there's something very weird about their "heads" and, well, "necker". Plus, I thought the Big Bad Assassin mentioned the King's body becoming a Necker during that cutscene.

*shrug*

Ah. So I need some sort of bomb other than my "stun bomb" type that I can currently make, huh? That sucks.

Yeah, you need Grapeshot, the pure damage bomb. I wouldn't play Act 1 without them anyway, clears out Nekker groups like a BAWS

Once I've killed that one, I loot the queen's body. The loot includes a mutagin! Cool. Now... if only I knew how to use Mutagens in this game. I also leveled up, so I meditate and do that.

Yes, mutagens can be used on specific Talents. If you see a small black circle on the edge of your unlocked talent, you can mutate it with a small bonus stat

I head back towards town. And, finally, I see where Cedric is. I try to get to the ladder to climb up and see him, but the game won't let me. It looks like it wants me to use that wooden sky-bridge from... up a hill or something. However, at just that moment, time Dings to Evening. Ah. I'm expected back at the main plot. I guess the Kraken will have to wait until tomorrow.

Naah, the ladder from inside the small village works, it's just that the game's kinda picky about your position.

New Minigame - I save first.

Okay, let's do this. And... the minigame is unplayable. After failing several times simply on "huh" I googled how to do it properly, and found that I WAS doing it properly, but that the game automatically INCREASES mouse sensitivity to make it harder. Considering that the mouse is still sucky, even with all the adjustments and a good Frame Rate, this pretty much makes the minigame impossible. Hell, I tried turning the mouse over so it couldn't register and using the mouse pad on the laptop, and even THAT didn't work.

After a dozen failed attempts, I gave up, reloaded the save, and just bribed her. 50 gold poorer, the plot moves onward.

The mini-game isn't unplayable, just terribly designed in terms of telling the player know how they're affecting the icon.

Usually the icon goes towards the enemy border automatically, but at different rate from the yellow bar. So you kinda have to keep to the left edge of the bar in the case that your icon suddenly moves quicker, which means the yellow bar likely changes direction because it's harder to "hit the brakes" than accelerate, and then you lose in about 5 seconds.

If you want to try an easier version of it, there are a bunch of arm-wrestlers at the Flotsam inn. Fast way to earn money when you know how to play.

Several failed attempts followed (where I reloaded as soon as I was caught). The Cat potion, while neat, didn't help much. I decided to check the internet to see what I was doing wrong... and learned that I can knock guards out.

THANKS FOR TELLING ME GAME.

*scratches head*

The game didn't tell you during the prison escape?

Question: What crafting plans are the best to buy? I've built up quite a pile of random crap. What should I be crafting with it?

Hmmm, well, I usually pick up crafting diagrams for good pieces of weapons and armor.

Then Cedric sells trap and bomb recipes, most of those are pretty useful except for Biter trap. It's probably the only trap diagram that doesn't use monster parts, but it's weeeeeeak.

In the end it's a case-by-case thing. Recipes are expensive, and any crafting diagrams (this excludes bomb and potion recipes) use money anyway, so you can't turn a profit.

Oh, if you find it, get a blade oil (also known as just "oil") recipe, not a diagram. The diagram uses parts that are much easier to get in Act 2, and each oil costs money, but the recipe will use alchemy materials, which don't weigh much at all and are abundant throughout the game

Also, what difficulty are you playing on, normal or easy?

 

[The Madman]

I think you're confusing some of the decisions. Sure there is that one timed decision in the latter half of act 1 that'll affect the next hour or so of gameplay, but the truly important decision will let you take all the time you need. Heck, the decision will be marked as 2 separate quests on your journal and you have to walk a long way before you can finalize it

You are correct, I was confusing some of the decisions. My mistake!

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

The mini-game isn't unplayable, just terribly designed in terms of telling the player know how they're affecting the icon.

No, it's unplayable because they turned up the mouse sensitivity in a game where the mouse is already FAR too sensitive, difficult to control, and generally unhelpful.

The game gets away with this because 99% of the time, the precision of the mouse doesn't matter. You're using WASD to control your character, the mouse BUTTONS to fight, and just using the mouse to adjust the camera angle, which doesn't require precision.

I object to the timed decisions the same way - if my mouse is at the bottom of the screen from the last time I said "take all" to an inventory select, then getting it up to the dialog options takes most of the "timed response" timelimit, particularly since when one first moves the mouse, one is likely to go past the dialog options and have to go back, and then slowly move the mouse over the desired option to avoid overshooting.

This isn't a problem if you have all the time in the world to select a response, but it is if you're on a timer.

This minigame takes that already bad mouse (which sucks even with a good framerate on the rest of the game, but I've learned to live with it) and actually increases the mouse sensitivity to make it worse. And then asks you to use precision.

One time, I didn't touch the mouse at all. I didn't move. And the item in the center moved on its own (not the yellow bar, the sensor on top, with no input). It is so sensitive that the mouse just sitting on the mousepad caused it to move. Any attempt actually play the mini game instantly sent the sensor not just outside of the yellow area but to the FAR SIDE OF THE SCREEN.

Unplayable.

*scratches head*
The game didn't tell you during the prison escape?

Nope. The game was too busy prioritizing turning torches next to the guard's head on and off over and over again. The range on that torch trick is actually pretty nuts, whereas the range on Stun Guard is very small. Thus, if I was within two meters (in game) of a torch, I couldn't knock anyone out. Or attack. Or do anything but stand there effectively flicking light switch on and off again.

 

[Norrdicus]

One time, I didn't touch the mouse at all. I didn't move. And the item in the center moved on its own (not the yellow bar, the sensor on top, with no input). It is so sensitive that the mouse just sitting on the mousepad caused it to move. Any attempt actually play the mini game instantly sent the sensor not just outside of the yellow area but to the FAR SIDE OF THE SCREEN.

Isn't that exactly what I said, though?

"Usually the icon goes towards the enemy border automatically, but at different rate from the yellow bar."

The mini-game has you use mouse movement (rather than position) to counter-act the inconsistent automatic movement of the icon to keep it in the yellow bar. Small, steady movements are sometimes involved, but half the duration you barely need to move the mouse at all.

There's a whole series of side-quests involving this mini-game. Easiest in Flotsam, hardest in Act 3, naturally. You're not missing any story content if you skip it though, if that's worrying you

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Update: Chapter 1 continues

So, I head upstairs and talk to the... guy I just robbed. Who I rob some more, because he has orens just sitting around. Anyway, he lets me know he knows about bounty on Geralt's head, but that he doesn't plan to do anything about it. Nice of him. He wants me to kill the Kraken too. Ah, dovetailing quests. I'm guessing that this chapter will end with the Kraken's death, so I'll have to make sure I get all quests done before moving that story along too far.

Anyway, too far and a little farther are different, so I decide to go see Cedric next. Triss is there waiting for me. I talk to Cedric about the Kraken, about a haunted house, and a missing elf woman. Righto, time to do the Witcher thing.

Cedric says to go "South, then east" to get to the shipwreck. Weirdly, the quest icon says North. Well... screw it, I head south.

This proves to be wrong - the plot is north afterall - but I don't mind because I had a fun entire night of monster murdering.

So, first up, I get attacked by Squirrels. Not wanting to engage them, I run south. I loose all but one, who follows me - into a drowner ambush.

And for the first time, I see the enemy AI in this game is better than the last one. The drowners attack the Squirrel, and he fights them, while I stand back and laugh. Well, no, not really. I help the Squirrel kill the drowners, hoping we can come to some sort of agreement afterwards... and then he attacks me. Asshole. Fine. I stab him (once) and he dies (the drowners almost killed him). Jerk.

Anyway, having gone south, I end up at the "Elven Baths" with a nice statue.

There's nothing there, so I head back down to the pool, and then head east. I hit some invisible (and visible) walls, and work my way around until I find a way over. I head over -

- and see a pair of people, hung.

I go to investigate that, and a Wraith appears and attacks me. A NAMED Wraith. Nifty! I fight it, but just when the battle is getting interesting, it... vanishes? With half of it's HP remaining. I run around, trying to respawn it to finish the battle, but only manage to spawn some Drowners and Drowned Dead. And - damn, these guys are tougher than I remember from last game. Then again, I'm only seventh level, so... yeah.

Still unable to respawn the ghost woman - is that the missing elf that Cedric mentioned? - I wander around a bit and find a House. With bandits outside. I retreat, switch swords, and then kill them. And level up! I try the cabin door, but it's locked, and none of the dead bandits have the key. Bummer.

I explore the rest of the area, but walls invisible and otherwise block my path. Time to backtrack.

I end up near the broken bridge, and I spot the troll. I save and try to sneak around, but the Troll yells at me and my attempt at diplomacy goes badly. Agro. Running away doesn't help. To avoid possibly screwing up the quest, I reload and go the long way around.

Eventually I find Triss and meet up with her to go NORTH and look at the Kraken wrecked ship. Where we get attacked by a fuck-ton of Drowners. Crap! I Igni a few and then head in, sword flashing. I recently took the first level of Sword path so I only take +50% damage from back-attacks rather than +100%, so that helps. I try to keep the drowners off Triss while not dying. Eventually we're victorious and collect the Kraken drool. Turns out the Kraken is dying. It only has a few decades left to live. This will practically be a mercy killing. Yay.

I loot the ship as well, getting 50 gold and a new quest. It involves a mailbox and the journal suggests I know where that is. I do? Okay?

I head back towards town, talk to Cedric about the potion component, and head into the woods. I probably shouldn't get too far, so instead I start on some side quests. I already killed one Scorpion Queen, and bombed two Necker holes, so I start looking for more. I don't find any more necker holes, but I do find the last cocoons and (after finishing off a massive number of scorpions) summon (and kill) the queen.

After failing to find any more necker holes, I head to town to get my reward for the queens. I get there - and the guy I turn it into has a Mail Box. Huh. Okay, so I ask to see the mail - using a sign to make it so - and read the documents. Nothing left now but to... mail the letter. Sure, why not.

Post Master Geralt having finished with that, I loot the house and leave.

So, what now? I was planning to pursue that mysterious missing person quest that Cedric put me on (the two disappearances, not the missing elf girl, who may or may not have been that ghost/wraith). That sounds like fun. ^^

Are there any other quests I should be pursuing?

And where are those other two Necker holes? I can't seem to find any but the ones I've already blown up (both near that waterfall, north of the Elven Baths).

Oh, and any crafting I should be doing? I picked up the grape bomb formula so I can make my own (which is how I blew up the first two holes).

Also, what should I be doing with these "armor upgrades"? I put one that looked good on my Raven armor. Are these things removable later? Should I be putting weapon runes on my swords? Should I be buying or making new swords?

I await your thoughts.

 

[Norrdicus]

I'm guessing that this chapter will end with the Kraken's death, so I'll have to make sure I get all quests done before moving that story along too far.

Actually, you'd be incorrect. I too thought killing the Kayran would be the finale of the Act, but not so.

I end up near the broken bridge, and I spot the troll. I save and try to sneak around, but the Troll yells at me and my attempt at diplomacy goes badly. Agro. Running away doesn't help. To avoid possibly screwing up the quest, I reload and go the long way around.

No need to worry about screwing up the quest.

Are there any other quests I should be pursuing?

A handful in fact.

For some laughs, visit the Special Forces office right west of the inn during the night.

For non-combat cash, visit the downstairs of the inn. There'll be 2 mini-game related quests there (NOT the armwrestling one, mind you, that's on the middle floor).

There's also a quest waiting to happen in Lobinden, the small village outside the gates. Look for a big group of guards.

And finally, there's one short one in the docks. Ask around

And where are those other two Necker holes? I can't seem to find any but the ones I've already blown up (both near that waterfall, north of the Elven Baths).

One of the remaining ones should be around the swampy area north of the pretty statue and near the river coming from the waterfall, and one of them should be south of the town, near a road.

Also, what should I be doing with these "armor upgrades"? I put one that looked good on my Raven armor. Are these things removable later? Should I be putting weapon runes on my swords? Should I be buying or making new swords?

You can't remove armor upgrades, but they're usually either plentiful or cheap, so you can use them how you want.

The runes are expensive though. If you find a rune, and are about to buy/craft a better sword very soon, hold on to it (unless you have tons of them) and put it on the new sword.

Whether you want to craft or buy new gear really depends on which you find more cost efficient.

 

[Fell]

You are actually suppose to fight the troll. I believe when he reaches 50% HP he will surrender and you can then talk to him

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

One of the remaining ones should be around the swampy area north of the pretty statue and near the river coming from the waterfall,

That was the "one north of the pool" that I listed.

and one of them should be south of the town, near a road.

South of what part of town? The entire area is "south of town" - and there are lots of roads.

You can't remove armor upgrades, but they're usually either plentiful or cheap, so you can use them how you want.

My concern was putting crappy upgrades on my best armor (Raven's). I don't want to fill up all three slots if I can't unslot (or destroy) the upgrades later.

The runes are expensive though. If you find a rune, and are about to buy/craft a better sword very soon, hold on to it (unless you have tons of them) and put it on the new sword.
Whether you want to craft or buy new gear really depends on which you find more cost efficient.

What sword recipes are "worth it"? I already have Excalibur, the Wyvern sword, and Adda's cutlas from the last game, and those are some hard acts to follow.

Also, what runes are the "best" runes this time? Last time yellow won all.

You are actually suppose to fight the troll. I believe when he reaches 50% HP he will surrender and you can then talk to him

Oh. Well, next time then.

 

[Norrdicus]

That was the "one north of the pool" that I listed.

A total of three of the Nekker holes can be found in the area I described, you've found two. Follow the "river" up from the elven pools. If you leave heavily lined area of the map (meaning marshes I believe) too far north and reach the big main road splitting the area, you've gone too far

South of what part of town? The entire area is "south of town" - and there are lots of roads.

The spots you've found are south-east of the town. One of the remaining ones is directly south. I'd tell you better than "part of the road from where the wall of the city is still seeable", but the locations of the damn things can't really be pinpointed through descriptions without just bringing up a picture

My concern was putting crappy upgrades on my best armor (Raven's). I don't want to fill up all three slots if I can't unslot (or destroy) the upgrades later.

What sword recipes are "worth it"? I already have Excalibur, the Wyvern sword, and Adda's cutlas from the last game, and those are some hard acts to follow.

You're gravely overestimating the strength of your imported gear. You'll find stronger replacements for almost all of them before Act 1 ends

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

That monster you saw down by the shipwreck isn't the Kayran, but something else that has been infected by the Kayran's poison. It's basically a warning that the Kayran's toxins can fuck you up majorly.

 

[exxxed]

On another note I have no idea why people complained about quick time events in this game, I feel that they fitted the new gameplay style nicely, but people tend to hate them in general so I guess I just answered my own quarrel...

As for the arm wrestle mini-game, they intentionally made the mouse pointer ''sucky'', the main idea is that you have to anticipate the movement of the yella' bar and be ready to move the mouse ahead of it slightly, and about the imported gear, if you really like them store them and put in some nice enhancements later on so they won't become quite useless (here's a Mass Effect 1 reference, I always went with the Gladiator armor because it's awesome, even if it made the game quite challenging on Insanity difficulty, made the ''rewards'' that more... well... rewarding ).

Have fun!

 

[exxxed]

woops