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

[Bara_no_Hime]

No, it's quite amusing. You're giving me a vicarious look into the game until it goes on sale again.
But it's up to you if you think the effort is worth the typing. People often read LPs and then ditch, having amused themselves, without commenting.

Ah! Thank you.

I guess I just assumed that people would want to make fun of me for... I dunno, being chased by plants or reloading the battle because I thought Abigale was dead. You know, in a friendly "ha ha, I did that the first time too" sort of way.

But sure. If nothing else, it lets me think about what I've just played from a critical standpoint a little more coherently as I attempt to recall everything important that happened to me in a session.

Anyway, thanks! Always nice to have a fan. ^^;;

 

[loc978]

I've been following it. Good stuff (I just don't have enough patience with the controls to do it myself).

 

[porous_shield]

I've enjoyed reading about you're exploits in the game. I've beaten it a couple of times over and is probably my favourite game.

Witcher is based on the Aurora Engine that they used to make Neverwinter Nights so it has that connection to DnD as well. I noticed the similarities when I played it but the fact it was based off of Aurora Engine surprised me.

If you have too many ingredients, why don't you just fool around with some potions? They'll eat up your reserves quickly and you could get something useful out of it.

Also, Abigail had sex with you, in part, to try and bribe you to take her side against the angry mob. Witcher is all about gray decisions as opposed to black and white like other games, so it's not about making the best choice, it's about making theleast[b/] awful choice.

PS: Aard is amazing.

 

[Frankster]

For what its worth im finding this thread amusing, but im not the most chatty of posters so ain't the type to comment after each update. I have bookmarked it for easy following too.

Also you previously mentioned Sailor Moon abridged in the anime abridged thread which ive since discovered and am now rather enjoying so yar, dont think no one is reading what you write

 

[DarklordKyo]

Protip: If you aren't fighting a boss, or a strong enemy, just keep doing the spin attack. Just over and over and over.

... spin attack?

You may need to explain how I do that. As I said, I only just reached the first town before I had to save and call it quits until later.

Nora means Group Style, it's the one that involves spinning your sword around like a madman and, as the name implies, is the best style for group melee. The three styles are represented by the small animal icons under the health & energy pools. Just space-pause then click the icon you want, or press the corresponding style key if you want to be a real-time-switching-badass.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I've been following it. Good stuff (I just don't have enough patience with the controls to do it myself).

I've enjoyed reading about you're exploits in the game. I've beaten it a couple of times over and is probably my favourite game.

For what its worth im finding this thread amusing, but im not the most chatty of posters so ain't the type to comment after each update. I have bookmarked it for easy following too.

Aww! Thanks guys! I'm glad everyone's enjoying this thing. I'll try to keep it amusing then.

Also you previously mentioned Sailor Moon abridged in the anime abridged thread which ive since discovered and am now rather enjoying so yar, dont think no one is reading what you write

Glad you're enjoying it. It is my very favorite abridged series - mostly because it is a show I love and they stuck with it. Well, for one full season and a movie, anyway. Here's hoping they get back and at least finish the Doom Tree arc.

Given this game's reputation, I can't think of a more qualified let's player.... uhhhh I mean, I'd really like to get your opinion of it.

^^;; Um, thanks?

And yes, my lack of Safe Search when using Google Image has revealed a lot about the Witcher 2's sex scenes. Previously, I thought those were from this game.

And yes, I am quite gratified to notice that, for the most part, the ladies have no problem making advances on Geralt.

Nora means Group Style, it's the one that involves spinning your sword around like a madman and, as the name implies, is the best style for group melee.

Yes, figured that out eventually. And yes, group style is fucking awesome. Which leads me to... (see next post)

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Has everyone grown bored with this?

Not at all! Do continue.

I was fairly okay with the combat before this. Now I'm getting annoyed. How many more escort/protect the NPC quests am I going to get?

... something tells me, the answer is a lot.

I don't remember all that many, actually. I also recall having issues right around the same point you're having them, and then never really having issues again right up to the point where I lost interest and stopped played, which was many hours later. I think you'll be alright.

I did quite like the story development that the townsfolk themselves summoned that horrible hound via their collective awfulness. That very grey, bleak world is what I enjoy the Witcher games for.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Chapter 2 Continues! Briefly. Edit: Or not so briefly. Wow, that was a lot for not that much gameplay. Perhaps I should be a bit less verbose next time?

Okay, so I haven't had much time to play today (lots of work, and then my spouse had me watch all 5 episodes of the Nostalga Critic talking about the odd numbered Star Trek movies), but when I did, this happened:

So, Prison. The Professor, with his tiny glasses, snarked at me a bit. And, while I really wanted to use my fire spell to burn him through the bars, the game just had me sit there and take it. I guess Mr. Bean Geralt is a little slow on the uptake.

So instead I played dice with the elf in the corner.

Let me pause for a moment and talk about the dice game. Poker rules, it says. The thing is, poker has strategy because there are only so many of each card. For you to have 4 of a kind, your opponent can't have any of that same card. With dice, everything is random.

Except this is a video game, so random goes out the window (sadly, in this case) in favor of... I have no honest clue. Only betting the minimum, I lost 15 gold to the Dwarf before I figured out how to quit without quitting mid-hand. I took me three rolls to figure out how to reroll the dice I didn't want to keep.

So, when I had to play the elf, I was less than thrilled. Fortunately, he mostly sucked and I ended up profiting a whole ONE GOLD. I'm so glad that mini game is being used so constructively.

Anyway, after that there's a Cockatrice to kill, and wouldn't you know it - a fat idiot wants to try. But no, I get to try brawling for the first time. I'm not quite sure I understand the mechanics since there are no flaming fist icons to tell me when to click, but I won, so who cares?

Question - will I be forced to fist fight for plot again? Should I actually practice this? Actually, the same goes for hte dice - is this ever necessary to advance the plot again? Please say no.

Onward! I have a sword. And new potions. And I'll get my old stuff back when I kill the monster. Great. Except I'm already out of inventory space (not alchemical, the regular stuff slots) so that is going to be an interesting moment. I wonder if my stuff will fall out on the floor or just disappear forever.

In any case, I now have a silver sword, and a quick rest lets me spend my most recent three points upgrading Silver Group style. Just in time for like a dozen drowners to rush me and be reduced to quivering bits in seconds. I FUCKING LOVE GROUP STYLE! I was right to spend all my points leveling the silver version. Fuck yeah!

I also met a Paladin. Well, he's a rose something or other, but he's also an entitled noble who hunts monsters for fun and whose father committed suicide by monster and choked it to death. Lovely. This is one NPC I don't give the slightest shit about - except, wait, he carries the torch for me!

Not like that (although that would be a nice twist - Geralt, the bisexual Mr. Bean. And a fanfic is born...) he provides light! Which I could do by carrying my torch, but then I can't fight, and fighting in the dark SUCKS ASS as the ghouls in the crypt before proved. So he's the moogle from Crystal Chronicles. Fine. Let's do this.

And... that's where I had to stop due to real life.

Anyway, that's it for today. I'll post again tomorrow noonish-afternoonish at work. When, hopefully, Geralt will get some cock.

Er, cockatrice.

 

[00slash00]

Damn you Good Old Games! You went and did it. You tempted me and I made the purchase, but I resisted your lure for months until... today.

When I installed the Witcher.

I wasn't going to play that game. I had reasons. And then you sold it to me for a dollar a few months ago and I couldn't say no to a 1 dollar game.

And now, as I looked through my GOG account for something new to play, there it was... sitting there, tempting me.

So, fellow Escapists... it is official. I am playing the Witcher.

Discussion Value: A two-fer!

1) Any advice for a first time Witcher player? Things to do? Avoid? Funny stories about your first time?

2) Discussion (or stories) about times when Good Old Games or Steam has had a sale and you bought a game you didn't want to play just because it was cheap (and then ended up playing it).

Also, if there's interest, I will post updates about my playthrough of the Witcher.

UPDATE: And the Avatar Winner is:

#4: Female Geralt SD

Thank to everyone who voted. ^^;; All two of you.

UPDATE 2:
Because it seems to be amusing, I'm doing a sort of impromptu Let's Play as I play through the game. This is in addition to the discussion topics above - and in fact continues to address certain points like my changing view of Geralt (Low Fantasy Mr. Bean that he is).

Skip to:
Chapter 1: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.404351.16751467
Chapter 2: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.404351.16758205

what was your beef with the witcher? that game is fantastic! in fact im currently trying to find time to play through the game for a 3rd time. i assume you downloaded the free upgrade to the enhanced edition, right?

i recently bought hydrophobia on steam for $1. my expectations were mariana trench low, considering id heard nothing good about the game, but i actually enjoyed it a fair amount. it was certainly worth at least a dollar

 

[The Madman]

Question - will I be forced to fist fight for plot again? Should I actually practice this? Actually, the same goes for hte dice - is this ever necessary to advance the plot again? Please say no.

No, you don't. Thankfully both the dice and fist fighting are completely optional from that point on and generally not really worth bothering with unless you're the type that has to get 100% completion.

Hope you enjoy the game. I rather like The Witcher, although I have to agree that it really feels padded at points. You could easily cut a chapter or two's content from the game without really effecting the main plot, and unfortunately most of the side-distraction stuff isn't terribly interesting either. Then there's the mediocre combat and a whole slew of other nuisances like the voice acting and translation/dialogue problems.

Still it was CDProjekt RED's first game so I'll cut them some slack, especially having seen how well Witcher 2 improved over the original. It's why I'm so excited for 3; if it has the same sort of leap in quality as between 1 and 2, we're in for one hell of a game.

And keep it up with the Let's play. Might not always comment but I'll keep reading.

 

[DarklordKyo]

Chapter 2 Continues! Briefly. Edit: Or not so briefly. Wow, that was a lot for not that much gameplay. Perhaps I should be a bit less verbose next time?

Okay, so I haven't had much time to play today (lots of work, and then my spouse had me watch all 5 episodes of the Nostalga Critic talking about the odd numbered Star Trek movies), but when I did, this happened:

So, Prison. The Professor, with his tiny glasses, snarked at me a bit. And, while I really wanted to use my fire spell to burn him through the bars, the game just had me sit there and take it. I guess Mr. Bean Geralt is a little slow on the uptake.

So instead I played dice with the elf in the corner.

Let me pause for a moment and talk about the dice game. Poker rules, it says. The thing is, poker has strategy because there are only so many of each card. For you to have 4 of a kind, your opponent can't have any of that same card. With dice, everything is random.

Except this is a video game, so random goes out the window (sadly, in this case) in favor of... I have no honest clue. Only betting the minimum, I lost 15 gold to the Dwarf before I figured out how to quit without quitting mid-hand. I took me three rolls to figure out how to reroll the dice I didn't want to keep.

So, when I had to play the elf, I was less than thrilled. Fortunately, he mostly sucked and I ended up profiting a whole ONE GOLD. I'm so glad that mini game is being used so constructively.

Anyway, after that there's a Cockatrice to kill, and wouldn't you know it - a fat idiot wants to try. But no, I get to try brawling for the first time. I'm not quite sure I understand the mechanics since there are no flaming fist icons to tell me when to click, but I won, so who cares?

Question - will I be forced to fist fight for plot again? Should I actually practice this? Actually, the same goes for hte dice - is this ever necessary to advance the plot again? Please say no.

Onward! I have a sword. And new potions. And I'll get my old stuff back when I kill the monster. Great. Except I'm already out of inventory space (not alchemical, the regular stuff slots) so that is going to be an interesting moment. I wonder if my stuff will fall out on the floor or just disappear forever.

In any case, I now have a silver sword, and a quick rest lets me spend my most recent three points upgrading Silver Group style. Just in time for like a dozen drowners to rush me and be reduced to quivering bits in seconds. I FUCKING LOVE GROUP STYLE! I was right to spend all my points leveling the silver version. Fuck yeah!

I also met a Paladin. Well, he's a rose something or other, but he's also an entitled noble who hunts monsters for fun and whose father committed suicide by monster and choked it to death. Lovely. This is one NPC I don't give the slightest shit about - except, wait, he carries the torch for me!

Not like that (although that would be a nice twist - Geralt, the bisexual Mr. Bean. And a fanfic is born...) he provides light! Which I could do by carrying my torch, but then I can't fight, and fighting in the dark SUCKS ASS as the ghouls in the crypt before proved. So he's the moogle from Crystal Chronicles. Fine. Let's do this.

And... that's where I had to stop due to real life.

Anyway, that's it for today. I'll post again tomorrow noonish-afternoonish at work. When, hopefully, Geralt will get some cock.

Er, cockatrice.

The fistfight doesn't necessarily follow the rhythm-based system. You do have a dodge button in the form of (I think) one of the mouse buttons, so it's mostly dodge & counter. Likewise, I could see Geralt at least experimenting just to see if he also swings that way, the experiment that turned him into a witcher both made him disease immune, and made him sterile.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Chapter 2, part 2.5

Sewer level!

Actually, this part proved to be fairly straight forward. Kill drowners, loot dungeon, reach cockatrice. I killed it while Paladin boy stood there and took hits. Meh, I'll take it. And, since I chatted with him earlier, I recovered all kinds of alchemical loot from it. Nifty!

On the way out, we get attacked by thugs. I kill them and look their corpses. Wee!

Outside, he recommends I speak to a Detective. And I blinked because I am now picturing Harry Dresden. Sadly, I would be disappointed.

But not yet! First I have to collect my belongings! And before that, I need to go to the inn marked on my map to drop off all the stuff I just looted to make room for my overstuffed pack. So I do so. Also, I hit on a waitress, but apparently her husband beats her. Can I go beat him to punish him for his asshole wife-beating ways? No? Well fuck. Even if she didn't sleep with me afterwards, that would have been worth it.

Ah well. Off to pick up my stuff. Which I do. The game warned me to make sure he coughed up everything, but upon taking all my inventory appears to be full as it should be. Oh, and I get paid handsomely for the cockatrice's head. Nifty. What I don't notice (until later) is the package from the Hot Potato quest is missing. When I (later) go back for it, it is gone. Was it drugs? Did he snort the whole package while I was gone? Well, I guess that quest is fucked. Anyway....

Back to the Inn! To drop off many, many Barghest skulls (I have had 62 of them) and other loot, including books, and pick up some of the potions I left there. Once my inventory looks good again, I head off to meet the Detective dude.

He... looks kinda like the Professor. Enough that I found him rather off-putting. Damn it, I was hoping for Harry Dresden. Ah well. He puts me on a case having to do with the salamanders and their front man. Okay, fair enough. Also, some salamanders and the Professor are planning to jump me outside. Oh! Boss fight time! I finally get to kill this fuc-- wait, why am I standing there while the Professor walks away? No! My group style would easily win this battle! Geralt, what are you... right, clearly I have to do the actual quest before the game will give me my boss fight, even though he was just fucking standing right there. Sigh.

So I kill the thugs and loot their corpses (while a beggar just sort of stands there watching - creepy voyeur). And then... I go back inside so I can level up.

I am level 10. Yay! Wait, does this mean I don't get any more Bronze Talents? There are still Bronze abilities I want! But wait, I have a potion to give me a silver talent! And... I can't spend silver talents on Bronze skills. Well, fine, I'll take a silver one. But does this mean that any bronze talents I didn't already take are lost to me forever? That sucks. Can someone please confirm/deny this for me?

Anyway, onto the investigation. This involves a LOT of running around, and without the catharsis of random barghests to kill. Sigh. I talk to one NPC, who sends me to another NPC, etc. I shake down an alchemist I talked to before, and buy some stuff from him. Oh, and I sold him 42 Barghast skulls! For 200 coin. Eh, it's something. He also wants me to investigate a tower (and I learned later that the previous Witcher in the area who I'm looking for in addition to everything else was ALSO trying to find this tower, so two-fer). Apparently it involves finding and reading books. Oh goodie.

I talk to the Jailer again and he wants drugs. I had some, but I stored them in the Inn, so back there and - someone named Coleman is dead. I have no idea who Coleman is, so I just move on. I pick up the drugs and take them back to the Jailer and - fuck, I'm supposed to go talk to fucking COLEMAN now. Geralt did a little speech about not getting involved - apparently letting the elves take the boxes earlier was bad? Well, the alternative was to kill them - is murdering everyone really the answer?

Speaking of MURDER... while I was bored, I decided to talk to one of the prostitutes. Who turned out to be the madamme. She wants me to murder thugs who are bothering her girls. Sounds good to me. The first place I went, I found some thugs and off-ed them. The second place was empty. Did I miss something? Or hasn't it spawned yet? Oh well.

Also, I found a book merchant who will BUY MY BOOKS! I headed back to the inn and loaded up, making sure I'd read them all first, and sold the whole pile. THen, with my massive pile of cash, I BOUGHT a ton of books, read them, sold them back, and bought more books! So many books. I know how to skin all sorts of monsters now. However, I ran out of money before being able to read all of the plant identification books. Damn.

Anyway, I deliver my drugs to the jailer and he spills his guts. Actually, I think this is what led me to the fence, which led me back to the alchemist for our third conversation, but I already mentioned that above.

So basically a LOT of running between the Jailer, the Inn, the Alchemist, and a few other locations around the map.

Finally, all roads lead to the Hospital. Awesome. Except the guard at the door won't let me in. Boo. He wants to see a ring, and the only ring I have that opens doors is the Fire Priest one I left back at the Inn, so guess where I'm headed!

One ring later, the guard STILL won't let me in. What the fuck?! Is this the wrong ring? What ring do I need to shut this guy up?

However, I'm sneaky. I slip around the back and talk to the gardener. I trade some muttin for roses - because why not - and get the info that Shani the redhead knows more. Okay, so are all my allies in this town suspect? Am I Fox fucking Mulder (Trust No One) in addition to Mr. Bean? Well, that would explain all the sex with redheads.

**rimshot**

Oh, and I still can't enter the building of the Hospital. The sneaking only got me into the garden. Sigh.

So on to see Shani. I head to her house (and sell a newly acquired and read book to the book merchant) and inside I meet Grandma.

As I proceed to loot Shani's house, grandma stops me occasionally to yell about the end of the world. Shani does not appear to be home. This eventually gets disturbing. I pick up an key item called "Grandma's Diary". Feeling that this likely means something, I try to read it, but just get a message about reading it resulting in bad things. So I save (this is important) and offer Grandma the diary as a gift.

She kicks me out.

I return and she's suddenly happy, but forces me into a drinking contest. Since I left my massive stockpile of beer back at the inn, I only have two drinks before I'm out (except for vodka, but I need that for potion making). I click end. Grandma accuses me of being drunk and kicks me out again. I go back in and am immediately kicked out again. Fuck.

RELOAD.

This time, instead of the diary, I give grandma a beer. Grandma takes a shine to me and tells me to head upstairs. I head upstairs... and no one's there. I head down to talk to grandma again (and maybe rest until Shani gets home) and grandma tells me to go upstairs again. OKAY. I head up stairs again and...

.....

........

I save my game, quit, and that was it for that game session.

So. Any advice? I seem to be hitting a lot of dead ends. Where should I go next? Should I stay upstairs and wait? How long? Should I leave and come back later?

Or should I go investigate this tower and the swamp area the Alchemist mentioned? That sounds kinda fun. If nothing else, I could use the money after blowing all my cash on books, selling them all back, and doing this again until I was out of money.

Oh, and there's the prostitute quest and the Warehouse to investigate, but it's only 10 AM - all this running around only took me a few hours in game. I'd have to rest somewhere. I guess I could crash at the Alchemist's since his house is near one of the prostitutes in trouble (although I didn't see anyone there the previous night - was it too late in the evening?)

Also, Geralt made a point about the graveyard being a good place for witcher work, but the grave digger won't let me in to kill monsters for him. There's a gift option, but I have no idea what he'd want (unless he wants the human remains I've been carrying around since the crypt).

Note: I have no strategy guide or FAQ for this game. I'm using you all for that. ^^

So yeah, which of these things (or combination) should I do next? Command me, o loyal readers.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I honestly can't remember many details about the plot, so I can't give any pointers beyond what people have been saying, I think i remember being stuck at the part you are at though, so good luck on that.


(keep it up, this is fun to read! brings back some memories on playing the game)

 

[porous_shield]

Shani works all day at the hospital and returns at night. You need a different ring to get into the the hospital, the one you have doesn't hold any sway in the city. I thought I just remember bribing the guy honestly. Why don't you go find Siegfried and see what he's up to, I seem to remember him having something to do with things as well.

 

[exxxed]

Hm as far as I recall Siegfried had something to do with a certain ring , besides that here's a tip with the plants that tend to eat you alive, use a torch (and other incandescent ... things) to fight them, they're sensitive to fire... I remember those things gave me heaps of trouble... but they're usually explained in the bestiary section of the journal.

Another tip would be to not rely solely on group style, since you'll often meet single opponents.


Still, if you manage to have the ''game's gameplay'' fun, then The Witcher might not be as bad a some might say.

I found the story to be pretty good considering the average, the later part after the whole investigation thing picks up quite a bit, anyway cheers for my first post!

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Update: Chapter 2 Continues.

Okay, on the advice of porous_shield, I left Shani's house until later and went on with other things. First off, I went to see that dwarf with info about the Tower and is also a suspect, because I didn't have enough of those. After a quick trip back to the Inn and a couple of sales, I had JUST enough money to buy both important books for the Alchemist (who may or may not be evil).

So I went to see him. Apparently I need to find 10 Sephrot to open the Tower. Neat. I have two already, and the next one is...

In the Hospital. So I need to talk to Shani first (yes, I realized later this was wrong, but nevermind, it seemed right at the time).

I ran to check on Siegfried, but he wasn't where he said he'd be (turned out he was over by the Dike, but I didn't realize that until later - we'll get to that). So... with many hours left in the day to kill, and no need to rest, I decided to go kill shit in the sewers. Because why not?

So I did. And I found a door that I could open with a key I found earlier! And then I murdered FUCKTONS of "Harry Spider Cultists" I think? And found some places of power and a whole ton of loot, including some seriously valuable stuff. Once I'd explored the whole place (and another side area in the sewers) I used a Place of Power Teleport for the first time.

I was really excited to try it, because, as I understood it, I could travel between any Place of Power in the game, and thus gain Fast Travel.

BZZT! Wrong! Instead it is a one-way teleport to the Alchemist's house. Which, yeah, was really useful to leave the Sewer (and will be useful in the fucking swamp to avoid tolls going back) but otherwise is utterly useless.

Anyway, it was evening, so I teleported to the alchemist, took a quick run down to the inn to drop stuff off and get drunk with some guy so he'd give me info. Fun times. Then I stumbled through the streets to see Shani.

Geralt's drunken stupor was just wearing off when I arrived. Grandma was still happy to see me and sent me upstairs. And Shani... told me she worked at the hospital and said some weird stuff about the war. Okay.

Actually, this got a little funny. Geralt sounds like he's trying to get in her pants, and she keeps talking about the war, which makes him hilariously uncomfortable.

Oh, and I questioned her about the sword, which she got in the war, from some guy who died, yada yada, next link in the chain oh god. So apparently Scully isn't betraying me after all. Unless she is. Fucked if I know.

After that, feeling rather less than satisfied, I headed to the Warehouse to kill some thugs, stopping on the say to finish saving the prostitutes from thugs, so lots of thugs died that night. At the Warehouse, Geralt pretended to be a golem for the lulz and then killed everyone for the guard captain. Neato. It was either that or accuse him of being evil, which seemed pointless since he was obviously betraying them. Unless he wasn't, trust no one, yada yada.

After that, went to talk to Carmine. I was hoping she'd offer to service Geralt for his services, but she just set him up with freebies (for a flower) from the regular prostitutes. Meh.

Over by the graveyard I killed a Ghoul and an incorporeal undead of some sort. That was neat.

And then night was ending, so I went to talk to the guard captain (who wasn't around at night) and Geralt didn't quite accuse him of being Hitler but it was close. However, lack of evidence has put him on the back burner once again.

At this point, like three new NPCs got named and I went to talk to them and I honestly started to lose track because holy crap this is a lot of running around at different times of the day and night - that you can't easily control (the way you can in, say, Xenoblade) without any form of Fast Travel (my Kingdom for a Fast Travel System! like Skyrim) and a map that doesn't adjust itself based on time so it will tell you to go somewhere when the NPC is somewhere else. It doesn't help that all of the NPCs you suspect also have other quests for you that sometimes cross the main one in really bizarre ways. Case in point.

With no other option, I bribed the guard at Hospital (a whole 50 gold) to let me in. Success. I helped out Shani by giving her some herbs I'd had since forever ago and the game gave me a little quest that seemed to say "Tonight, go have sex with Shani at her house". Okay then. Shani also told me to, and I quote, "wait until Dusk and then try to get the guards on the prisoner drunk".

So I ran back to the inn, picked up a stack of 10 beers, and came back. I rested until evening and learned, to my happy surprise, that I still am getting Bronze level up thingys so I didn't miss out of those skills I didn't take yet. Although I am wondering how high of level I need to be to get silver.

And then I offered some trail mix to the goddess statue and got not 1 but THREE Sephirot all at once. Yay! And now the quest wanted me to go to the Dike. Okay. Someone else directed me there. I actually tried to go during the night (when I bumped into Siegfried, who made them open the door for me) but only found some drowners so had to wait for morning. And, since I just moved things until evening... I had another night to kill.

So now I tried to get the guards drunk. And.. they wouldn't drink. I had the options of Farewell and Bribe. So, fuck it, I bribed him 10 gold and... that was it. Wow. Cheap guards.

The guy said the name of the FUCKING ALCHEMIST god damn it! And then he coughed and sputtered in a way that I expected him to die, but he just kept doing it so whatever. And some thugs showed up and died horribly when introduced to Group Style. Except one guy who I finished with Strong.

The guards identified the assassins as yet another NPC who I haven't spoken with yet. Sigh. More suspects.

I spent part of the night running around the grave yard hoping spawn more monsters, but only got one ghoul. Oh well.

Then I went out to the Dike, but again, no one was there but us Drowners. So I killed them and camped until morning just so I could get on with things. Having done so, I spoke with teh Merchant Dude whose name I can't remember. He wanted proof that I had Salamander badges (for some reason) and was willing to sell me a Sephirot for 500 gold. FUCK. Between books and bribes, I was broke. Poor me had to return to town to get some cash.

Which I did. By selling my non-Witcher weapons, which I never use (other than the torch to see by, and I know for a fact the Alchemist has an extra one of those in his cupboard) I made a bunch. I need more, though, so I ran to the Inn to get some books and a few valuables to sell.

On the way there I ended up talking to the town Gossip and having a very strange conversation. Because I'd saved before hand, I figured I could do better, so I reloaded and tried again. She asked for a scarf, I had one, and she wanted gloves instead, and I couldn't get the dialogue to let me give her the gloves as well. So after some frustrating times around the conversation (she knows he's Geralt, why does Geralt keep saying that he's a friend of Geralts?!) I reloaded and tried the conversation again. It took a few tries but finally Geralt said the dialogue about actually being Geralt again and this time I gave her some gloves I found on a dying woman in the hospital. Which led to sex because why not and - WHY IS SHE HOLDING A DEAD CHICKEN DURING SEX?! She's the town gossip, not the fucking Chicken Lady. What the hell?!

So, brain freshly scarred, I sold some crap and came up 50 gold short. SO I went to the brothel and gambled with the nice Carmine. I saved before hand, but actually managed to win the three games it took to get 50 gold in profit. That's three matches of three, in case that wasn't clear. I tried to give her a Rose as well, but she didn't give me the option to do so. One of the other prostitutes did. The Gossip Girl picture was far more disturbing.

Finally, again wishing for a Fast Travel button, I went back to the Merchant and gave him the salamander badges. And he paid me 600 gold. Ffffffff.... oh fine. I turned around and gave him 500 back for the Sephirot. Yay! He also gave me a mission to kill somethings in the swamp. And the game said the next sephirot is there, so onward to the swamp!

Next time.

I can see why Yahtzee quit during this part of the game. This section is VERY confusing and hard to follow, and very slow due to the lack of Fast Travel or the ability to deal easily with character schedules. It takes forever to find where and when you're supposed to be somewhere, and once you do you end up being sent off to another person with another set of requirements. It is very dull and frustrating. If I hadn't taken a break to go murder things in the sewer, I'm not sure how I'd have dealt with this.

On the other hand, I'm not sure what Yahtzee's issue with potions was. There was a tutorial on them in the intro. Did he mean making up new potion recipes? Whatever, I hardly ever use potions anyway.

So anyway, until next time.

 

[porous_shield]

Another good read. I remember that Shani conversation haha.

I used to always get lost in town and had to bring up the map so I would have appreciated fast travel. I kind of liked running around the village and in another section later on in the game, but Vizima really didn't do it for me.

Witcher reminds me of Persona in a way in that it gives you so much information to keep track of and what days you can do certain things. Sounds like you are trying to do too many things one time and getting overwhelmed. Witcher is a big game with lots of things to do just like a lot of other RPGs. I thought the quest log kept pretty good track of where and what you have to do so you could plan accordingly.

How long you take to do something doesn't make a difference so why don't you just rest to make the time go by instead of trying to fill it with activity. I think I would have dropped the game if I tried and fill the time.

If you do any jobs from the quest board you usually don't have to go out of your way to go kill stuff to complete the quest because you'll get enough from doing the main quests and side quests.

Can you make Cat potion? It's always helpful to have around for the dark sections. Swallow is another useful one.

When you go in the swamp, be wary of the plants (they look like the last ones you encountered) because they will murder you in short order....or at least they did me. I remember that well enough.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

To answer one question - I am trying to adventure efficiently because I get tired of running back and forth over the same areas. If I can get all the quests in an area, and then do all the quests in a location at the same time, it is more efficient.

Which brings me to: The Swamp.

The Swamp, a location where it is always dangerous. Yay! I talked to a couple of NPCs and learned that one wanted some wolf pelts, and also that the drowners I was there to kill only come at night (even though different drowners come during the day). However, I have monster bits to collect, so off we go.

I found a Sephirot in another one of those goddess statues. Only one this time, which is kinda sad. The next one appears to be back in the village I just left. First, though, more wandering about.

I bumped into a TRULY BITCHY plant that I was forced to run away from and recover some HP with a Swallow potion. Once I felt better, I went back to finish it off with Strong Style (since I sold my torch for money last update), which worked pretty well. And I got it's head! Which I guess Vincent the guard wants. Okay then.

I found a cave, but didn't go in yet. And I found an island full of statues. Do I smell a Basilisk? I think I do! Better come back later - I don't want to get turned into stone.

I found some lumber jacks, and they're Okay. I got a mission from one of them, but I honestly can't remember what that mission was. Ah well.

Then I bumped into some Druids, an Elf dude, and a Dryad. Okay, question - why were they afraid of showing breasts on other women when the dryad walks around full nude? Anyway, she seem upset about humans attacking her homeland. Geralt says "that's sad" because that seemed like both the wisest response and the most Mr. Bean like. And moving on. Oh, and I learned a new spell from the dryads - some sort of spike trap? Haven't tried it yet.

And then I found what appears to be that tower the Alchemist was talking about. Nifty! I found a few corpses to loot and rested at a camp fire to level up and HOLY CRAP AMBUSH! I had no idea you could get ambushed while resting. But, group style wins again and I found some Aghoul marrow I need (not all of it though) for the Alchemist.

At this point it was night time, so I wanted to head back to town and check on the next Sephriot - not to mention turn in my 10 wolf pelts - but my attempts to leave the tower area were thwarted by high growing bush walls. Fuck. I wandered around for a while and stumbled into a Squirrel camp. AWKWARD.

Finally, after much running into walls and being attacked by random monsters, I finally found my way out of the swamp maze thing near the tower and back to the druid camp. Okay, back in familiar territory I made a bee-line back to brick town killing a ton of critters on the way. At the town, I headed into the building indicated and talked to an old woman - the head of the town, apparently. She gave me a tarot card and asked me to kill some drowners, which I'd already done, so Sephirot! Yay! She also thinks the Druids kidnapped a kid and are turning him into a Dryad. What...? Also, apparently she (and the whole town?) worship a specific kind of swamp monster. ... what...? Geralt smiled, nodded, and backed away slowly (at least, that's how I picture him leaving her hut).

The next Sephirot is in that Cave. I headed back there and killed some more wolves. Horrah! Also a wraith. And I found a coffin with loot and a Sephirot. Awesome! And another new spell! More Awesome! Oh, and yes I used a cat potion in the cave. I didn't use them previously because of a shortage of one of the components making it difficult to make more, but now I have plenty (from Drowned Dead, I think) so have made enough to not need to worry so much.

After that I headed back to the lumberjack camp and... I must have finished another quest in there somewhere, because they had a new one for me - kill a bunch of monsters, half of which I'd already killed. No problem. First, though, back to the druid camp.

The druids said they hadn't seen a boy, and asked me to talk to the naked dryad again. Where I learned that baby dryads come from adult dryads having sex with mortal men. NO SHIT SHERLOCK. Clearly Geralt's amnesia is worse than we feared. Anyway, of course, Geralt being Geralt has sex with the Dryad. Because sex is fun and relaxing. A man after my own heart. Weirdly, the sex card shows less of the naked dryad than the actual game did.

Also, I noticed something this sex scene - or should I say, the sex scene. The fuzzy background sex scene is always exactly the same - Geralt and Generic woman falling onto a bed. How cheap is that?

Anyway, I killed the monsters for the lumber jack on the way back to tell the woman that she's nuts. And, as if that wasn't already obvious, she'd holding cult meetings in her house. Lovely. I said I'd keep a look out for the boy, which I assume means his corpse.

Ran back to the lumber jack for a reward, and then, since there wasn't much else left to do, I used the Place of Power to teleport back to the Alchemist's lab. Ha - take that Ferryman, I just avoided paying you 5 gold!

I showed the Alchemist the tarot card and he told me to go fight a Golem - OH those were Golems - by using a lightening rod. Nifty.

So, I commission a lightening rod and deliver various monster bits to various people: the gardner, Vincent the Guard, the Merchant, Siegfried. And I bumped into my dwarf friend again, who told me that Vivaldi doesn't own his bank anymore. Sucks to be him. But it also clears him. Good to know I've finally cleared ONE of my dozen suspects. So I head to Vivaldi's to let him know he's off the hook and deliver a letter to him. Where did I get the letter? I don't even remember.

My quest log says I can go talk to the detective again, but honestly I think I shoudl follow up some more leads first. But... I'm kinda interested in this Tower side quest, and I'm really afraid that the alchemist is guilty. I want him to pay me my 1000 oriens before I accuse him of anything serious, so let's get back to that sephirot thing.

The lightning rod is ready, so back to the swamp. And back to the Golem island. The golem is clickable, so I click on him and insert the lightning rod. That was easy. Now... what do these pillars do?

**BZAAP!** And I'm dead.

Fortunately I saved right before putting the lightning rod in the golem. I reload. WTF?! I put the lighting rod on the golem and summoned lightning. Why did the lightning hit ME and not the rod?

So I check my journal and I'm... supposed to talk to the druids? So they can make a storm? Why? I can already make lightning. Oh, fuck it. I head off to the druids and am forced to pay them 500 fricken gold to summon up a storm. And what a storm. Damn. Okay, back I go. I save, just in case, and poke the pillars again --

**BZAAP!** And I'm dead. Again.

**reload** What the fuck! I open my inventory to see if any of my potions resist lightning and... why is the lightning rod still in my inventory?!

I click on the golem again and THIS TIME I get a little cut scene of Geralt putting the lightning rod on it. And then the lightning hits automatically.

Wait... what are the three pillars for if the lightning strikes in a cut scene? Just to piss me off? And why wouldn't Geralt put the lightning rod on BEFORE summoning up the storm (as the journal eventually made clear). What, did he think it would rust? It's a lightning rod - they're supposed to stay on buildings for YEARS. Why wouldn't it let me set this up first? Just to dick me out of 500 gold for no damn reason?!

Whatever, there's a golem to kill. My silver sword is doing.. 2 damage per hit. FUCK. The cut-scene showed me using the steel sword, so I switch over to that. It does... 4 damage. Okay, so that's an improvement. FUCK.

I take a swallow potion, switch to the Fire spell, and try to get as many combos as possible. If I screw up a combo click, I use the fire spell. And... an agonizingly long battle takes place. I chip the boss VERY slowly. The boss hits me, my potion regens the damage while I combo. Rince, repeat.

Seriously, this takes like 20-30 minutes in real time. It takes so long that the potion I took during the battle wears off and I start getting hurt faster than I naturally regen. However, by this point he's pretty hurt and I've noticed my fire spell does about 15 damage per use, so I start spamming it as fast as my mana will regen.

And, finally, at under half HP, I kill the fucking golem and loot his fucking carcass for a fucking Sephirot and his fucking heart.

**heavy breathing**

ANYWAY. That just leaves the "lucky" one which I will apparently find in a roast chicken? Huh? Oh, no just randomly. I take a quick run around the swamp, killing monsters and hoping for an Aghoul so I can get the last of the marrow I need (I can't find any, which sucks) and finally teleport back to the alchemist's shop again. There I level up and mix some potions.

And, thanks to Mark this Quest on your map, apparently the last sephirot is in the Detective's house. So, when I go talk to him and finish that quest, I get the last sephirot for this quest? Sneaky game, very sneaky.

And that's where I stopped. I've got a return letter from Vivaldi to pick up, and the in-town investigation to finish since that is apparently where I get the last sephirot. Since finishing the plot in the last area caused me to leave that area never to return, I am wary about going to far in the main quest without getting the sephirot quest done for that very tempting 1000 gold. Particularly since there's a 5000gp armor that looks VERY tempting in the Blacksmith's shop.

So that's where I'm at. I'm - I hope - almost at the end of this chapter. The swamp was a TON of fun - just the break I needed from slogging around through town all the time. Also, my alchemy supplies were getting a bit full, so I made a ton of new potions.

To you, my readers, I ask - any potions I should be making aside from Swallow and Cat? So far, those have been the most useful to me. I have quite a few recipes, but limited inventory space.

Also, should I keep saving my money for that armor, or go buy the last 1,800 gold worth of books (on swamp, ritual, and druidic plants) I haven't yet read (and then sell them back) for the additional herb harvesting?

 

[exxxed]

Greetings, sorry I forgot to mention in my last post a tip for fighting that damned Golem, you should have used the pillars when it was near them so the lightning strikes his arse instead of yours, woulda' damaged at least half his HP per strike, but it was a gamble, you had just as many chances to get hit if it wasn't in the right position (wielding a metal sword ya' know).

As for potions, here's a short list of what I'm usually using:

Blizzard - kinda like bullet-time in Max Payne, Geralt moves faster and takes less damage while the opponents quite the opposite, useful when things get hairy

Tawny Owl - for endurance regen. works great in combination with Swallow

Thunderbolt - increases the damage done by 100% but you cannot dodge or parry, good versus single strong opponents (such as the Golem in your case)

White Honey - reduces the toxicity from potion usage (and the effects) to zero so you can start over with a fresh mixture of potions if you screwed your combination and the toxicity is too high for you to drink more

White Raffard's Decoction - basically instant health regen., unlike swallow which takes time to regenerate your HP, this one does it on the fly (not fully but it's quite useful later in the game)

Here's another tip, hold down the Ctrl. key while clicking on a corpse/anything lootable to instantly loot everything so you don't have to deal with the menu, works great for gathering of alchemical ingredients (plants, creatures etc.).

Also a little nudge in the right direction regarding the investigation, keep a look out in the grave yard and explore throughly, maybe even find a quest that leads you there... also after you finish this chapter you will still be able to come back to these parts of the city and the swamp since Vizima will open up to you, it's only after that that you will not be able to return.

Interesting read overall since I'm having my first playthru' of the second Witcher and this reminds me of the finer details of the other game, cheers!

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Speaking of XP, I've noticed something. The Witcher appears to run on D&D XP - as in, the same XP chart as 3.5 Edition D&D. I recognized the XP goals from my recent play-throughs of Temple of Elemental Evil. Also, enemies appear to have diminishing XP returns, also like 3.5 Ed D&D. Obviously the level up mechanics themselves are different, but I'm amused that they ripped off their XP system from D&D.

It might be because the game is on the same engine as Neverwinter Nights just modified a bit. Although I dunno if NN was in 3.5 ed or not.