I hear these horror stories about how difficult the first level is. Is there anything specific that I should prepare for?
So I just bought the Witcher 2...
- Thread starter lucky_sharm
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Basically the horror stories are from people who chose the dragon option in the first dialog. As a result, without knowing anything about how it plays, they have to outrun a fire-breathing dragon while fighting groups of dudes.
So you have nothing to worry about. They patched it so the option appears after a couple of the other choices.
So you have nothing to worry about. They patched it so the option appears after a couple of the other choices.
Just be sure to patch the game up to the latest version, Downloads Available here, and you should be fine so long as you've a bit of patience. The later patches reduced the initial difficulty by a fair bit making the introduction a bit more smooth.
Beyond that enjoy!
Beyond that enjoy!
The main thing is, when the guy asks you questions about what happened, select the answers in order, from top to bottom. That plays things out in the correct order.
Don't be afraid to block, dodge, and use bombs. Don't just stand around swinging.
Other than that, it just takes a bit of practice to get used to things. I played it a while ago and died a bunch of times in the prologue. I started again just a week ago or so and I only died twice in the entire prologue section, and one was on a QTE.
Also, read all of the tutorial messages that come up (they can be accessed again by pressing J and looking under the tutorial heading).
Don't be afraid to block, dodge, and use bombs. Don't just stand around swinging.
Other than that, it just takes a bit of practice to get used to things. I played it a while ago and died a bunch of times in the prologue. I started again just a week ago or so and I only died twice in the entire prologue section, and one was on a QTE.
Also, read all of the tutorial messages that come up (they can be accessed again by pressing J and looking under the tutorial heading).
Use Quen, I found the game had a completely inverted difficulty progression (hardest to easiest), not that I didn't have fun though.
The fighting takes some used to- theres a slight delay on Geralts dodge, the physics and mechanic are slightly slippy and have a queer sort of momentum. You'll get into it once your brain and hands get used to the effect, but the first level tends to kill you lots until you do learn.
As has been said, use Quen. The game never actually explains the signs you see, so i'll help you -
Quen
Everything else is usless.
As has been said, use Quen. The game never actually explains the signs you see, so i'll help you -
Quen
Everything else is usless.
Well I brought The Witcher 2, I went home with it, installed it, ran it, and it was laggy as hell, so I went back out of the game and changed all graphics to low and guess what it still was laggy, I dont know why but my computer sucks so I am going to wait a while before I can play this masterpiece.
But anyhow, I played the beginning and it was easy, exept the part about the catapault and the damn dragon QTE's, because my computer sucked, but all I did was delt blow, block and used spells, of course it may be because of my difficulty, but still, blow, block, and spell.
Also watch for your stances and the type of enemy.
But anyhow, I played the beginning and it was easy, exept the part about the catapault and the damn dragon QTE's, because my computer sucked, but all I did was delt blow, block and used spells, of course it may be because of my difficulty, but still, blow, block, and spell.
Also watch for your stances and the type of enemy.
Heh. I only started using Quen by the first fight with the Kingslayer. Imagine my surprise when it got easier by far.TsunamiWombat said:
I'd recommend using the air one as well, whatever the name is. Aard possibly. I found the insta kills quite handy and it made for a bit of breathing space in a tight spot. Axii is useful as well I discovered on my second play through on hard.
Basically anything that allows you to do a bit of crowd control can be handy.
On a related note:
For me, the combat was quite tough, as it pits you against several enemies at once, while giving you the tools to actually combat groups only later on.
But don't get discouraged, it's one of the best RPGs out there.
For me, the combat was quite tough, as it pits you against several enemies at once, while giving you the tools to actually combat groups only later on.
But don't get discouraged, it's one of the best RPGs out there.
Dodging is you friend. A neat trick is to dodge past enemies and hit them in the back for extra damage. And your Quen sign, it has been nerfed recently so it will deactivate quicker when you're hit. But as long as it's up it will absorb all damage.
The combat is hard to begin with, but when you learn the ropes it's no big deal, just tons of fun!
Of-course bombs and potions will help a lot, but aren't really necessary unless you play on normal difficulty.
I never used bombs until I played it on Insane (yes, the difficulty where you're not allowed to die) and must say bombs are powerful!
Another good advice, when you level make sure to get some more vigor, you only start with two, and if you use quen often this means you quickly run out of vigor, which is not only used for signs but blocking as well!
Good luck! ^^
The combat is hard to begin with, but when you learn the ropes it's no big deal, just tons of fun!
Of-course bombs and potions will help a lot, but aren't really necessary unless you play on normal difficulty.
I never used bombs until I played it on Insane (yes, the difficulty where you're not allowed to die) and must say bombs are powerful!
Another good advice, when you level make sure to get some more vigor, you only start with two, and if you use quen often this means you quickly run out of vigor, which is not only used for signs but blocking as well!
Good luck! ^^
I just finished it tonight and personally I didn't go quite as quen crazy as it seems everyone is suggesting. I don't know, it feels too much like cheating. It felt a lot more satisfying winning fights with Aard and Igni (and my swords). I used Yrden once, which was in a boss battle where you basically have to. Axii I used a few times but only for fun, I didn't find it particularly useful. I only bothered upgrading Aard, Igni and Quen. Thankfully they're at the start of the magic skill tree.
Quen is a must in some of the tougher fights though, unless you're really good.
Somehow I managed to finish the game without ever getting adrenaline or the sixth sign. That was clever of me.
Great game though.
Quen is a must in some of the tougher fights though, unless you're really good.
Somehow I managed to finish the game without ever getting adrenaline or the sixth sign. That was clever of me.
Great game though.
It's not "hard" as such, you have the abilities (although not levelled up to a point where you are gods gift to violence) they just don't tell you what they are or do.
As long as you don't stand still thinking you can hack through anything and not get hurt you'll be fine.
Keep moving, use your signs and roll.
It's a bit better if you have a save game of the first Witcher aswell, you get the swords and Raven armour you finished that game with at the start of Witcher 2.
As long as you don't stand still thinking you can hack through anything and not get hurt you'll be fine.
Keep moving, use your signs and roll.
It's a bit better if you have a save game of the first Witcher aswell, you get the swords and Raven armour you finished that game with at the start of Witcher 2.
I have just one more question. So far, the performance of my laptap is less than stellar when playing the Witcher 2. Bear in mind that it's a very high end laptop and was able to run Dragon Age 2 and Origins smoothly on high settings. I'm doing everything I can to make the game run more smoothly, via defragmentation, updating drivers, and using disk checker. Is there anything else I can do to make the game run better?
Make sure your version is fully up to date, the patches can improve performance remarkably with lower end computers. I was able to make the leap from Medium to High on my computer with no noticeable framerate drop after one of the patches.lucky_sharm said:
Beyond that make sure video drivers are also up to date and, well, not much else you can do as far as I know. Witcher 2 is a considerably more beastly game than either of the Dragon Age games when it comes to visuals and requirements, though that comes with the reward of also looking considerably better if you've the hardware to run it on the higher settings. Probably the most stunning game I've ever played visually, and I wasn't even running on the highest settings.
Good luck.
Witcher has higher reqs due to the size of it's area's in relation to Dragon Age/Origins and the detail involved. Do what the dude above me says, when in down tweak settings down.
I would also like to point out that when you successfully block, it takes away an action point, the same points which you use to cast spells. So be sure to plan ahead a bit so you dont catch youself in a bad situation, surrounded by neckers, unable to block -_-.
I went swordsman on my first run of the game, be sure to stick with a talant tree, and dont just generalize, although getting the trap/bomb damage skill is REALLY nice, especially later when you go to the harpy den( I put traps all over the place, and had to bomb the hell out of them just to survive). Play how ya wanna play, and remember, unlike other games, your choices DO have consequences, people may not like you, or they may even turn on you, an enemy may turn into a friend, also, some quests can be solved in different ways, if the quest is an investigation, be sure to get all the information before acuasations are made.
I went swordsman on my first run of the game, be sure to stick with a talant tree, and dont just generalize, although getting the trap/bomb damage skill is REALLY nice, especially later when you go to the harpy den( I put traps all over the place, and had to bomb the hell out of them just to survive). Play how ya wanna play, and remember, unlike other games, your choices DO have consequences, people may not like you, or they may even turn on you, an enemy may turn into a friend, also, some quests can be solved in different ways, if the quest is an investigation, be sure to get all the information before acuasations are made.
The Witcher 2 is very, and I mean very, demanding on hardware.lucky_sharm said:
If you look around the web tons of people have the same problem.
Dragon Age isn't as graphic intensive as Witcher is. People with top end PC's have run into lag and stutter issues with it. It wasn't optimised very well.
Only thing you can do is keep updating it with the latest patches. Some of them have toned down the problems but it's still not ideal.