The Witcher 3

[forameus]

After realising that Fallout 4 really shat the bed on quest writing, it got me thinking about some of the best quests that this had to offer. Mild spoilers for a specific sidequest, shouldn't spoil anything else, but beware in case you're early on in the game.

The Quest for the Black Pearl. You meet a guy in a town and he wants your help to try and find a Black Pearl for his wife, as he's an old soldier and can't do it himself anymore. You meet him on Skellige and go diving, eventually picking up what he needs. You save him from a gang of drowners, and he seems like he's trying to do you out of payment again. Says to meet him in a bar later on, and he'll pay. Then when you meet him, you find out that the guy always told his wife he'd find her a black pearl. They'd joke about it, and it became their thing. As he talks, it's clear that she had dementia, and his quest was to find it, in the hope that it would bring her back to him even for a few hours.

I mean...fuuuuck. It's easily one of the best put together side quests in a game ever. In the era where Fallout 4's minuteman sidequests have become a meme (Preston has heard another Settlement needs your help), this one wasn't particularly taxing in terms of the actual gameplay, but the writing was absolutely 100% spot on, misdirecting right up until the final "payoff". Terrifically voice-acted in all areas. Just amazing.

Any other quests that jump out for all of you? Imagine the Bloody Baron line will feature heavily, as they really threw absolutely everything at that one.

[GiGi]

Finished just about everything before the DLC. Was filthy rich.

Started DLC. 2 hours later poor as f**k and not much to show for it.

[Saigon Raider]

Only on Level 7 so relatively new to this but what a fucking game. Already the storylines with the Bloody Baron and Witches of Crookback Bog are some of the best I have ever seen.

I am wondering if alchemy ever really gets explained or are you just left to get on with it? How important is it all in the long run? I have 2 kids under 4 and I am wondering if I will get this game finished this year!! *It might help if I didn't play Gwent against literally everybody*

[GiGi]

I didn't put much into alchemy myself until about level 20 or so. It only really becomes relevant later in the game when it scales better and you have plenty of potion oil and bomb recipes to take advantage of them. I have about 4 active slots for alchemy perks at the moment.

[SramTon]

For anyone who doesn't already know, the Witcher 2 is currently free to download.

It's the Xbox 360 version but backwards compatible so it runs on the One.

Can be "purchased" either through the 360 or on Xbox.com

[Mr Hahn]

The witcher 2 same sort of set up?

It's not an open world like 3. There is a degree of freedom in some areas but nothing like the Witcher 3. It's a glorious game in a different way.

I'm now over 50 hours into 3 and it really is amazing. I knew it would be before I started but I found myself being surprised just how amazing it is despite being a huge fan of the previous games.

With all RPGs I usually get to a point where some of the quests get a little stale but there is just no sign of that here. SO much variety to keep you interested and I must say they've done a great job in the interface. At times in other Witcher games I did feel like it was a little confusing.

The combat has also seen some great upgrades. Killing enemies is so satisfying on this game, partly due to the variety of enemies, but mostly I feel due to the superbly designed combat system.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Mr Hahn

[Fuctifano]

Got this a couple of days ago, really loving it. Seems to me like a good combination of Red Dead and Skyrim. After probably going through the story too quick in Fallout 4, decided to clear every ? on the map in the first area and hunt down every side quest before advancing the story, still only level 4 with ten bob in my pocket at the end of it.

Main downside is the main character's voice which annoys me, and when he says "hey ya" to the horse all the time I can't get Outkast out of my head.

Absolutely gorgeous graphics though and the story already seems a lot more captivating than Fallout 4.

[forameus]

Got this a couple of days ago, really loving it. Seems to me like a good combination of Red Dead and Skyrim. After probably going through the story too quick in Fallout 4, decided to clear every ? on the map in the first area and hunt down every side quest before advancing the story, still only level 4 with ten bob in my pocket at the end of it.

Main downside is the main character's voice which annoys me, and when he says "hey ya" to the horse all the time I can't get Outkast out of my head.

Absolutely gorgeous graphics though and the story already seems a lot more captivating than Fallout 4.

If you're comparing it to FO4, you'll be blown away. Nothing against that one, but in my opinion it was completely blown out of the water by the Witcher on most counts. The writing is absolutely brilliant, and they've clearly put a whole lot of effort in there. It also looks absolutely beautiful.

The voice did annoy me at the start, but that goes away once you get further in. The voice acting for everyone (and I mean everyone) but Geralt is spot on.

[GiGi]

Aye Geralt's voice actor is strange. Sounds like he's trying to be Snake from MGS and it's out of place.

[Forfinn]

I've not got a problem with Geralt's voice at all. The one that annoyed me at first was Triss. Her American accent seemed out of place in a medieval European setting. Her other assets helped me overcome my initial reaction, however.

[Replays]

Dandelion was the worst of the bunch IMO.

[Forfinn]

Dandelion was the worst of the bunch IMO.

You're right, I'd forgotten about him. Whilst I warmed to Triss, Dandelion's accent never stopped being irritating.

[Fuctifano]

Quick non spoilery question before I get settled in for the night- do you get better prices for items to trade:

a) as you level up

b) with a perk

c) just depends where you're trading, if so guessing the big cities give the best prices?

[Replays]

Quick non spoilery question before I get settled in for the night- do you get better prices for items to trade:

a) as you level up

b) with a perk

c) just depends where you're trading, if so guessing the big cities give the best prices?

The prices are sometimes a bit mental in this game. In your inventory you will have a base value of an item but generally, it sells for far, far less. However, what I've found is that generally, selling appropriate items to a specific merchant will fetch a better price e.g. selling swords to a swordsman, armor to an armorer, flowers to a herbalist etc. Also, the rarity of an item seems to affect the price so, if you find a flower that only grows in a certain part of the map, you can sell it to a herbalist on the other side of the map for a bigger profit, but that takes up a lot of time.

Generally, I think that it's deliberately difficult to make a lot of money in this game. Having finished the campaign, I had enough money to buy and craft some decent gear but was never 'rich' as such.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Scott-Replay

[Fuctifano]

The prices are sometimes a bit mental in this game. In your inventory you will have a base value of an item but generally, it sells for far, far less. However, what I've found is that generally, selling appropriate items to a specific merchant will fetch a better price e.g. selling swords to a swordsman, armor to and armorer, flowers to a herbalist etc. Also, the rarity of an item seems to affect the price so, if you find a flower that only grows in a certain part of the map, you can sell it to a herbalist on the other side of the map for a bigger profit, but that takes up a lot of time.

Generally, I think that it's deliberately difficult to make a lot of money in this game. Having finished the campaign, I had enough money to buy and craft some decent gear but was never 'rich' as such.

Cheers, from previous limited experience of Skyrim and Fallout I know you don't get as much as it's worth in your inventory, but what you've said makes sense. I had a necklace that I'd picked up as loot somewhere in White Orchard valued around 450, was being offered 120ish there, but got double that in Novigrad.

[Antti Niemi]

Who is it that does the opening voiceover? Radovid?

[NotThePars]

Asked this before but does anyone have a good guide to the combat? I'm gonna start again and pay more attention to the tutorials because I am hopeless.

[GiGi]

Asked this before but does anyone have a good guide to the combat? I'm gonna start again and pay more attention to the tutorials because I am hopeless.

Not a guide as such but the most important thing is really just not getting hit. It does vary from one type of opponent to the next but here is my simplified version:

• vs humans: master the dodge skill and the parry. It's all about timing. You have a small window to either dodge or parry an incoming strike both leaving your opponent exposed for a counter. With multiple enemies roll to get more distance between you and the group and position yourself to pick them off.

• vs regular monsters: dodge. Always dodge. You can't block or parry against many monster varieties so it's a good habit to master dodging. Again with groups best to just roll out of the way and stay on the periphery.

• vs boss monsters: most have fairly devastating attacks so it's best to just roll out of the way until they are finished and then move in to riposte.

These things are mostly based on timing. Every enemy in the game has a distinct attack animation that require different timings which you come to learn after fighting each of them a few times. The learning curve with the combat is fairly steep to begin with but once you master the basics of not getting hit the rest will fall into place much easier. It can be frustrating but it's the type of game where practice really pays off after a while and it's very rewarding once you really feel the power of a witcher over lesser men and monsters.

As a bonus tip if you're still struggling, go for a Quen heavy build. Put up Quen before a fight and it'll eat a shot or 2 for you without taking damage. Once it breaks, retreat and cast Quen again etc rinse and repeat.

Edited March 5, 2016 by GiGi

[NotThePars]

Not a guide as such but the most important thing is really just not getting hit. It does vary from one type of opponent to the next but here is my simplified version:

• vs humans: master the dodge skill and the parry. It's all about timing. You have a small window to either dodge or parry an incoming strike both leaving your opponent exposed for a counter. With multiple enemies roll to get more distance between you and the group and position yourself to pick them off.

• vs regular monsters: dodge. Always dodge. You can't block or parry against many monster varieties so it's a good habit to master dodging. Again with groups best to just roll out of the way and stay on the periphery.

• vs boss monsters: most have fairly devastating attacks so it's best to just roll out of the way until they are finished and then move in to riposte.

These things are mostly based on timing. Every enemy in the game has a distinct attack animation that require different timings which you come to learn after fighting each of them a few times. The learning curve with the combat is fairly steep to begin with but once you master the basics of not getting hit the rest will fall into place much easier. It can be frustrating but it's the type of game where practice really pays off after a while and it's very rewarding once you really feel the power of a witcher over lesser men and monsters.

As a bonus tip if you're still struggling, go for a Quen heavy build. Put up Quen before a fight and it'll eat a shot or 2 for you without taking damage. Once it breaks, retreat and cast Quen again etc rinse and repeat.

Sound. Cheers, buddy!

[Fuctifano]

f**k me, this game is great, up to level 12 now. Started playing the bloody baron quest last night thinking it would take an hour or so to do

Only minor issues are swimming and horse racing controls are a bit finicky. I can even see myself getting into Gwent once I've done everything else.

Re: combat, I'm only playing on the default difficulty, think I've only died once in combat so far (died once by falling and once by Dennis Wilson-ing myself while swimming and getting stuck under a rock) and that was more due to my own stupidity. If I'm not having to defend a NPC then agree that shifting over to the edge of the battle and picking folk off one by one seems to work, if it's a boss then try to stun it with a sign, couple of hits, roll away, rinse and repeat.

Don't know how far I'm in, but I don't want this to end for a good while so going to hoover up more ? markers, think I have 96 outstanding between Velen and Novigrad. Haven't been to Skellige yet.

edit: actually, not really found much use for the horses as yet, easier either just to get there on foot or fast travel about 95% of the time, only really need it if you've killed something big and it auto appears so you can carry the "trophy" back for your reward.

Also enjoying the anachronisms / easter eggs, the Madonna and Henry Ford quotes are definites, probably a few others as well.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Fuctifano