faetal on 5/10/2016 at 10:29
Even when it's challenging, you're mostly spamming Quen and dive-rolling everywhere except the moments where you stop to get hits in, throw a bomb or chug a potion or hit Quen again. There seems to be very little scope for contemplative, tactical combat over and above using the corresponding oil (tedious to the extent that there is a mod which auto-applies the relevant oil when entering combat), signs and bombs and just diving around like a hare on crystal meth in between uses.
THAT SAID, the overall game in terms of characterisation, exploration, detail and plot is enough to make up for the poor combat. If they ever nail the combat, even if it's a shameful rip of Dark Souls-style combat, then I'll be in heaven.
Thirith on 5/10/2016 at 10:36
That mod doesn't sound half bad. Any other quality-of-life mods that you'd recommend?
faetal on 5/10/2016 at 11:31
I don't actually use any - but check out the nexus mods top 100 files. When I re-install for a re-play and to do the DLC, I'll probably get into some mods.
Malf on 5/10/2016 at 20:18
Well, it's quite easy to settle in to builds that "just work" in Witcher 3, and over-rely on them as a consequence.
Over my first three play-throughs, I developed a very balanced character-build, with 3 sword skills, 3 sign skills, 3 alchemy skills and 3 generic skills. With medium armour and the right skill choices, turns out this build can trounce 99% of the content at Death March difficulty mostly using Igni. And yeah, it gets a little boring. You rely on using the Ekhidna Decoction with this build to keep your health up, and fast stamina regen from wearing medium armour with the Griffin School Techniques skill to make sure you're regularly firing off Igni and regenerating off of the stamina expenditure. Igni ends up setting fire to most things and doing loads of damage while they're burning. In addition, if the enemy's burning, they're not attacking you.
To top it off, you use Tawny Owl while fighting to further boost stamina regen, and subsequently end up mostly fighting at night thanks to the Superior version of the potion being permanent between 6:00PM and 6:00AM.
It's a solid build using a little of everything. But you don't really learn how to fight while using it.
My current play-through, where I've turned on the option to have enemies auto-level with me, I've gone full-on sword (well, a little way in to alchemy too for the longevity it provides and for blade oils).
I'd never really used heavy armour or strong attacks before this play-through, and now I'm pretty much exclusively limited to both. And combat's a LOT more rewarding, as well as dangerous. You have to approach group encounters in particular with a good degree of caution, and every encounter necessitates choosing the right oil for your sword.
I've also turned off auto-drawing of swords, so I have to draw the right sword myself. Maybe a little masochistic, sure, but it makes those few mixed encounters where you're fighting monsters AND humanoids a lot easier
And I must say, game-play wise, I think this is my favourite play-through yet. When I win a particularly gruelling combat, it's through skill and not spam, and it feels significantly more rewarding. I think it's also training me to be better at boss-fights, as one-on-one is where the build really shines.
Of course, the auto-levelling is accentuating the weird foibles of the game's RPG systems, but that's had another interesting and satisfying side-effect. Where before, I always aimed at crafting Witcher gear (Wolf School in particular), now I have to rely on drops to keep my gear viable against enemies, which means I'm experiencing all sorts of different looks and weapon effects beyond what I was limiting myself to.
I would highly recommend trying the game this way.
Also, wolf and dog packs are DICKS playing like this. They WILL kill you. I think they're the thing that's killed me most this play-through.
Thirith on 12/10/2016 at 09:04
I've finished the main quests in Novigrad and am now mopping up lower-level quests before moving on to Skellige. Among the quests I've neglected so far are the gear-related ones, which means I'm only now running around in low-level griffin gear. Haven't got the swords yet, but I think I'll try to get most if not everything to Enhanced - though getting all the materials might be a bit of a hassle.
PigLick on 12/10/2016 at 11:46
Dont forget the free dlc content as well, it adds some quests including a wolf gear quest line.
Thirith on 12/10/2016 at 12:32
Ah, thanks. I'd read about the free DLC ages ago but had forgotten all about it since. Most of it doesn't particularly interest me, but there seem to be a couple of nice extra quests.
PigLick on 12/10/2016 at 13:02
Yeh most of it is cosmetic changes, but the Wolf gear quests and "Fools Gold" are worth it. Also did I read that right and you havent been to Skellige yet? Get in there man!
Personally I think Witcher 3 isnt the sort of game where you clear out one area before moving on to the next like a lot of standard rpgs. You can move freely between areas anyway, and you will miss out on some of the challenge if you are too high level.
twisty on 12/10/2016 at 17:21
While I loved the first two Witcher games, this,
Quote Posted by Thirith
While I'm greatly enjoying
The Witcher 3, there's a part of me that is just a bit bored with it. I love how rich and generous the game is with its content, world and characters; it basically feels like it gets things perfect that the likes of Bioware and Bethesda often cut corners on. The latter are often predictable and lazy with their plots and characters, doing what has worked before until it becomes predictable and stale (and sometimes it wasn't all that fresh to begin with). At the same time, mechanically I simply don't find
TW3 all that interesting.
and this,
Quote Posted by faetal
I only recently completed the main game after a long hiatus for exactly the same reasons. I think the problem for me is that the combat isn't very good. It was terrible in TW1, slightly better in 2 and slightly better again in 3, but it just feels very floaty and lacks anything visceral. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Dark Souls.
Encapsulates my feelings about W3 and help to explain why it fails to hold my attention.
While I love the characters, the amazing attention to detail and the look and feel of the environments, I'm just not finding it as fun or immersive as the previous games for some reason. I can't pretend that this doesn't have anything to do with Dark Souls either, as after hundreds of hour playing with their superior combat mechanisms, the witches combat now feels old, tired and outdated by comparison. I know It's not a fair comparison to make either really, given how different the two games are, but it's a reality for me nevertheless.
I'm still holding out that if I perservere with it some more that I get better at focusing more strongly on the other aspects of the game than the parts I find tedious such as excessive crafting. They've clearly put an enormous amount of love into it and is largely still the same world that I grew to adore previously, altough by the time that I got the game that always thought I wanted, some aspects had failed to keep pace with innovation (or just pragmatic decisions to leave certain things go).
