The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Idleman · 8 Dec 2015 at 14:29

strumpusplunket said:
Yeah, I had to turn it down from Blood and Broken Bones to get a feel for the combat. I was trying to over-rely on block I think, and not managing my signs very well. Going a lot smoother now and I'd probably turn the difficulty back up again but... I think I've screwed my build a bit. It might have to wait until I can respec (which I hear is possible at some point).

Also... I did notice I'd played for over seven hours (which surprised me!) and yet I'm only level three and only just about to leave the starting area. This game is going to keep me busy over Christmas!

I gave up trying to use "block", as I found it very hit and miss.

You can at some point buy a potion that will enable you to re-spec your build.

eggyoke · 8 Dec 2015 at 14:37

Witcher 3 deserves all the credit in the world. It's an example of what videogames as a creative medium can do when great writers, directors and designers get together.

I'm waiting for all the DLC to come out before jumping in again.

agnes · 8 Dec 2015 at 16:36

eggyoke said:
Witcher 3 deserves all the credit in the world. It's an example of what videogames as a creative medium can do when great writers, directors and designers get together.

I'm waiting for all the DLC to come out before jumping in again.

As I'm currently level 20 and about two thirds of the way through the main story with a TONNE of side quests and contracts to do. I can't wait to get stuck into the DLC once it all ends.

Question, does the game just proceed to scroll the credits then that's it? Or can I continue playing on?

strumpusplunket · 8 Dec 2015 at 16:39

So what level are people finishing at? And how many ability points does that give accounting for places of power as well (I got six PoP from the first map)?

Be good to plan my build a bit better for when I can respec as I made a pig's ear of my first eight points...

agnes · 8 Dec 2015 at 17:05

strumpusplunket said:
So what level are people finishing at? And how many ability points does that give accounting for places of power as well (I got six PoP from the first map)?

Be good to plan my build a bit better for when I can respec as I made a pig's ear of my first eight points...

You can buy respec potions for 1k gold. Do that?

Dirk Diggler · 8 Dec 2015 at 17:09

agnes said:
Question, does the game just proceed to scroll the credits then that's it? Or can I continue playing on?

You can carry on at your level, start a new game, or start a new game+

agnes · 8 Dec 2015 at 17:17

String said:
You can carry on at your level, start a new game, or start a new game+

Oh, so you can't level up more? What is an acceptable level to finish on? 30?

Dirk Diggler · 8 Dec 2015 at 17:20

agnes said:
Oh, so you can't level up more? What is an acceptable level to finish on? 30?

You can level up a bit more, but it's a slow process because even the DLC gives minimal points for completing quests.

I think I finished on 36.

agnes · 8 Dec 2015 at 17:24

Well, I'm on 20, I don't mind the slow xp, as long as it's fair.

Is the DLC something that can be done at any time? I kind of want to complete the main quest then buy the DLC and play it. Or is it something to be done before completing the game.

Sorry for all the questions!

Dirk Diggler · 8 Dec 2015 at 17:27

I think the DLC is best played after completing the game. It's fantastic in its own right.

andicole0 · 8 Dec 2015 at 17:28

The first DLC as a paid add-on can be played before or after you finish the main game.

It is IMHO rather full of story and not much game.

Andi.

Idleman · 8 Dec 2015 at 17:54

agnes said:
Well, I'm on 20, I don't mind the slow xp, as long as it's fair.

Is the DLC something that can be done at any time? I kind of want to complete the main quest then buy the DLC and play it. Or is it something to be done before completing the game.

Sorry for all the questions!

First playthrough, you need to be at least level 30. NG+, you need to be about level 60. You can start a bit earlier, but it will be a lot more difficult.

strumpusplunket · 8 Dec 2015 at 18:18

agnes said:
You can buy respec potions for 1k gold. Do that?

Yeah, I was planning to respec asap. At the moment, though, a) I haven't reached the vendor that sells the potion yet and b) I don't have 1,000 Orens.

And I want to make sure I get it right next time as I won't be able to afford repeated respecs (probably, though I don't know how much money eventually becomes more abundant). So people are saying you end at about lvl30? And there are, what, 12, 15 places of power? So somewhere in the low 40s for total ability points?

mark43 · 8 Dec 2015 at 18:49

Personally I ended up with far more ability points than I ever used, so I wouldn't worry massively.

robmol · 8 Dec 2015 at 19:27

A few teaser screenshots from Blood & Wine

wow! Seriously cannot wait for this, the length of it and new area will be like a whole new game :cool:

mark43 · 8 Dec 2015 at 19:40

andicole0 said:
The first DLC as a paid add-on can be played before or after you finish the main game.

It is IMHO rather full of story and not much game.

Andi.

Although I don't quite agree, there was definitely more of that in the expansion and I think they were almost close to overdoing it. Still not too much story for me, but getting near.

Munimentum · 8 Dec 2015 at 20:13

strumpusplunket said:
Yeah, I was planning to respec asap. At the moment, though, a) I haven't reached the vendor that sells the potion yet and b) I don't have 1,000 Orens.

And I want to make sure I get it right next time as I won't be able to afford repeated respecs (probably, though I don't know how much money eventually becomes more abundant). So people are saying you end at about lvl30? And there are, what, 12, 15 places of power? So somewhere in the low 40s for total ability points?

I ended my run on about level 35 and I think I've gotten about 15 points in my NG+ so far so that means I had about 45-50 points totalish at the end of the run (estimated)

Honestly my advice is to go sign build with a side of alchemy. If you use the water hag decoction it increases your attack power by 50% at full health which should be enough to offset the lack of melee skillpoints until you can get to them at level 40+

Sign build with Griffin school techniques, and 3 blue mutagen slots give you a LOT of sign intensity and combined with medium armor (griffin armor) your stamina regen is insane so you can spam your signs. Quen to keep yourself at full health and double attack power swords plus 100% burn chance with Igni with enough Igni runes and you're unkillable. Might feel a bit cheese to people but I absolutely love it.

Later in the game you can flesh out Alchemy, specifically Mutation which increases your toxicity threshold for every formula you know and then the big one Mutation which increases mutagen bonus by 50% and potion duration by 25%.

skiersteve12345 · 8 Dec 2015 at 20:14

mark43 said:
Although I don't quite agree, there was definitely more of that in the expansion and I think they were almost close to overdoing it. Still not too much story for me, but getting near.

thought the dlc story was amazing, gaunter o dimm was awesome character and wedding was hilarious

YB2ndBEST · 8 Dec 2015 at 20:23

Munimentum said:
I ended my run on about level 35 and I think I've gotten about 15 points in my NG+ so far so that means I had about 45-50 points totalish at the end of the run (estimated)

Honestly my advice is to go sign build with a side of alchemy. If you use the water hag decoction it increases your attack power by 50% at full health which should be enough to offset the lack of melee skillpoints until you can get to them at level 40+

Sign build with Griffin school techniques, and 3 blue mutagen slots give you a LOT of sign intensity and combined with medium armor (griffin armor) your stamina regen is insane so you can spam your signs. Quen to keep yourself at full health and double attack power swords plus 100% burn chance with Igni with enough Igni runes and you're unkillable. Might feel a bit cheese to people but I absolutely love it.

Later in the game you can flesh out Alchemy, specifically Mutation which increases your toxicity threshold for every formula you know and then the big one Mutation which increases mutagen bonus by 50% and potion duration by 25%.

This is the build I'm pretty much running!

I wasn't tag teaming it with alchemy though, great to know thanks!

mark43 · 8 Dec 2015 at 22:21

skiersteve12345 said:
thought the dlc story was amazing, gaunter o dimm was awesome character and wedding was hilarious

No no, please don't get me wrong it was absolutely amazing and I loved it.

All I mean is that with a game there is a balance between how much time I want to spend watching the story, conversations etc. and doing everything else. With most games I get rather bored with long conversations but certainly not with Witcher 3. As I say, I don't think they went too far, but there was a lot more time spent on the story in the expansion and for me they'd be in danger of overdoing it if they had more.