LogFAQs > #884322936

For your first run though, I would mostly ignore the alchemy tree. Magic and combat trees are what you'll probably want to focus. You can get into come really advanced builds on NG+ that utilize alchemy more, but that's the type of thing you save for later. Quen is your best friend, and Axii secondary effect (the mind control one for story) is cool to have. You can always respec, but it ain't cheap.

I recommend at least playing withcer 2 before 3, but no, it's not necessary. It's just kind of like...you won't really feel a lot of the draw that this game presents to people who are even a little intimate with the source material. It's kind of impossible for me to even guess how someone who doesn't know the characters or world would process what happens, since my only experience with the game is from the standpoint that I understand what's happening.