Current Events > Gonna start Witcher 3 tomorrow night. Any tips or advice?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've had the game for a while but haven't gotten around to playing it since I bought a bunch of games on sale when I first got my new computer. I play mostly at work, so Witcher 3 was kind of put on the back burner since it's not very conducive to pausing every 20 minutes when customers walking in, and getting a customer in the middle of a NON-PAUSABLE CUT-SCENE (seriously, this needs to fucking stop being a thing in modern gaming...) means my story would be pretty much ruined.

But I've run through most of the other stuff now, and tomorrow night is my night off. So I figured it was about time to pick it up and get started. I haven't played either of the first 2 Witcher games, but I'm told it's not that big of a deal and pretty easy to pick up who's who and what's going on without them.

So any tips/advice for a first-time player? Recommended character builds or the like? Advice for combat? I've heard the general suggestion for combat is "dodge monsters, parry humans"...sound right?

No spoilers, obviously.
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lockhimup
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Don't worry about getting every question mark on the map. You'll burn yourself out.
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Evade -> Slash
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Buy the books and previous games. I'm dead serious you won't regret it
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Grind.
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It's the hardest at the start so if you die a bunch don't despair too much.

Make sure to study the beastiary for boss fights and any enemy that gives you trouble

Change movement controls to alternate asap

Take advantage of dodge more than roll
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Abuse signs like crazy. AXII is a lifesaver when you get ganged up on and has lots of usefulness in dialogue, especially early on, so boost that one right away. (Just be sure not to use AXII in conversations with more than one person; it only affects one person at a time and the other person will call you out on it)

Also, even if it seems dumb at first, it's really useful to have a good Gwent deck by mid-game. Buy play every innkeeper you come across, because each of them gives you a good card when you win the first time, and buy up all the good cards you can from them that match your deck type. You'll start with a Northern Realms deck at first, and I never saw any need to switch from that. Every time you add in a new unit card, switch out a worse one (Poor Fucking Infantry, Zoltan, etc)
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Aristoph posted...

I haven't played either of the first 2 Witcher games, but I'm told it's not that big of a deal and pretty easy to pick up who's who and what's going on without them.

They ruined W3 for me I think

W1 hasn't aged well but despite being such a slog it compelled me to finish it because it's very engrossing

W2 is a straight-up great game, it's the least open of the three and the shortest but what it does, it does well, and Roche path is amazing (the other path is too low-stakes/low-drama and "happy" imo and the progression is less natural). It literally has superior combat to Witcher 3

W3 is poorly paced IMO, especially after witnessing W2. I have yet to finish it or even find Ciri
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Pick 2 main branches to level. You can grab 1 or 2 from the 2 branches but a focused build will benefit you especially early on
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I reccomend focusing your build on light attacks. Also DO search all the question marks in Velen/Novigrad. Do every side quest because many of them lead to really cool stuff. I also reccomend putting points into Axii so you get more dialogue options. Play the game however you want but being less selfish and merciful often gives you more experience. Gold is super easy to come by so don't worry about that. Also track down Witcher school gear and stick with one of their armor sets so you can upgrade it. Also when you get to Skellige you can ignore the question marks in the ocean. It's pretty much all vendor trash.
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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.

I completely disagree- alchemy is by far the best tree.

It takes a bit more reading but it's nothing too difficult to master.

Best build is combat and alchemy (red and green). The signs are fine at base level and most alternate versions (which are obtained through perks) are pointless.
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salandrews posted...

I completely disagree- alchemy is by far the best tree.

It takes a bit more reading but it's nothing too difficult to master.

Best build is combat and alchemy (red and green). The signs are fine at base level and most alternate versions (which are obtained through perks) are pointless.

Alchemy is only the best tree because of how well it works with the other trees, and to that end you really have to be a high level to get anything great out of it. This is the first playthrough and he won't really have the levels to make use of the tree for 99% of the game if at all, at least not to the same extent that the other trees benefit immediately from the points.

Also I doubt tc is playing on death march so the points in signs do have really significant benefit, especially with quen.

If you're on PC download HD Reworked Project. Game looks so much better. Also lighting mods do help.

Hold the fuck up

Magic is, in fact, the best tree. You get the shield, the wind, and the trap, and you've won the game.

Use gear and mutations that make your signs regen quickly, because if you can make your signs spammable, the game is a complete joke on Death March. Quen gives room for mistakes or unfamiliar attacks, the trap is needed against some annoying enemy types, and the wind gives a high chance of knocking enemies down letting you instantly kill them with X and be invincible while doing it. Otherwise you can just spam X and do alright, the sword combat has little depth. If an enemy can't be felled by wind magic, that's why you have the fire magic, because it has a high chance of causing a burning effect that damages based on Max health so it's always really strong, and it stops them from moving while burning.

Magic is just downright broken. You don't even need alt signs. Plus you can also meme on people in dialogue if you invest in delusion.
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Quen is babbys first sign.

Its all about that aard knockdown
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I feel like Igni is a better general purpose sign than aard, since it works on more enemy types and burning does a shit ton of safe damage.

quen roll slash


follow the red line
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Nostalgic posted...

If you're on PC download HD Reworked Project. Game looks so much better. Also lighting mods do help.

Just installed that mod, pretty gorgeous, only 500mb too, crazy.
What is your recommended lighting mod?
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Yeah, I'm playing on PC. I'll definitely have to look into that HD mod. Any other suggested mods?
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Either Wiedzmin Lighting Mod or Super Turbo Lighting Mod.

Use Axi.

Win the game.
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Dump all your points into Igni
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