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True, but the sorcerer-smith only sold me 4 pieces of silver ore and I needed 12 more. And I didn't think about meditation... doesn't matter as I have finished my playthrough by now, and I am not playing another soon enough -at least until I don't get a better PC, but that doesn't fits my agenda right now-
Oddly, the silver respawned when I bought a bunch for the first silver sword, but when I went back to craft Zeriktainment it stopped restocking. /shrug. For a pure mage Zerrik is superfluous anyways, same sign damage as the other Ch3 craftable.

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uanime5: Igni is the best spell you can get as it does a lot of damage, is ranged so you don't need good armour, enemies that are on fire can't attack you, and it's very effective against groups. I used it to beat Letho without taking any damage.
Yeah Igni is even better against groups. The vid does show the build in a good spot, ranged attacking an enemy that can't move into melee range of you easily, but it's even stronger in other parts of the game.

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shivnz: what was wrong with just leaving the sound untouched. its poor form to switch audio out for music, but to use THIS music... ugh... muted.


also... purely just spamming igni... not what i expected to be honest :(
My game runs at like 12 FPS with FRAPS, no sound recording to squeeze every bit of performance out of it :)

As for Igni spam, I could maybe have shaved a second or two off the time by getting in a couple sword hits during Vigor recharge, but with this build your swords do such comparatively crap damage it probably wouldn't matter.
Not trying to flame here..seriously. =)

But,i just wanted to ask..whats the major achievement in this kill video? Is it the perfect balancing of a mage build combined with gear?

Ive always played a sword build in both W1 and W2 so i just get the feeling im missing something due to ignorance. Its certainly impressive to burn that dragon down so quickly..but whats so special about it in a way that it couldnt be easily done by another player?

Just wondering =) Again,not trying to flame or belittle the OP. Im reasonable and honestly curious.
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Seren: Not trying to flame here..seriously. =)

But,i just wanted to ask..whats the major achievement in this kill video? Is it the perfect balancing of a mage build combined with gear?

Ive always played a sword build in both W1 and W2 so i just get the feeling im missing something due to ignorance. Its certainly impressive to burn that dragon down so quickly..but whats so special about it in a way that it couldnt be easily done by another player?

Just wondering =) Again,not trying to flame or belittle the OP. Im reasonable and honestly curious.
It shows a very optimized/powerful mage build, especially in the face of claims that only those specializing in swordsmanship can finish the game easily. And that I think is the main achievement, which requires some careful planning.

Yes, it can be done by other players if you follow his build, but prior to this video, a build with such high damage output per second is unprecedented.
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Seren: Not trying to flame here..seriously. =)

But,i just wanted to ask..whats the major achievement in this kill video? Is it the perfect balancing of a mage build combined with gear?

Ive always played a sword build in both W1 and W2 so i just get the feeling im missing something due to ignorance. Its certainly impressive to burn that dragon down so quickly..but whats so special about it in a way that it couldnt be easily done by another player?

Just wondering =) Again,not trying to flame or belittle the OP. Im reasonable and honestly curious.
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vAddicatedGamer: It shows a very optimized/powerful mage build, especially in the face of claims that only those specializing in swordsmanship can finish the game easily. And that I think is the main achievement, which requires some careful planning.

Yes, it can be done by other players if you follow his build, but prior to this video, a build with such high damage output per second is unprecedented.
Thanks for explaining that =) So basically its a high-dps nuke build video.

Have to say though,i dont see how a sword build could be considered an easier way to defeat that boss. Thats just my opinion though..ive not played a mage build before so i dont know what its like. To me,spending a few minutes tactically dodging and stabbing at opportune moments is more difficult then constantly nuking at range.

Having said all that though,the combat is hopelessly unbalanced anyways..untalented Quen is an IWIN button. As are bombs if used right.

Either way,thanks for clearing that up for me mate =)
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shivnz: what was wrong with just leaving the sound untouched. its poor form to switch audio out for music, but to use THIS music... ugh... muted.


also... purely just spamming igni... not what i expected to be honest :(
You do realize that the video is meant for button awesome folks that complain the game too hard even on easy right? :P
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vAddicatedGamer: It shows a very optimized/powerful mage build, especially in the face of claims that only those specializing in swordsmanship can finish the game easily. And that I think is the main achievement, which requires some careful planning.

Yes, it can be done by other players if you follow his build, but prior to this video, a build with such high damage output per second is unprecedented.
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Seren: Thanks for explaining that =) So basically its a high-dps nuke build video.

Have to say though,i dont see how a sword build could be considered an easier way to defeat that boss. Thats just my opinion though..ive not played a mage build before so i dont know what its like. To me,spending a few minutes tactically dodging and stabbing at opportune moments is more difficult then constantly nuking at range.

Having said all that though,the combat is hopelessly unbalanced anyways..untalented Quen is an IWIN button. As are bombs if used right.

Either way,thanks for clearing that up for me mate =)
That was what I am trying to say. Prior to this video, almost all the videos on Youtube showed people fighting the dragon with sword or with specialization in swordsmanship tree, leading some to believe that swordsmanship is the way.

Not sure if Quen is the "I Win" button, at least on Hard. The dragon can break Quen in one hit and Letho can also break Quen with a single Igni.
Yeah, the point wasn't "I'm awesome" but more "mage build is awesome" :)

There was in fact a thread with a guy claiming that you could not beat the last boss if you were not Sword specced, and I made the "30s seconds" claim there, but since nobody seemed to believe me I felt I needed to back it up with a video.

Also I've seen lots of other people around the web whining like "only way to play the game is spam Quen and go Swords", so I hoped this would be a dramatic enough demonstration of Mages to get attention. I don't know about relative Act1 power though, quen/swords is probably faster there (slow Vigor regen, low Vigor, Igni only hits for 40-50 and no AoE). Igni kiting with some swords use is still very safe/effective, but just takes a while in Act1.

Anyways, crushing the Operator might have been a more effective showing of power, but "Dragon in 30 seconds" is a catchy title IMO, plus doing Operator at 12 FPS makes me afraid :/
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aimlessgun: Yeah, the point wasn't "I'm awesome" but more "mage build is awesome" :)

There was in fact a thread with a guy claiming that you could not beat the last boss if you were not Sword specced, and I made the "30s seconds" claim there, but since nobody seemed to believe me I felt I needed to back it up with a video.

Also I've seen lots of other people around the web whining like "only way to play the game is spam Quen and go Swords", so I hoped this would be a dramatic enough demonstration of Mages to get attention. I don't know about relative Act1 power though, quen/swords is probably faster there (slow Vigor regen, low Vigor, Igni only hits for 40-50 and no AoE). Igni kiting with some swords use is still very safe/effective, but just takes a while in Act1.

Anyways, crushing the Operator might have been a more effective showing of power, but "Dragon in 30 seconds" is a catchy title IMO, plus doing Operator at 12 FPS makes me afraid :/
I have seen Heliotrope in action against the Operator and I must say it sure makes the fight much safer. But with your crazy ass Igni you probably don't even need that.
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Seren: Thanks for explaining that =) So basically its a high-dps nuke build video.

Have to say though,i dont see how a sword build could be considered an easier way to defeat that boss. Thats just my opinion though..ive not played a mage build before so i dont know what its like. To me,spending a few minutes tactically dodging and stabbing at opportune moments is more difficult then constantly nuking at range.

Having said all that though,the combat is hopelessly unbalanced anyways..untalented Quen is an IWIN button. As are bombs if used right.

Either way,thanks for clearing that up for me mate =)
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vAddicatedGamer: That was what I am trying to say. Prior to this video, almost all the videos on Youtube showed people fighting the dragon with sword or with specialization in swordsmanship tree, leading some to believe that swordsmanship is the way.

Not sure if Quen is the "I Win" button, at least on Hard. The dragon can break Quen in one hit and Letho can also break Quen with a single Igni.
Ah,i understand mate =)

As for the Quen = IWIN button,sure the dragon can break Quen in one hit..but its possible to put it right back up again,effectively making it a never ending shield =) also,it protects from incineration effects if you have it up or put it up after getting caught in the fire.

Basically,its an easily exploitable ability,paritcularly in that dragon fight. Personally im using a combat mod right now that has reduced its active timer to 5seconds,which makes things more interesting =)
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vAddicatedGamer: I have seen Heliotrope in action against the Operator and I must say it sure makes the fight much safer. But with your crazy ass Igni you probably don't even need that.
It's not entirely clear that fire should work well against (stone) gargoyles. Of course, it's even less clear that it should work against a fire-breathing dragon, so...
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Seren: As for the Quen = IWIN button,sure the dragon can break Quen in one hit..but its possible to put it right back up again,effectively making it a never ending shield =) also,it protects from incineration effects if you have it up or put it up after getting caught in the fire.

Basically,its an easily exploitable ability,paritcularly in that dragon fight. Personally im using a combat mod right now that has reduced its active timer to 5seconds,which makes things more interesting =)
Well if you don't have some dodging skill though your vigor would deplete pretty fast given that Vigor do not regenerate when Quen is active. I do admit having to rely on Quen though because the dragon is capable of 1- or 2-hitting me on Hard.
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Seren: As for the Quen = IWIN button,sure the dragon can break Quen in one hit..but its possible to put it right back up again,effectively making it a never ending shield =) also,it protects from incineration effects if you have it up or put it up after getting caught in the fire.
But Quen up -> no vigor recovery, which means you run out of spells much faster. This may be completely acceptable for some builds (mage/swordsman, notably), but is somewhat harder to justify for a pure mage.
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Seren: As for the Quen = IWIN button,sure the dragon can break Quen in one hit..but its possible to put it right back up again,effectively making it a never ending shield =) also,it protects from incineration effects if you have it up or put it up after getting caught in the fire.

Basically,its an easily exploitable ability,paritcularly in that dragon fight. Personally im using a combat mod right now that has reduced its active timer to 5seconds,which makes things more interesting =)
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vAddicatedGamer: Well if you don't have some dodging skill though your vigor would deplete pretty fast given that Vigor do not regenerate when Quen is active. I do admit having to rely on Quen though because the dragon is capable of 1- or 2-hitting me on Hard.
True enough,but if one has mastered dodging in combat then that dragon fight combined with Quen is essentially God mode.. =) Quen basically covers up any mistake you might make with timing.

For instance,that Dragon has differant behaviours for attacking..if its using the physical attack mode with its claws or mouth..pop quen and slowly attack+dodge attack+dodge etc if it hits you and cancels quen..dodge until you can cast it again and repeat =)

After that all you have to worry about is the flame attack with Incineration debuff..which Quen cancels perfectly,the tail attack mode..which is easily dodgeable..and then finally the "swooping" mode,which is also easily dodgeable.

Vanilla unmodded Quen really is an IWIN button imo,because its easily exploited and totally unbalanced even in its basic tier 1 form^^
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Seren: True enough,but if one has mastered dodging in combat then that dragon fight combined with Quen is essentially God mode.. =) Quen basically covers up any mistake you might make with timing.

For instance,that Dragon has differant behaviours for attacking..if its using the physical attack mode with its claws or mouth..pop quen and slowly attack+dodge attack+dodge etc if it hits you and cancels quen..dodge until you can cast it again and repeat =)

After that all you have to worry about is the flame attack with Incineration debuff..which Quen cancels perfectly,the tail attack mode..which is easily dodgeable..and then finally the "swooping" mode,which is also easily dodgeable.

Vanilla unmodded Quen really is an IWIN button imo,because its easily exploited and totally unbalanced even in its basic tier 1 form^^
I agree with your points. But to do all these, you have to be good at dodging, and you have to study the dragon's pattern and learn the proper timing. Plus Geralt's attack can be a little unpredictable (sometimes it is a simple plunge attack, sometimes it involves lengthy acrobatics, and sometimes he just swings at nothing) which can screw you over. So Quen alone is not enough to carry you through the fight, which is how I define "IWIN". You probably have a different definition for IWIN though.
Post edited June 22, 2011 by vAddicatedGamer