I just finished my first play through on Hard and I was very disappointed, it was still extremely easy. At NO point in the game was I required to use potions/alchemy to win any fights, after the first act I never used another potion, bomb, or throwing knife (i never even learned the throwing knife skill) and used the odd oil. In The Witcher, the Hard setting you where REQUIRED to use potions for important battles, what gives?

Please don't tell me to play on Insane, as you need to die at least once to figure out what potions are needed for the encounter.

All in all, i LOVED the game, but here's hoping for a patch that actually makes alchemy a requirement for Hard difficulty.

You might get this feeling as the game is not paced right in terms of difficulty. Prologue is actually "Hard" and then difficulty seems to come down. I have not completed the game yet (playing it on Hard) - chapter 2. I agree with what you're saying, last couple of fights, I have hardly applied any oils or used potions. Thing is, if you fight really well (roll, use signs) you can survive most fights easily. In Hard, you do lose more health. So, game is still challenging if player fails to successfully avoid getting hit (as the damage is more).

I do not get your point "...as you need to die at least once to figure out what potions are needed for the encounter. " ... is that really so? You can learn about monsters and encounters by reading books and through conversations. You really do not need to die once to get the info!

Eh, if you find the game extremely easy on Hard and don't drink potions at all, I assume you don't die. So why not try Insane mode?

my point being that i'm disappointed that no battles take the preparation of the first game, the only enemies your even required to "learn" about are the side quests. There isn't one fight in the game that you can't win without hacking away.

Then, you are certainly a player with really good skills :). Some of the side quests' monsters are tougher, right? I particularly found it hard to fight Queen Endrega without preparations (in hard).

it is how the game is designed though :P the game world didn't change much. but geralt gets more and more powerful :P

compare when you fought letho in chap 1 and at the end of chap 3? you have gotten so powerful, he became a joke. as it should be, since by that time, geralt has recovered almost all of his memories. geralt is clearly superior since he killed a monster letho almost died to :P

Have played through on hard specializing in each path now. I didn't pick it up as fast as OP. Now that I got the hang of it, I agree with his basic premise. Hard is eminently doable without potions, oils or bombs.

Except...if you take the Alchemy path. Geralt would be severely gimped if you took that specialization and never drank! That would be a challenge indeed.

I would have been very frustrated on my first 1 1/2 runs without extra buffs. Call me a slow learner or terrible or whatever. Even now that I get it, there are still a couple fights where at least vitality regen would be pretty handy.

Otherwise, passive bonuses and mutagens do the trick.

If you wanna make potions and oils relevant to your experience, roll Alchemy. ;P

P.S. This is my new favorite game. :D

did you use any of the mods available? They make the game easier if you used the stat boost mods.

I would certainly like to see you doing that with some smooth operator! It's not the game that becomes easier. Most likely the player becomes more experienced with the game. And the beginning is not that hard at all. Just players forget to use the best weapon at that point. The fraking awesome Journal this game has, with all info including the tutorial in it and the char screen, including sub pages there with perks and monster info.

And like some suggested, you may try Insane diff. They hit harder and excessive confidence may reward you a permanent tombstone for your witcher. I'm mid Act 1 atm and I don't see me doing it without all the tools the game give me. Traps, Potions and Oils plus swords and armor enhancements which knowledge about I acquired in a full hard playthrough while experimenting with all that stuff.

P.S.: But the thrill and adrenaline of an Insane run is highly addictive. I can't bring myself to go back to Hard difficulty, even if it cost me the ultimate price. I want MOAR!

The fight against the guy that allows you to reset the skill points is impossible if you only try to attack with the sword.

Waaat. HARD WAS EASY FOR YOU. Damn... I think I died a 100 times on normal already, and Im in ACT 2. It might be due to the fact that Im still getting used to earning my wins in a battle. I love the fact that you need to strategize your fights, whereas most games just have a "click to pwn" button.

That is the point! 1 Life thing :) Ironman mode :)

Play Insane - it's the same as hard but wiht one life... it will show you a different point of view on "it's too easy".

Agree with OP. During the Prologue, I was uber-happy to be challenged and to have an actually "Hard" difficulty level - assuming that the game would "grow" with you and send you appropriate amounts of or stronger opponents. But it didn't. Real challenges become rarer the further you progress and by the time you are in chapter 2, the only thing that's really able to stop you, is one of those random "stun locks".