I think part of the issue is that the game doesn't encourage preparation as much as it did in the first game, and in turn CDPRED have probably elected to make it easier to beat without preparing for every major encounter.

I loved the preparation element in the first game, playing on Hard there was a point to preparing for specific types of enemy - i.e get their Bestiary entries, then craft the appropriate oil and alongside all the stat-boosting generic potions there was also a host of unique potions that had very specific uses, Black Blood for instance.
It wasn't absolutely necessary at any point in the game, but it was incredibly satisfying to cut thorough a horde of ghouls with incredible ease thanks to you taking the time to prepare properly.

The Witcher 2 doesn't really have that element, potions and oils have been streamlined, it's mostly the duration that discouraged me from using them much, they're no longer a long term tool, the 3 minute duration of oils like Falka's Blood is a far cry from the 24 hour duration of most oils in the first game.

The challenge would have been perfect if they made the monsters\other enemies stronger than they currently are but also encouraged preparation more, perhaps a small damage boost against monsters you've read up on, and massively increase the duration of potions\oils.
Significantly lowering the vitality regen rate outside of combat could be helpful to that end as well, in the first game it was incredibly slow, encouraging use of Swallow before long skirmishes.

The contract quests show the potential that the game had in that aspect, they really feel like doing real Witcher's work, you need to know everything about a certain monster if you want to fight it effectively.
Also, for the love of fucking god, stop the potion timer during cutscenes.

Yeah that's the biggest issue ever. Though that will also stop your vitality regen during cutscene.

I also agree that monsters die way too fast.
Humans like letho with massive bunch of hp, in contrast, is unrealistic.
Golems and Bullvore = like 4-5 hits to die.
letho? 10-20 hit

Sure I did, and I know what you're trying to get at and its not going to work. ("then go play Insane!") Honestly, the only times I did die was when I was just not paying attention, oh and on the Operator. (And I missed a QTE on the dragon, but Quen wouldn't help me there would it?)

Most of the time I was just trying to coast through because Quen was a huge crutch taking the fun out of the game for me. With 7 vigor + Quen + 200 % dodge distance, I was unstoppable.

Nah, i was just telling you to concentrate on being careful if you're already confident so that you dont bore through the replaytrhough.
I would only mention insanity if that one death rule is not there.

Wait what? Do my swords just suck? The golem in chapter 3 took at least 100 hits. I dunno what a bullvore is. Letho was not 20 hit either. I was playing on normal. I think I used the silver sword 'fate' on the golem if memory serves.

Didn't take me much more for the Golems either. Dodge-roll -> backstab with hard hits and they're dead within seconds.

Golem,
just dodge till he dashes into the corner, go there and 3 strong hit backstab
do that 2 times and he's dead is my version

Btw only kind of monster i hate is gargolyes.
They appear suddenly from the sky
They explode on death
They always succeed in back stab you while your dizzy by the last explosion from its friends' corpses
And the explosion will destroy your quen even fully upgraded

They usually only die in 2 hits tho so oh well

Gargoyles are tough yes, can be stunned with ard easily. Turns them into easy kills plus they don't blow up when you cutscene kill them.

TRAPHOLE !

Uhh, it's a timed fight ... wraiths keep coming until the ritual is done.
If it's just "kill 20 wraiths" or somesuch, traps would be perfect.
As it is, I'm thinking of just stalling with Axii.

Traps are convenient
It can kill
it can also slow people down
it can even seperate an individual from their formation so that they don't jump on you from all dirrection
Merlien's beard ! it can even stun and set opponents against each other

so,
would you want to get some traps, sir?

Nah, it's too slow.
I even think the pause menu is way too slow, so I refuse to use it during combat, ever.

The very animation of setting down a trap annoys me.

If you set up before starting the quest then being slow is gonna do any harm

But if the animation annoys you then oh well
cant help you with that...

Let's just say I was one of the people responsible for the inclusion of instant cast hotkeys.

A bunch of people (myself prominent among them) complained bitterly that having to use a pause menu is what console players have to put up with due to having not enough buttons.
(After the combat mechanics demo video was released)

I was also among those who insisted that every part of every conversation, and every cutscene, is skippable.

Heck, to this day, I refuse to play Tali's loyalty mission in Mass Effect 2, due to a few bits of dialogue being unskippable.