can you imagine fighting the kayran fight blind and on insane??? I can't wait to watch that on the YouTube guy. he is insane!

** Some Spoiler below : stop now if you don't want to be spoiled **

I personal concur with OP on the issue of dissatisfying boss fight design given that it is a very compelling and incredible game (so we set the bar higher here); especially I also agree the Kayran fight was like - oh boy here's the boss of ACT 1 - too much expectation but once you've done it - that's it? or what the...how the hell do i beat this thing?! We have full of threads on the gripes of the fight, I'd like to share something in my mind a suggestion that personally for me and maybe for some too, not for all, just can make the Kayran fight better. And for the very low probability this will be read and for the high probability this is already thought of, still I want to blurt this out.

Kayran fight suggestion:
- what we've got: Kayran trap that can be completed in a quest, a poison shield also from a quest, a sorceress helping us, a book about Kayran that can be bought, our friends: Melee (Vouche), Mage (Triss), so we make Zoltan range

Suggestions.....
a) Improve the phases in that fight to make it more satisfying and clearly define the phases
sample Phases:
a.1) Lure - luring the Kayran from a lair to the fighting area you decide when you place the trap
a.2) Trap - trapping the Kayran either with SIle or using the Kyran Trap
a.3) Fight 1: Weakening - first fight that, if brought to a certain life triggers the scene and puts the phase to a.4
a.4) FIght 2: Killing - finally killing the Kayran

b) Put in decision trees involved in the Boss Fight
sample:
b.1) Decisions involved in phases:
Lure - how will you lure it? ah... you read the book approach? you use brute force approach go in and use ard, run, etc.either by yourself or use a companion? Where will you trap it - say you have that river going all the way down to where it is the game, we can put some tactical help there depending you want it to fight range, melee, depending on companions
Trap - you use the Kayran trap if you have it? you ask the sorceress to trap it by telling her where to (so you have to lure the Kayran and kite to). Or you don't trap it and go to Fight 1 phase but the Kayran comes out stronger and has a possible consequence to bring down one of your companions
Companion decisions - pre quest, you approach your friends - help me on the fight (bring one) or none. (ie just you and Sile, or you, Sile, Vouche or you, Sile, Triss (Grumpily if you can convince), or you, Sile and Zoltan, etc.

Other decision points
- in Fight 1: it takes you too long to bring it to a certain level, Sile won't be able to hold it any longer, suggest what you do (you put on the Kayran trap and say let's lead it there)..or the boss fight punishes you by strucking a companion, you decide to continue or exit (try again. Some boss fight should not be linear - meaning you can exit and fight again. This may go tradition but Witcher 2 broke lots of ground who says we can't do this.

- in Fight 1: say your companion is hurt and you have a choice go and save him/her and ask Sile to distract and let the kayran go from the trap. Consequence: Sile agrees but gets mad won't help you next time. You managed to hurt the Kayran so it's still possible to kill it at its lair by your own or with another companion. You decide to proceed with the fight (Sile urges you) and you defeat the Kayran, end of boss fight. Companion is hurt and opens up another quest line. This decision point happens if you have the fight too long caused by too little damage due to level or no preparation, etc.

- in Fight 2: using the fallen pillar to finish it off should just be one option (one of your companion shouts - "Climb the pillar and bomb it..hurry!..." (Bomb what bomb? of course if you read the book and prepared it in advance...but in the game just happens you have that (sigh) Sile says - "No...distract it give me time I can call on a powerful spell..you distract and hold it off... and you both kill it. Or if you fail, you go to the pillar and bomb it. Or too late, we have to go then you go to the fight again by your own but you have wounded it.

c) put in exit scenario in the fight
Sure fights like Letho where you can't run is understandable but for fights like Kayran, a mix of a boss fight where at first you are clueless, then you should be able to run and fight again another day but with consequence (such as above). This is for those who rush or accidentally got themselves to boss fight but not ready yet. We don't want the boss fight to be blockers and end up with, some that may feel ..I sort of cheated to get out of that scene or... I lowered the difficulty... or I went to YouTube - well you get what I mean.

d) One boss, One Kill. Many ways to do it.

- put more subtle boss-fight winning strategies clues in the game but still the it is up to the player how to tactically use them and with a choice to use them or not. Or hey, I got uber gear, I'm uber level, I'll use brute force. Still that's one way. It also allows different players a chance at least to get more clues and for enhancement to build up a sense - it's a BOSS FIGHT, I have to be ready and invest on knowledge. Like doing more quests brings more info or like if you are the friend of certain faction they can advise you differently. Or you are an explorer you found its lair in advance through exploring you notice that it is sick and a clue to where you can hit the tentacles. Or if you brought Triss along she observes a weakness - Go for the soft spot on the tentacles. Or you bought Minsc and he shouts "Go for the eyes Geralt! Go for the eyes!!! " you go for the eyes...


In short for satisfying Boss fight aside from obvious case like Letho, or the Operator (which was optional), one can hope for a variation that involves below in the Boss Fight Design:

a) Phases Clearly Communicated to the player and that GOES UP (not down) in challenge per phase (very difficult fight but very simple QTE then computer takes over the kill = unsatisfying for me.) (one sample final Dragon fight, running the stairs up was one phase - it's clear. In Kayran, after the tentacles, whether you get to ride one or not, was not clear but depending on quite some factors. Then to go up that pillar or not, again not clear since you don't know even that you can bomb it...

b) Decision Trees can be integrated before, during and after the fight as well as "One Kill but Multiple Ways to do it" can provide higher satisfaction to wider audience.

c) Put more clues to educate but not directly spoonfed the player as well as build up the tension towards the fight and allow those who fail, to try to seek them. (I carried my Kayran quest trap towards the end of the game - can't dispose of it, tried verrrry hard to get it but found I can win w/o using it since it took a while to figure out where to use it - I actually placed it in my quick slot for usual trap.) Again it's not about Easy or Hard to beat, it's a feeling of satisfaction and sense of immersion towards a crucial point of story; given the quality expectation one has of what Witcher 2 did bring to the RPG genre games.

Anyway just my two cents. I'm sure with such passionate gaming crowd, rants, criticisms (positive, negative, neutral...) all lead to a better game and if we have more of that coupled with some suggestions here and there... well I'm sure we'll end up with a more incredible TW3.
You still here? wow - thanks for reading. Just wanted to let that off my chest. Enjoy the game. :)

Have to agree, boss fights are one of the things in this game I'm really not enjoying. The last boss fight is making me so angry I'm considering not bothering to try it again. This means I won't get to see the ending but I don't know if it's worth the aggravation.

If anything the bosses fight in this game are too easy. When compared to games like DMC and Ninja Gaiden they're pretty pathetic.. And I believe that stats should be a supporting factor, not a deciding factor when it come to fighting, see Deus ex.

Well... The thing is, dying all the time kills the immersion, as well as waltzing trough everything. Therefore, difficulty spikes are evil

The Kayran was easy, not that there was much strategy to it, just figuring out the one way to defeat it.

Letho on the other hand was fun, because that's what fighting with a real Witcher PC player would be like, spamming Quen and and constantly using signs.

That is just so lol. Not that difficult provided you are prepared to die and reload enough times.

This is supposed to be an RPG not sodding Lemmings or other fail till you figure out how to do this level type game.

Boss fights were probably the worst part of the game. I just beat it on hard and Letho was probably the best one tbh. Required a little bit of everything, no quick times. Kayran was bad in both combat and area design. A little obscure area to get up on the fallen rock way off to the side in a place that doesn't look like it's in the game area. I'm not going to run over to what looks like the edge of the area when flying rocks can occasionally stun lock me to death. Demon commander was boring, felt like some lame WoW boss. Aard spam and the rest of the time you're running away. Fighting the dragon in the tower was utterly retarded; camera angle didn't work for shit. On top of the tower it was doing the same thing over and over for so much health, keep shields up and dodge then hit. Not hard but tedious, thank god there was a save before the QTE.

Loved the rest of the game anyways.

Hope the Witcher 3 make the boss fight harder and have multiple ways to beat them. For example MGS 3 bosses. All of them have multiple ways to beat them like the Sniper boss.

I'm using this thread to ask for advice on the boss that appears at the end of chapter 2 in the cursed battlefield. I'm having TOO much trouble beating him... any tips?

Run around and attack his back when he charges and gets stuck for 1-2 seconds. Don't bother attacking otherwise.
Be aware of where the catapults and arrows are landing, I took cover behind the rock in middle of the fight. Not sure if that actually blocked the arrows.
Keep Quen on if you need to.

Ok rancidstick, i'll try that way. Thanks man!

Or just do what I did shield and sliver throwing knives and you have a dead boss in no time

Thank you very much indeed for kind help!! Appreciated especially since it was not exactly one or two characters to type out all that. :) But I suspect I shall not be the only one to read it with great interest.

I did not have the trap, but... I suppose it'll be now a trek back to town, and accepting that there is nothing like nice hardware to help out in a fight.

I do like when games are not simplistic, but when there is only way to go about a fight - that is something I don't particularly like when it's about timing, timing, and right buttons.