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The Witcher 2Just got the game...few questions(11 posts)(11 posts)
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Posted June 15, 2011
Hey everyone I just bought the witcher 2 after reading reviews that it was amazing and now that I have a computer that can run the game (some what). Mind you I never played the first witcher only looked into it. I am not even done escorting the king and have run into many problems. First of all the be it simply I suck. 1 on 1 I do fine but is there some sort of sword combos I am supposed to know because I just get surrounded and die. Also, there seems to be no story line at all I am just dropped in and expected to know what is going on as well as what spells are how inventory works, traps work etc. Is there a tutorial that comes soon besides just left and right click to kill?
Basically I'm asking how to get better at fighting and when does the story actually come together for those of us that never played the first game. thanks all!
Posted June 15, 2011
The "tutorial" is pretty much nonexistent.
On the flipside, you get access to all your abilities from the start.

Try not to get surrounded.
Use the Quen sign to put up damage immunity (it depletes over time or when you get hit), and hit and run tactics .. i.e. take one guy out and retreat.

This way of doing things is pretty much enough to get you through the whole game.
Of course, there are advanced techniques (all of them more risky), but you have time to figure them out at your leisure.
Posted June 15, 2011
Witcher is very weak at the start. You will die lots as there is somewhat of a learning curve.

Main thing I can tell you is use hit and run tactics. Don't trade blows as one crit by a NPC will drop your health fast. Most battles in the prologue if I recall are vs Humans. Ignore the guys carrying the shield. Focus the other toons down first.

Like I said you are gonna die early and often so just save often and don't get frustrated. By the end of Chapter 1 going into 2 you will start to get a feel of the Witchers power
Posted June 15, 2011
The prologue is rather unforgiving.

As for fighting, well you can run away / roll away from the enemies. You have a couple of signs(spells) like Yrden, Quen and Aard that are rather useful. So the tactic against a group is something like this:

1. don't get surrounded.
2. put an yrden trap on the ground and when an enemy walks into it then jump in and slash him with the sword 2-3 times then roll away. don't try to finish him off that will get you surrounded.
3. run away wait for vigor to regenerate back to 2.
4. if one guy is separated from the pack then hit him with Aard and while he is stumbled finish him off with the sword. don't use Aard when there are more than 1 enemies near you as the others will start hitting you with swords and you won't be able to do anything.
5. put up Quen and roll closer to the pack and hit 1 of them 1-2 times, roll away.
6. if Quen is still active then you can repeat step 5. vigor doesn't regenerate while it is active though so you can't use any other signs, running out of vigor during combat is a bad idea.
7. if you are about to get hit and you have the option of blocking / rolling away then always choose rolling as it doesn't eat vigor. blocking is utterly useless at this stage in the game. IMHO it doesn't become any more useful later on but then I have seen some cool youtube vids where it is actually effective so YMMV.
Posted June 15, 2011
A brand new player may not know that the Ctrl button lets them access the signs like Quen , Aard, Igni, etc. or that the space bar lets them roll away. ( Sorry, no clue what the buttons are on a controller if you are using one)
They may not know that the journal contains all the information about playing, presented in an icon- list system.
If you have the 1.2 patch, you may want to look at the enhancements tab and find the blade oils/ whetstones under the inventory (I) . These can help a bit too.

The other guys are right. The prologue is harder than it seems it should be, but the next chapter is far better paced for reading and learning the witcher's style of combat. Good Luck!

edit: forgot to mention: at the prologue, you are best off answering the interrogation questions from top to bottom. They follow the 'day' in order that way and you don't get stuck killing things in a weird order.
Post edited June 15, 2011 by cooper
Posted June 15, 2011
Hit 'J' and read through the entries in the journal, particularly the sections on the tutorial, locations, and people.

Keep moving; you're not a heavily armored knight, so don't even try to fight like one. You're not even using a shield. Use the fact that you're faster and more mobile than almost anything else in the game, exceptions being enemies who fly or teleport. Run around, roll around, don't get mobbed.


Learn your signs.

Quen, used for temporarily shielding yourself. Note that while it shows a time limit, getting hit reduces that limit. In the beginning, it doesn't take many hits to drop your Quen, so don't cast it and think yourself invincible...

Yrden, for trapping an enemy temporarily. Useful for when you want to run away, or to separate one enemy from others.

Axii, your mind control spell; you need to *hold down* the casting key until it works. The target will be blocked while you're casting, but others will be free to hit you...

Aard, pushes somebody back, but until it's upgraded does not directly do damage. You can Aard people into falling distances that will kill them, however.

Igni, initially your only sign that directly deals damage.
Posted June 15, 2011
Magic signs are also cast with "Q". Quen was already mentioned: it's a good shield since you are playing a no armor/light armor kind of character. (He's a monster hunter by profession; he goes in for speed and flexibility.) You can also try Aard: it's a knockback spell. Toss one guy back, fight another, toss the other guy back again, finish the first guy off, etc.Geralt is not a tank-style fighter. "E" for blocking is also useful. Space or doubletap directional keys for rolling and dodging. People compare TW2 to Demon's Souls sometimes, but it's not really that extreme. Still, it might help to think in those terms when you think about fighting. It takes a little more time and attention than basic button-mashers.

As far as the story goes, it's very involved. Pay close attention if you want to follow events. No hand-holding; the game assumes that you're a grown-up with a brain. It's great, but it's for someone who's interested in reading the in-game journal and books and willing to talk to NPCs. You'll also want to keep an eye on what people do and how they behave over time, not just what they say since questions of loyalty as well as basic morality will come up. There are benefits to knowing the first game and the book series, but you can still manage. I hope you like hardcore character roleplaying, though. TW2 isn't just a stat sheet and some flashy spell effects.

Best of luck. Check out TW1 if you really fall in love with the material. From the original book series, The Last Wish and Blood of Elves are out in English. The Witcher wiki is also great for background info if you don't mind potential spoilers: witcher.wikia.com
Posted June 16, 2011
All the above advice is good, cannot stress enough to read the manual and the tutorial entries in your journal. All the info you need to play the game is there. What you need to do is practice and get a feel for the mechanics.

In the Prologue it is not just about learning to use swords and signs, you must also learn to use whatever potions, blade oils, traps and bombs that you have. These will make a big difference between surviving a fight or having to re-load your game.
Posted June 16, 2011
Save maybe 2 boss fights, you can literally Quen and hack and slash your way through the game, if you desire.
Posted June 16, 2011
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dlong7: 1 on 1 I do fine but is there some sort of sword combos I am supposed to know because I just get surrounded and die.
Like others have said: don't get surrounded and die. You will die if you get surrounded. The main 'combo' to prevent this is: space + hold w; it makes you dodge (roll) away, and then run away. This gets you out of the crowd. Do this often.

Furthermore, learn to use all the signs. Ctrl shows you the sign screen (while slowing down the game to a crawl, but it doesn't pause completely!). Quen is by far the easiest at the start, arguably overpowered, but the variation that the other signs bring is definitely worth it.

Also, there seems to be no story line at all I am just dropped in and expected to know what is going on
You're in the prologue, which means your story hasn't really started yet. You're caught up in order people's events (which the king and others will gladly explain). Your story will become clear enough as you continue.

In the mean time, you need to learn that bloody hard combat system.
as well as what spells are how inventory works, traps work etc. Is there a tutorial that comes soon besides just left and right click to kill?
There's no tutorial. That is by far the biggest shortcoming of The Witcher 2; it pushes you into the deep end of the pool, and expects you to be able to learn to swim by drowning a lot. Though some people (like me) appreciate its lack of handholding.
Basically I'm asking how to get better at fighting and when does the story actually come together for those of us that never played the first game. thanks all!
Getting better at fighting is mostly a matter of trying and trying and trying. Save a lot, and try different variations of attacks, dodge, block, signs and potions. That's how you learn.

The story will come together over the course of the entire game. The Prologue sets up the start of the story, but each chapter is bound to turn it upside down a couple of times. I'm only in Chapter 1 yet, so I have no idea what twists I'll encounter, but I do know that The Witcher 1 has lots of plot twists, and what seemed to be the core of the story at the start, turned out to be only one thread among many, and what seemed like an unimportant detail at the start turned out to be of central importance. It's not a simple linear story where you get told at the start what it's about, and the game is just a series of obstacles to overcome to reach that goal. The goal will change, and you get to make some of the choices in what those changes are. You're in for a rollercoaster ride. (If TW2 is anything like TW2, that is, but I trust it is.)
Posted June 16, 2011
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mcv: The story will come together over the course of the entire game. The Prologue sets up the start of the story, but each chapter is bound to turn it upside down a couple of times. I'm only in Chapter 1 yet, so I have no idea what twists I'll encounter, but I do know that The Witcher 1 has lots of plot twists, and what seemed to be the core of the story at the start, turned out to be only one thread among many, and what seemed like an unimportant detail at the start turned out to be of central importance. It's not a simple linear story where you get told at the start what it's about, and the game is just a series of obstacles to overcome to reach that goal. The goal will change, and you get to make some of the choices in what those changes are. You're in for a rollercoaster ride. (If TW2 is anything like TW2, that is, but I trust it is.)
Oh man, this is so well put. But yeah it's exactly like you say, 1 thread among many. It takes 2 playthrus and making different decisions to even get to know what all these threads are. Geralt can influence the outcome in some cases but not all. This is the strength of both games, this gameworld is not waiting for the hero to come and save everything. The people here can manage on their own but the decisions they make are more than often not the kind that you as the player would make. But you just cannot be everywhere at once. ;)
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The Witcher 2Just got the game...few questions(11 posts)(11 posts)
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