KnThrak: Is that actually possible? I thought the level-cap was picked precisely so you cannot learn 2 ultimates.

ancientgamer: It's possible to acquire both the magic power move (enemies slow down) and the group finisher move from the sword skill tree - just be careful where you spend skill points instead of just plinking them down willy-nilly.

In general, once you have both skills, a full adrenaline bar, and at least one enemy within sword range, activating your adrenaline moves will first kill off up to three enemies, then activate the slow-mo sphere.

The combat mechanics among groups are downright annoying, and I'm happy I accidentally ended up focussing on adrenaline generation and the magic/sword tree end skills, as the Signs are all greatly reduced in utility in groups of NPC and the enemies will insta-flip to face you even when being attacked by multiple friendly NPCs.

Without the ability to take out a healthy number of foes at a fairly steady pace (on Normal difficulty, with a few +5% adrenaline mutagens, I found I was generally able to chain the slow-mo effect so that just as the previous effect was wearing off, I had a full adrenaline bar again), group combat would be a completely frustrating mess. Friends block your signs, the autotargetting swiches around wildly, and getting surrounded by enemies and/or friends means almost certain death. Couple this with long chains of "dramatic" fight sequences where saving is not allowed, and I can easily see players quitting out of sheer frustration.

I'm glad I bought The Witcher 2, and I hope those involved make bank - but I also hope they'll re-examine the collossal screwups made with TW2, particularly those issues which TW1 had handled just fine. If TW3 ignores such issues or makes them worse, I won't be buying TW4. :P

ancientgamer: There are in-combat vitality regeneration skills, but I found them to be near-useless. Basically, take note of how long it takes to regenerate health just standing still out of combat, then realize that your in-combat regen will be a small fraction of that rate. Finding tactics that help you avoid getting hit in the first place is the better plan.

Making the best use of signs is the way to go, even if it amounts to dodge-roll spam and sniping with Aard until you get a stun so you can one-hit kill an enemy. Quen is so useful it should be overpowered, and I'm happy I didn't discover it until it really became necessary later on in Chapter 3.

ancientgamer: I'm glad I bought The Witcher 2, and I hope those involved make bank - but I also hope they'll re-examine the collossal screwups made with TW2, particularly those issues which TW1 had handled just fine. If TW3 ignores such issues or makes them worse, I won't be buying TW4. :P

KnThrak: That's one issue I found just as annoying, was I the only one here who thought the 3 stances from Witcher 1 were incredibly cool?
Plus they made sense, you had to choose the right stance, and mixed packs meant you had to switch around a lot. Sure the latter upgrades were overpowered (easily fixable), but the stances themselves... well... I miss them a lot, especially since the new combat system feels rather last-minute-tacked-on.

As if they developed the game with stances, then decided 3 weeks before press to remove them. For reasons I do not know.

KnThrak: That's one issue I found just as annoying, was I the only one here who thought the 3 stances from Witcher 1 were incredibly cool?
Plus they made sense, you had to choose the right stance, and mixed packs meant you had to switch around a lot. Sure the latter upgrades were overpowered (easily fixable), but the stances themselves... well... I miss them a lot, especially since the new combat system feels rather last-minute-tacked-on.

As if they developed the game with stances, then decided 3 weeks before press to remove them. For reasons I do not know.

ancientgamer: The biggest problem I have with the new combat system is the lack of mobility. "What? That's crazy, I dodge roll all over the place", you say? Mostly true, except that NPCs block you - completely. If you do end up surrounded, which is actually quite easy to do in battles with NPC allies, you're boned. Can't push your way out, can't jump over or roll away from them.

Then there's the matter of invisible closed doors and locking your ledge climbing abilities away in combat which completely flies in the face of the idea of a "tactical" combat system in addition to the incredibly contrived feel which greatly harms immersion.

Is the combat system hard? Overall, not particularly, not for most action gamers - it just has several major flaws.

darkwoof: The Group stance is now gone as a regular move, but Geralt does slash multiple enemies automatically when they are within range at the higher levels (sort of like collateral damage or splash effect cos you're supposedly just targeting one), and there's even a group finisher.

KnThrak: Oh, I didn't actually know that - I suspect that's in Swordsmanship (going Alchemy here, myself)?
Not so bad then. Although I still kind of miss the stances. Also, is it me or were the TW2 animations no longer choreographed by an actual swordfighter? The moves look very different, even simple swings.