I loved this game, like I loved Witcher 1 (only more, since this is an even more mature and rich game). But this battle... gawdammit. It nearly ruined the game for me. Clearly designed for console users. And simply daft. What - the - F!

Don't know. I got on the tenticle, then ended up back on the ground and got sqaushed by a tenticle. Kayran 1, Me 0.

Also, the game hangs when you lose this battle. Ctrl + alt + delete should never be an option.

That's the jest, and it was challenging (I just missed the wider anglesof Withcher_)1 and the first time the rocks came the camera was looking straight up ...so in a way it's not really fair, I understand peeps frustration,( I gor so pissed I said F**k this and went to bed and slept on it because it really put you at a disadvantage, but if your accustomed to this blindsidedness then OK... My next morning experience I cinched it and thought what the big deal was!!

Warning EGO buster: Yes you were lucky ...good for you!! its not your skill :p

50 tries. Approximately. And no trouble, whatsoever, at everything else. 50 tries. What's up? Do you want ppl who've bought this game to give up at this battle? Or can't you design a boss fight properly? Dunno.

This. Is. Outrageous.
Every single one with Ctrl + Alt + Del

Are you sure it's hanging? Try double clicking on the reload options. I thought my game hung too, but I just clicked on "yes" twice and it reloaded from my last save. Try that.

Regrettably, yes, I'm sure. Sometimes, "no" has worked, when I've waited a couple of minutes. A lot faster just to Ctrl + Alt + Del the whole thing and start anew.

Well, anyway - I guess this is supposed to be an epic fight in a great game. Sadly, it's a speed bump. In a truly great storytelling game. Doing this very instance over and over is the biggest, and only, grudge I've got against this game. Otherwise, I truly am in love.

Hope I've not turned anybody off on Witcher 2. This is the game of the year. Excepting this fight. Do it 50 times around. It's worth it. Not the fight itself, but the rest of the game. Game of the year.

8 hours and have yet to QTE to a full bar! I just stand there waiting for the tentacle ride, I have even change it to insane just because I am bored!

For people having problems with QTEs, just disable difficult QTEs in the game options menu.

The Kayran battle is NOT hard once you learn how to fight it. Just use Quen to make sure you don't get damaged if you get it. And avoiding the tentacles is not hard. Look at which ones he's raising, and get ready to dodge. Just don't be impatient when laying the traps/Yrden. If you don't feel like you have enough time, don't try to set it. When he's throwing rocks at you, there's a huge chunk of rock to hide behind if you feel like you can't get to the bridge pillar right away.

Any quick cheat to simply bypass this minigame? I just don't care for spending time on it.

This really isn't hard after a few attempts and once you understand the mechanics.

As people have said, Quen your shields up, then place Yrden. Stand and wait for tentacle to raise, then roll out of way so it gets trapped. Then hack tentacle. Rinse repeat for two more.
Then ride tentacle.
Then do the, frankly, easy QTE which consists of a button pressing session and one spacebar tap.
Done.

And still, no-one has actually answered my previous question of what the rock throwing bit is?
When does this happen? It didn't happen to me.
Is it if you don't ride the tentacle the kayran starts throwing rocks at you??

Done but still I have issues. Starting to feel this is a game issue as I have yet been able to install the patch!

Thank you very much :D