Hard was plenty challenging for me, but I also went out of my way not to make an OP build. Didn't take improved Quen and the like. There certainly should be a "very hard" setting without the permadeath, just like there probably should be another between easy and normal.

Too easy my arse...

After a big talk and then "oh I don't play insane cuz you need to die sometimes", I wonder what he meant by "easy" ;)

Yeah definitely thought it was too easy, my first playthrough I picked sword talents and I did die a few times, but there was nothing overly challenging. However when I went back and sided with "the other guy" I decided to try out the magic skills and man does that make the combat a joke. I probably would have stopped using improved quen if it was my first playthrough, but I was just playing for the story at that point.

Yes because to beat insane , you have to use such OP things like quen and reload save game every time you loose too much health , it's not challenge it's minor annoyance for which you get nothing but achievement on steam.I beat game only with aard + sword and sometimes swallow on hard and challenge only lasted in first half of the game.

Well, what exactly did you do, brag your way through seems to be what your doing here? There are 2 instances where the game needs you to take or use alchemy from my memory, either on the Kayran or the last fist fight by taking the steroids.

There is something realy buggered up if half the player base says the game is verly hard and the other half are saying its to easy, which would conclude that there is nothing wrong with the game just the players, not only that but all your problems can be solved with making a bloody difficulty mod, ramp up there damage 1000% or stick on godmode.

If not that i am sure someone willl mod out the start again feature in insane mode....

Alchemy was a lot more powerful in Witcher 1, and there was more incentive (and less disincentive) to use it. In Witcher 2, having to go through two menus to drink a potion, only to have it last 10 minutes and do relatively little for you, made alchemy seem more like a supplement to an Alchemy based build than an integral part of the game.

Alchemy was not necessary on Hard in Witcher 1 either. Once you got the attack rhythm down, there was virtually no chance of dying in that game. The Hellhound was the only fight that presented any difficulty, coming early in the game, but even then, a lucky Aard stun ended it in two clicks. In Witcher 2 there is at least a distinct risk of dying in combat from beginning to end if you don't do things right.

No, reloading when you HP are too low is abusing the system and nothing to do with things being hard or challenging.

Anyone that says Hard is too easy and insane is stupid is just making an excuse.
I know most other games that try to be hard do so by making silly encounters and make you load the game 20+ times for those until you finally figure out what do to. But that is not truly hard, that is basically overcoming one challenge at the time with unlimited tries which is actually stupid.

The real challenge is Insane, one life, no retries and if the game is done properly that you can go into fights with potions and use bombs and traps and all the rest of the options at your disposal and do it on first try if you are good enough that is proper difficultly. And if you do not use options you die because of that, not because of some stupid way that encounter was designed to be done.

That depends on the point of view. For me, not being allowed to die, is not what I want. I want to be challenged and to think about how I go about beating an encounter. Designing a tactic - if need be, by trying and failing - and making good use of all skills available.

For example, you encounter a group of human enemies. The naive approach would be to charge them and hack them down arbitrarily without parrying or dodging. You are to be punished for that (by dying) and will soon learn to adopt your tactic to the situation, picking out single targets, using your signs, using oil to make them bleed to death etc.

In the prologue on hard, the game does that to a certain degree. But later on the above mentioned 'naive approach' will work quite well or you have to take only minor actions (like using Quen or dodging a lot) and combat becomes dull and no challenge whatsoever.

Combine the ever-present need for a thoughtful approach and using your skills properly with clearly distinct enemies which require different tactics (best case: even dependent on terrain, so that even the same type of enemy can pose different challenges) and you have, what I'd call 'Hard' difficulty.

I've seen it in literally every new game I've played in the past several years. There are always people that complain a game's too hard even on the easiest setting and there are always those that complain it's too easy even on the hardest setting.

This. It would be a better approach than is currently.
Maybe to introduce a level that would be tactically more challenging than hard.

Insane difficulty (the way it is) is plain stupid. Meaningless to the measures that CDPRED could have put that in general there is no save games and you can play in realtime only.

The Witcher 2 is, above all else, a role playing game. As such, I measure its success based on its immersion value.

If you want true tactical combats, I suggest trying Starcraft II (against human player), Team Fortress 2, BF2 Bad Company 2 and the likes, not the Witcher 2.


That said, I invite those who think the game is too "easy" to replay it on hard (not insane). And I invite you to use whatever "overpowered" mechanism you have at hand (Quen, bombs, daggers, traps, ALL). Count how many times you die and report it here ;)

BTW, I want video proof that you beat Letho by using Aard and sword only. fraps and youtube.com, it's pretty easy to record the fight.

True. And I truly love the entire Witcher-universe and both games are among the greatest RPGs I have played so far (probably even my personal favorites, for subjective reasons).

But if combat becomes but a chore and doesn't add to the game experience anymore, that's a shame anyways. It isn't a major issue to me, but it's unused potential.

And btw, for actual tactical combat you don't have to switch genre - Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights offer plenty of that. Yes, they're all pausable party-based games (and with rules that have been developed over decades), but you can provoke clever use of abilities in a third-person real-time RPG as well, I think (the first hours of TW2 showed that it's possible).

I didn't know there is no tactics in RPGs...interesting...thank you for making me open my eyes...

I didn't have much trouble with Letho on hard with Aard + sword only. I died 5-6 times before hand but I learned the strategy and it's pretty simple.

Right after the cut scene you have to aard him and start with fast attacks, after you hit him 3-4 times he recovers and you have to immediately run away. Use your Aard shots in a timely fashion to stop him from going Quen ASAP. If he has just launched several magic attacks he'll attack with sword, dodge to his rear and STRONG attack him in the back. Finally always keep an extra Parry handy.

TLDR. Aard to disrupt him, 3 fast attacks, run, STRONG attacks on rear. And as usual in TW2, DON'T GET HIT.

I bow before the greatness of those who can't find challenge in the hard mode, even without potions and such. My humble advice would be instead of wanting enemies with more hp or higher damage, try to challenge yourself instead: finish the game using a rusty sword and being nakked. problem solved.