Posted July 13, 2016
So, I played through this game when it originally came out last year and once more in November and am just now getting back into it for the DLC. I've noticed in this playthrough that dodging attacks is exceptionally easy, to the point where I think it might be bugged.
The first thing, which I am 99% sure is a bug, is that I have maxed out the Fleet Footed passive without putting any points into it at all. I immediately noticed this when I started playing again, as I was having far too easy a time taking on hordes of drowners at level 1. I can dodge WAY too late and still avoid taking damage with the battle log saying "Geralt has received 0 damage", as if I had the maxed Fleet Footed passive. I'm honestly hesitant about reporting this however, as you only have 12 ability slots and Fleet Footed is pretty much mandatory, so this "bug" frees one up as well as 5 ability points, albeit making early game combat a bit of a snoozefest.
The second thing that I've noticed is that dodging seems to have a much more generous timing window than before. Things like wolves, drowners, ghouls and wraiths which have forward attacks that cover a lot of ground can now be cheesed with backdodge spam that gives iframes as long as I'm spamming the key, whereas before I feel like I had to be far more precise with timing the dodges.
Thirdly, some attacks can now be dodged through, much like in Dark Souls or God of War. Previously, when fighting a fiend, if you tried to dodge through the horn swipe animation you'd be sent back 30 feet, stunned, and dealt massive damage if quen wasn't up. This would happen even with the Fleed Footed passive. In this new iteration of the game though, I've found that I can dodge through that particular fiend attack and nothing will register, allowing for incredibly easy fiend kills. You can also do this against the griffon/cockatrice charge attack that used to merc you even if you were in the middle of a dodge. There will probably be way more examples of this as I get further into the game, but this is just what I've noticed so far.
Lastly, against the human enemies with two handed weapons, I've found that you can just strong attack spam them to death without even burning out their stamina bar. They literally cannot block them, something I don't think used to be true.
Overall, the game feels absolutely piss easy, despite being on Death March. As it is, combat is just hit alt -> be invincible. I'm level 12 now and I haven't had to rest to refill the Swallow potion yet. The only time I can even remember resting is when waiting till midnight to start the Forefather's Eve quest and one additional time to refill my Cat potion. The only thing that has given me frustration this playthrough is the quest where you have to protect the NPC's looting the battlefield so you can get the bridge pass discount, and that was only because the NPC's kept getting killed.
Am I going crazy and have gotten gud without realizing, or has anybody else had the same experience as me?
The first thing, which I am 99% sure is a bug, is that I have maxed out the Fleet Footed passive without putting any points into it at all. I immediately noticed this when I started playing again, as I was having far too easy a time taking on hordes of drowners at level 1. I can dodge WAY too late and still avoid taking damage with the battle log saying "Geralt has received 0 damage", as if I had the maxed Fleet Footed passive. I'm honestly hesitant about reporting this however, as you only have 12 ability slots and Fleet Footed is pretty much mandatory, so this "bug" frees one up as well as 5 ability points, albeit making early game combat a bit of a snoozefest.
The second thing that I've noticed is that dodging seems to have a much more generous timing window than before. Things like wolves, drowners, ghouls and wraiths which have forward attacks that cover a lot of ground can now be cheesed with backdodge spam that gives iframes as long as I'm spamming the key, whereas before I feel like I had to be far more precise with timing the dodges.
Thirdly, some attacks can now be dodged through, much like in Dark Souls or God of War. Previously, when fighting a fiend, if you tried to dodge through the horn swipe animation you'd be sent back 30 feet, stunned, and dealt massive damage if quen wasn't up. This would happen even with the Fleed Footed passive. In this new iteration of the game though, I've found that I can dodge through that particular fiend attack and nothing will register, allowing for incredibly easy fiend kills. You can also do this against the griffon/cockatrice charge attack that used to merc you even if you were in the middle of a dodge. There will probably be way more examples of this as I get further into the game, but this is just what I've noticed so far.
Lastly, against the human enemies with two handed weapons, I've found that you can just strong attack spam them to death without even burning out their stamina bar. They literally cannot block them, something I don't think used to be true.
Overall, the game feels absolutely piss easy, despite being on Death March. As it is, combat is just hit alt -> be invincible. I'm level 12 now and I haven't had to rest to refill the Swallow potion yet. The only time I can even remember resting is when waiting till midnight to start the Forefather's Eve quest and one additional time to refill my Cat potion. The only thing that has given me frustration this playthrough is the quest where you have to protect the NPC's looting the battlefield so you can get the bridge pass discount, and that was only because the NPC's kept getting killed.
Am I going crazy and have gotten gud without realizing, or has anybody else had the same experience as me?