The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[Strangelite]

Just now, Mr. Gerbik said:

Didn't one of the early patches add a Gwent book to track your in-game card collection for that quest?

 

Yeah it does, but in a really vague way., "there's 5 cards left to collect in Novigrad"

 

the problem comes that some of the merchants (i found) are time based, so if you're not in a particular village at 4pm, the merchant isn't even there.. I didn't know this, until like, 3 gwent cards from a full deck..

 

I'm definitely 3 short of full deck myself.

[Talk Show Host]

21 hours ago, Gringo said:

I have just started playing this today and my first time ever playing a Witcher game. Hope it's as good as everyone says.

 

Any must know tips?

 

Yes, some . Of course these are my "settings" after playing the game fully twice on Blood and Broken Bones and Death March. Doesn't mean you have to follow them to have fun but they can save you some trouble while keeping your focus tight. This game is MMO big and because the content is of such high quality wherever you go, it is very easy to stray for hours and burn out. By the way I am now doing my extremely slow 100% playthrough and trying to find some lore and details I missed before (I made some posts about some of the early quests and details some (many? :p) pages back.

 

So, here you are, some tips for you:

 

- Get up to date with the lore, history, story and characters by catching up with my spoiler free post (which @Vorgot kindly located some pages back, posted on the 26th of February). It  gathers the most useful links around the net that actually know what they are talking about. By doing that you will also get an idea of the story and characters which can even help you decide some things that happened on W2. 

 

- Choose "simulate save" when you start. This will trigger a scene in the game where you will be asked what happened in the second game so choices can carry. Don't worry, none has immediate effect to the main story of W3 but there are things that can really enhance your experience. If you watch the story recaps you will have some idea but it's not the same as playing the game. So, if you want the full experience (secondary characters as NPCs that have storylines) in all the choices make sure you don't pick one that kills anyone.

 

- Pick Blood and Broken Bones as difficulty. It will force you to learn the combat system and it will make fights strategic enough for you to have to actually think what you are doing, when to use what, how to use skills, etc. The difficulty can be changed any time.

 

- Use level scaling. That means exploring will be more or less challenging but will also allow you to return to the main quest without being overpowered. Remember that it is the main quest that gives proper XP, so when you have a couple of contracts that are 6 or 7 levels above you, then that is your que for continuing a bit with the main story. You will get enough xp to be able to do them.

 

-There is a message when you reach the 'no turning back' point in the story, which means that some quests will not be available after. This does not affect anything regarding exploration, NPC side quests or contracts in the world. It only affects quests and characters directly related to Geralt. So make sure you have finished ALL secondary character side content in BOTH continents before you continue. Be warned that after the end game, some minor quests related to the game world and factions may disappear because of the changed world state.

 

- Turn off the ? in the main map but leave them on in the mini map for your first playthrough. That way you will do some proper exploration, you will not clutter the main map and you will also see their position when you are close enough. This will also help you to not go insane.

 

- Read the monster journal. Not only you can find details on how to defeat the monsters but also great writing on their reason for existence. One of the amazing things that seperate monsters/enemies in W3 compared to other RPGs is that everything has a proper place and lore reason for being in that place. Even simple enemies like drowners will always be close to waters, surrounding an unfortunate traveller who thought he was quick enough to grab that treasure chest.

 

-Take your time and truly try to immerse yourself in the world. Don't rush this game or you will be the one who will be exhausted.

 

Use mods if you play on PC. I have picked a series of mods who can enhance the game visually and mechanically but do not drastically change the intentions of CD. So, no crazy overhauls, young geralt stupidity, enemy scaling mods, etc.

 

Always run script merger after you install a new mod and see if there are any conflicts. My mods have been picked in a way that they auto resolve their issues if they overlap, so no need to correct anything manualy (they work fine all across the main game and the expansions). Yes, modding in W3 is not exactly friendly but it's not difficult either. Use Nexus Mod Manager to install them, then always run script merger. Remember there is a mod limit - when you get constant loading screens or weird delays in conversation you have exceeded it. 

 

(special instructions, if needed, follow below - but always read what the creators say, they know better):

 

Here's my mod list @SharkyOB.

 

Textures/Visual:

Spoiler

 

-HD Reworked Project (always give high priority in script merger - right click in any of the mod's lines after you run script merger and set overall priority to 1)-

-4K Grass Texture

-Better Oaks

-Blue Eyes for Triss (lore friendly)

-Common Eyes

-Fix Wolf Armors

-Geralt Hairworks Colors and Styles (allows hairworks only on the beard but not on the hair, which look really bad with hairworks on)

-Lamp on Player's boat

-Lore friendly Ciri (hair and face)

-Nitpicker's Patch (fixes many small visual problems in the game)

-No Dirty Lens effect (I hate everything that reminds me of looking through a camera)

-Remove Screen Water Droplets Effect

-Shoes for Keira (not make much sense that she is barefooted ALL time)

-Triss Auburn Hair (lore friendly color)

-Volumetric Clouds Over Skellige

-All NPC Scabbards (when you realize that NPCs have no scabbards for their swords, you can't unsee it).

-Wiedzmin Lighting Mod (this is a great mod that overhauls the lighting in the game, increases the draw distance and changes the weather diversity  - it makes the game an even more beautiful experience than it is. It also uses natural lighting, which means in dark areas Geralt will be bathed in normal light, hence he will be quite dark. It's an acquired taste but give it a try. If you pick it, you need to give this priority over HD Reworked Project when you run script merger (same procedure as above).

 

 

Fixes:

Spoiler

Fix for Avalach Lab Music (music stops during the quest)

 

Tweaks:

Spoiler

 

-Cheap Dyes Everywhere (this allows you to paint armor before Blood and Wine, which makes Geralt even more awesome).

-Supreme to Extreme Graphics options (I have a good rig and I'm aiming for 1080p@60fps - put everything on supreme or higher if you can afford, foliage visibility range Ultra)

-Immersive Cam (also from the same mod you pick: Immersive AI, Immersive Motion, Immersive Horse Controls)

-No More Rolling Down the Stairs (finally!)

 

 

 

 

Interface:

Spoiler

 

-All Quest Objectives on Map

-Colored Map Markers (use combatible version with All Quest Objectives on Map)

-Friendly HUD (If you pick nothing else, make sure you pick this. This makes the UI totally customizable, allowing you to play without UI and enjoy full immersion and have things pop up automatically when combat starts or prompts are needed, etc. The most important mod out there. It looks a bit complicated to install but it's really not.

-Friendly Meditation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gringo]

Thanks @Talk Show Host That is a very comprehensive list of tips. Will certainly take them onboard. I have noticed reading back through the thread that you are a massive fan of the game.  I'm definitely not going to rush the it. I might be playing it for years with my limited game time but that is fine.

[Talk Show Host]

2 hours ago, Gringo said:

Thanks @Talk Show Host That is a very comprehensive list of tips. Will certainly take them onboard. I have noticed reading back through the thread that you are a massive fan of the game.  I'm definitely not going to rush the it. I might be playing it for years with my limited game time but that is fine.

 

Hehe, I think you will have a great time. I loved the series from the start for a variety of reasons but mainly because it is the only RPG series which trully understands where we should move with our writing, storytelling and characterization in the genre. On the other hand, I don't like the books very much.

[Vorgot]

Just started playing this and it was nice to start a sprawling RPG without having to worry about race/class combinations before you even do anything. Just nabbed a bunch of stuff off the notice board at White Orchard and getting cracking on those quests. 

 

Like the tutorials so far as well, not too obtrusive but it's introducing things nice and slowly which is good. Menus are pretty good too, all very slick so far

[abc]

.

[Ran]

Yep, I feel your frustration. That spoilered decision was another one I apparently "got wrong". It's honestly the first time I've played through an RPG and not had my instincts reinforced as the good ending path but I'll just accept it as a difference of opinion with the developers (or a misinterpretation of the situation and characters on my part)

I don't have the time to play it through again but as it happens I have a pretty heavy log of save files so I have gone back a bit to play out the good finale! I evidently can't let it lie.

 

[Talk Show Host]

16 hours ago, RobNoyce said:

Yep, I feel your frustration. That spoilered decision was another one I apparently "got wrong". It's honestly the first time I've played through an RPG and not had my instincts reinforced as the good ending path but I'll just accept it as a difference of opinion with the developers (or a misinterpretation of the situation and characters on my part)

I don't have the time to play it through again but as it happens I have a pretty heavy log of save files so I have gone back a bit to play out the good finale! I evidently can't let it lie.

 

 

I told you. Witcher 3 always wins. 

 

I can understand how frustrating it is to not get an ending that is satisfying, but making things extremely clear would do a disservice to the complex characters and situations. There are five major decisions that influence the ending and all of them are in line with Geralt's supporting role for Ciri and her explosive character. I would argue that they are quite clear, especially the one after the battle of Kaer Morhen, which I have seen many people picking something weird for me

Spoiler

(telling Ciri she can't be good at everything after the death of Vesemir instead of trying to cheer her up).

 

It's true that the game relies a bit too heavily on known lore that is not in the previous games, which can throw off some players, that is a fair criticism. It does a good job of explaining a lot about Ciri in general though and I think the most common ending for players (judging anecdotally of course) is the

Spoiler

Witcher ending,

which cannot be considered bad. Getting the really bad ending seems to me, mainly, like some proper misjudgent of a lot of situations by the player, without absolving of course the game's lack of a bit more deeper lore/character exposition.

 

I think the choices are great but I would personally make the bad ending less bleak, just to cover the players' good intentions for picking the "wrong" choices. 

[Ran]

49 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

I told you. Witcher 3 always wins. 

 

I can understand how frustrating it is to not get an ending that is satisfying, but making things extremely clear would do a disservice to the complex characters and situations. There are five major decisions that influence the ending and all of them are in line with Geralt's supporting role for Ciri and her explosive character. I would argue that they are quite clear, especially the one after the battle of Kaer Morhen, which I have seen many people picking something weird for me

  Reveal hidden contents

(telling Ciri she can't be good at everything after the death of Vesemir instead of trying to cheer her up).

 

 

Indeed! I completely agree with you. Much as I love the exploration and loot / level hook of a Bethesda RPG the Witcher was a much more satisfying game to engage with characters and be part of the many unfolding stories. I do hold myself mostly responsible for giving poor Geralt such a sad send off! That decision in particular was an interesting one.

Spoiler

It seems blindingly obvious I should have gone with cheer her up given the circumstances now. I remember thinking due to Ciri's fiery independence "is this going to come off as patronising and piss her off" which is why I went the other way! Moments like that are brilliant and on this occasion I misread the situation / character but it casts the game in a positive light overall for me.

 

[deerokus]

The game definitely makes you pay at a handful of points for making instinctive or typical 'choice based narrative game' decisions that are rewarded in other games. It does something like that if you try to

 

romance both Triss and Yen

. In similar games that just gets you more 'content', this one points out you're a shitebag for doing it and gives you a sad ending to that particular part of Geralt's tale.

 

It's a philosophy I would like to see other games adopt - most similar games use choice systems as a gameplay system rather than a system for conveying meaning. 

[Talk Show Host]

3 hours ago, RobNoyce said:

Indeed! I completely agree with you. Much as I love the exploration and loot / level hook of a Bethesda RPG the Witcher was a much more satisfying game to engage with characters and be part of the many unfolding stories. I do hold myself mostly responsible for giving poor Geralt such a sad send off! That decision in particular was an interesting one.

  Hide contents

It seems blindingly obvious I should have gone with cheer her up given the circumstances now. I remember thinking due to Ciri's fiery independence "is this going to come off as patronising and piss her off" which is why I went the other way! Moments like that are brilliant and on this occasion I misread the situation / character but it casts the game in a positive light overall for me.

 

 

Yes, also -and that is one of the faults of the game for not providing a bit more context from the previous games- Ciri loves Vesemir. She really loves him. Telling her, essentially,

Spoiler

"hey, it's ok he died, you can't be good at everything"

is obviously a really, really bad choice.

 

But again, we are picking at straws here. It can't be perfect, of course, but the fact that they created such a complex narrative and relationships and provided the player with choices that suit those characters and not the player -very important difference- is something unprecedented in videogames.

[Vorgot]

Hmm. I think I've made a mess of allocating my first few skill points, and am leaning towards starting again, but I've already put a good amount of time in. I've read there is a respect potion later on that you can buy but its very expensive, does the odd wasted skill point really make a difference? I basically spent a point on the Vitality boost in the Gerneral tab, which I now realise will have zero value later in the game. It's annoying me, but if it's no big deal I will just crash on. 

 

Loving that potions/bombs replenish as well. Thats a really nice touch that removes a lot of the crafting pain thats in other games

[Takizawa]

3 hours ago, Vorgot said:

Hmm. I think I've made a mess of allocating my first few skill points, and am leaning towards starting again, but I've already put a good amount of time in. I've read there is a respect potion later on that you can buy but its very expensive, does the odd wasted skill point really make a difference? I basically spent a point on the Vitality boost in the Gerneral tab, which I now realise will have zero value later in the game. It's annoying me, but if it's no big deal I will just crash on. 

 

Loving that potions/bombs replenish as well. Thats a really nice touch that removes a lot of the crafting pain thats in other games

 

I wouldn't worry about it, by the time you'll have enough points to think about a re-spec, you'll also have more than enough cash for the potion. By the end you'll have more skills/perks unlocked than you can equip, anyway. Just crack on!

[Vorgot]

9 hours ago, Takizawa said:

 

I wouldn't worry about it, by the time you'll have enough points to think about a re-spec, you'll also have more than enough cash for the potion. By the end you'll have more skills/perks unlocked than you can equip, anyway. Just crack on!

Thats what I decided in the end, I'll just see how the different skills work and then respect later. Just left White Orchard and am getting a handle on all the systems now. Not sure which way I want to take my build at the moment, as all the trees have their advantages. Combat skills obviously, but alchemy seems incredibly useful and signs are fun too. I do like the way the slots unlock too so you have to consider upgrade choices more carefully with less slots available

[Talk Show Host]

2 hours ago, Vorgot said:

Thats what I decided in the end, I'll just see how the different skills work and then respect later. Just left White Orchard and am getting a handle on all the systems now. Not sure which way I want to take my build at the moment, as all the trees have their advantages. Combat skills obviously, but alchemy seems incredibly useful and signs are fun too. I do like the way the slots unlock too so you have to consider upgrade choices more carefully with less slots available

 

Yeah, don't worry too much about it. It is normal to not know what kind of Witcher you want to be yet. When you grow into your style of fighting more and how you want to fight, then you will shape the build how you want it.

 

For example, based on my previous experience with the series, I wanted first to go for an alchemy built. I liked a big threshold for my potions and concentrated on an adrenaline built to cast my signs instead of stamina. That meant that I went for the Wolf armor set which focuses on creating adrenaline and doesn't consume much stamina, leaving stamina to be used for blocking. That is what I call a "monster hunting built" built because the numerous potions allowed me to survive more in battle, which helped recognize enemies weaknesses and patterns, resisting effects more, etc.

 

This is a bit of an advanced built and it means that you have to rely a lot in counters and movement (playing on death march). A good and classic built for first time is one that concentrates more on sword techniques, followed by signs (Quen, Igni, Aard) and some alchemy to properly use swallow and tawny oil (plus some general signs that support vitality). This built generally fits with all witcher armor sets quite good.

[Vorgot]

2 hours ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

This is a bit of an advanced built and it means that you have to rely a lot in counters and movement (playing on death march). A good and classic built for first time is one that concentrates more on sword techniques, followed by signs (Quen, Igni, Aard) and some alchemy to properly use swallow and tawny oil (plus some general signs that support vitality). This built generally fits with all witcher armor sets quite good.

 

Yep, I'm going for buffing the fast and strong attacks, some sign stuff and a bit of alchemy too, more of an all round thing and see where it takes me. Then I can see how I am finding it later. Am also going to take your advice and switch off points of interest on the main map, I was doing a bit much point to point in White Orchard without really exploring, and while it was fine for that area while I picked up the basics, would be nice to actually explore for the sake of it and discover these places blind.

[Talk Show Host]

4 hours ago, Vorgot said:

 

Yep, I'm going for buffing the fast and strong attacks, some sign stuff and a bit of alchemy too, more of an all round thing and see where it takes me. Then I can see how I am finding it later. Am also going to take your advice and switch off points of interest on the main map, I was doing a bit much point to point in White Orchard without really exploring, and while it was fine for that area while I picked up the basics, would be nice to actually explore for the sake of it and discover these places blind.

 

Yes, that is a a great way to explore in my opinion, at least until you get into a rythym of how you want to allocate your time. Personally I found it much easier to enjoy the map as well during my first playthrough, as these ? can really sidetrack you. They are simply too many! I would argue though that all ? in Velen are worth doing. In Skellige I have only ever done those in the main land and on the islands.

[Vorgot]

2 hours ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

Yes, that is a a great way to explore in my opinion, at least until you get into a rythym of how you want to allocate your time. Personally I found it much easier to enjoy the map as well during my first playthrough, as these ? can really sidetrack you. They are simply too many! I would argue though that all ? in Velen are worth doing. In Skellige I have only ever done those in the main land and on the islands.

I thought I would do as many as I could through natural exploration, then see where the rest are before I finish an area. Who knows though, I'm just enjoying the experience.

[Thor]

I'm really hoping CDPR sorts a patch out for the PS4 version soon. I fancy another playthrough, but it's a pile of shit on PS4 right now.

[Talk Show Host]

1 hour ago, Vorgot said:

I thought I would do as many as I could through natural exploration, then see where the rest are before I finish an area. Who knows though, I'm just enjoying the experience.

 

Yeah, that is what I did in my first playthrough. I also left quite a few for after the end game, as a reason to see new areas.

[danbot]

10 hours ago, Thor said:

I'm really hoping CDPR sorts a patch out for the PS4 version soon. I fancy another playthrough, but it's a pile of shit on PS4 right now.

 

Can you not just deactivate HDR in the PS4 settings while you play Witcher?

[Captain Kelsten]

10 hours ago, Thor said:

I'm really hoping CDPR sorts a patch out for the PS4 version soon. I fancy another playthrough, but it's a pile of shit on PS4 right now.

 

I saw on Eurogamer that CDPR bumped up some stuff in the latest patch on PS4 pro, but at the cost of view distance and more pop in. 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.eurogamer.net/amp/digitalfoundry-2018-the-witcher-patch-161-ps4-pro-issues

 

 

[Thor]

1 hour ago, danbot said:

 

Can you not just deactivate HDR in the PS4 settings while you play Witcher?

Yeah, but it's less that, and more this:

 

1 hour ago, Orko said:

 

I saw on Eurogamer that CDPR bumped up some stuff in the latest patch on PS4 pro, but at the cost of view distance and more pop in. 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.eurogamer.net/amp/digitalfoundry-2018-the-witcher-patch-161-ps4-pro-issues

 

Yep, that's my problem. It's an immersion killer. Until they fix it, I'm not playing it. 

[Mars]

3 hours ago, Thor said:

Until they fix it, I'm not playing it. 

 

 

[Thor]

[Mars]

It was tongue in cheek, the phrasing made me laugh.

[Thor]

2 hours ago, Mars said:

It was tongue in cheek, the phrasing made me laugh.

Fair enough.  In your defence I've got previous for being perhaps a little salty at things. Just a little.  

[Mars]

[Thor]

 

Additionally, notice how you can see everything in the cellar, as if the gamma is all the way up? If you turn off HDR in the PS4 options and load the game,  not only does Geralt's hair remain the correct colour, the cellar is a lot darker, as it should be for a cellar underground with little light. Apparently there are no more patches planned for this. A real shame. 

 

The HDR implementation on PS4 is downright pathetic.

[Thor]

Wait, you literally broke his legs? Is that an option on this game? 

 

And you didn't get the good ending, you got the "okay" ending.