It occurred to me as I was downloading Hearts of Stone that it might be a good opportunity to New Game+ things, give me a little warmup and something to do once I finish. Then tonight it occurred to me (I haven't played much at all since starting) that maybe New Game+ will make the expansion hard enough that I'll have to play through most of the game to be ready for the content. Anyone know if New Game+ affects the difficulty of the expansion?

It does. Instead of level 30-32, you'll need to be around level 60-62. I read somewhere that you can convert your save back to a normal game from NG+ if you wish, or you could just keep a save file around prior to starting a NG+.

@zeik: Yeah, ok, thanks. I'm level 35 - I don't mind playing a bit more the Witcher, but not that much more.

Stick to that and don't play the DLC at new game plus if you want to begin playing it immediately. I've also noticed the DLC is kinda harder on new game plus and with Death March on and I'm already lvl 70 haha.

I haven't started The Witcher yet but feel fairly confident I'll like it. Should I get this before I start? Or is it one of those things that will just be added and can be done at any time?

@bill_mcneal: It can just be added and can be done anytime. :)

The recommended level for starting it is roughly the level you will be when you finish the game, so it's definitely not something you need in advance. Technically you could probably access the new Runewright stuff earlier if you had the DLC, but it's a pretty major money sink that isn't necessary to clear the game. (You can pretty OP by the end of the main story already anyway.)

Although now that I think about it more, I think you do have to fight some rather tough enemies during the quest to unlock it, so it might not be feasible anyway.

Cool! Thanks for the feedback and suggestions guys! Finally going to stop dragging my feet in MGS5 so I can move on to a few other games (eventually).