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    The Witcher

    Game » consists of 8 releases. Released Oct 26, 2007

    The Witcher is an Action Role Playing Game developed by CD Projekt RED and is based on the book "The Last Wish" by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. An Enhanced Edition was released in September, 2008. A director's cut version was released for North America on July 31, 2009.

    Watching Ryan play The Witcher 2 helped me play the first one

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    Krakn3Dfx

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    #1  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

    I bought The Witcher Extended Director's Cut on Steam for $5 awhile back, and I've started it up probably half a dozen times, gotten frustrated with the combat mechanic, and quit out before even getting past the initial battle. Last week I watched the live quick look with Ryan and Vinny, and got pretty excited about The Witcher 2, but then I realized if I can't get my teeth into the original, why am I going to throw $50 at the sequel?


    So I sat down Friday night to give it one last chance, and wow, I get it now, and it's AWESOME.  The combat makes sense, I understand the alchemy, I'm still struggling with how to use my points from leveling up, but overall I'm making it through the game at a pretty good clip I think.  I'm about 8.5 hours in and rolled into Chapter 2 at around 7.5 hours. The combo system is pretty cool, it's a simple enough time based system, and now that I understand switching between the 3 stances, it makes most of the fights a lot easier and more rewarding.

    The funny is, a lot of the stuff that I needed to understand in the first one is changed or doesn't exist in the sequel, but getting excited about The Witcher 2 seemed to be enough to kick me into gear to finally understand what I needed to accomplish to succeed at the original.
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    oniring

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    #2  Edited By oniring

    I played up till the first village and then quite and uninstalled it the game (only payed $5 for it too), I simply did not like anything about it. As you said, the Witcher 2 does not share any of the combat mechanics and the overly complicated leveling system is, thankfully, gone. I've been in Flotsum for about 2 hours now and I love it.


    Same thing happened to me with Mass Effect; I really really really did not like ME1, the shooting, RP, graphic style, vehicle missions, none of it applied to me. The only cool part was the dialog tree. But on the other hand I love ME2. 
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    KaosAngel

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    #3  Edited By KaosAngel

    What's wrong with the combat, you just click when it turns into the fire icon.

    Also attacking shouldn't be the main thing, you should be using potions and magic more than swords.

    You're playing it wrong.

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    valrog

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    #4  Edited By valrog

    I didn't get the combat and alchemy at first, either, but then one day it just clicked and I loved every minute of it.

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    butano

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    #5  Edited By butano

    Yea, I'm in the 2nd half of chapter 4 right now. I stopped playing it for months after going through chapter 1, but then watched the glorious Witcher 2 quick look and went, I really need to finish the first one.


    I'm so glad I did. Should be done with it by the end of the week.
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    Calitar

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    #6  Edited By Calitar

    I'm in the same boat. I bought it during a steam sale, got to the first village and quit. It was just too confusing. After watching the Witcher 2 Quick Look and realizing it wouldn't run on my computer, I installed it again and now I seem to be having a much better time with it. To be honest, I actually bought it again (for another $5) from Good Old Games just so I could get the extra goodies they provide and for a DRM-free version. The guide alone has made it worth it (even if it is a bit less detailed than I would like).

    EDIT: Just for anyone who doesn't have it, this is the last day to get it for $5 from Good Old Games. Afterwards, it will go up to $10 (which is still half the price Steam normally charges). GOG is also the only way to get The Witcher 2 DRM-free.

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    StrikeALight

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    #7  Edited By StrikeALight

    Game is just awesome, janky first chapter non-withstanding.

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    SlasherMan

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    #8  Edited By SlasherMan
    @Butano said:
    Yea, I'm in the 2nd half of chapter 4 right now. I stopped playing it for months after going through chapter 1, but then watched the glorious Witcher 2 quick look and went, I really need to finish the first one.

    I'm so glad I did. Should be done with it by the end of the week.
    Chapter 4 is just magical, isn't it?
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    butano

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    #9  Edited By butano
    @SlasherMan said:
    @Butano said:
    Yea, I'm in the 2nd half of chapter 4 right now. I stopped playing it for months after going through chapter 1, but then watched the glorious Witcher 2 quick look and went, I really need to finish the first one.

    I'm so glad I did. Should be done with it by the end of the week.
    Chapter 4 is just magical, isn't it?
    For real. Magics all over the place in that chapter.
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    AhmadMetallic

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    #10  Edited By AhmadMetallic
    @Krakn3Dfx said:
     but getting excited about The Witcher 2 seemed to be enough to kick me into gear to finally understand what I needed to accomplish to succeed at the original.
    you and dozens people too, including myself :)

    i had the exact same problem as you, then Witcher 2 got me excited enough to give Witcher 1 one more shot, and boom, i'm in the middle of chapter 3. been playing for a week

    1. don't rely on weapons too much, use your signs (magic) and combat-enhancing potions
    2. you divide skill points on the things that matter to you.. but it's better to keep them evenly-distributed on everything. just make sure you give the signs you use the most, the biggest priority
    3. hold onto the runes and upgrade stones you get. later on they allow you to upgrade your swords
    4. loot as much as you can
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    crazeegamer

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    #11  Edited By crazeegamer

    I'm confused with where to go. The quests don't seem to flow nicely. I got to chapter 2 and had chapter 1 sides that I didnt do and just deleted em. Now I have a bunch of  contracts for creatures and animals, and no idea how to easily get them. I keep getting murdered by the worm things that pop up randomly outta the ground. tree worm things. I'm all in all lost and not sure what to do for quests and where to go. THEN some quests require a certain time yet I was at the warehouse at midnight and still couldn't get in, I had to rest a few more hours.

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    AhmadMetallic

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    #12  Edited By AhmadMetallic
    @crazeegamer said:
    @Ahmad_Metallic:   I'm confused with where to go. The quests don't seem to flow nicely. I got to chapter 2 and had chapter 1 sides that I didnt do and just deleted em. Now I have a bunch of  contracts for creatures and animals, and no idea how to easily get them. 

    The only way to have the quests flowing nicely and getting tied together reasonably at the end of each chapter, is to play the game slowly, take your time with it, don't rush the quests because a quest in an RPG is like a dish that needs a good cooking..
    Don't worry about the Chapter 1 quests too much, they're irrelevant to Vizima. now just make sure that you take it slow in the Temple Quarters of Vizima, get to know your characters, grow an interest in them rather than skipping all conversations or turning down everyone.
    The key here is to treat the game's NPCs like an actual community. that way the quests will make sense, and will flow into each other logically and make for some great story progression.
    About the contracts, A) you need a journal entry of every beast you go after (if you don't have the entry, you can't loot the certain body part that is in demand). How to get the entry? you either talk to people who have something to say about said beasts, or you purchase books about them from alchemists (same goes for plants - you need them as ingredients)
    and B) you can't easily get a side quest done.. side quests tend to sink in your journal for a little while until you run into the creatures you're going after, by chance (for example, Sigfried wants you to get him 9 Drowned Dead tongues, right? you won't know where to find the drowned dead until you go to the swamps and run into them there by chance)
    But that doesn't mean that side quests can wait forever.. if you take too long, they get canceled. but you do have time, so take it slow.

    Also, save alot. saving before a fight or before an important conversation can be a life saver.




    I keep getting murdered by the worm things that pop up randomly outta the ground. tree worm things. 

     
    You need the silver sword (the one that is used to kill monsters), and then equip the Z attack (heavy attack). do sword combos, evade every now and then, and ofcourse used the Agni sign (fire magic) to burn the worms and drain their lives.
    when there's more than two worms at the same time, you need to use a potion like Blizzard that'll enhance your senses and make you faster and more accurate

    don't be afraid to rely on potions, they are essential and very useful. keep gathering plants and potion base alcohol, and create necessary potions like Swallow, Tawny Oil, White Honey, Blizzard, Cat, and have one or two of the powerful stuff like Wolf and Thunderbolt.



    I'm all in all lost and not sure what to do for quests and where to go. THEN some quests require a certain time yet I was at the warehouse at midnight and still couldn't get in, I had to rest a few more hours.

     
    About being lost, i highly advise that you take a tour around the town before you get down to business. Whenever i enter a new area, the first thing i do is tour around, have the entire area discovered on my map, so i can start memorizing the ins and outs and not be confused by on-map quest tracking
    Also, whenever something requires time, go meditate. if it's midnight already, go meditate to the next midnight (24 hours). what also works is to save and load sometimes. loading a save makes the game go fresh like you haven't played in a while
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    StrikeALight

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    #13  Edited By StrikeALight
    @crazeegamer said:
    I'm confused with where to go. The quests don't seem to flow nicely. I got to chapter 2 and had chapter 1 sides that I didnt do and just deleted em. Now I have a bunch of  contracts for creatures and animals, and no idea how to easily get them. I keep getting murdered by the worm things that pop up randomly outta the ground. tree worm things. I'm all in all lost and not sure what to do for quests and where to go. THEN some quests require a certain time yet I was at the warehouse at midnight and still couldn't get in, I had to rest a few more hours.
    Avoid the worms, especially the one beginning with the letter 'C' (can't remember the name lol). They're still bothersome to me, at lvl 18. The ones around the tower aren't too bad, though.

    And just talk to everyone. My intention was to steamroll through the game, but it just isn't really that viable.

    Have a couple of backup saves, just in case.
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    crazeegamer

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    #14  Edited By crazeegamer
    @Ahmad_Metallic said: 
      Yeah I do need to try and take it more slowly, I wasn't necessarily trying to steamroll through, but definitely trying to "hurry".
     
    .You need the silver sword (the one that is used to kill monsters), and then equip the Z attack (heavy attack). do sword combos, evade every now and then, and ofcourse used the Agni sign (fire magic) to burn the worms and drain their lives.
    when there's more than two worms at the same time, you need to use a potion like Blizzard that'll enhance your senses and make you faster and more accurate 
       
      Yeah I was using the silver sword, but wasn't using heavy attack, and it had spit what I think was poison on me so I was being drained from the start. I also forgot ot use Agni.
     
     
    .don't be afraid to rely on potions, they are essential and very useful. keep gathering plants and potion base alcohol, and create necessary potions like Swallow, Tawny Oil, White Honey, Blizzard, Cat, and have one or two of the powerful stuff like Wolf and Thunderbolt.
        Gather plants, from where? I just make whatever potion I can at the time.

     
    @Strikealight:  I don't know how you can see your level number, but not sure what letter the worm started with..  I do have a main save and the autosaves..
     
     thanks for the great replies :). and sorry I couldn't figure out how to quote someone then type something, then quote again.
     

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    Krakn3Dfx

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    #15  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

    So I'm like 19 hours in now, well into Chapter 2, have done a BOATLOAD of stuff in Vizema, been running around talking to people and collecting evidence and killing dudes.   It's pretty awesome.  I still haven't even scratched the surface on the potion stuff, and I'm not sure how to gauge my level in the game, but I'm killing most stuff, although the Coccacidium in the swamp is owning me everytime I go at it, guess I need some bombs. 
     
    Still, I'm having a lot of fun, I'm sure I've completely borked my character spec choices, but other than the Coccacidium and a couple of Wraiths in a house where there's some wine, I've been able to mow down most of the baddies. 
     
    Great game, glad I came back to it again.

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