Octopus Overlords

by **map** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:24 am

Also is anybody having trouble registering the game? I have the steam version.

by **coopasonic** » Sun May 22, 2011 1:19 pm

map wrote:Boy, I am lost in the dungeon in chapter one. I jump down a trap door and climb up but I am just stuck in that loop. A little help? Also is anybody having trouble registering the game? I have the steam version.

There's a dungeon in chapter 1? I'm not sure what area you are talking about, what quest is it related to?

==

In other news, I'm a pansy. I switched to Easy before the end of chapter 1. A certain one on one fight was just too much for me. I never even came close until I switched to easy. On the other hand at the start of chapter 2 I switched to insane for 1 fight. Of course it was a fight I *wanted* to lose, but ya know, whatever.

I do hate that in the space of about an hour I was controlling 3 different characters, none of which were Geralt. I want to be the witcher not a king, sorceress or soldier.

by **map** » Sun May 22, 2011 1:32 pm

I got it.

by **Daehawk** » Sun May 22, 2011 2:52 pm

Not liking the new poker. They changed the graphics on the dice and it makes it tougher to see what hand you have. Then they changed the way you roll the dice. Before it was more overhead but the viewing angle they use now makes it more difficult to roll. Not to mention that moving your mouse while rolling can make them fly off the board totally.

by **rrmorton** » Sun May 22, 2011 7:56 pm

Yeah, they tried to fix something that wasn't broken with that throwing dice game.

by **D.A.Lewis** » Sun May 22, 2011 9:15 pm

I am really having a difficult time with this game. Combat has been just too tough. The battle with the young prince at the top of the tower and the battle at the front gate I had to ramp down the game play to easy. And now I'm facing a dragon on the bridge and the dragon is killing both me and the king.(a whole bunch of times) And all this in the prologue??? I don't get why they went for these tuff battles to open the game. I remember the Chronicles of Riddick opening that familiarized you with the game mechanics and it all seemed so easy until it turned out to be a dream sequence. This is my fourth RPG in a row, I may have to put this game down for a while and play me some LA Noire.

by **Tscott** » Sun May 22, 2011 10:56 pm

This game just made me its bitch. It was the 6 guys at the gate at the end of the "We split up at the courtyard" part of the prologue. I lost count of how many times I restarted that part. Then I finally had the brilliant notion to try a potion before I went into battle with them, and they game wouldn't let me. Finally I had to backtrack a bit, take the potion and go back and open the door to start the fight. This time I finally won thanks to the health regen the potion gave me (and a lucky crit hit on the tough armored guy at the start when I stunned him).

I haven't dropped down to easy yet, but this is the closest I've come yet.

by **Zarathud** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:40 pm

Witcher 2: Watching Geralt Die. Repeatedly.

I've barely seen any tooltips about how to do combat -- because if you wait to read them, you're already dead. It got a little easier once I stumbled onto the magic keys, but I'm still mostly fumbling in the dark when switching spells during combat.

by **Daehawk** » Mon May 23, 2011 12:02 am

Ive not figured out how to switch magic spells yet so Im still using the one it started me on. Also I cant seem to find a place to drink a potion. i need them for fights but by then I cant take one.

by **Tscott** » Mon May 23, 2011 12:18 am

Left Ctrl is the default key that lets you switch signs. Press it, move the mouse to the left side, click on the sign you want and voila.

Also you can select meditate with Ctrl, which allows you to take a potion - but you need to be far away from any bad guys to do it. The potions seem to last a while, so don't feel like you have to take them right before a fight.

by **Fitzy** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:38 am

D.A.Lewis wrote: And now I'm facing a dragon on the bridge and the dragon is killing both me and the king.(a whole bunch of times)

As I recall the dragon is not a battle, it's a QTE. Listen to Geralt and run. A prompt should appear telling you which button to press while escaping. Press it and you will survive.

I'm assuming this is the second bridge and not when the dragon first appears. For the first one you, you battle your way through soldiers on the side, never facing the dragon.

by **Jag** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:52 am

If you hate QTEs like me, make sure you select easy QTEs in the menu. Makes it much more bearable.

I'm also starting to get the hang of combat. Killing 2 Ch 1 quest foozles already. It is like Demon's Souls in the sense that it is more important that the player learns how to fight more than Geralt leveling up and getting stronger. As the game progresses, your own skill level improves along with your character.

by **hepcat** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:29 am

Fitzy wrote:
I'm assuming this is the second bridge and not when the dragon first appears. For the first one you, you battle your way through soldiers on the side, never facing the dragon.

Unless you stand still for any length of time outside the buildings...then you're toast.

Spent some more time with it yesterday. It's a bit of a mind shift when you go from solving crimes by slapping around perps in 1940's L.A. for info to slapping around an elf in a medieval village for info.

The game has finally shown me the open world nature of the content and it's a bit overwhelming. It definitely doesn't lead you by the hand, that's for sure.

by **coopasonic** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:32 am

I'm moving along in chapter 2 and I think I'll just leave it on easy. I gave it a good run on normal through the entire intro and most of chapter 1, but a few fights are just too punishing for me. The real disappointment for me is the difference in challenge between normal and easy. Easy is a pure cakewalk where nothing really hurts you, and normal is challenging in general and absolutely punishing for certain specific fights. I would love some middle ground. The idea that there are two difficulty levels above normal terrifies me.

by **e1123** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:41 am

Make sure you get the whirl talent. It makes things much easier.

by **Smoove_B** » Mon May 23, 2011 3:49 pm

Still haven't moved past Flotsam as I've been talking to everyone and grabbing all kinds of side quests. I ran into someone that had ties to an enemy faction from the first game and he was less than amused at my attempt to trick him. The one cool thing about how it all played out was the enemy chased me from an indoor location to an outdoor one. While the running allowed me catch my breath (and gain health), I thought it was pretty cool to see the enemy AI act reasonably.

by **cheeba** » Mon May 23, 2011 4:09 pm

The number of times they say plough in this game is starting to ploughing bug the ploughing shit out of me.

by **Avenger** » Mon May 23, 2011 5:08 pm

Tom Chick trashes the difficulty level in the Witcher 2 in this little snippet here. It will definitely keep me away. I have enough trouble playing easy action games. LOL.

by **coopasonic** » Mon May 23, 2011 5:10 pm

Avenger wrote:Tom Chick trashes the difficulty level in the Witcher 2 in this little snippet here. It will definitely keep me away. I have enough trouble playing easy action games. LOL.

He's talking about the same battle that made me switch to Easy.

by **tgb** » Mon May 23, 2011 5:42 pm

Avenger wrote:Tom Chick trashes the difficulty level in the Witcher 2 in this little snippet here. It will definitely keep me away. I have enough trouble playing easy action games. LOL.

This. I was going to pick it up during a Steam sale, but at my age and stage I have no interest in having to re-fight the same battle 20 times.

by **ericb** » Mon May 23, 2011 6:22 pm

The key to winning on normal is block. I've yet to see a tooltip on it (default key is E) but it made the horrible restart 15 times frustrating battles almost easy again. Block, they are temp stunned, hit back, win

I gave up and went easy the first time in the prologue but after restarting I read the manual and I'm going through on normal like it was nothing now.

I should add that the game is great on easy too...it's not a cake walk but still well worth the price of admission.

I also noticed that I missed an incredible amount of things in the prologue and even took a completely different route leaving the dungeon. I even managed to pick up the 5 of the "hidden" skills you can get. Some of the later battles have been tough but the trapping sign and block work really well. It's also nice starting chpt one with much nicer armor and an upgraded sword.

by **D.A.Lewis** » Mon May 23, 2011 6:29 pm

AFter a hards day work, sometimes I like to put in a 15 to 20 session before I hit the gym. This game is too hard for me to do that. So I plooped over here and find I am not alone in feeling the difficulty level in Witcher s is a bit off. I too find it hard to imagine what the tuffer levels are like.

Yes the dragon part I was talking about was the second "fight". What kept throwing me off was I had to use the walk backwards key to make my guys move away from the dragon. Also it took a few times to figure to only use the fire shield key when the game tells you, otherwise hands off. Still, it took a good 10 or so deaths to figure all the parameters out.

One funny thing about Witcher 2 is that it has the same type of travel limitations as Arcania. Can't jump over a hedge. Can't fall of a cliff. Can't jump off a bridge. Can't jump on a roof. As I become more familiar with the Witcher game mechanics, I still have to shake my head on the open world wonder that was Gothic 2 (2003)

by **e1123** » Mon May 23, 2011 7:38 pm

coopasonic wrote:
Avenger wrote:Tom Chick trashes the difficulty level in the Witcher 2 in this little snippet here. It will definitely keep me away. I have enough trouble playing easy action games. LOL.

He's talking about the same battle that made me switch to Easy.

It took me about 5 tries because I hadn't prepared. I started over for other reasons, so now I'll know to buff up before that fight. FYI, always keep some good blade oil on hand. After having played this game for a week, I can make it from the Prologue to the end of Chapter 1 without dying. Having a Witcher 1 save can really make things easier, as well.

by **Tscott** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:15 pm

Anyone play far enough to get a feel for giving tips on possible builds? The manual says if you split points up too much you won't be able to get the most powerful skills. I'm thinking I should focus on magic, but want both swordplay and alchemy to continue to be useful. I'm a bit worried since there doesn't appear to be an option to respec the character. I'd hate to get too far and realize I don't have enough points left for some critical kill.

by **ericb** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:19 pm

Tscott wrote:Anyone play far enough to get a feel for giving tips on possible builds? The manual says if you split points up too much you won't be able to get the most powerful skills. I'm thinking I should focus on magic, but want both swordplay and alchemy to continue to be useful. I'm a bit worried since there doesn't appear to be an option to respec the character. I'd hate to get too far and realize I don't have enough points left for some critical kill.

I've heard you can reset skills but not until Chapter 3 (which is probably too late to matter at that point).

by **Jag** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:35 pm

Saw this post over at GOG. Can't vouch for it, but haven't seen much else on builds.

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/the_witcher ... _180_pages

by **Smoove_B** » Wed May 25, 2011 9:54 am

Waking up hungover and tattooed is no way to go through life, Witcher.

Totally wasn't expecting that. Still haven't left Flotsam as I was having a hard time finding silver ore to make a useful sword. I knew better than to head out in to the wilds without one.

I'm also wondering if the difficulty in the beginning of the game is in any way related to not importing a save-game file. More specifically, did they balance those battles assuming you had all kinds of gear, potions and oils?

by **ScaryMike** » Wed May 25, 2011 10:42 am

This game is great in so many ways, and horrible in a bunch of other ways. I'm playing on normal, and its really difficult, but in a fun way, as far as I'm concerned. Figuring out battles and tactics is great. You cannot let yourself get surrounded, you must use block and magic effectively. I'm really enjoying the combat, although i do die often. The atmosphere is fantastic, and the graphics are wonderful.

But oh lord.. Has anyone else fought the Kayran yet? WORST BOSS-FIGHT EVER. I honestly must have replayed that fight 2 dozen times. It turned what would have been a really cool cinematic fight into a nightmare of reloading and replaying.

A love hate with this game. Love it most of the time, but when I hate it, I really hate it.

by **Jag** » Wed May 25, 2011 10:43 am

Avenger wrote:Tom Chick trashes the difficulty level in the Witcher 2 in this little snippet here. It will definitely keep me away. I have enough trouble playing easy action games. LOL.

Just got to this fight last night. I don't care. I absolutely love this game. The detail, the atmosphere, the humor. It was everything I wanted DAII to be and isn't. The game does have warts, the inventory and crafting system could be better, but at the end of the day it is FUN and that's all I want.

From Tom's article:

It reminds me a bit of the Jedi Knight games. You’ve been running around totally being a badass Jedi, lightsaber and Force Powering your way through the game. Then you have to fight another Jedi who has all your powers and it’s no fair. I was supposed to be the big fish in the pond!

I had the same exact thought when I got to this fight. Then again I loved the Jedi Knight games, so I have no problem with this.

by **TiLT** » Wed May 25, 2011 10:48 am

ScaryMike wrote:But oh lord.. Has anyone else fought the Kayran yet? WORST BOSS-FIGHT EVER. I honestly must have replayed that fight 2 dozen times. It turned what would have been a really cool cinematic fight into a nightmare of reloading and replaying.

I posted about that fight on GamingTrend, and my impression was the opposite. That boss demonstrates one of the ways in which Dragon Age 2 failed but The Witcher 2 doesn't.

Both games seem to have boss fights against huge monsters that require attack memorization to win against. The difference is that where Dragon Age 2's boss fights could easily last 20 minutes where almost all of that time was spent slooooowly chipping away on the boss' hit points, the one in The Witcher 2 lasted about 3 minutes, tops. Pretty much every time I died, it happened in the first minute, which made replaying the battle much more appealing and reduced the annoyance factor of death considerably. The boss had a hit point bar, but the game more or less ignored it. There was never a need to chip away at hit points. There were instead smaller goals to accomplish during the battle, and completing each of these goals resulted in the boss dying. It never felt like a grind.

It's also worth mentioning that the boss was easy to figure out.

by **ScaryMike** » Wed May 25, 2011 10:53 am

TiLT wrote:
It's also worth mentioning that the boss was easy to figure out.

I felt like figuring it out required step by step failure though. To each their own. Its possible I just suck, but it took me over an hour to beat this guy, and I felt like it wasn't about skill level, but more about not making any mistakes after spending 30 minutes figuring out what those mistakes might be.

And to be fair, my original post may have been overall harsh. I am loving this game 90% of the time.

by **cheeba** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:18 pm

The Kayran I thought wasn't difficult (I'm playing on Normal but I don't think it matters for boss fights, heh). But one cannot seriously hold that up as an example of how boss fights should be done. Spoilering it for those who aren't there yet...

Spoiler:

The end of chapter II boss fight is worse, forcing you to go through an unskippable cut scene as well as 2 sets of trash and a mini boss before getting to the boss - every single time you reload, and you will reload. It's like they looked at Dragon Age 2's awful Act 2 boss fight and said "we can make ours just as annoying!"

by **e1123** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:25 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Waking up hungover and tattooed is no way to go through life, Witcher.

Totally wasn't expecting that. Still haven't left Flotsam as I was having a hard time finding silver ore to make a useful sword. I knew better than to head out in to the wilds without one.

I'm also wondering if the difficulty in the beginning of the game is in any way related to not importing a save-game file. More specifically, did they balance those battles assuming you had all kinds of gear, potions and oils?

Raven's Armor does help, but my steel sword didn't import. The silver one does a little more damage than the base. The armor and the sword have a bunch of upgrade slots, but that doesn't help in the beginning. So, I would say no.

by **Smoove_B** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:38 pm

Patch 1.1 should be coming this evening.

by **Greg Wak** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:15 pm

This game is kicking my arse all over the place. Yes, I love it, but the whole dying reloading over and over is pretty frustrating. And (unless you count those queens) I haven't had a boss batlle yet. Not looking forward to those, unless I get a ton better.
Hey Ericb-block fixes everything?

Really? Like against those damn insect queens? Bleah. I know how I have to win, but I'm allowed one mistake in that fight. 2 mistakes is death. So after 2hrs of die/reload, I gave up and decided to continue the Kayrn?quest. Step in the water, get surrounded by drowners and die in 2 seconds. I did figure out quickly what to do about that, but the instadeaths around every corner are annoying. I love everything else about the game and will continue, but parts are just tough.

by **Jag** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:02 pm

The best advice on any fight is use your signs. They make the difference between winning and losing in many cases. Quen is a shield that negates damage. It should be up all the time if you are getting hammered.

On the Queens:

Spoiler:

by **ScaryMike** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:24 pm

Jag wrote:The best advice on any fight is use your signs. They make the difference between winning and losing in many cases. Quen is a shield that negates damage. It should be up all the time if you are getting hammered.

On the Queens:

Spoiler:
Use Quen for shield and Yrden to trap if you have too. I used the poison protection potion (Mongoose?) and the arachnid oil that does bonus damage to arachnids (not sure if the queen is one though). Other than that, just spam fast attacks with the shield up and roll away when you need to recharge.

Spoiler:

by **ScaryMike** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:25 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Waking up hungover and tattooed is no way to go through life, Witcher.

Totally wasn't expecting that. Still haven't left Flotsam as I was having a hard time finding silver ore to make a useful sword. I knew better than to head out in to the wilds without one.

I'm also wondering if the difficulty in the beginning of the game is in any way related to not importing a save-game file. More specifically, did they balance those battles assuming you had all kinds of gear, potions and oils?

You can buy silver ore from the dwarven craftsman in Flotsam.

by **Smoove_B** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:30 pm

Yeah, that's what I eventually had to do but I figured that I'd find it somewhere - like I did for every other ingredient.

by **e1123** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:42 pm

There is some ore in

Spoiler:

Octopus Overlords

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