The Witcher 2 Catch-All

Quick question to everyone who downloaded the enhanced edition: it works with old saves, right? Or are there any improvements in the game which will only work if I start anew?

Yes, the patcher apparently works for every previous version, as it seems to just overwrite everything (which I guess is why it's so big and the new download for EE is 5 gig smaller than 1.0+patch). I did 1.0 -> 3.0 and it loaded my previous Ch1 v2.0 save file fine, and I saw the new animals running around Lobinden. As far as I know, the only problem you might have getting at the new stuff is if you're loading an old Ch3 save.

The new stuff is in Ch3. It's a nice little addition if you were doing another playthrough anyway, but I'm not sure I'd recommend doing a whole new playthrough of each path just to see the new bits.

Scratched wrote:

and I saw the new animals running around Lobinden

Thanks, that's exactly the stuff I was thinking about.

I've only played once and was holding with a second playthrough until now. I want to do Roche path, but didn't feel like replaying all opening scenes, I'll reload in first chapter already.

UCRC wrote:
Scratched wrote:

and I saw the new animals running around Lobinden

Thanks, that's exactly the stuff I was thinking about.

I've only played once and was holding with a second playthrough until now. I want to do Roche path, but didn't feel like replaying all opening scenes, I'll reload in first chapter already.

Luckily they made the "big choice is coming" obvious enough that I have a save from right before ending Act 1. I'm not interested in a skill path besides swordsmanship, so it was the perfect spot to start my second path.

I am finally getting into this one. I tried the new tutorial which gave me a bit of help on the concept of parrying and dodging, and took the advice from this thread to use lots of rolls and not spare the Quen. That along with using the Xbox controller has clicked for me - dodging in third person seems so much smoother with the gamepad. Choosing quickslots is OK now that I am used to it. The one big annoyance is that searching picks up everything in a container... but since this is an out of combat issue it can be managed.

The tutorial told me to play on Easy. I thought despite teaching the basics it was a bit unfair in terms of the pace of the arena battle, as everything up to that point was so compartmentalized I needed some time to experiment with putting the pieces together. So screw the tutorial's "recommendation", I chose to play on Dark. I just couldn't bear to think that there was content I did not have access to, nor that I was some sort of pansy-ass Witcher wannabe. I will admit that I'm dying a lot (though less often as I get the controls down) but success in combat at this level is very satisfying and compared to many old-school RPGs the difficulty seems just fine.

I installed a mod to increase the text size, as things on my 46" TV were way, way too tiny but now that is done the game looks amazing. CD Projekt certainly knows how to model a nice pair of breasts.

UCRC wrote:

Quick question to everyone who downloaded the enhanced edition: it works with old saves, right? Or are there any improvements in the game which will only work if I start anew?

I think there's a bug on the Iorveth path that doesn't let you progress into Ch. 3 with some old saves.

It feels REALLY good to resume this game after a month-long distraction with Diablo 3. Surprisingly not hard to pick up on the thread where I had left off. Combat systems could not be any more different but I'm easing back into the groove. This is really cool since I'm still in Flotsam and there's still so much to do.

I restarted my game because I wanted to smash up all those training pillars for the 10%+ XP ... then realized that I somehow didn't get the amulet from Newboy in the prologue. Noooooooooooooooooooooooo

Clemenstation wrote:

I restarted my game because I wanted to smash up all those training pillars for the 10%+ XP ... then realized that I somehow didn't get the amulet from Newboy in the prologue. Noooooooooooooooooooooooo

The curse of the completionist run through. Keep that walkthrough open on monitor two son!

I think I'm just going to press forward this time. Melitele's Heart doesn't seem to be an essential quest.

Clemenstation wrote:

I think I'm just going to press forward this time. Melitele's Heart doesn't seem to be an essential quest.

I didn't do it and i 1k'd the game:)

Clemenstation wrote:

I think I'm just going to press forward this time. Melitele's Heart doesn't seem to be an essential quest.

There's a mod that lets you pick it up in Chapter 1.

REDkit, the TW2 modding tools will be shown off at Gamescom: http://en.thewitcher.com/community/e...

Is there some super secret money making way I don't know about. Every crafting schematic in Lindoben is ridiculously expensive, especially the darkmode schematics. I've won the fighting tournament, the arm wrestling tournaments, I've sold a bunch of monster reagents, sold a bunch of potions I found, picked through all the houses.

Still can barely afford anything. I don't remember being this money starved in Witcher 1.

Done some quests? The billboard outside the inn if you missed it.

My general flow in an act was to do all the sidequests first which build you up, in resources and xp, then the rest of the plot missions which have a less interruption to them. There's some good stuff just waiting to be found as well, crafting isn't the be-all-end-all, especially in act 2/3. Also some plot quests like the kayran will be giving you reagents you need for those good crafts.

I know I'm practically complaining to myself here, but here goes

I'm up to troll trouble - meeting dimitri at the graveyard. Everytime the fight starts I'm done to about 15% of my hp. Dimitri hits me immediately in the back when I try to roll away. This is pretty f-ing bullsh*t. I've done the fight about 9x now. I still don't know why everything is so expensive, I've done a few side things and they give me a handful of coins, and the schematics are 250 gold. In Witcher 1 I was making along potions and stuff, but this is like korean MMO grindy doing arm wrestling and dice games and selling nekker parts

So far really not a favorable review for Witcher 2

Keep it coming mooosicle, I grow stronger whenever someone comes to the proper conclusions

I'm just going to counter the negativity and mention that I think this game kicks ass.

If you're having trouble, Moo, the game does let you change the difficulty mid-game. If you aren't going after the dark items, don't bother with Dark difficulty. There is no reason to stick it out on hard if you're not enjoying the challenge.

Mooosicle - if you're stuck for cash, I read this on the Witcher wiki-

A good way to earn enough money to afford said materials is to not complete the side quest: The Nekker contract. Instead of destroying the nest with a grapeshot outright, just keep visiting them periodically. You can then sell the the organs from the witcher's fallen foes to generate the funds to acquire all the ingredients for the armor set.

Hope that helps.

*edit*

Oh sorry, missed the earlier post about playing on dark mode. I wouldn't even try, I have no desire to slam my d*ck in a drawer.

Normal was fine for me.

Another recommendation here to drop difficulty. Dark was my third playthrough and I modded it to give myself stupid regen. It's just the hardest difficulty with regular saving allowed, and the other suits of armour, it doesn't add anything to the story or any hidden gameplay. I'd also add that first time through the first act is probably the most difficult as you're just learning the ropes and have poor gear.

A few clutch level ups will also make the combat more manageable. I went down the sword path, and having my dodge roll go twice as far was fantastic.

I've already been selling engreda and nekker parts for cash. I haven't destroyed the nests because I can't afford grapeshot mines . The difficulty isn't really the issue, I've managed to get past the other "fair" fights - it's the design of this fight. Why can't I start from 10 feet back, I start right in his face with my sword unsheathed. I load over and over until he has a slight delay in his sword attack and doesn't start the fight with me at 15% HP (with the blasphemer set)

Really reminds me of a similar poorly designed Mafia 2 mission, for anyone who is familiar. Vito's house is ambushed by the Irish gang, and he has to jump out the window without a gun. And basically pray the enemy doesn't shoot him too many times. Took me about 25 tries.

Have your sword out in hostile areas. As with many other aspects of TW, it's about preparation.

That's the downside to the cursed sets, you need all 4 bits unless you're willing to deal with that life drain. There's another mod I used to get rid of the downside when I decided I wasn't interested in a slog for my 3rd playthrough to see the extra bit of content in act 3, it's on the nexusmods.com site. Dark is supposed to be bloody hard.

I always do. It puts me in a conversation and when I'm done, the sword is unsheathed. Which is why I keep saying, it's not the difficulty - it's just crappy design

I'm trying very hard to frame this in a way that doesn't come across rudely but I'm really struggling, and it's not my intent. I don't remember struggling there at all, so it may not be fair to blame the design, IMO.

The game is definitely flawed, but I don't think that's one of them.

*edit*

Had a quick poke around the Google, I don't see any particular complaints about the quest. Most guides say it's pretty easy, so the issue really doesn't seem like bad design.

Maybe your positioning is bad in the save for some reason? Maybe Dmitri won't hit so hard on an easier setting.

It sounds like you aren't having all that much fun playing Dark Mode, there is no point in punishing yourself and disliking the game because of it.

That fight took me probably 10 tries on dark. Just keep at it. Roll left and try to break the group up. Watch out for thrown daggers.

Well, I finally finished it, so it turns out third attempt was the charm. Chalk me up as being rather lukewarm towards the game. Certainly an improvement, since when I quit the second time deciding that I just didn't like it, it was quite a drop from the first game that I thought was one of the most pleasant gaming surprises I ever had.

A lot of my problems with the game subsided heavily by Act Two, but that was a long slog to get past (long enough for me to tire of the game twice).

I still loved the atmosphere of the world, with a density that is unrivaled elsewhere in the genre. The problem is that most of that clearly just comes from devotion to the source material. Sometimes the narrative matches the complexity of the novels, but sometimes the dialogue is cringeworthy, especially when dealing with sexuality where it becomes downright embarrassing. Some of the decisions to make are pretty powerful, but my issue is that I don't feel invested enough in the main characters for it to effect me enough.

I feel like combat is a mixed bag. Sometimes it hits all the right notes, making the combat a real struggle that makes you excited when you get through it. Other times it feels either tediously simple or difficult to the point of trial-and-error, because you basically have to go into the fight and die to determine what potion you should have drunk beforehand or what trap you should have prepared. That parry system is practically useless.

Really don't like how ambiguous some of the quests are. Yes, something can be said for not showing you a quest marker for everything, but sometimes I feel like there is almost no clues whatsoever, and running around into every single area until that quest shows up in somebody's dialogue is frustrating to say the least. Although, as I said, this wasn't as bad after Act 1.

Also, I want to meet the people who thought it was a good idea to make 80% of all actions in the game to be context sensitive to the exact same button and punch them in the gut.

Probably sounds like just a Female Doggofest but I guess after my love of the first one it's a gigantic letdown to find this one to be so wholly mediocre. I feel like people were disappointied about the direction Dragon Age 2 took and then put this game on a pedestal. Every moment I loved in this game, there was another one that annoyed the hell out of me.

Most of that seems like fair criticism, my buy in to the world and characters was pretty total, but I can see that if you don't, or can't, buy in then it may be a rougher ride.

Combat is definitely a weird progression and regression over the original. The short period of the potions means that you can't just pop a Swallow when going into a danger zone like the original. I also dislike the lack of rhythm in the combat. I'd have preferred a development of the combat of the original than what we got.

And yeah, the current game design trend of 'one button to rule them all' is a disease that needs to be eradicated.