The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt: Official Thread

The scope of Blood & Wine = pretty amazing. It's a whole other area just as dense (and about 2/3 as large) as Velen. It's actually pretty challenging, too. After waltzing through the last 1/2 of the normal game and much of HoS, I'm actually dying here and there again.

With both expansions, the Witcher 3 is on my short list for best games of all time. Controls, and how you interact with the environment = still a tiny bit clunky. For instance, any time you have to fight in an area with obstacles = torture. Luckily it doesn't happen that often.
 
The scope of Blood & Wine = pretty amazing. It's a whole other area just as dense (and about 2/3 as large) as Velen. It's actually pretty challenging, too. After waltzing through the last 1/2 of the normal game and much of HoS, I'm actually dying here and there again.

With both expansions, the Witcher 3 is on my short list for best games of all time. Controls, and how you interact with the environment = still a tiny bit clunky. For instance, any time you have to fight in an area with obstacles = torture. Luckily it doesn't happen that often.

KBM is solid but, believe it or not, I was trying out an Xbox 360 controller with this recently and I'm starting to think I may like it even more that way. Worth messing around with.

Other than that, yes, I agree with you: I have an overall high assessment of the game. The way things are going this year this Blood and Wine expansion may very well be the "RPG of 2016" because I just don't know of anything else coming out in that genre that's going to stack up.

I like Blood and Wine better than the main game.
 
KBM is solid but, believe it or not, I was trying out an Xbox 360 controller with this recently and I'm starting to think I may like it even more that way. Worth messing around with.

Other than that, yes, I agree with you: I have an overall high assessment of the game. The way things are going this year this Blood and Wine expansion may very well be the "RPG of 2016" because I just don't know of anything else coming out in that genre that's going to stack up.

I like Blood and Wine better than the main game.

So far, me too. I've played through the entire game with a controller. I actually played through #2 with one as well. I usually use one for anything that isn't a twitch shooter or something like Diablo.
To me the weirdness with the environment comes down to terrain. Like when Geralt is jumping on top of objects, it's almost like the geometry and what you see don't quite match up. His movement is a little jerky, too. In the case of normal movement, the game swaps your actions between combat vs. normal running around. If you're stuck with objects around you in a fight, you have to actually put your weapons away and hope the game lets you jump over them because there is no combat command for jump/climb.
It's all minor stuff, but it makes the game quirky. That said, it's not like the game is alone. After several games that did it so well, the recent Assassin's Creed games have had similar issues. Dragon Age 3 did, too.
 
I couldn't get into TW2 at all until I tried it with an Xbox pad, I had no issues with TW1 on KBM but when they moved to a more Arkham-style combat it seemed a better fit with a controller, and after that I didn't think twice about using it on TW3.
 
#1 could have easily been an excellent pad game, too. It felt super complicated at first...then you realize that almost all of those sword functions are simple toggles. It probably would have been better with a pad.
I'm actually a bit surprised the game never supported anything but KB/M even with the various update patches.
 
I am having a blast with Blood and Wine. Compared to stuff released these days, it is a complete game in itself. Loving it.
 
I can't wait to try it. I am level 50 now on NG+... I said goodbye to Triss this time around and going to take Yenn for a spin. Even though she seemed really fussy at the beginning she grew on me last time around and I was thinking she might indeed be a good fit for Geralt. I am hoping to get to about level 65 ~ 68ish to roll into Blood and Wine.
 
Blood and Wine is insanely good...and huge. I think it's probably just as large (and dense) as Velen/Novigrad are. It also feels really good to gain levels and occasionally die again.
I'm at level 45 and have only done about 1/4 of the new quests.
While I noticed that the color palette changed for the new areas, I actually think the whole game has a new graphical filter there. When I go back to Velen, my clothes and gear look a lot more drab and dark. Even in bad weather or at night, the color scheme is might brighter and saturated. I like it and kinda wish I could apply it to the rest of the game.
 
I guess I can start Blood and Wine now.. I thought the level should be 60ish to start that but it seems the min is 34. So question - I guess I need to finish A Poet Under Pressure and then I can start BaW. Can I move between the old and new areas or is my character bound to the new area in BaW once starting the expansion?

Ah, I found my answer: (Note: I asked CD Projekt if players could travel freely between Toussaint and Velen/Novigrad/Skellige and nobody was sure at the time. I’ll update you when I get an answer. Update: Yep, you can travel around freely.)
 
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I guess I can start Blood and Wine now.. I thought the level should be 60ish to start that but it seems the min is 34. So question - I guess I need to finish A Poet Under Pressure and then I can start BaW. Can I move between the old and new areas or is my character bound to the new area in BaW once starting the expansion?

Ah, I found my answer: (Note: I asked CD Projekt if players could travel freely between Toussaint and Velen/Novigrad/Skellige and nobody was sure at the time. I’ll update you when I get an answer. Update: Yep, you can travel around freely.)

You definitely can. It just shows up as a new area on the map, just like Skellige. You can travel to and from the new areas using the same sign posts as anywhere else. Just like with the main game, you can pursue as many notice board quests and treasure hunts as you want in all of the different kingdoms. While Hearts of Stone is more of a traditional DLC, Blood & Wine is closer to what we used to call an Expansion pack.
 
Thanks for confirming. I will install that BaW DLC tonight. BTW my single 1080 @ 2ghz is shredding this game at 4k with mostly ultra settings and 16x AF.. I have some things set to high (shadow qual, crowd density, foliage density). I have hair works off for now also which I know is a big IQ improvement but I am used to that being off... having 60fps in just about all the areas is so nice.. silky smooth. I have seen some drops into the 40s very infrequently - during rain in some very complex areas with a lot of reflectivity..
 
I haven't even really played around with 4K, although I suppose I should. I have everything cranked at 1080p and have been happy to never see any drops. I flipped over to 4K once (just to see it) and I was sitting at 30fps...so I just swapped back. I suppose if I tinker with the details a bit it might be feasible.
 
Yeah - because I started with it at 4k dropping down feels weird at 40". 1080p still looks good at 40" on ultra but the detail level at 4k is insane. It's sort of what got me initially hooked on this game before I realized how great the story and mechanics are. So you're on a 65" running 1080p? I guess you sit back from the display a good ways. I am like 2 or 3 feet from my 40.
 
Yeah - because I started with it at 4k dropping down feels weird at 40". 1080p still looks good at 40" on ultra but the detail level at 4k is insane. It's sort of what got me initially hooked on this game before I realized how great the story and mechanics are. So you're on a 65" running 1080p? I guess you sit back from the display a good ways. I am like 2 or 3 feet from my 40.

Yup, I'm probably 10 feet away from my 65" TV. To be pretty frank, there isn't that big of a visual jump from 1080p/4K for me. It's noticeable, but probably less so than 720p to 1080p.
Between having to turn details down (and the 4K colorspace not working with RGB over HDMI), I don't bother all that often. Mainly just with fighting games, Dark Souls 1/2, and older games.
While having a GTX1080 is often a little overkill at 1080p, it does feel good to know that 1080p/60 is a near 100% lock for every game I own.
 
Yeah in that case 1080p is just fine... and yeah running your desktop at 4k introduces issues with scaling issues in windows and running RGB 4:4:4 @ 60hz over a long HDMI cable. Not worth the headache in your case.

So I got Blood and Wine installed and now to try and finish The Poet Under Pressure in NG+ so I can start it. lol. Well, because I want to take my current Geralt into the new area.

edit: lol - need to be level 64 min for the BaW quest with NG+ sigh... well time to do some questing.
 
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I've gained nearly 10 levels in Blood & Wine so far, and I've really only gone after the low hanging fruit.
There are some new mechanics (mutations) that allow you to do some interesting things with the skill points you aren't using. Re-spec potions are sold everywhere, so it's kinda fun to play around with.
The new grandmaster items are also kinda cool. I'm sticking to the Wolf, but all of them seem to be quite good. Seems like an oversight not to have any new crossbows even if I almost never use/need one. I'd like a new one just for the sake of symmetry.
 
I need to switch to the Wolf gear path... been on the Griffin gear. I did find a silver sword last night that was so much better than the one I made I had to use it. That's a rarity. While I do love crafting my own matched sets of awesome gear I like it when drops are actually usable from time to time. Especially weapons.
 
When playing the normal game (prior to HoS and B&W) I don't think there were any items that could best the mastercrafted Wolf set in terms of pure stats. At least not once you outfitted everything with high-level runes and glyphs.
The DLCs definitely changed that. HoS added a couple new classes of gear that were slightly better and you get at least a couple weapons that are significantly better.
B&W added a bunch. In fact, normal drops tend to be better than whatever you were using whenever you entered Toussaint. The Grandmaster sets seem to be the best available (thanks to some new bonuses and lots of expansion slots), but there are some definite exceptions. One quest nets you a pretty killer sword that trumps all others, although it has no expansion slots.

All of that said, I'm not 100% sure your gear matters that much. I'm not noticing fights being a whole lot different with gear that is vastly better on paper. The tried and true strategies of using your signs to amplify damage and/or avoid taking damage are still far more important than everything else. Aard followed by stabbing them on the ground is still the single most effective thing in like 95% of fights.
 
I think the 1.22 patch changed something.. because before that I would never find stuff that bested my crafted gear.. Since 1.22 I have found a lot of unique swords that were like +8 or +11 higher than my crafted items, but the bonuses were all weird and not really usable. This one was like +65 damage higher, 3 open sockets, +11 to ard +11 to quen + +11 axii +10 bleeding, and I dropped in +5 attack power, 2x +5 fire (I like catching things on fire with my sword lol). Something like that. It was definitely an upgrade.
 
I think the 1.22 patch changed something.. because before that I would never find stuff that bested my crafted gear.. Since 1.22 I have found a lot of unique swords that were like +8 or +11 higher than my crafted items, but the bonuses were all weird and not really usable. This one was like +65 damage higher, 3 open sockets, +11 to ard +11 to quen + +11 axii +10 bleeding, and I dropped in +5 attack power, 2x +5 fire (I like catching things on fire with my sword lol). Something like that. It was definitely an upgrade.

Wouldn't surprise me. I've run into random everyday blue swords that have better pure damage than my wolf swords. Very few seem to have better bonuses, but that's still weird that normal items are so much better than they were. When playing the normal game 6 months ago I don't think I ever saw a single normal item that was even in the ballpark of the crafted stuff.
I guess it makes visiting all of those random "?" locations a bit more worthwhile. Before, once you crafted the Witcher sets, it was pointless to keep anything else. Now you might luck upon something that's better.
 
It definitely makes exploring more interesting other than to gather and sell off loot.. Even that gets tough because the best paying merchants run out of coin and it doesn't replenish for a while.
 
It definitely makes exploring more interesting other than to gather and sell off loot.. Even that gets tough because the best paying merchants run out of coin and it doesn't replenish for a while.

Once you get to the B&W areas, that will change. Most are packing 10K with some having upwards of 50K. Meditating for 4-5 days will replenish it, too. Quests also give you 2x the amount of gold. Even Gwent is 50 gold per round.
Some of the materials needed for the grandmaster equipment are both rare and/or expensive so you'll be spending more of your money as well. I think I dropped something like 20K creating a full set of Wolf gear, and that was coming from a master set.
It might be worthwhile to stash anything you have that seems valuable until you head to Toussaint.
 
Once you get to the B&W areas, that will change. Most are packing 10K with some having upwards of 50K. Meditating for 4-5 days will replenish it, too. Quests also give you 2x the amount of gold. Even Gwent is 50 gold per round.
Some of the materials needed for the grandmaster equipment are both rare and/or expensive so you'll be spending more of your money as well. I think I dropped something like 20K creating a full set of Wolf gear, and that was coming from a master set.
It might be worthwhile to stash anything you have that seems valuable until you head to Toussaint.

Good to know.. I have a whole trunk full of unique swords and armor and been hoarding materials I can sell too.. precious gems and powders of them.. etc..
 
The Runewright from the Hearts of Stone DLC can add expansion slots to that (sword from the water) making it far and away the most powerful in the game.

Even though I completed that quest, I never really messed with it much. Sounds like I need to head back there!
 
some of those buffs do not really scale, so a +5 attack is a big deal when attack is 40, not so much when it is 400. probably the armor penetration ones may be more useful as they get really high. or signs since they do scale.
 
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^^ I bet. :)

some of those buffs do not really scale, so a +5 attack is a big deal when attack is 40, not so much when it is 400. probably the armor penetration ones may be more useful as they get really high. or signs since they do scale.

I usually toss on of those +30 armor penetrating on my steel sword. Wasn't sure if that was the best use of a slot but maybe so. Sign intensity is nice also.. Seems to be active as long as you have the sword in it's sheath on your back. Is that accurate?
 
nope, pretty sure it has to be the drawn weapon. signs though, the grandmaster gear gets you 2 instant casts so the sword buffs are not that important. I was mostly a sign user anyway
 
Best armor set in the game? Which is it? How do I acquire it?
Hit level 48 and am on Grandmaster Feline armor. But lost about 2K vitality compared to the Teshum Mutna set (with a mask) that I got through the main campaign.

Let me know if I need to go back to Novigrad or some such to grab the Wolf set?
 
Well, I decided to try starting blood & wine with my current lvl 25 character. Bad idea, lol. Finally managed to struggle through the first 2 fights, then quickly retreated back to main game. It's definitely pretty - looking forward to playing once I'm closer to the right level.
 
Honestly, I don't think your gear matters all that much. At least once you get past the early portions of the game. The enemies that stun-lock you or interrupt your attacks do so no matter what you're rocking. The insta-kills you can do with Aard still work even if you have the worst sword in the game.
Even with all of the ways to buff your sword damage (via runes, mutagens, skills, etc,) hitting enemies at the right time is a lot more important that doing a few measly points more damage. The buffs that add random stun/freeze/fire effects matter a little, but they're just the same effects your signs can do better.
I started playing around with weapons/armor with better stats than the Wolf gear and the difference is damage given/taken is so minimal that you might as well just rock what looks coolest.
 
Just curious, what level are most people finishing up at? I'm at 48 right now and have done everything there is to do outside of the main B&W plot. I hit up all of the ?'s and completed all of the job board postings. I've only done 1 of the actual B&W missions, though.
There are at least a couple items I can't construct until I'm level 53. Is that even possible?
 
I am level 51 and now doing the main quest with Beyond Hill and Dale. I think I didn't do some sides in B&W. Also I didn't do most sides in HoS.

Most of treasure hunts also I didn't do and in terms of question marks I have tons left. 53 is quite possible.
 
I'm 55 on NG+ and have a lot of ? left on my maps. I'm about to do the uma quest back at Kear Morhen. Trying to get to 65 so I can hit B&W on NG+. I'm enjoying the game just as much on the second run through. Making different decisions to mix it up. Enjoying persuing Yenn this time around too. Looking forward to B&W!!
 
I'm thinking that me not going to Skellige until after clearing all of Velen and Novigrad might have impacted how I'm leveling up. I gained almost nothing for that entire map. 1-5XP for most missions. I bet I only gained 3 levels for totally clearing all of it. All I have left are the main B&W missions, so I guess I'll see how much those give me. I just finished the tournament side-mission, which came as part of the main quest.

One thing I never did do was get all of the Gwent cards. I have all of the main ones, but I'm clearly missing some random ones - probably monsters or scoiatel if I had to guess.
The game mentions a certain book can tell you which ones you're missing. Anyone know where to find that book?
 
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Finished Blood and Wine at 53. Was a phenomenal ride. 10/10.
Got the best ending I think. Game was just too good. Perfect in all ways. Can't believe we won't be having another game with Geralt. Need that idea to sink in.
 
Outside of improved graphics, it's hard to imagine topping this game without some kind of paradigm shift in technology. At that point a remake would likely be in order more than a sequel.
As clumsy as the first game is, a remake of the events in that one could be a good thing.
 
I just finished my playthrough, including both expansions. Great game, and while the controls are much better than the previous ones, they're still definitely the weak point of the game IMO. The camera positioning and FOV straight up suck at some points, especially with the faster moving enemies and/or groups. Some of the boss fights can be irritating as well when they teleport and you're left trying to move the camera to see where they went (target lock be damned,) then dodge, and dodge in a proper direction. I used a controller and sometimes I'd lose the left or right trigger - wouldn't parry or fire my sign - until I reloaded a save (didn't have to restart the game at least.)

Enjoyed the expansions enough as well, but definitely seems like your "path" is a lot more limited. Especially in B&W, either Geralt would go on himself without your interaction, or the NPC your talking to would steer you in a certain direction no matter what you said anyway. Some of the timing on them are just plain odd too. Right before the end fight they have a few minutes of cutscenes with maybe a dialog choice or two.. go back to gameplay, walk 5 feet aaaand.. cutscene again that really had no purpose as both dialog options ended the same anyway, I know this because I had to replay it half a dozen times with the camera/control issues and ended up trying both options.

Definitely got the feeling CDPR was thru telling Geralt's story by the end of it all. Looking forward to their next project, although it's a ways off - maybe I'll actually upgrade my gfx card by then!
 
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