The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[queenofdisco]

So I have all the Witcher gear now, and have outfitted him with master-crafted Wolven gear. Been hunting down everything, and finally been able to craft all bombs, potions and decoctions, with only one drawback. The Leshen decoction. I stupidly thought that not killing the ancient Leshen in Skellige would be okay.

Well maybe for the village, but now I have one item I can't brew. Lesson learnt, never be merciful in a video game.

Struggling to reach LVL 37, once the game ends and you've done all the contracts, missions, hunts, etc the game gives you zilch XP. Really cannot wait for the DLC in October, want to get to at least lvl 45 so I can equip all the armour and weapons I've crafted for higher levels. I have the best armour and weapons in the entire game in my stash; Undvik Armour and the Black Unicorn sword, among other weapons, but these are the best of the best in the game apparantly.

But that Ancient Leshen Decoction.UGGGGH... *Pulls hair out*

Also; https://twitter.com/PlagiarismIsKey/status/640645778084601860

Just me hanging out with free willy.

 

[Gikoku]

New Witcher 3 Patch to Expand Romance Dialogue

As a result of player feedback, CD Projekt Red will add new dialogue options to further flesh out the love triangle between Geralt, Triss, and Yennefer in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Some players have criticized how this was handled, in particular the options that are available if you decide to leave Yennefer to be with Triss.

In July, CD Projekt Red acknowledged fans' concerns about this. Now, the developer has provided even more insight into the romance changes coming to The Witcher 3 through an upcoming patch.​

Wow, now this is the kind of update and fan service I wasn't expecting and for free too. I remember when Bioware received major complaints for Mass Effect 2 over how they handled Ashley, Kaiden, and Liara if you romanced them in ME1, and in response to the feedback they did absolutely nothing and just jumped straight to ME3 instead. But in Liara's case they released a DLC that included romance, but you had to PAY for it and it wasn't cheap. Serious kudos to CDPR for actually listening to their fans.

So I have all the Witcher gear now, and have outfitted him with master-crafted Wolven gear. Been hunting down everything, and finally been able to craft all bombs, potions and decoctions, with only one drawback. The Leshen decoction. I stupidly thought that not killing the ancient Leshen in Skellige would be okay.

Well maybe for the village, but now I have one item I can't brew. Lesson learnt, never be merciful in a video game.

Struggling to reach LVL 37, once the game ends and you've done all the contracts, missions, hunts, etc the game gives you zilch XP. Really cannot wait for the DLC in October, want to get to at least lvl 45 so I can equip all the armour and weapons I've crafted for higher levels. I have the best armour and weapons in the entire game in my stash; Undvik Armour and the Black Unicorn sword, among other weapons, but these are the best of the best in the game apparantly.

But that Ancient Leshen Decoction.UGGGGH... *Pulls hair out*

Also; https://twitter.com/PlagiarismIsKey/status/640645778084601860

Just me hanging out with free willy.

Nice stuff man, I've only gotten a handful of the Witcher gears crafted thus far. Also, there's whales in the game??? I never saw one before, whenever I go underwater I'm usually assaulted by other sea creatures keeping me from being in there for any major length of time. So wait, will XP gain still be okay before beating the game then? Cause if so then I can hold off on the main quest completion for awhile, still a lot of side stuff to go through. At the moment I'm currently juggling this game and the Mass Effect trilogy on PC, but I took some screens of my Geralt and sometimes I'm still taken aback at how gorgeous and detailed the environments can be in this game.

And his current look.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Just finished a couple of those quest lines that you are currently doing in those screens Scott. Spent around 7 hours on it yesterday trying to make some headway and got a decent amount of quests done in that time and some contracts.

 

[Gikoku]

Just finished a couple of those quest lines that you are currently doing in those screens Scott. Spent around 7 hours on it yesterday trying to make some headway and got a decent amount of quests done in that time and some contracts.

Nice, glad you've been able to get more time with it. I'm going to try and make some time for it today and get a lot more done in there. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the game before the end of the next month rears in.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Nice, glad you've been able to get more time with it. I'm going to try and make some time for it today and get a lot more done in there. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the game before the end of the next month rears in.

I'm going to be playing it for an age yet, rare to get a decent chunk of time to play it so have to fit the odd hour here and there in & hard to get enough done in that time.

 

[queenofdisco]

Giki you'll be fine with xp, but once you've done everything like I have there won't be anything to give you xp except the random question marks and killings enemies which gives you bare amounts of it.

I still have the question marks in Skellige but I bored of doing them. Seems every Skellige sea qm was just smuggler stash and I got sick of doing them, started New game plus and levelled up straight away as did the equipment in my stash. So that lvl 40 odd weapons I crafted is now lvl 60 odd.

 

[Gikoku]

I'm going to be playing it for an age yet, rare to get a decent chunk of time to play it so have to fit the odd hour here and there in & hard to get enough done in that time.

Mm, hopefully you'll get to have some enjoyment time when FO4 releases as well. Why not take some paid vacation off? Have a well-deserved binge.

Giki you'll be fine with xp, but once you've done everything like I have there won't be anything to give you xp except the random question marks and killings enemies which gives you bare amounts of it.

I still have the question marks in Skellige but I bored of doing them. Seems every Skellige sea qm was just smuggler stash and I got sick of doing them, started New game plus and levelled up straight away as did the equipment in my stash. So that lvl 40 odd weapons I crafted is now lvl 60 odd.

Ah okay, thanks. Yeah I had the same annoyance with them as well, decided to run out to some random question mark in hopes of some fun discovery only for it to be some random chest surrounded by enemies. I don't know if there is, but it would be pretty nice to stumble upon some stash that isn't a monster's nest just so it doesn't feel so... deliberate (for lack of a better word). Feels unnatural to the rest of the world that every loot stash is surrounded by a band of creatures/bandits.

I might do a new game+, if nothing else to see what happens when I choose the opposite of every decision I made from my first run. I'm not sure yet though.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Mm, hopefully you'll get to have some enjoyment time when FO4 releases as well. Why not take some paid vacation off? Have a well-deserved binge.

Think Fallout 4 will be Christmas present & I will continue ploughing solely through The Witcher 3 for some time yet.

 

[Gikoku]

Think Fallout 4 will be Christmas present & I will continue ploughing solely through The Witcher 3 for some time yet.

Sounds good then, same situation for me... >_< Going to be difficult trying to avoid FO4 spoilers for over a month after release. The internet is unforgiving, I couldn't even survive 1 day without a GoT spoiler.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Sounds good then, same situation for me... >_< Going to be difficult trying to avoid FO4 spoilers for over a month after release. The internet is unforgiving, I couldn't even survive 1 day without a GoT spoiler.

Story wise spoilers shouldnt be too bad overall, in games like Skyrim and Fallout the game world is so large most of the good stuff is in side quests and even after 2 years of playing the game a lot there are places and quests I havent found in Skyrim or Fallout 3.

Hoping to get a good amount of time on The Witcher 3 in the next few days to finish up some more quests and make some progress.

 

[Foxtrot94]

So, since no one has posted it, here's the teaser for the Hearts of Stone expansion:

And here's some screens too:

That's right folks, Shani is back from TW1!

Remember the Man of Glass, from TW3's beginning in the White Orchard tavern? Looks like the expansion will have him play an important role in the story, as seen in the teaser too.

Also, looks like Geralt will receive something in his body that's gonna change him permanently and cannot be removed. That mark there on his face?

Visible in the cover art too as a blue scar:

 

[Foxtrot94]

I've always had a soft spot for elven women...

But Geralt has always struck me as a man with an open mind...

LOLOLOLOLOL

 

[Gikoku]

So, since no one has posted it, here's the teaser for the Hearts of Stone expansion:

And here's some screens too:

That's right folks, Shani is back from TW1!

Remember the Man of Glass, from TW3's beginning in the White Orchard tavern? Looks like the expansion will have him play an important role in the story, as seen in the teaser too.

Also, looks like Geralt will receive something in his body that's gonna change him permanently and cannot be removed. That mark there on his face?

Visible in the cover art too as a blue scar:

Can't wait for it and not much longer to go, getting some Commander Shepard vibes from those glowing scars though. Maybe some paragon blue and renegade orange? Also, is it just me or do those visuals look slightly better? Maybe I'm just going a little senile here.

Still got a lot more to finish, but I'm definitely going to run through the expansion before finishing the main quest.

I've always had a soft spot for elven women...

But Geralt has always struck me as a man with an open mind...

LOLOLOLOLOL

Shame Geralt can't swing the other way, would make for some interesting playthroughs. That crossdresser you bump into was easily one of my favorite moments in the game.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Also, is it just me or do those visuals look slightly better?

Could be the lighting. The devs made each major area so that it's got a different lighting from the other ones. If you wanna see what I'm talking about, compare Kaer Morhen to Velen, or Velen to Novigrad.

It can very well be that the new areas have a better lighting system that makes them look better.

 

[Gikoku]

Yes! Finally found my favorite track in the whole game, love this song and area. Any of you guys got any favorite tunes/areas from the game?

Also, I only just now remembered I can use the Aard Sign (telekinetic push) to knock enemies down and follow up with an insta-kill attack. Definitely coming in handy for swarm fights.

Could be the lighting. The devs made each major area so that it's got a different lighting from the other ones. If you wanna see what I'm talking about, compare Kaer Morhen to Velen, or Velen to Novigrad.

It can very well be that the new areas have a better lighting system that makes them look better.

That's a good point and one that didn't really cross my mind, I see it now more after playing today. It looks damn nice though and clever use of lighting to give a whole new feel to a scene.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Yes! Finally found my favorite track in the whole game, love this song and area. Any of you guys got any favorite tunes/areas from the game?

Oh man. TW3 has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard, don't force me to choose. I'm gonna say though, Hunt or be Hunted and Silver for Monsters I like A LOT.

And, dunno if anyone noticed, but the composer is an absolute genius. In the books, the witchers' fighting style is described as resembling a dance, and in fact they gave the combat music a kind of danceable folkloristic vibe to it.

 

[Foxtrot94]

New screen from Hearts of Stone:

Also new info from German magazine "Gamestar" about the expansion:

• No new regions but the map will extend at North/North-East of Novigrad.
  
• The Oxenfurt Academy will be opened and can be visited.
  
• Shani's romance will have no effect on Yen/Triss.
  
• The choices made in TW1 regarding the Triss/Shani romance will have no effect.
  
• New "runeword" system: a specific merchant will create runewords from 3 runes and will embed it into our sword or armor. We can raise the runeword level with (a lot of) gold. Runewords will have unique effects, for example igniting an enemy will make him explode when he dies.
  
• 5 new talents.
  
• New items, including a new set that enhances Signs.
  
• Instead of 2, we'll now have 4 slots for potions.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Dunno if you guys play it on PC, but if you do, you HAVE to at least try this mod: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/657/?

Changes the lighting in the game, and damn, especially digging the change in the swamps. They're so damn creepy at night...

 

[Gikoku]

I finished romancing Triss and the whole questline was rather impressive (long too), had some moments where I felt tempted to go back and redo things, but eh. Feels more impactful when I just live with my mistakes instead. I still suck at Gwent of course and every tavern I go to keeps having really average cards, so it'll be awhile until I get much better with it all. Also just about done with all the sidequests within my current level so I can focus on the main quests again, still got a ways to go.

New screen from Hearts of Stone:

Also new info from German magazine "Gamestar" about the expansion:

• No new regions but the map will extend at North/North-East of Novigrad.
  
• The Oxenfurt Academy will be opened and can be visited.
  
• Shani's romance will have no effect on Yen/Triss.
  
• The choices made in TW1 regarding the Triss/Shani romance will have no effect.
  
• New "runeword" system: a specific merchant will create runewords from 3 runes and will embed it into our sword or armor. We can raise the runeword level with (a lot of) gold. Runewords will have unique effects, for example igniting an enemy will make him explode when he dies.
  
• 5 new talents.
  
• New items, including a new set that enhances Signs.
  
• Instead of 2, we'll now have 4 slots for potions.

Hearts of Stone is sounding quite nice, those two extra potion slots will definitely come in handy. Wonder why Shani's romance choices from TW1 won't matter though, seems kinda odd. Really interested in learning more about those runewords though, maybe we can mix and match how we want for own unique combinations?

Dunno if you guys play it on PC, but if you do, you HAVE to at least try this mod: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/657/?

Changes the lighting in the game, and damn, especially digging the change in the swamps. They're so damn creepy at night...

Yeah I play it on PC and that surprisingly looks pretty nice, I'll give it a test drive when I get a chance. I've yet to mess with any of the mods so far, but that's mainly due to not knowing how to install any of them at the moment. Do you use any other mods?

 

[Foxtrot94]

I've yet to mess with any of the mods so far, but that's mainly due to not knowing how to install any of them at the moment. Do you use any other mods?

LOL TW3 is probably the easiest-to-mod game ever. You just create a folder named "Mods" in the root folder and just copy paste the mod folder in there and that's it. Easy to install, easy to uninstall: you just delete the mod folder.

Only script mods get a bit more complicated.

Beside that mod, I've only got another one that replaces the Wolf Gear swords with Vesemir's swords, and the Debug Console Enabler.