Aard in the game is quite realistic - telekinetic push, still some doubt if that can put out the fire. IMO it can...
Axii was rather a sign that calm down animals than drag them on our side. Geralt used it to calm down his horse in one place.
Igni in the game would be realistic if not fireballs...
Heliotrope and
Quen are as The Silver said
TheSilver said:
I think the difference between Quen and Heliotrope is the way of protection. Quen is physical whereas Heliotrope is "mental". I presume that it would be used against Axii-like spells.
Heliotrope is defence from magic at all. So Quen wouldn't be good to defend from Igni, Aard etc. but Heliotrope would do.
Yrden is different... it is rather a barrier, something that protects from opening, or sth like that. Geralt used it when he was fighting with Striga. He sailed with it his sarcophagus.
TheSilver said:
I'd presume that very human (What about elves and dwarfs? Any known spellcasters?) has the "potential" to cast magic. Such as the one man cursing Princess Adda (I forgot his name... It starts with "O" I believe...). To my understanding Sorceressess (to manny "s"'s?) are usually little ugly girls that are taken in and physically changed and taught magic. I am unsure if it is the same with sorcerers.With the witchers I'd presume that through their intense training they are more adaptable to using magic in comparison to a normal human. And since magic-users (Not sure if a source would count) are needed to create a witcher, I'd presume that these wizards/sorcerers/witches/sorceressess/etc specifically created the "Signs" to make witchers more effective, without focusing their talent on magic. Thus they can still be proficient at "usual" combat.
What about Aen Saevherne? Elven wizards?What about Gnomes? They used magic to create better armour.Dwarfs I am sure have magicians too.Aen Saevherne claim themselves to be better wizards than humans. Well... elves know magic longer, but I think humans learned to use it as well as them.Signs are still not good to be used at combat. They take lots of energy and witchers can't drain it from nature. They take it from elixirs that are still in their veins. Geralt uses Signs only when it is really needed, otherwise he would be too exhausted to fight.