If you don't like the combat, you're doing it wrong

[elloimjoe]

You can do a fast stabbing animation that hits quickly and has good range, but it only works if you attack one direction with your slow looping swing, and then immediately attack the opposite direction. It would be nice to be able to control things like that a bit more, so i can swing against multiple weak enemies instead of stabbing one in half (this can happen when you stab them, lol) or choose to stab a dangerous enemy and disengage instead of doing a slow spinning leap that will get you hit.

Haha I know exactly what you're talking about, that lunge/thrust he does is amazing. Also feel you on the spinning problem, think it was most annoying on the Jenny contract. For the most part the fancy spinning does work swellingly though ^^

Also as a few other posters added can always try to cancel it out with a dodge =)

 

[BloodyWitcher]

The combat isn't that hard, even on the higher difficulty settings.

Well after like 30 hours in on DM difficulty, I died more times in my first encounter fighting a solitary Lvl 7 Water Hag than I did with any boss I fought in Bloodboourne

 

[Uhtred1084]

Good post! I'm playing on Blood and Broken Bones. I rarely ever get hit! It's all about footwork. I never stop moving, I'm always dodging, and rolling when I have to. I'm circling constantly and when I do go in for a strike, I will strike two times...sometimes three with fast attacks. I pull back in guard and repeat the process. Another thing. My build is focused on sword play and alchemy. I wear light armor to help make up for my weak signs. I'm all about criticals and dps. I always use oils, bombs, and potions. I open up with a bomb to soften my opponents. I tend to save my sign usage if I am about be swarmed, then I usually cast Igni or Aard to punch a hole in the circle of opponents and roll through it.

 

[silverback1138]

Yeah combat in this game is amazing. I've played both kb/mouse and controller and I think that there's a couple of buttons that could be moved around but overall I like it better.

 

[Add1cted]

Dodge, dive, dip, duck and dodge. If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ghoul.

Got to echo those who like this combat system, takes a bit of getting used to but after remapping the dodge key to one of the additional buttons on the mouse I've begun to get the hang of it. Signs and swords is the way I've gone (second hardest difficulty), tough but ultimately rewarding.

 

[Honest-Outrage]

So after struggling with the combat (new player to the Witcher series) i finally got to grips with it........... spent some time fighting drowners to practice!! :thumbup:

Now that i understand it a bit more and am able to combine dodges, with fast attacks and signs, i have to say, fighting is very satisfying!

 

[Kyubix22]

What is this? any one can like whatever they want. What has to do likes with doing something wrong or well, some who for example finished the game and never died can dislike combat, has nothing to do with it.

Fanboys.

 

[styku]

What is this? any one can like whatever they want. What has to do likes with doing something wrong or well, some who for example finished the game and never died can dislike combat, has nothing to do with it.

Fanboys.

You don't get the idea of rhetoric figures and emphasis, right?

I'll rephrase that for you: "If you're not enjoying combat system, maybe you're approaching combat in the wrong way. Because most of the problems listed by people that don't like it, are either in fact non-existent or easily avoided by using different approach."
But hey, that's not how you name topics. That's why under the topic name there's also a post, explaining what author really meant to say in a more descriptive and detailed manner

 

[essenthy]

totally agree with op

 

[Gerudon]

Yeah, I must admit it is a very cool system and a large improvement over the TW2 system. It also feels kinda realistic at least compared to a lot of other games, that you and your enemies are more cycling each other waiting for the right moment to strike instead of just flailing at each other.

 

[Valmighty]

I'm so pleased there is no floating '!' to indicate a foe is about to hit you.
Combat is tough, and there is no sense in standing in the middle of a pack of foes, as they won't just watch politely.

Or take the difficulty down a level (or two)

There is. Not in the form of "!", but a flashing-red health bar. You can even abuse this by skill (red flash AND slowing time)

---

The combat in TW3 is so-so for an action RPG. Not good but not bad either. There's a lot of good stuffs like dodging mechanics. But we can't cloud ourselves with our love to CDPR so we can't see the flaw. There's a lot of bad stuff too in this combat mechanics. Like your slash is measured by the distance to the enemy (rolling blade 3 times in a row!), overused quen (even the OP stated it himself), no stamina penalty when rolling/dodging, no momentum (hit then roll back, very unrealistic), bad locking mechanism, no locking icon when engaging boss even-though you are locking it, etc.

Even in the gameplay video by the game designer himself, he failed to demonstrate how good it is.

Don't get me wrong, i play on broken bones (one bellow the hardest) and am currently enjoying the game. But saying that other people are doing it wrong is kind of arrogant.

 

[vegitossj7]

The combat in TW3 is so-so for an action RPG.

I honestly cant name any other (A)RPG with this good combat except Dragon's Dogma.
It feels like an improved Blade of Severance/Dark Souls combat and its very good imo and it also feels more challenging than those 2 for me.

Im not here to defend CDPR, but it is very good compared to others.
I know it has flaws, like the boss lock-on you mentioned or the enemy collision with horses. Which i hope will be fixed.

But i have to say it has a very good combat for an open-world game.

 

[ilayoeli]

If you ask me, CDPR should have balance the combat a little better: nerf the speed and damage of the enemies while make parries and dodges deplete stamina, make every move count

 

[elloimjoe]

I understand that some people simply will not like this game's combat; however I implore you to at least learn and practice before you simply say it's bad.

Also Quen doesn't have to be used at all, it's just my preference. Igni's reduced armor (upgraded) is quite good. So is yrden's slow, makes dodging and rolling quite easier; it also gets an ability where it blocks projectiles from entering if upgraded (eat that water hags). Aard is also useful so you can just blow people over and one hit/ open them up for a strong attack or two.

Also my preference, but I prefer not to lock onto bosses. Gives me a better layout of the area for avoiding rocks and such so I can dodge effectively/retreat a bit and use swallow. I also don't think I've needed to actually lock onto anything yet, it's easy enough to just focus on one target if necessary. If anything I feel like it's a hinderance to focus your camera on only one enemy.

 

[Liuhu77]

The combat feels absolutely great. I just love it. I can't think of another game where the combat system can be as punishing and rewarding at the same time (well maybe TW2). You have to think and be tactical. When you find the right tactics it gets easier even on the highest dificulties. The thing is you'll need to find the right style, abilities and find about each enemy type how to fight them. That's brilliat.

There are however some bugs;
- In combat mode there might be something wrong with the inverse kinematics system since Geralt gets stuc even to small rocks and whatnot. That's very irritating.
- Also not sure if the critical hit bonuses and other bonuses work how they should. Those problems were described on some other thread.

 

[Anelikital]

CDprojekt really nailed the combat system, i am loving it, sure it can be brutal but when i started mastering it(and with the lele music playing ), i felt like a total badass even when i was fighting a few wolves
:victory:

 

[elloimjoe]

CDprojekt really nailed the combat system, i am loving it, sure it can be brutal but when i started mastering it(and with the lele music playing ), i felt like a total badass even when i was fighting a few wolves
:victory:

Right?? I love that lady chanting in the background the whole time, its hilarious and incredibly epic at the same time <(^.^)>

 

[Anelikital]

Right?? I love that lady chanting in the background the whole time, its hilarious and incredibly epic at the same time <(^.^)>

I know how you feel, i found myself smirking more than once while in combat, just because of the music.

 

[TouPoutsou]

Combat is basically TW2's combat, abit improved. I am not crazy about it, i do not hate it either. However i have absolutely ZERO problems with it. I am playing on broken bones, and i killed that level 7 wraith when i was level one deathless, and then in Velen(just started the area) i took up on a group of like 10 or more, level 10 Bandits(4 on horseback), while i was level 4, also without dying. Quen is still OP as fuck, if not more, because now your stamina regerates when it's active. Also this time around you can just back off and heal with food like Skyrim. If anything i think the combat is easy.

What sets apart the combat in Souls/Bloodborne to most other games is

1) An amazingly wide range of attacks, manually controlable by you. Fast attacks, strong attacks, jump attakcs, roll attacks etc. None of them are automated, you have to press the right buttons. In TW2+3, you bascially have 2 attacks, strong and fast. 3 if you count parry as well. Also there is automation. If your enemy is kinda far Geralt jumps to close the gap automatically. I dislike this.

2) Different moveset for at least each weapon class. Sometimes different movesets in weapons even in the same weapon class. Of course this would not make much sense in TW3, since Geralt is a specific person, who uses specific weapons and would not change his fighting style. But abit of difference on someting like straight swords vs curved swords would be nice. This way the BEST weapons would be more subective, since it would not depend entirely on stats

3) Movement and combat is VERY responsive. Especially in DS2 and Bloodborne. In TW3, Geralt's movement feels like steering a bus.

Just to note, that while i think the combat is VERY poor, compared to the Souls franchise, it is also VERY good, compared to something like Skyrim. And The Witcher games, despite me personally not loving the combat, are still my favourite games to have come out the last 10 years or so.

 

[elloimjoe]

Thanks for your input! Glad that you're not letting one aspect of the game ruin the rest of it for you =)