A Few Simple Gameplay questions

[idrisguitar]

A Few Simple Gameplay questions

Just started this game again after stopping playing it years ago because of work. (dont think i got past chapter 2)anyway just finished the first chapter and have a few questions. 1: Im playing on normal, and im embarrassed to say i struggled against the boss at the end of chapter 1 (no spoilers, but you all should know what it is) died the first time and literally made it by the skin of my teeth the second attempt. im just wondering are there any tips. Obv in this fight there were tons of other barghests around so i figured dodging wouldn't help me.2: when do i get the silver sword. and when i do do you recommend me focusing on improving that over the steel?3: when do i start getting silver talent points?4: is swallow the best potion, because i usually go into a boss battle with one active but especially against C1 boss, it really didn't help much. (i also ate a lot of food) are there better potions when you progress. or does the offset of having better weaponry and attack power pretty much wipe out the need for it?5: im a bit of a completionist and obsessive, so im wondering is there a feature or a mod that allows for me to hide certain quests on my journal temporarily, just say im focusing on a few side missions, as i remember in chapter 2 especially there are TONS of missions and it just gets a bit cluttered for me.6: is there a key to auto loot? as selecting the remains then moving the mouse down to take all i s a bit annoying. and while sometime you don't want to loot everything i would still find it a little quicker.I apologise if all this is simple stuff, i just wanted to steer clear of googling or faqs in case i encountered any spoilers.but im REALLY loving the game. more than i remember enjoying it the first time.

 

[secondchildren]

Just started this game again after stopping playing it years ago because of work. (dont think i got past chapter 2)

No problem , honwy, you can always count on us. We're ready to help

1: Im playing on normal, and im embarrassed to say i struggled against the boss at the end of chapter 1 (no spoilers, but you all should know what it is) died the first time and literally made it by the skin of my teeth the second attempt. im just wondering are there any tips. Obv in this fight there were tons of other barghests around so i figured dodging wouldn't help me.

It's full of posts here in how to fight the Beast. Here' the proper forum thread: http://tw2.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?topic=2424.0 and a handy-useful article on WWiki http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Hellhound.Anyway, here's some tips:-focus only on the Beast, don't mind neither Abigail nor the barghests-drink any potions but swallow before going out the cave and skip the mob's dialogue. The ingame time goes on the same while chatting with the mob. So Swallow must be drunk after the conversation.-Use the Specter's oil. You can purchase one from Abigail.Apply it on the blade before the battle of course.-Use Aard a lot to stun the Beast. If you succeed in knocking it down, you can kill it in one shot.

2: when do i get the silver sword. and when i do do you recommend me focusing on improving that over the steel?3: when do i start getting silver talent points?

Both in Act 2 .I don't want to spoil anything. You'll see.....About the steel sword, you can always do a meteorite sword. In my opinion, if you use alternatively the temporary runes and the oils you can manage to ehnance a better steel sword. Anyway, remind that it's uselful only againt humans.

4: is swallow the best potion, because i usually go into a boss battle with one active but especially against C1 boss, it really didn't help much. (i also ate a lot of food) are there better potions when you progress. or does the offset of having better weaponry and attack power pretty much wipe out the need for it?

It's not the best, but it's one of the most useful in battle. Let's say that the better potion is a combination of potions and oils for the blade

5: im a bit of a completionist and obsessive, so im wondering is there a feature or a mod that allows for me to hide certain quests on my journal temporarily, just say im focusing on a few side missions, as i remember in chapter 2 especially there are TONS of missions and it just gets a bit cluttered for me.

Nope as far as I know. But I'm not very informed about any mods here. Sorry.

6: is there a key to auto loot? as selecting the remains then moving the mouse down to take all i s a bit annoying. and while sometime you don't want to loot everything i would still find it a little quicker.

What do you mean with "auto loot"? Not sure I've understand.Anyway, the only way to loot fast, is clicking on the button at the bottom of the loot window.

 

[Corylea.723]

6: is there a key to auto loot? as selecting the remains then moving the mouse down to take all i s a bit annoying. and while sometime you don't want to loot everything i would still find it a little quicker.

What do you mean with "auto loot"? Not sure I've understand.Anyway, the only way to loot fast, is clicking on the button at the bottom of the loot window.

Actually, you can Ctrl-click on a corpse, and that will pick up everything without opening the loot window. It's much faster and less annoying! (You didn't used to be able to do this; this was one of the features that was added in the Enhanced Edition.)

1: Im playing on normal, and im embarrassed to say i struggled against the boss at the end of chapter 1

There's no need to be embarrassed about that! Lots of people say that boss is the toughest fight in the game, and tons of people have written to this forum asking for help. (Others say one of the trophy monsters in Chapter 2 is the hardest, or one of the bosses in Chapter 5.) So if you killed it on your own, you have reason to be proud.

2: when do i get the silver sword. and when i do do you recommend me focusing on improving that over the steel?

As Secondchildren said, you get the silver sword in Chapter 2. The steel sword is for humans and non-magical creatures (like wolves), whereas the silver sword is for monsters. A witcher is a professional monster slayer, so of course you'll fight plenty of monsters, but your main mission is to get the witchers' secrets back from Salamandra, and they're humans, so you'll be fighting a lot more humans than a witcher normally would.By "improve" do you mean adding talents to your sword skills, getting a new sword, or adding enhancements to a sword you already have? You'll want to do all of the above, actually. The Witcher is a long game -- five chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue -- so you'll have ample opportunity to add talents to both steel and silver, find a new steel sword, get a new silver sword as a quest reward, and so on.

3: when do i start getting silver talent points?

Geralt starts getting silver talent points when he reaches Level 15. If you've just finished Chapter 1, it probably won't be TOO much longer.

4: is swallow the best potion, because i usually go into a boss battle with one active but especially against C1 boss, it really didn't help much. (i also ate a lot of food) are there better potions when you progress.

There are lots of potions, and everybody has their favorite. Swallow is the only potion that increases the rate of healing, but White Rafford's Decoction heals a bunch of hit points all at once, and Full Moon temporarily doubles the number of hit points. So you'll have other choices besides just Swallow for managing your Vitality level.Further on, managing things that stun or bleed or poison you will become more important, and there are potions for those things, tone trick: Swallow is a potion that's only active for two hours, so it usually has to be taken right before a battle. But most of the other potions are active for EIGHT hours, which is a long time. And meditating reduces toxicity very quickly. So you can take a long-acting potion -- or even two or three -- then meditate for an hour to reduce the toxicity, then take your Swallow. That's how people manage to combine things like Tawny Owl AND Full Moon AND Swallow.Oh, and check out the additional substances in alchemy, if you haven't already. Rubedo acts like a mild Swallow -- and it stacks with it! And albedo reduces your toxicity and Nigredo increases your damage. If you manage your potions well, you can be hell on wheels!

I apologise if all this is simple stuff, i just wanted to steer clear of googling or faqs in case i encountered any spoilers.

I think you're quite wise to ask questions rather than read FAQ's. Some of us are crazy enough about this game that we don't mind answering questions about it every day of the week.

but im REALLY loving the game. more than i remember enjoying it the first time.

I'm glad you're enjoying it! Personally, I think it's the best RPG ever made.

 

[idrisguitar]

thanks guysgreat advice. ill find it a little bit overwhelming at first with all the potion managing stuff i think. but im sure ill get it as i go along.

 

[Maerahn.155]

4: is swallow the best potion, because i usually go into a boss battle with one active but especially against C1 boss, it really didn't help much. (i also ate a lot of food) are there better potions when you progress. or does the offset of having better weaponry and attack power pretty much wipe out the need for it?

It all depends how you make your potions as to what's most effective... If you make a potion with a Rubedo base (i.e. all the ingredients you use contain Rubedo as well as the required reagents) then you'll get a mild Swallow effect all the time that potion is active. Anything with an Albedo base lowers toxicity, so if you want to use a couple of high toxicity potions together for a fight (i.e. Wolf and Tawny Owl) make them with an Albedo base and they'll be far less toxic - AND any potion you take directly after taking an Albedo-based potion will also have its toxicity reduced.And anything with a Nigredo base improves damage-dealing. It's a good idea to make Swallow potions with a Nigredo base, because then not only do you get the healing effect but you also get a damage boost as well - right when you're probably needing it!I also try to always make Cat potions with either a Rubedo or Nigredo base for night fights, because Cat lasts for eight hours - and therefore so do the added Rubedo or Nigredo effects. Spot the Alchemy Nerd, eh? ;^)