in the swamp outside vizima while i was running around these tall red plants kept popping up and no matter how much i attacked it it wouldnt die. none of my attacks did anything and its attacked killed me once and almost killed me the other times. i used the torch which worked fine on the one in the vizima outskirts on odos farm. but it has no effect whatsoever on this type. any help will be greatly appreciated.
dont know if i have improved igni i shall have to have a look. or level up again and focus more on igni. but i think i tried that already and it did nothing. i used blizard too. that just slowed everything down it was good cos its attacks lessend but then my attacks werent hitting it attal. but thanks for the advise man
Improved Igni has this advantage, that You don't need to get close to the plant. You just need to make her go out from a ground, fall back a bit and shoot twice or more at it. Sometimes "fireball" stops at higher grass or things like that... but if You have the good position, just hold the right mouse button, till bar will load and shoot 
Yes, reminds me of a video I saw some times ago:Vattghern said:Improved Igni has this advantage, that You don't need to get close to the plant. You just need to make her go out from a ground, fall back a bit and shoot twice or more at it. Sometimes "fireball" stops at higher grass or things like that... but if You have the good position, just hold the right mouse button, till bar will load and shoot
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=FWsvJw8ChDsThe "Red Trees" you mention are Echinopsae or, for a first swamp encounter perhaps a trophy monster called "Coccacadium".The Strong style with a silver sword are the best sword-fighting techniques, perhaps with Argentia blade oil (or simply sharpening stones).The Wticher game frequently respawns a lot of creatures in the game, not only in the Swamp, but by the water in Act I. This allows for a more interesting game, and for increasing experience points.The Golden Oriole potion (Vitriol + Vitriol + Aether + Aether) will help against the poison of the Echinopsae, although a Swallow potion wouldn't go astray to recover health as well.
Hi Melody65, welcome to the forum There are three slightly different types of swamp forest plants: echinopsae, archespore, and the trophy monster, Coccacidium. The techniques for battling these beasties can be quite similar.
Some strategic use of Signs might help, even if you've concentrated spending talents on other areas.For example, even low level Quen can be useful for manoeuvring into position. It will keep you protected from the poison darts until you can make up the distance to the stalk. Additionally, Igni is also quite useful, as these beasties (being plant life) burn quite well :evil: even in a damp environment such as the swamp You can use Igni in two ways, and both are quite effective here. The first way is to simply unleash fire It's not very ranged, so you'll need to be close to the plant. This can be done before, during (interrupting) or after a sword combo. The other alternative is to use a ranged Igni fireball (if you have that talent). Once a plant beastie has been triggered, scoot to some nearby cover (eg, a tree; use Quen to protect you if you're taking damage from poison darts). Don't go too far away, or it might just retract into the earth. Once relatively sheltered, inch out from behind your cover (making sure your left side is fully exposed so Geralt has a clear line of sight to the target, otherwise the spell will fail) and fire off a distance Igni fireball at the plant. The precise outcome of this will vary depending on your Igni skill level, but at the very least you should take a chunk of life from the dratted thing You could repeat the fireball if necessary, or you could then run on in with your sword to finish it off.As for sword techniques, I've definitely found the Witcher's Silver sword and Strong style to be the most effective against these plant beasties. A blade enhancement (such as diamond dust) doesn't go astray, either If you haven't got it already, look into spending a talent point on the Deflect Arrows upgrade, as I found Geralt often flailed his sword and deflected the poison darts when I upgraded this An extra layer of innate ability to deal with these plants can't hurt
The dratted things. It seems lots and lots of criminals have died in Vizima's waters I'm not sure there's a narrative explanation for that, other than conveying a feeling of constant danger and general ickiness (because wading hip-deep through stinking swamp water isn't icky enough, apparently!). As Chuckles said, this is something that's done to provide the player with not just a sense of danger, but also something to do whilst exploring and to give a sense of realism to the game world.edit: spelling
There are three slightly different types of swamp forest plants: echinopsae, archespore, and the trophy monster, Coccacidium. The techniques for battling these beasties can be quite similar.
As you've probably realised, you don't necessarily have a lot of time between when you hear one spawning, and it attacking youMelody65 said:
Some strategic use of Signs might help, even if you've concentrated spending talents on other areas.For example, even low level Quen can be useful for manoeuvring into position. It will keep you protected from the poison darts until you can make up the distance to the stalk. Additionally, Igni is also quite useful, as these beasties (being plant life) burn quite well :evil: even in a damp environment such as the swamp You can use Igni in two ways, and both are quite effective here. The first way is to simply unleash fire It's not very ranged, so you'll need to be close to the plant. This can be done before, during (interrupting) or after a sword combo. The other alternative is to use a ranged Igni fireball (if you have that talent). Once a plant beastie has been triggered, scoot to some nearby cover (eg, a tree; use Quen to protect you if you're taking damage from poison darts). Don't go too far away, or it might just retract into the earth. Once relatively sheltered, inch out from behind your cover (making sure your left side is fully exposed so Geralt has a clear line of sight to the target, otherwise the spell will fail) and fire off a distance Igni fireball at the plant. The precise outcome of this will vary depending on your Igni skill level, but at the very least you should take a chunk of life from the dratted thing You could repeat the fireball if necessary, or you could then run on in with your sword to finish it off.As for sword techniques, I've definitely found the Witcher's Silver sword and Strong style to be the most effective against these plant beasties. A blade enhancement (such as diamond dust) doesn't go astray, either If you haven't got it already, look into spending a talent point on the Deflect Arrows upgrade, as I found Geralt often flailed his sword and deflected the poison darts when I upgraded this An extra layer of innate ability to deal with these plants can't hurt
In general, there's no real anti poison dart potion, although, as Chuckles mentioned, Golden Oriole will increase your resistance to poison. The use of a Swallow potion is also good adviceMelody65 said:
Ah yep, the dreaded Swamp is famous for its Drowner infestationMelody65 said:
The dratted things. It seems lots and lots of criminals have died in Vizima's waters I'm not sure there's a narrative explanation for that, other than conveying a feeling of constant danger and general ickiness (because wading hip-deep through stinking swamp water isn't icky enough, apparently!). As Chuckles said, this is something that's done to provide the player with not just a sense of danger, but also something to do whilst exploring and to give a sense of realism to the game world.edit: spelling lol. Yes, although I've found myself doing that on occasion, this is not good advise for those new to the Swamps.And LOVELY_PSYCHO...wow. That's a lot of effort for a simple post, and one which almost takes all the fun out of learning these things yourselfmasica said:
eace:You certainly hit all the areas of tackling echinopsae etc. But do note that someone who wants to know what these "red trees" are may not yet have access to the Quen sign, and hasn't spent his/her talent points on long-range Igni. Great response though!And as for Deflect Arrows...I found this skill to be a little fickle. My Geralt rarely intercepts echinops thorns frequently enough to rely on this skill heavily. Charging down a simple echinops or archespore and hacking it into tiny bits is the quickest approach. Although this is NOT the suggested approach for the Coccacadium.For the noobs, also consider planning ahead and consuming Full Moon and Golden Oriole, before continuing.EDIT:For more general information on the monsters of TWEE:http://witcher.wikia.com/Yeah, I tend to waffle on a bit sometimes
This does remind me of an amusing incident once, though, in the swamps. I must have picked up the Deflect Arrows talent between trips to the Swamp, and I'd not really seen it in action before, or even stopped to think it might work on poison darts. So I encounter one of our lovely little plant friends and scoot off behind a tree to try out my new Igni fireball. And so here he is, camped out behind this tree, going nuts flailing his sword around and pinging those darts off into the murk and mire like a demented tennis player Cracked me up Probably because I'd not seen him do that before, but you can bet I left him standing there for a few minutes, shin-deep in murky water, for my entertainment
I did try that against the Coccacidium once, though :wall: On my very first playthrough. I was still carrying a torch for some reason, so when it popped up I equipped myself and in I went, thinking I was some great Witcher and that I'd show off my skills for the elderly gentleman....Yeah, not advised With sheer, unadulterated luck I managed to get through (by the skin of my teeth, and with a lot of Quen-supported retreating) but it was all luck
sometimes
Ah yes, both good points to keep in mindChuckles said:
Yep, it's true that it's not a very robust strategy to rely onChuckles said:
This does remind me of an amusing incident once, though, in the swamps. I must have picked up the Deflect Arrows talent between trips to the Swamp, and I'd not really seen it in action before, or even stopped to think it might work on poison darts. So I encounter one of our lovely little plant friends and scoot off behind a tree to try out my new Igni fireball. And so here he is, camped out behind this tree, going nuts flailing his sword around and pinging those darts off into the murk and mire like a demented tennis player Cracked me up Probably because I'd not seen him do that before, but you can bet I left him standing there for a few minutes, shin-deep in murky water, for my entertainment
A-ha, that's my favourite strategyChuckles said:
I did try that against the Coccacidium once, though :wall: On my very first playthrough. I was still carrying a torch for some reason, so when it popped up I equipped myself and in I went, thinking I was some great Witcher and that I'd show off my skills for the elderly gentleman....Yeah, not advised With sheer, unadulterated luck I managed to get through (by the skin of my teeth, and with a lot of Quen-supported retreating) but it was all luck I'm playing on Normal, using the standard Witcher silver sword. Level 15. On the Strong Silver path I put points in Strong Silver (I & II) and Mortal Blow (I & II). Only using Bronze talents since I hadn't rested to spend any silver talents.I got hit a few times from distance with the thorns it spits out, but when I got up close I kept hitting it when the cursor changed to chain hits together, and it died quickly. As long as I kept the hits chained together I don't think I took any more damage from it.I've since killed a few more like this without difficulties, apart from one where I inadvertantly attracted the attention of a group of wyverns, who ripped my back apart before I knew what was happeningI didn't realise it was a trophy creature until I found the trophy on the corpse
Yes I noticed this as well. Defensive actions go automaticly. In Dex he has already on level 2 deflect arrows and parry. Maybe theses actions are included in a successfully performed and chained attack.Avenger1324 said:
I tried the "charge in and hit it with everything I've got strategy" (after buffing up of course) and died, lol.Then I tried the "keep a safe distance and bombard it with fireballs" tactic and it took just 2 castings of ranged Igni, after visiting the Place of Power conveniently placed nearby.So thanks to the tips here it was relatively easy.
Congratulations to your victory about this special and nasty opponent
Hi everyone,Here is a strategy that I have just started using (very effectively) on the Echinops and Archespores in the swamp. I'm playing the game on the HARD difficulty level now, and I have discovered that these guys can no longer be killed by "hacking and slashing" away like before.[size=12pt]1) Run towards the plant/s until I am about 20 metres (60 feet) away from them. At this distance, you can hit them with your Signs, but they can't bite you with their, er, "jaws"(?)2) Charge up the Igni Sign as high as you can and cast it on them. They should almost always start to burn ("incineration") as a result, as they are very vulnerable to the Igni SIgn.3) Once you cast the Sign, turn and run away another (maybe) 20 metres (60 feet), to take you out of range of the things they spit at you.4) Watch them continue to burn from a distance. They will either continue to burn until they collapse and die, or the burning will stop, and you will need to light them up again (see above steps).[/size]I cannot stress how well this tactic has worked for me! I hope it works for you other Witchers as well. It's so GREAT to find a way in which you can completely avoid and hand-to-hand combat with these things!I hope this strategy works as well for you all as it has done so far for me! Feel free to give it a try.Richard ;D
i almost always play on hard and i have no problem slashing echinopsae and archespores ... even the coccacidium, i've never once used a charged igni from a distance -- sure i use igni on them, a LOT, but what i do is run up, fire off just a regular old igni, which sets them on firethen i slash, until (especially early in the game) my endurance is back to a level when i can cast again and repeatthat works every time with every plant ... oh and i use strong silver eace:
eace: