Combat in the game - general discussion

[gungosh]

That's what happened to me anyway. Anyone else find this?

i agree. my 2nd geralt plays hard mode and i like combat very much. if it comes to hard fights, they can last really long (in hard mode) and you will die if you just try to hack&slay hard mode rocks!

 

[tyranith]

Combat's more strategic than twitch-skill based. It's still an RPG at the end of the day, so if you were expecting acrobatics and swordplay then you should have picked up Jedi Knight instead.You can jump over enemies' heads if you dodge towards them when they're next to you, and there's space - I've found that to be invaluable when surrounded. Attacking the right enemies at the right time with the right stance, switching stances during the melee, and changing position to adapt to the changing situations is surprisingly tactical for such a simplistic system, which is one of the reasons I love it so much. Signs, too, add a lot of tactical flexibility when used correctly.I find combat in this game to be far more fun, involving, and complex than any other RPG I've ever played, so I'm not quite sure where your critique is coming from. If you wanted a tactical challenge why aren't you playing an RTS? o.0

This is something that has been bothering me really. So far it's been always the same. If Im surrounded by xx I switch to group style, if Im being attacked by xx then I switch to fast style, etc etc etc. I find no tactical element to that. There has been so far only One style that is really effective in fighting each type of monster, the others sometimes don't even work at all, so what's the point in making the gamer stop the game to switch styles, or not stop and switch styles? When it's always the same then there seems to me that the switching of styles is merely to try to make the gamer believe that he's being more interactive with the combat which in my opinion it fails at. Because it still boils down to the same style for the same type of monster each time. I.E. You use fast style for ABC monsters, you use Heavy style of EFG monsters you use group style for XYZ monsters if surrounded. It's still boils down to nothing but simply clicking. It really takes no time at all to figure out that a particular style isn't working.I believe they would have done much better if they had included dodging and what not else into the game instead and had Geralt switch styles appropriately for each type of enemy.The combat can also be quite clunky and you may find yourself surrounded with absolutely no way out, and no matter how many times that you click or press a key on your keyboard, Geralt is not going to respond to it, and he will instead just stand in his ready stance which is just insane IMO.As mentioned they could do better,1. Remove the styles from the gamers hand (since it's always the same styles for the same "type" of monsters.2. Add the ability to dodge, and the other thing that Geralt does automatically now to the gamers use. IMO, that would lend itself to feeling like Im more involved in the combat than what they use now.Hell, I'd just assume let it be one click to let Geralt continue attacking the enemy, then let me dodge, or roll or shoot off a sign or whatever much more than having to manually switch styles since they don't appear to change or suprise me in any way so far.Just my opinion, and I don't expect it to change any, since this is what they chose for the game, it's highly unlikely that it will ever change. Other than that, it's a rather enjoyable game (well, except for the long load times and the auto saves everyplace and the crashes etc etc)

I don't like the rock-paper-scissors element either, it's boring. Fast and strong styles are unnecessary, but I do like the single target/group option.However, that's not where I consider the tactical elements of this game to be - which is positioning and using signs intelligently.I've never been surrounded by a group of enemies with no way out. Aard, dodging, and group knockdown are your friends there. Remember, you can also batter one guy backwards with strong or fast stance which gives you a way out.Putting dodging in the player's hands is getting dangerously close to making it a fighting game, which'll only end up alienating the hardcore RPGers.

 

[sir_toejam]

It really takes no time at all to figure out that a particular style isn't working.

actually, there are ways of changing the range of which attack styles will work for you in different situations...if you focus on dex and strength, and put rune "oil" on your sword that increases the chance to hit, you'll find you can use strong style against fast enemies, or group style against strong enemies.so if you wanted flexibility instead of a clickfest, it's not hard to achieve in this game, really. combat gets much more interesting once you hit about level 20 or so.

 

[yama]

2) Sense of danger - combat should be rare and dangerous, serving as a tension-building element. In real life, a combatant risks everything. Some RPG cliches are infuriating - some monster nearly kills you, but you are okay after 8 hours of sleep. In the book, Geralt faces a sorcerer called Vilgefortz, who fights with magical metal staff - and he beats Geralt quite bad. After that, Geralt has to heal for half a year and suffers permanent damage in one of his legs. That's the right way to portray the risk of combat. The notion of hit-points is also ridiculous. How many full-force blows with a warhammer in the head you can stand?

 

[Bamsmacked]

Combat's more strategic than twitch-skill based. It's still an RPG at the end of the day, so if you were expecting acrobatics and swordplay then you should have picked up Jedi Knight instead.You can jump over enemies' heads if you dodge towards them when they're next to you, and there's space - I've found that to be invaluable when surrounded. Attacking the right enemies at the right time with the right stance, switching stances during the melee, and changing position to adapt to the changing situations is surprisingly tactical for such a simplistic system, which is one of the reasons I love it so much. Signs, too, add a lot of tactical flexibility when used correctly.I find combat in this game to be far more fun, involving, and complex than any other RPG I've ever played, so I'm not quite sure where your critique is coming from. If you wanted a tactical challenge why aren't you playing an RTS? o.0

Yeah I agree. The only thing that kills the game is the loading speeds. I don't have the best computer ever, but Its GOOD enough to run The Witcher on playable settings.

 

[frejack]

after reading some of your posts i think may be combat can be like this...use the right mouse button to be strong style,use the left mouse to be the fast style. strong and fast can be chained freely in the battle.when attacking some of the powerful monsters can block or dodge your attack, but eventuallythey become stunned by your strength or speed, then you can press the strong style buttonfor super damage or press the fast button to hit at their weakness so that they will have disadvantagefighting you.Group style can be used by pressing both mouse button but are slower and less effective since it look too powerful in the game.maybe magic and dodge can be used by pressing a keybroad button ... though that may be too action based so some of the rpg gamers cannot handle it.

 

[moonbase]

I didn't mind the combat system. My only complaint was the stun hit at the end of chains; I never got them. It's entirely possible that I just suck but I barely died at all on the hardest difficulty and didn't use many potions. I literally never got a stun hit from a chain outside of the Prologue.

 

[sir_toejam]

I literally never got a stun hit from a chain outside of the Prologue.

frankly, I don't think that exists outside of the prologue.look at the specials associated with each attack type, and I think only the 4th attack level (silver) for the strong style has the chance for stun/knockdown. hardly something available in the prologue, so it must have been pre-scripted to make the prologue a bit more manageable for those just getting used to the combat mechanics.that said, i don't even recall ever knocking/stunning someone down with a powered up 4th level strong attack either. I do recall often knocking down opponents using the group style perk. which actually was a bit irritating at times, because if everyone gets knocked down, it stops your chain of attacks.

 

[kaeldorn]

They put the stun effect early in the prologue in order to show the player what the effect of hitting a stunned/knocked down character is, then later, when you get Aard, you know you can use it to 'instant kill' stuff Also, some of the early weapons have stun effects, I think it's the morning stars/clubs.

 

[lukemore]

hey the combat system in this game bring me a lot fun. Check out my bloody fight movie: http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=jIF7lnpB32Y (i knot i know it is not a masterpiece) and a little advice: do not gramble - just play and have fun - sorry for my english - i really do my best (i want to write more but I just dont know how - i lost my english dictionary)BTW: read Sapkowski books, all of you !!. - :::ADVERTISE::: do you think that TOLKIEN is the best fantasy writer ?? Check out Sapkowski books - since then you'll never think that again

 

[petra_silie]

Stunning (in the true sense of word) fighting video 8)

 

[andrew_cr]

Hmm, it's odd that so many people dislike the combat in the witcher. For me is one of the best features of the game. I do think that the combat in gothic 2 was better, but in The Witcher combat is just amazingly visceral (and I'm playing in medium, I can only imagine it on hard). To give an example of why I like combat so much, I'll put a typical 5 enemy battle (I'm only in Act 2 so my combat capabilities are limited at best): - 5 enemies surround, I roll to get away and get a better position - Cast aard or igni, usually one or two enemies get knock down or begin to burn - If only weak enemies are near me, switch to group, and the fun really begins - Geralt decapitates one or two - Cast Aard and roll away to asess the situation - Change style again to adapt to the enemies left - When only two enemies remain I begin a strong or fast attack with the two at the same time, alternating each one until one is dead - Kill the last oneI may drink a potion in the middle of everything, but this example is just to point out that the combat in this game is visceral, frantic, and extremely fun. Usually fights take about 1 to 5 minutes and it that time, as Geralt performs spectacular moves (Kicking enemies, chopping heads off, doing spins, and dodging), I just think to myself: "Damn this game is good". And this does not take into account the tactical element that bring potions, that you have to choose the best one before engaging the enemy.

 

[wampbit]

I like the combat system here, I think it is rather good, taking a more tactical approach than the usual game (although I am having problems getting my attacks to work sometimes, I just stop attacking and wont start again..?), but I think this is good and would like to have more games with this combat system. I didn't find it hard to get used to as it is (at a very basic level) like runescape's, which I play a lot. But the combat does get a lot faster, later making you use signs, potions and switching.

 

[username_2067959]

I felt like I just breezed through Chapter 1. The fight with "the Beast" was somewhat tough, but only took me three tries to get through it. With every other fight I'm in, I just destroy people with very few swings, and I rarely take any damage whatsoever. I've just started chapter 2. Do the fights get more challenging as the game goes on? I really hope so...right now, it's great storytelling, but the game is way too easy.

 

[Seeker.217]

I felt like I just breezed through Chapter 1. The fight with "the Beast" was somewhat tough, but only took me three tries to get through it. With every other fight I'm in, I just destroy people with very few swings, and I rarely take any damage whatsoever. I've just started chapter 2. Do the fights get more challenging as the game goes on? I really hope so...right now, it's great storytelling, but the game is way too easy.

It dose you will see when you get deeper into the game

 

[501105]

what difficulty setting are you using btw?

 

[LadyRolePlay]

Yes been to the swamps yet and gotten mobbed? I'd swear a lot of times I've had an area cleared out and closing in on my real 'target' only to have more mobs come in at a bad bad time . I really think there's something pretty off with those spawn rates, or at least clearing a path before closing in on what you want, causes a respawn.

 

[username_2067959]

what difficulty setting are you using btw?

I'm almost positive that I started on the medium level, but none of my save games specify what the difficulty setting is. Is there any way for me to tell for sure/make sure that I chose medium?

 

[jonesjonesjones]

I don't believe there is any way to change your difficulty without starting a new game. The first game I started I put on medium, and I couldn't figure out combat, so I restarted on easy and finished all of the prologue. Wayyyy too easy, enemies never even scratched me, so I restarted my game again and put it on hard difficulty. I'm in Chapter 3 now, and all non-trivial fights usually involve wiping out, then planning some better strategy and trying again. It's much more fun this way and I recommend starting over on hard difficulty if you think it's not challenging enough. Unfortunately you've invested about 10 hours already, but if you want to redo the parts it goes much faster when skipping all the dialogue. A typical fight on hard difficulty involves drinking one or more potions, constantly using double taps on movement keys to dodge and jump over the enemies, and constant use of the signs to eliminate one or more combatants so you can focus on one without getting owned. There's a much greater feeling of accomplishment on taking out a group of guys when you know that the first time you tried they killed you in less than 15 seconds.

 

[username_2067959]

I don't believe there is any way to change your difficulty without starting a new game. The first game I started I put on medium, and I couldn't figure out combat, so I restarted on easy and finished all of the prologue. Wayyyy too easy, enemies never even scratched me, so I restarted my game again and put it on hard difficulty. I'm in Chapter 3 now, and all non-trivial fights usually involve wiping out, then planning some better strategy and trying again. It's much more fun this way and I recommend starting over on hard difficulty if you think it's not challenging enough. Unfortunately you've invested about 10 hours already, but if you want to redo the parts it goes much faster when skipping all the dialogue. A typical fight on hard difficulty involves drinking one or more potions, constantly using double taps on movement keys to dodge and jump over the enemies, and constant use of the signs to eliminate one or more combatants so you can focus on one without getting owned. There's a much greater feeling of accomplishment on taking out a group of guys when you know that the first time you tried they killed you in less than 15 seconds.

Ugh...I started all over again when Patch 1.2 came out, after nearly completing Chapter 1. Now I"m well into Chapter 2. I don't think I can bring myself to start all over again. I will say that things seemed to have stepped up a bit in Chapter 2. And I am definitely playing on Intermediate level, so hopefully the challenge will continue to grow. Although killing drowners and other monsters is as simple and repetitive as ever. But some of the mob fights have been a bit more challenging. Thanks for the response...