Combat in The Witcher 3

[DukeAlmighty]

oh and please CDP Red do something about the spinning attacks, there should be more normal attacks right? it looks and makes the combat odd seeing Geralt doing mostly spinning attacks.

If there is gap between target, Geralt always does this piruote or spin to close the gab and strike, which is fine.
You get impresion that there is alot of spinning attacks because of the playstyle of the guy who plays the demo - he seams to be very carefull, 1 attack - dodge back - 1 attack, etc
What worries me is that there seams to be only 2 types of gap closing attacks, I was expecting more variety.

 

[Ifrit30]

You get impresion that there is alot of spinning attacks because of the playstyle the guys who plays the demo - he seams to be very carefull, 1 attack - dodge back - 1 attack, etc
What worries me is that there seams to be only 2 types of gap closing attacks, I was expecting more variety.

Yeah the spinning are mostly done if there is a gap, but in the video I posted Geralt did spin three times consecutively with the same attack (well one swing is different).

 

[Sharpy47]

I hope there will be a lot more different animations when the game releases. I agree with others, all that non-stop spinning looks ridiculous at times and almost identical to each other. It becomes annoying quite fast. Lets hope they will improve on this.

 

[Avidya.454]

I hope the "riposte" won't be only the kick move. I loved TW2 riposte with a spinning sword blow.

 

[BER7ERK]

I think you can counter attack, this kick move (with Quen) at least looks like it


http://a.pomf.se/pzmdeo.webm (webm version)


oh and please CDP Red do something about the spinning attacks, there should be more normal attacks right? it looks and makes the combat odd seeing Geralt doing mostly spinning attacks.

yea, but this isnt really the same. I dont like this automatic stuff. I want to block the enemy and do a counter attack move which has more damage when timed right. Dashing is good, but will get boring really quick if there is no other way except the sign.

 

[ferryman10]

I think you can counter attack, this kick move (with Quen) at least looks like it


http://a.pomf.se/pzmdeo.webm (webm version)


oh and please CDP Red do something about the spinning attacks, there should be more normal attacks right? it looks and makes the combat odd seeing Geralt doing mostly spinning attacks.

I don't think that was quen. It's even stated after the battle (and you can see it in other fights), that quen only blocks one attack.
You can see that quen is still up even after the kick.
It was most likely block, which caused the enemy flinch (you can see Geralt in blocking position before the strike), but I can't be really sure as it was hard to see.

Also as for the attack animations I think a lot of them were missing or disabled (maybe they are not finalized). I base this on the fact that the player deliberately avoided attacking/finishing enemies that were affected by aard. Might be wrong though.

Edit: My bad, after watching it a few times it was most definitely quen. Also it might have been upgraded, since it deflected arrows without consuming it.

 

[BER7ERK]

In the Twitch E3 Video you see Geralt pushing the enemy with his shoulder and the guy who was playing never attacked after it. he always dashed back. I was hoping to see like a counter attack move after those pushes, but he always dashed back.
Maybe there was no animation or he tried to stretch the fight.. But he did it like 3 times.

 

[thislsmadness]

In the Twitch E3 Video you see Geralt pushing the enemy with his shoulder and the guy who was playing never attacked after it. he always dashed back. I was hoping to see like a counter attack move after those pushes, but he always dashed back.
Maybe there was no animation or he tried to stretch the fight.. But he did it like 3 times.

I think that they really wanted to showcase dismemberment, signs, and the responsiveness of Geralt. They've already said that they increased the chance of dismemberment for the demo. As you pointed out there is an excessive (unnecessary) use of the dash, even when he didn't need to do it. The Sign bar also seems to recharge insanely fast so that he can keep spamming them for the demo.

Hopefully, we get a dev diary that will showcase some of the more advanced techniques.

 

[BER7ERK]

yea, but the dismemberment shouldnt be random imo. Heavy attacks should defenitly cause it and light attacks should maybe get like a stab animation to finish the enemy.

 

[thislsmadness]

Yeah the spinning are mostly done if there is a gap, but in the video I posted Geralt did spin three times consecutively with the same attack (well one swing is different).

Yeah, without knowing the control scheme its hard to say whats going on. For instance, I could totally see a situation where "Fast" attack is the normal sword slashes and "Strong" attacks use the pirouette/half circle motion since in the books they are used offensively to increase the momentum behind his attacks.

 

[BER7ERK]

Geralt also did the spinning move without actually attacking. In the Twitch video he did it twice in a row without attacking the enemy. I could see that the spinning move is made by yourself now.

 

[thislsmadness]

yea, but the dismemberment shouldnt be random imo. Heavy attacks should defenitly cause it and light attacks should maybe get like a stab animation to finish the enemy.

I'd have to dig up the quote, but they def said that dismemberment isn't random and that it wouldn't be as easy to pull off.

 

[Sharpy47]

Geralt also did the spinning move without actually attacking. In the Twitch video he did it twice in a row without attacking the enemy. I could see that the spinning move is made by yourself now.

Source please?

 

[BER7ERK]

Source please?

@ 2:39:15
http://www.twitch.tv/twitch/b/536974636

He does it a few times in this fight.

 

[Sharpy47]

@ 2:39:15
http://www.twitch.tv/twitch/b/536974636

He does it a few times in this fight.

That's awesome - that's like another way of dodging, Interesting indeed.

 

[BER7ERK]

That's awesome - that's like another way of dodging, Interesting indeed.

just imagine that you spin around the enemy when he tries to attack you and then stab him in the back. I hope it works like this.

 

[Sharpy47]

just imagine that you spin around the enemy when he tries to attack you and then stab him in the back. I hope it works like this.

That's exactly my thoughts - I hope it works like that! Best part of the combat is that you are in-control all the time. It's not like in W2 where you can press mouse1/2 and the combo chain starts. No you have to do every hit, every step and dodge by yourself. I think that and dismemberment are the most satisfying things about the Witcher 3 combat. Atleast to me.

 

[BlackWolf500.298]

All I need to see now is normal parrying. In all the gameplay we've seen so far, the guy playing it has relied 100% on dodges, and only shown 1 riposte.

I agree on the spinning attack thing, although it's not a huge deal to me, it would be preferable if Geralt didn't open his attack combo with a spinning attack. Pirouetting attacks should be done to keep up the momentum from an attack you just did, and to confuse the opponent.

That being said, I do like the pirouetting long-range attack Geralt does in TW2 when attacking an opponent from a distance.

Y'know what I love?

The attack from TW2 where Geralt sprints up to an opponent, jumps and just stabs the sword right at the face of the enemy.
Which is a pretty cool opening IMO

Also something very alarming in the demos is that humans are still atacking like in TW2 (to me that was one of the only things I truly didn't like about the game, they only raise their swords once in every 10 seconds and take another 5 sec to bring it down on you,

Agreed.
Even for "normal Humans" and if they were inexperienced swordsmen I would expect them to be a LITTLE bit faster than that. Otherwise they are also not a big challenge.

BUT STILL, those dismemberments - PLEASE TONE THEM DOWN, let's not fruit ninja every opponent, PLEASE.

Agreed on that as well. Yes, I don't mind dismemberment. But please don't do it TOO often (every 2nd or 3rd soldier being dismembered is too much, it should be something special), kay?

From the demo it seams that Geralt have only 2 gap closing attacks, either it's piroette followed wtih hit on left, or jump-spin attack with hit on right. When they said there is gonna be 92 combat animations, I was expecting a bit more variety..
Nevertheless, combat looks great.

I think it's save to say this could be due to the fact that this demo is an older version of the game.

 

[KA1N3R]

That's exactly my thoughts - I hope it works like that! Best part of the combat is that you are in-control all the time. It's not like in W2 where you can press mouse1/2 and the combo chain starts. No you have to do every hit, every step and dodge by yourself. I think that and dismemberment are the most satisfying things about the Witcher 3 combat. Atleast to me.

I agree completely.
One major improvement for me is also how responsive combat is.
In The Witcher 2 geralt had do finish his current attack so you could dodge, now you can just cancel the attack and dodge immediately

 

[KA1N3R]

Y'know what I love?

The attack from TW2 where Geralt sprints up to an opponent, jumps and just stabs the sword right at the face of the enemy.
Which is a pretty cool opening IMO



Agreed.
Even for "normal Humans" and if they were inexperienced swordsmen I would expect them to be a LITTLE bit faster than that. Otherwise they are also not a big challenge.

Yeah, even i could fight at a faster speed than them, that definitely needs to be improved