Drowners....grrrr!

[MooseOnFire]

Drowners....grrrr!

Does anyone have a reliable strategy for tackling drowners at lower levels on Death March? It's pure luck as to whether I can defeat them or not (often not).

 

[jj284b]

dodge sideways, strike twice, dodge sideways, repeat. they are strong when pushing fast forward, but same thing is their disadvantage, because if you dodge them sideways, they will pass you and you will strike them in the back. and of course - dont get surrounded... use roll to get out before its too late. if you are facing larger group, use bombs to weaken them. then you can kill them with less hits which is always helpful... same thing works for nekkers as well btw..

 

[Smurfin]

Quen and other signs of course to create an opening, also keep a distance with dodge/roll, don't put yourself in the middle of them. Use oil, decoction, or bomb for advantage.

 

[ThroesOfRejection]

Im actually using Aard to blow them on the ground, and then push square to execute them=)

 

[Costa417]

Does anyone have a reliable strategy for tackling drowners at lower levels on Death March? It's pure luck as to whether I can defeat them or not (often not).

Drowners are a F*@#ING nightmare...

Anyway, dodge when they jump on you; as soon as you dodge go for a heavy attack then igni. If igni burns them go for another heavy or light attack. If igni doesnt burn, wait for another chance to dodge and heavy attack.

Repeat the process. (Bombs are a waste of resources imo, if you want you can drink a tawny oil and spam igni)

Hope I helped

 

[Anelikital]

When you start hitting them and they make a back step, always stop attacking and do a side step because they lunge forward, and don't go crazy with the attacks, hit only 1 or 2 times, also keep an eye on the others they can be really sneaky and hit you in the back.
edit: oh and of course fire! it's really useful if you time it right.

 

[darxide]

Drowners are nothing. Wait until you fight 5 Nekkers who suddenly turn into 12 that are surrounding you.

 

[Altimis]

Bait them with crossbow, they will not immediately rush in group at you, instead the one you hit by crossbow will immediately noticed you and came at you first, make your jobs easier life.

Even you get stronger, learn to use Fire (AKA Igni) because its the most effective way to kill them by far.

 

[randyrhoads]

Drowners are nothing. Wait until you fight 5 Nekkers who suddenly turn into 12 that are surrounding you.

Counter attack works on nekkers.

 

[Altimis]

Attempt to counter monster attack while you were outnumbered? terrible idea!

I won't say its not work but just ... there better option :d not the best

 

[darxide]

Counter attack works on nekkers.

Good luck with that when there are 3 or more things coming at you at once. Especially nekkers. They're fast and they do that stupid ninja flip.

 

[Phinnway]

Drowners are vulnerable to fire. So Dragon's Dream, Dancing Star, and Igni work well. Use Dragon's Dream + Dancing Star together to wreak havok. I think you can get the recipes from Keira Metz.

I've found at later levels Yrden is fairly effective against drowners once you get your Sign Intensity up. It might be worthwhile to spec for Signs early game just so you can get +40% Sign Intensity from a Greater Blue Mutagen.

Im actually using Aard to blow them on the ground, and then push square to execute them=)

Yeah... I think if you use Aard while they're leaping it's a 100% chance to knockdown. Haven't tested this though, it's just a theory. It works against other enemies.

 

[Calloveri]

Playibg on the hardest difficulty, even one drowner is a nightmare. Now that my weapons have effect that drowners are resistant to.. I'm pretty much screwed when drowner gang shows up.

 

[soot00]

Yes they are one of the toughest guys to fight in the early goin. Even when you have 4 - 5 levels on them battles are not a cakewalk if you find yourself surrounded, as those chain stun locks from a group of them can drop your health bar fast.

 

[lwp]

I use bombs. All of my bombs. I had less trouble taking on two gargoyles at the same time on Death March then I do everytime I encounter a pack of drowners on Skellige.

 

[Marajah]

When I can`t afford to fight a single one at a time, I keep dodging them, sideways until 2 or more are close, so Igni them. I think they get burning easier than most other monsters, so you get crowd control and damage out of the sign and you can proceed to hit them or focus on othes drowners around

 

[Velegian]

Don't try to igni them when they're attacking you.

 

[Solid_Altair]

Im actually using Aard to blow them on the ground, and then push square to execute them=)

I love that. But are you doing it early in the game? The knockdown chance is kinda low, specially if they outlevel you. Vanilla Igni seems much better against them.

 

[shagwell142]

yoooo I cant explain this enough, I almost blew up earth I was so upset with this game and drowners.... from lvl 1-15 on hardest setting is a nightmare... but now that I look back I wish the game was still that challenging.

worst thing I had to learn was you cant just rely on the fact that you hit "dodge", I learned this best while fisty cuffing, you cant just hit dodge.. you must hit dodge at the rigght time...

how many hours I spent cussing at this game calling it garbage... but now im the fool realizing I just wanted to button mash.

learning when to roll and when to dodge is vital in large packs of mobs.. you are not supposed to be superman and take on army... you have to accomplish it on your own. which is why I love this game.

side stepping is key vs these guys... but if theres 3 or more after you, this will have high chance of failing and might be best to break combat untill you can get 1 or 2 alone. this was my issue with the game when I wanted to be kratos but instead had to be peter pan. im talking early game here, bombs and stuff arnt always there for u.

the way I understand the game now I can go at lvl 1 and kill a lvl 15 drowner, after countless deaths of frustration you will learn.. and the sad thing is you get so strong everything you learned dosent really matter anymore...

best advice I got is play this game like real life, you cant rush into a group, get surrounded, and plow your way out. nah, you gotta get people 1 v 1 or risky 1 v 2, this game is very possible once you learn the timming... keep at it!

 

[Setari]

I remember starting death march and being extremely scared of drowners, whereas in Story & Sword I was like 'lol fishpeople!' (jk, but you get the sentiment). Blood & Broken Bones is way easier than DM so now they're back to 'lol fishpeople!' difficulty. But if they swarm you on any difficulty, you're gonna take a ton of damage whether you like it or not.