help with pure magic build of Geralt~~

[geroxx]

help with pure magic build of Geralt~~

Im decided to go pure magic. Any fast suggestions? I have a similiar topic but its about something slightly different, it just made my mind up to go magic. What should I pair with magic? My first play I went pure swords, and I sorta dont want to do that. Alch and Magic works? Here is a post by someone in my other topic-its what im going to aim for:

From volsung84:
""Yep. As in TW1, some talents just don't work as nicely as advertised, heh.

I think regardless on your build, some essential choices might be (not using the actual talent names):

- Buffing up Quen (best armor in the game )
- Reducing backstab damage
- Increasing roll distance
- Increasing vigor (max if mage build)

Aside from these basic talents, the rest depends on your focus. When I went magic-oriented, I didn't care much about Yrden or Axii and just worked on Igni, Aard and Quen, for some serious damage and defense magic. As a swordsman, you can increase physical damage and vitality so much that Geralt becomes a juggernaut. Have yet to play pure alchemy.

Geroxx said:
The one thing I know, is multiple enemies. Its no fun to be outnumbered big time and die because you cant knock enough down or whatever. ›››


Yes, but that also has to do with how you position yourself and whether you let yourself be surrounded by enemies It can be though at first, but when in danger try to relocate yourself to gain an advantage.

I did my first playthrough as a pure magic user, no sword talents except for two (reduce backstab damage, increase roll distance). Once you buff up Quen enemies passively kill themselves, and buffing up Igni and Aard also let you attack multiple enemies.

Also consider using bombs, grapeshot is very cheap to make and deals a good amount of damage to groups.""

 

[volsung]

Im decided to go pure magic. Any fast suggestions? I have a similiar topic but its about something slightly different, it just made my mind up to go magic. What should I pair with magic? My first play I went pure swords, and I sorta dont want to do that. Alch and Magic works? Here is a post by someone in my other topic-its what im going to aim for:

Heh wow, I feel famous now

For a mage build you probably want lots of fast-regenerating vigor. Try this:

- Get just as many training talents as you need to open the paths. Good options are Vigor Regeneration and Fortitude (this one is also mutable).
- On the magic path, focus on Quen, Igni and Aard. I personally didn't use Yrden much*, and didn't use Axii at all for combat (but a lot for in-dialogue hexing!).

Now, even if you go "pure magic", you may get some swordsman talents that are useful for any build:

- Position, to reduce backstab damage.
- Feetwork, to increase roll distance.
- Schemer, very conveniently located after Feetwork. This increases vigor regeneration in combat.

These are only suggestions from my personal experience, just remember RPG's are fun because you get to shape your very own character.

Part of the charm of this game is that a witcher is a witcher, and I don't think you can build a completely useless Geralt. So go play and have fun, choose the talents you like (a mini-game in its own) and enjoy your game!

* Note: I did use Yrden for very specific battles, but mostly for the Kayran and Endrega queens. At this point, you can't even level up this skill, so that's why it doesn't count in my opinion. I also used it for a certain big, magical monster in Act III, but by then I had earned enough skill points to level up Yrden without sacrificing the other signs.

 

[secondchildren]

Absolutly quote any single volsung84's lines

I played a 90% magic and 10% swordman. Quite a tank
Buff up vigor and vigor regeneration first. I also used a lot of Quen, Igni and Aard and Yrden only in a few occasion. I found Heliotrope sign pretty cool when activated, but I used to kill enemies long before the adrenaline bar was filled LOL

 

[volsung]

Absolutly quote any single volsung84's lines

I played a 90% magic and 10% swordman. Quite a tank
Buff up vigor and vigor regeneration first. I also used a lot of Quen, Igni and Aard and Yrden only in a few occasion. I found Heliotrope sign pretty cool when activated, but I used to kill enemies long before the adrenaline bar was filled LOL

Nice, hooray for magic oriented Geralts!

I did like Heliotrope too, but as you said it can be hard to fill. Once signs can generate enough adrenaline, there are short periods of time during very intense battles, with many enemies on screen, where you can fill your bar and cast Heliotrope, and while it's active refill your bar with lots of attacks and Ignis and Aards, only to cast it again a second time.

I know Witcher spells are mainly just petty wizard spells, but I thought mage-Geralt was pretty bad-ass

 

[seekerpat]

Check out The Witcher Wikki and research the skill and abilities sections. Very helpful. Go for skills that increase vigor and its regeneration-2nd level schemer will give you 40% regen in combat, a must have.

Do everything you can to boost sign damage-armor(+enhancements-magic wrap, elven & Dhu Bleidd are the best), swords(moon rune is your friend), potions, abilities and skills. The concentration mutagen is pretty weak, wouldn't recommend it. High sign damage really comes into play once you unlock heliotrope.

On my mage build I found two mutagens useful:
Range-being able to blast or ignite enemies at a distance is great. Often you can wipe them out before they come into sword range(feet work helps with this). Works best with Aard & Igni at lvl 2
Critical effects-adds a little to stun/knockdown and ignite percentages.

Potions I used a lot:
Tawny Owl, Wolf, Petri's philtre

Walk into 15 campfires to get the pyromaniac ability, +20% incineration

Use Axii in a conversation to get the conjuror ability, +3 signs damage

Like others have said it really depends on your personal style. Wanna be a tank? Go for max damage and Aard/Igni. Have a more devious approach? Focus on Axii and Yrden-corralling enemies with sign traps is tricky but most satisfying

 

[songlian]

I played a 90% magic and 10% swordman. Quite a tank
Buff up vigor and vigor regeneration first. I also used a lot of Quen, Igni and Aard and Yrden only in a few occasion. I found Heliotrope sign pretty cool when activated, but I used to kill enemies long before the adrenaline bar was filled LOL

Played 100% Magic on my first walkthrough and really enjoyed it. Found the Heliotrope sign to be more useful on this path than the swordsmanship one - I've seen that one incidentally through a savegame from a friend - but in the end Quen and Igni were my bread and butter.

 

[reaper004]

How is the magic build for The Witcher 2? Can someone give me an honest, unbiased opinion of its strengths and weakness [obviously you're going to be bit less sturdy than you would have been should you have picked Swordsmanship, right?] I've been real curious about it, most RPG's like The Witcher that offer a three-pronged class approach [Dragon Age, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Torchlight, etc.] either severly gimp the mage-class or make it way overpwered [Dragon Age]. I'm really curious about this one, but every time it comes time to choose your path the swordmanship wins with me 100% of the time lol. I just love melee.

 

[volsung]

How is the magic build for The Witcher 2? Can someone give me an honest, unbiased opinion of its strengths and weakness [obviously you're going to be bit less sturdy than you would have been should you have picked Swordsmanship, right?] I've been real curious about it, most RPG's like The Witcher that offer a three-pronged class approach [Dragon Age, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Torchlight, etc.] either severly gimp the mage-class or make it way overpwered [Dragon Age]. I'm really curious about this one, but every time it comes time to choose your path the swordmanship wins with me 100% of the time lol. I just love melee.

There is no such thing as an unbiased opinion

The thing with witchers is that they are all the same general "class", precisely witchers. What path you choose in TW2 is more of a focus or specialization if you will, sort of like choosing between a Conjurer or Necromancer mage, or choosing between Ranger and Assassin in DA:O. From this perspective, all kinds of witchers are, in my opinion, balanced.

A magic oriented Geralt will probably be physically "weaker" as you pointed out, but only because you will be spending your skill points in things that do not directly relate to physical strength or resilience. The in-game description is pretty good actually: a magic oriented witcher will probably focus on longer-ranged attacks, instead of battling hand to hand with lots of enemies. Once you level up enough you get pretty strong though, so though it is a different play-style it is not weaker by any means. Just use other approaches than simply slashing everyone with your sword using brute force.

The biggest two differences I noticed between swordsman and magician were:

1:

Spoiler

As a magic-oriented witcher, the Draug fight in Act II seemed fine and fun, and Quen was priceless. As a swordsman, it was way too easy on the same difficulty level. Suffice to say the boss came down in FOUR hits.

2:

Spoiler

Fighting the dragon in Act III was pretty much trivial as a swordsman, at this point you have lots of vitality and do insane amounts of sword damage.

Finally, why not just take the magic path and see if you like it? That's a positive point of this game, it's not immensely long so you may try many combinations, over and over again. Don't let us tell you what to do