Madness, wishes, questions & rambling

[Seraphi-01]

Madness, wishes, questions & rambling

Hi

While trying to escape the mosquito vs human-war currently happening in my home I decided to try and figure out some upcoming decisions & clear up some things. Providing I survive the madness night off course. For those who want a visual; (if you don't: I put it in a 'spoiler' to easily skip to the actual Witcher stuff.)

Spoiler

A 52 year old beer-bellied construction worker is currently flying through the living room like madman with the vacuum under one arm, it's nuzzle in the other hand franticly trying to suck up the mosquito's trying to eat us alive.
He's swinging the thing around like it's a saber, tripping over the cable every few steps making this crazy cackling sound:victory:which is totally creepy, by the way :sofa:while my mother (46y) is standing on the sofa simultaneously shouting directions/locations & be-carefull-with-my-walls/lamp/vase/...- or-I'll-kill-you death threats at him waving a newspaper. But somehow at the same time they are arguing (screaming) about whose fault it is that the bugs got inside in those numbers, one dog is wisely taking shelter between the front wheels of my wheelchair (sort of) out of reach of my fathers *cough*epic battle moves & the vacuum cable while the beagle is snoring away on his back taking up most of the couch, legs wide open like a turkey about to be stuffed with his face under a pillow.
Not sure if he's just that brave or just that freaking lazy to not be deadly afraid of being castrated.:what2:

Spoiler

So on to business; This is the very first time ever I'm playing a Witcher game. My sister highly recommended to me after she 'played' it at her boyfriends which actually meant 'We (seriously; they sat with his arm around her) took a horse and went for a romantic ride at sundown (her exact words I swear) in a pretty world with spectacular views'. She threw the controller at his head (literally)each time she had to fight (he had a bump to prove it) but was convinced I'd love it.
My family... There are no words...


She was totally right though, I love it! It took me a while to find my way (I was pretty new to gaming in general & played shooters? before; The last of Us, Tomb Raider & Far Cry 4) but once I did I was hooked. I knew nothing about it, not about the 2 past; games or that there were books.

Questions, wishes and stuff
I'm about to start The Isle of Mists at almost level 28 with Enhanced Feline Armor set (mostly because I like the look) & Superior Griffin swords because they fitted my level without clashing to much.
Q1: Is this a okay set to use now until I can upgrade it or do you recommended switching to another?
Q2: When will Keira & Letho arrive? I had thought they would already be at Kear Morhen by now...

Q3: Roach
At the beginning of the game I was a bit disappointed Roach wasn't a different color and/or breed, after all she(?) is the only horse Geralt owns and the only one to come when called. I felt like the horse that carried me towards monsters deserved to be recognizable by more than it's tack. There are so many relatively easy options that could have been used to give her a unique look (just to start: dun, palomino, paints, a 100 versions of markings...) At the very least I wanted the choice (bay, black or gray). Or perhaps a unicorn LOL
However now after everything, I got attached, loved the little interactions Geralt had with her and albeit silly, a bit impressed with how close she stays after 'bolting' (lets be honest; if a actual monster attacked a real horse you would probably need the freaking Hubble to see it again). I'm a bit reluctant trade her in for a 'gift' from Emhyr... Especially if that means leaving her with him...

• Is there a difference besides color? Faster, 'braver', able to carry more items or a extra slots? Anything at all?
• And is there a consequence from just accepting the money?
• Is there anything in the books or previous game about Geralt's attachment/loyalty towards his horse?
• Can someone please tell what's up with Yennefer & her unicorn? I'm so curious...

WISH: Also I sort off miss some additional Roach interactions like praise/petting or grooming; perhaps for a boost in bravery, ability to carry more items or a extra trophy slot. Could be at a inn, especially in larger cities it would be logical to leave Roach in someones care & give her a well deserved proper rest & look over... A elaborate grooming, professional care by a farrier, thorough cleaning & treatment of her tack, good food, clean water, warm comfortable stable for a good rest. Happy horse = happy travels...

WISH: I really want a 'pet' wolf, I was sooooo jealous when that Druid who brought rain to that one Skellige village had one that helped protect him against those foglets... Would have been awesome *sigh* :envy:

Q4 Schools
Each school has there own methods, strengths & such I presume. Cat school was fast & tend to end up a little crazy, lots became assassins if I read right?
Bear I'm thinking are usually very large? Maybe more brute-strength orientated? So what are the other schools specialties? Especially school of the Wolf, what makes them different from the others?

Q5 Endings: (In the quests I went with Yennefer for Geralt, Cerys as queen and both Keira & Letho should be alive)
Roche vs Dijkstra & Ciri; Empress or Witcher, I'm conflicted. On their own; I would kill Dijkstra on principle, he played us.
For Ciri & mostly for Geralt I would choose the Witcher end.
However if I choose both those options Emhyr wins the war, expands his country & continues to happily rule, right?
After I heard what he planned to do to Ciri and Yen & Geralt, I'm just not that motivated in making him happy...
Dijkstra as the new ruler I could live with if only Roche & Ves survive...
Dijkstra seems like the 'I'll help you if you do this or that for me - love you but kill you just ast easily' kind, Roche & Ves appear more the 'Ofcourse I'll help if I can' types. Is that right? They just seem like better friends for Geralt on first glance. How is Geralt's relationships with them in the books & previous games?

Does the chosen ending have any affect on HoS and B&W? Pro's & Con's...
Also I was thinking what happens if you kill Dijkstra, make Ciri a witcher 'thus a unchecked Emhyr' and he discovers she's still alive? That would not be good...
Will Emhyr start another war trying to keep expanding?
However unlikely if Dijkstra lives and Ciri becomes Empress, would he try to kill her too?
And the most disturbing if Ciri becomes Empress; would she actually rule or does she have to marry that creepy daddy's-boy that keeps showing up lately? Ugh I get such bad of vibes of him letting Dijkstra rule has actually started to become a real option...:areukiddingme:

 

[Lytha]

The font size of your choice is a bit hard on the eyes of us elders.

Before I go and try to answer your questions, a quick statement: I have a bias towards certain decisions and choices in the witcher games, and I am not going to try and hide that bias with a thin veil of pseudo-objectivity. Take it all as "in my opinion".

I'm about to start The Isle of Mists at almost level 28 with Enhanced Feline Armor set (mostly because I like the look) & Superior Griffin swords because they fitted my level without clashing to much.

Q1: Is this a okay set to use now until I can upgrade it or do you recommended switching to another?
That gear is perfectly fine for what you're about to do. You will be ready for superior Feline gear once you're allowed to roam around freely again; but the fights to come in your immediate future can absolutely be done in enhanced gear.


Q2: When will Keira & Letho arrive? I had thought they would already be at Kear Morhen by now...
Both lingered a bit out there in the wilderness. They'll arrive as soon as the other friends and allies arrive (after Isle of the Mists).


Q3: Roach
At the beginning of the game I was a bit disappointed Roach wasn't a different color and/or breed, after all she(?) is the only horse Geralt owns and the only one to come when called. I felt like the horse that carried me towards monsters deserved to be recognizable by more than it's tack. There are so many relatively easy options that could have been used to give her a unique look (just to start: dun, palomino, paints, a 100 versions of markings...) At the very least I wanted the choice (bay, black or gray). Or perhaps a unicorn LOL
However now after everything, I got attached, loved the little interactions Geralt had with her and albeit silly, a bit impressed with how close she stays after 'bolting' (lets be honest; if a actual monster attacked a real horse you would probably need the freaking Hubble to see it again). I'm a bit reluctant trade her in for a 'gift' from Emhyr... Especially if that means leaving her with him...

• Is there a difference besides color? Faster, 'braver', able to carry more items or a extra slots? Anything at all?

That unsavory Morvran Voorhis fellow claimed that there were differences with the different breeds, but I sort of doubt that. You can get a horse that emits smoke at the end of HoS, if you desire a sick (and fancy?) steed. I really think the stats of the horse are down to the gear that it wears though.

The fact that a visit with Emhyr either results in you selling out Ciri or in you getting your beloved Roach taken away and replaced by some ugly Nilfgard mare should be another reason to avoid brainwashing your daughter into visiting her biological father.

• And is there a consequence from just accepting the money?

Do you really want Mr. Wifekilling Warmongering Git get his hands on Ciri?
There would be a consequence for just taking the money, indeed.

Spoiler

You would play right into the hands of the person described above in his plot to make you appear like a total jerkface in the eyes of your adopted daughter. Taking the money is one of the bad choices which lead to the depressing ending, if you do more than one of them.

By the way, you only get a small amount of crowns, and an IOU over a nice 100k crowns - which is never actually paid.

• Is there anything in the books or previous game about Geralt's attachment/loyalty towards his horse?
  

TW3 is the first of the witcher games with a horse. I do not recall any particular "my Roach and me" moments from the books, but it's been a couple of years that I read them.



A elaborate grooming, professional care by a farrier, thorough cleaning & treatment of her tack, good food, clean water, warm comfortable stable for a good rest. Happy horse = happy travels...
It is lacking in this regard, but you can get a nice stable for Roach in BaW. And a happy horse means indeed happy travels; she gets a stamina bonus from her stable.


Q4 Schools
Each school has there own methods, strengths & such I presume. Cat school was fast & tend to end up a little crazy, lots became assassins if I read right?
Bear I'm thinking are usually very large? Maybe more brute-strength orientated? So what are the other schools specialties? Especially school of the Wolf, what makes them different from the others?
We do not know much about the other schools. They are a figment of the imagination of CDPR, not in the books. Of Griffin, we know only that one of them killed a swamp dragon and ran some contracts in Velen before he died; and the armor is good for spellcasters.
Wolf school gear seems to be a jack of all trades setup; it supports everything a little bit.


Q5 Endings: (In the quests I went with Yennefer for Geralt, Cerys as queen and both Keira & Letho should be alive)
Roche vs Dijkstra & Ciri; Empress or Witcher, I'm conflicted. On their own; I would kill Dijkstra on principle, he played us.
For Ciri & mostly for Geralt I would choose the Witcher end.
However if I choose both those options Emhyr wins the war, expands his country & continues to happily rule, right?
After I heard what he planned to do to Ciri and Yen & Geralt, I'm just not that motivated in making him happy...
Dijkstra as the new ruler I could live with if only Roche & Ves survive...
Dijkstra seems like the 'I'll help you if you do this or that for me - love you but kill you just ast easily' kind, Roche & Ves appear more the 'Ofcourse I'll help if I can' types. Is that right? They just seem like better friends for Geralt on first glance. How is Geralt's relationships with them in the books & previous games?
Well. Roche and Ves are not part of Sapkowski's literature. They appear in TW2.

TW2 starts with Geralt imprisoned, beaten and tortured, and Roche is interrogating. In the course of the interrogation you recall the events leading to this situation (King Foltest was killed and you're the primary suspect, because the real killer was only seen by you and Foltest's toddler kids, and the real killer jumped out of the window and is out of sight), and Roche will make you join his own investigation about this kingslaying. If you refuse, Roche will make it perfectly clear that this was not a request, but an order. If you refuse some more, Ves will shoot you dead with her crossbow and you can reload the last save. That is the first impression of this lovely duo.

Anyway, well. Another remarkable trait of Roche in TW2 is his hypocrisy: call him a son of a whore and watch him go mental; but guess what's his most favourite insult for other people? You guessed that right. And Roche might very well end up a kingslayer himself.

He also has acute rage management issues, not only when called a whoreson.

Neither he nor Ves would rule Temeria. Who the ruler would be is totally unclear, given that Natalis is gone and Anais never even got mentioned.

Ves, well, seems rather unhinged in TW3. Far more so than in TW2, actually. Ves in TW2 was on a vendetta against Scoiatel (because they had killed her family, abducted her, raped her, mistreated her, until she was rescued by the Blue Stripes), but actually likeable. Not that braindead, suicide mission happy, kamikaze, cleavage to below the navel type at all.


But well... Of course, Roche can also be totally the Bro if you went with his plot in TW2 and never argued with him. And Ves was a candidate for sexual encounters in TW2.

Dijkstra in the books meets Geralt during that banquet. The two seem to get along very well, in fact. Then Dijkstra arrests Geralt as the situation escalates, and Geralt escapes and breaks Dijkstra's leg in the process. The reader sees more of Dijkstra later on in the books, which are not just Geralt's point of view.


Does the chosen ending have any affect on HoS and B&W? Pro's & Con's...
Very indirectly, and only in BaW. There are letters that differ according to who won vanilla. Nothing lifechanging, as far as I could see so far. More like "yay, we won the war. Now be brave in the tournament" vs "we lost the war. Now be brave in the tournament."

Oh wait, and Geralt will ask a NPC in HoS what she will do, "now that Radovid is gone". She will go away and do her stuff in either case though.


Also I was thinking what happens if you kill Dijkstra, make Ciri a witcher 'thus a unchecked Emhyr' and he discovers she's still alive? That would not be good...
That is actually something I have on my list of ending combinations I want to check currently. But it is extremely doubtful that any consequences of this setup will be seen ingame. It's down to your imagination.

To be 100% clear: For this ending setup, you need to:

- NOT force Ciri to visit Emhyr against her better judgment.
- do not screw up and get the "Ciri is gone" ending
- help assassinate Radovid and kill Dijkstra


Will Emhyr start another war trying to keep expanding?
IMHO, he will do just that. Most certainly. It's what imperialistic scum does. Also, given that his plot about "I think that my daughter Ciri's Elder Blood means that I should make a son with her, so that this son can rule the world" from the books indicates quite clearly that he's in for the entire world, not just these few countries.

Pretty sure that there are also some Emhyr apologists who will claim the opposite though.


However unlikely if Dijkstra lives and Ciri becomes Empress, would he try to kill her too?
That is an impossible combination. Ciri is only forced to be Empress if the bloodthirsty wifemurdering bastard wins the war = if you killed Radovid and Dijkstra.


And the most disturbing if Ciri becomes Empress; would she actually rule or does she have to marry that creepy daddy's-boy that keeps showing up lately? Ugh I get such bad of vibes of him letting Dijkstra rule has actually started to become a real option...
That Morvran Voorhis fellow is the one who escorts his prize to Emhyr in the bad ending. It is indeed extremely likely that he's going to be your future adopted son-in-law, if you went this way.

 

[Seraphi-01]

Thank you! Your response is very helpful. Thanks to you my decisions for Ciri & Roach are confirmed.
I apologize for the font , I just kept the size that was on standard.

I do remember that part about differences with the different breeds but I never noticed anything beyond whatever bonus tack could provide which is why I asked. Roach will stay with me which is what I preferred but I looked up the
horse that emits smoke at the end of HoS;

Spoiler

It's just some sort of saddle with a (almost) full body blanket. So Roach with body armor really... It comes with 100 stamina & a new feature, not sure what exactly. You can choose it as a reward for the end-quest but it was tagged a Bad Ending.

Too bad about the schools, was really curious... Seems like a bit of a hole CDPR left there...

Happy my gut feelings can be trusted.After your confirmation I went ahead and watched the Empress Ending since I'm definitely not choosing it.

Spoiler

And am I happy I decided against it! That was horrible, is this seriously a Good Ending? Ciri looks miserable... There are soooooo many things wrong I'm not even going to bother summing it all up... Good thing I made my decisions beforehand, I would have been so dissapointed if I ended up with that...

My thoughts on Roche vs Dijkstra are still very conflicted and I will definitely research it some more.
You have giving me much to think about, good to have a different angle to look at it...