Mutagens and trophies completely lost their variety and fun in The Witcher 3

[styku]

As for Mutagens, I see the logic behind this - monster-specific mutagens are mainly dedicated to create specific concoctions, but in the meantime you can still use them as a power-up. Though of course some more variety couldn't hurt.

And about the trophies, agree all the way. Either make them not giving you any bonus, and just a proof of killing some huge beast, or give them meaningful, unique properties.

 

[Genoscythe]

Well I also dont want to just complain and keep it constructive.

here are some ideas for more mutagen variation: General (yellow) mutagens that get increased effectivity with the all-round skill +3% sign intensity +4% attack power and +30 health.

Then for monster mutagens:

Griffin(red): +3% attack animation speed
Nekker(red): +10 hralth regeneration, also in combat
Fire elementa(blue)l: +20% Igni intensity
Earth Elemental(red): +20 armor
Ice elemental(blue): +25% chance for Aard to freeze enemies, Aard deals frost damage that scales with sign intensity
Golem(red): +10% attack speed (equivalent to a greater red mutagen)
Archgriffin Mutagen(red): +4% attack animation speed
Drowner(green): +20% Breath, -20% stamina usage while sprinting
Water Hag (green): +10% toxicity limit
Basilisk (green): +5% to all resistances
Nekker Warrior(red): + 20% fall damage reduction, +10% jump height and distance covered while rolling, rolling speed is increased
Harpy(red): +20% critical hit damage
Fiend (green): +5% potion effectiveness


Some ideas thrown out to make builds a bit more specific, I wouldnt mind if the main mutagens get nerfed by like1-2% at greater level to make creative building more appealing to players.

 

[alejandrodg82]

Agree, it feels like they all do the same, and don´t really add up. I would prefer less mutagens, and less trophies but instead they REALLY mean something

 

[skunkito76]

Could someone tell me why I have 100s (ok exaggeration) of blue and green Mutagens and have found only one "red" one? I can't remember what I killed to get it.

 

[K.Constantine]

Definitely can agree to more Mutagen variety. The problem is that the standard red/green/blue are way more powerful due to their tiered effect, so I think mutagen drops from super hard monsters should be on par. The plain mutagen drops from mobs does the exact same thing as the lowest tier colored mutagens, so their only useful purpose is for alchemy.. can we have more creativity in their effects?

Also, I'm pretty sure they dont have assets for all the different trophies you can get in the game, hence head in a bag. Shame, because I totally only use the ones that show.

What do you mean they don't have assets, yes they do, they have the meshes for the monsters, they don't need to create completely new ones, just take and modify existing ones.

 

[Maydawn]

I completely agree on this.

Mutagens had a TON of potential to be interesting and game changing. Why have +x% sign intensity ? +x% attack power ?

It's a shame CDPR missed out on that. I'd have loved to see stuff like:
1. Rotfiend Mutagen, Green - "On bomb throw, there's an x% of a second explosion for 50% original damage"
2. [ Depending on which monster dropped, change the name + additional effect, blue] "When your Quen shield drops off / explodes, there's a chance to freeze / burn / poison / foes in the area"
3. Arbalist Mutagen, Red - "Crossbow shots against enemies that are already bleeding, do +x times damage"
4. Wraith Mutagen, Blue - "When casting Aard on an enemy inside Yrden, cause blindness for x seconds"
5. Bear Mutagen, Red - "Strong attacks against blocking opponents have a chance to knock back the enemy and break their guard"

I could go on like this for hours, but I don't want to spam too much.

Basically, I'd be happy to have mutagen affect abilities tied to their tree, instead of a flat % increase in a passive stat. Something that could really add a ton of flavor to your abilities and playstyle.

Regarding trophies: I'm not sure how I feel about them, but currently they provide no flavor to the gameplay, same as current mutagens. Maybe have them increase a specific part of fighting, like all bleeds cause double damage [Wyvern ?], or poison [Basilisk]. Enemies burn for twice as long [Fiend ?].

EDIT: Man I wish I knew how to mod stuff like that

---------- Updated at 02:17 PM ----------

Making another post just with ideas, cause you guys gave me a creativity burst and I need an outlet

Mutagens

Blue

Bear - Aard now causes foes to be knocked back for twice the distance
Noonwraith - Enemies inside Yrden recieve additional damage from sword attacks as fire with a chance of burning
Nightwraith - Adds a small leech life effect to your swords when attacking enemies inside Yrden
Ghoul - Igni has a chance to cause enemies to bleed
Add monster name here - Casting Axii on an enemy with low health causes him to commit suicide
Name - After Axii wears off, the enemy will hit and move x% slower
Name - Increases Yrden size by x% and adds a chance upon entering to become frozen

Red

Nekker - Attacking bleeding enemies has a chance to cause double damage on each sword strike
Wolf - Consecutive hits on the same enemy place a stacking bleed
Endrega - Poisoned enemies have a chance to become stunned from the poison
Nekker warrior - Strong attacks cause gashing wounds, causing the target to bleed over enemies, causing a small area damage every second
Ghoul - Fast attacks have a chance to become a small whirl and hit every enemy in 8 yards

Green

Fiend - Each potion effect also increases armor by x%
Waterhag - Bombs cause a stun in addition to their current effects
Gravehag - Bombs cause poison in addition to their current effects
Leshen - For each potion active, your sword attacks hit an additional foe
Name - When toxicity is above 50%, sword attacks increase potion duration slightly
Name - Consuming a decoction also gives the Swallow potion effect at no toxicity cost
Name - When the last charge of an oil is consumed, increase damage against same monster type by x% for x seconds

Bleh, I'll stop here, going back to play and get more ideas :e

 

[Faltus]

As someone else mentioned before I actually like it that mutagens and trophies are not overladen with outrageous bonuses and kept intentionally simplistic and rather low key. Some find that boring but I think that's just another thing that sets TW3 apart from other RPGs. For the better.
I wouldn't even mind if some of them actually came also with a malus, so that you would have to really think about the pros and cons of keeping or switching it with another one.

I also quite like the "heads in a bag" design some of the trophies come with. For those cases I imagine it would be just too disgusting and repulsive to have the actual night wraith head on display on Roach. Witchers already have kind of a bad rep with most people, so it's only reasonable to put some of the more hideous trophies in bags. Also adds something mysterious to it.

 

[woffen5]

At the very least, the bonuses from a royal arch griffin trophy should be better than the trophy from the griffin in white orchard, just as an example. Simply, trophies from stronger foes of the same type should give a better bonus.

 

[backrow12]

At the very least, the bonuses from a royal arch griffin trophy should be better than the trophy from the griffin in white orchard, just as an example. Simply, trophies from stronger foes of the same type should give a better bonus.

Exactly. I fully agree.

 

[Sethanor]

esp as you cant seem to combine for example 3 wraith mutagens ... i have like 8 of those with +50 vit each ... completely pointless
(or have i missed something?) ^^

 

[Mordosskul]

Yes! I agree with this 100%. Honestly, this is my only real disappointment with the game which so far I am enjoying immensely. The lack of variety in trophy/mutagen effects are a bit surprising to me considering the particular attention to detail in so many other areas.

If I had the time and skill, I would mod this in a heartbeat. Genoscythe, Maydawn, some excellent ideas for sure! Adrenaline generation, dismemberment chance, movement speed.. there's a lot of cool stuff that could be done.

 

[kiadaw]

There is also a lack of red Mutagens, compare to blue & green.

I also wonder why there is no skill tree. The current one looks a bit dumbed down.

 

[True_Spike]

100% agreed

 

[briansemerick]

There is also a lack of red Mutagens, compare to blue & green.

I also wonder why there is no skill tree. The current one looks a bit dumbed down.

Totally agree about Reds. I just got my first one, a lesser one, probably 45 hours in.

 

[Maydawn]

esp as you cant seem to combine for example 3 wraith mutagens ... i have like 8 of those with +50 vit each ... completely pointless
(or have i missed something?) ^^

Mutagens with monster names can be used for decoctions

I disagree with what people said in pages 3/4 a bit. Mutagens and Trophies don't have to be overpowered, or imbalanced. It's all a matter of how it's implemented and how mechanics work. They can be used to add flavor to the game, change some abilities just a tiny bit to make them more fun or better to use. Love combining signs and swords ? Here's a mutagen that increases sword damage on burning enemies. Love throwing bombs around ? Here are some added effects for your favorite bombs !

Same goes for trophies. Just a bit of flavor. Having a mutagen that increases sign intensity by a flat amount is outright boring. Just implement it to the tree and be done with it. Have 3 blues equipped ? No chance you'll do anything else except put a blue mutagen anyway. It feels mandatory and imposed rather than a build choice, given your chosen talents.

 

[phreatophile]

I have to agree. I have very few complaints, this game is amazing.

There are only a hand-full of effects across dozens of trophies. That's kinda lame.

There are only 3 types of mutagens? I haven't gotten far enough to know that for sure, but if true, that too is pretty lame.

 

[andersonblue]

Yeah when I got a new trophy I was like 'awesome!' but quickly realised a lot of them are one out of maybe 3 bonuses. Considering you can pick up quite a few this is very small. 5% bonus to experience (monsters) is very boring, they don't give much experience to begin with and is pointless compared to quest exp. So pointless trophy.

Make them so that each equiped trophy gives a bonus to fighting that particular creature or something, but then this could get as annoying as applying oils.Or probably better, different status effects.

 

[Fly_the_Twister]

I have very few criticisms of TW3 and it's turning to be one of my all time favorite games (if not favorite) but I definitely agree with this.

y
dito.
The leveling got messed up, but then again I prefer a working fight system and a good story over the negative aspects tw3 has. atleast it has no hollow feeling to it like inquisition had for me (the sidekick characters hardly had any involvement in the story and where way too passiv during the story developement.)

 

[Maydawn]

I have quite a whole lot of complaints regarding certain gameplay mechanics, from leveling to quest levels, monster levels, gearing, inventory, mutagens... the list goes on. I'm a gameplay mechanics perfectionist. To me, no game has ever been a solid 10, atleast not from that perspective [technical gameplay], which is why I always wish I knew how to mod and do stuff to games, so I can change the things that bother me.

BUT ! This is still the best game I have ever played, and I played alot

 

[Vastator88]

I'm loving the game, but i have to agree with this. They have been extremely lazy In these aspects