Respeccing

[Username.]

Respeccing

In this interview for Ausgamer Konrad had the following to say about the leveling system:

Actually, it’s part of character development. You’re earning experience points and getting levels in the game and points, and when you get these points, you can get the skills. What is interesting -- and this is a change from The Witcher 2 -- is that now we don’t have static character development, but we’ve got slots in the DNA. You can put the skills in the order you want to, and proper combinations of these skills give you boosts to the combat. Depending on how you want to build your character, you can reset the build and do it again if you want.

I wonder if this means you can freely respec Geralt. If that's the case then I'm not a fan of this decision.

 

[mico11]

Don't know what to think of it.

On one hand you can experiment and try out all playstyles on your first playtrough,try different strategies and builds if you fail.
On the other hand the game won't be any different on second playtroughs, at least when this is concerned.

Hopefully it will cost to respecc so you don't do it every encounter.

 

[ONLY_ONCE]

I won't understand it until I play it myself, I can't judge this right now.
However, I'm confident about Konrad's statement.

 

[Vincentdante]

I doubt respeccing will be free, CDPR aren't stupid. There will probably be a cost or a condition to do it. I liked how TW2 let you respec after doing a certain quest. For all we know it might be something like that but with the option to do it more than once.

 

[shawn_kh]

You know I'm not a big fan of skill points that the player has to distribute in general no matter how it's implemented, because it is an unnecessary feature that does not make sense.
I'd like the progression to be more realistic. For example the more you use your sword in enemy encounters, in turn Geralt automatically gets better and better with a sword. His blows get faster stronger, and when Geralt is skilled enough new moves could be learned from Vesemir, someone else, or even by reading books.
The more you use your signs, the stronger your signs get. When Geralt is ready, he could learn different variation of the signs from Triss or Yennefer. So basically the game automatically distributes the skill points, based on how the player plays the game.
This kind of progression system is more sensible and realistic, and lets the players to naturally get drawn to the fighting style they prefer without creating the feeling that "I've spent these many skill points on the sword tree, so I should use swords because Geralt is better with a sword since I spent those skill points on the sword tree and I should spend the rest of my points on the sword tree, instead of wasting them on magic, to unlock the highest skill in the tree".

 

[Medy89]

You know I'm not a big fan of skill points that the player has to distribute in general no matter how it's implemented, because it is an unnecessary feature that does not make sense.
I'd like the progression to be more realistic. For example the more you use your sword in enemy encounters, in turn Geralt automatically gets better and better with a sword. His blows get faster stronger, and when Geralt is skilled enough new moves could be learned from Vesemir, someone else, or even by reading books.
The more you use your signs, the stronger your signs get. When Geralt is ready, he could learn different variation of the signs from Triss or Yennefer. So basically the game automatically distributes the skill points, based on how the player plays the game.
This kind of progression system is more sensible and realistic, and lets the players to naturally get drawn to the fighting style they prefer without creating the feeling that "I've spent these many skill points on the sword tree, so I should use swords because Geralt is better with a sword since I spent those skill points on the sword tree and I should spend the rest of my points on the sword tree, instead of wasting them on magic, to unlock the highest skill in the tree".

That would add an aspect of grinding....which isnt cool... i rather plan how i want my character than grind him to shape.... also this results in me spamming signs or sword attacks.. rather than using the whole package im always worried about what attacks to use for lvl ups.... which kinda spoils the fun of the combat.. cdpr knows that... it might be more realistic but introduces problems that sidetrack you from the enjoyment... you can kinda also aply that to the auto refill alchemy... it "sacrifices" realism for the sake of better gameplay experience... I love how they realise & apply this... theyre really thinking hard about that stuff and thats really important at the end ,to deliver a fun combat & rpg experience... that does not become a chore... you gotta see the greater picture and the actual impacts it will or can have on the gameplay... thats what cdpr does .. you can see they learned from their past games .

 

[didymos1120]

Face it: progression doesn't really make any sense at all in a lot of games, no matter how you implement it, because you're often supposed to be playing as a fully-trained whatever. That's especially so in the Witcher games, because Geralt has been plying his trade for decades. He isn't suddenly going to go "Oh...I can totally riposte if I want to! Awesome!"

But, these are RPGs. Progression is basically a mandatory part of gameplay. So we get a leveling system and mutagens and a constant stream of nifty new equipment to play with even though none of these things (as implemented) actually make much sense within the Witcher world. But character building is fun, so logic and realism take a backseat.

 

[shawn_kh]

Face it: progression doesn't really make any sense at all in a lot of games, no matter how you implement it, because you're often supposed to be playing as a fully-trained whatever. That's especially so in the Witcher games, because Geralt has been plying his trade for decades. He isn't suddenly going to go "Oh...I can totally riposte if I want to! Awesome!"

But, these are RPGs. Progression is basically a mandatory part of gameplay. So we get a leveling system and mutagens and a constant stream of nifty new equipment to play with even though none of these things (as implemented) actually make much sense within the Witcher world. But character building is fun, so logic and realism take a backseat.

I see the merit in your words. In reality Geralt is a swordsman and not a mage. He rarely used signs in combat, but in the game especially in witcher 2 the player could put all his focus in sign development. Since it's an RPG CDPR's hands are tied though, but the biggest mistake that they made was the first skill tree that you had to unlock before accessing the other 3 skill trees. Having to spend skill points to unlock blocking, arrow parry, and dagger throwing was really annoying. I would assume that the Geralt, one of the best swordsman of his era, would know how to block.

 

[Bellator_Pius_Grat]

"if you remember the Gothic games, we’ve got a little bit of a Gothic approach. We’ve got zones which have [their] own difficulty levels, and in the zones we’ve got very strong monsters, where you can find some cool stuff if you defeat them, but they are really, really strong."

This I really like! :lol: I loved Gothic games, especially 1 and 2! I loved the feeling that I felt so exposed and vulnerable early in the game. Exploration in Gothic world is one of my favourite gaming moments of all.

"So we had a really long think about what to do with this, because we put a lot of work into alchemy, and people don’t use it. Then once, I woke up with the idea -- which I shared with our team, and they liked it very much -- that what if the elixirs and bombs were infinite? But how do we] do it? We chose this path, and we’ve done it this way that the elixirs and bombs are used in a fight, but when you go and rest at a fireplace, they are immediately refuelled. That’s why we don’t need to be worried that you don’t have the elixirs, or don’t have to bring another herbs and finally kill the monster."

This, I don't like. :no I feel the devs, I really do, that they getting the feeling that potions and other stuff just sits in the inventory never to be used. That the system they put so much work into is for nothing as it isn't utilised. But what are they basing those feelings on? Gamer feedback? Not feedback from me, that I can assure you.

What I'm saying is that every potion in Witcher 1 and 2 were brewed by me, and that the system is fully utilised by me. And that's just me, but I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Sure, I have my favourite potions and bombs, but I try them all out. And yes, my inventory gradually fills up, as do my storage chest. But that is how I play, and how I want to play.

I don't want the devs worrying that I haven't got the potions or bombs, let me worry about that, and face the music and my inevitable death if I forgotten to prepare enough. Jeez, that sentence really rubbed me the wrong way. I ought to be pissed off, but I have faith in the devs.

Still, sniff, sniff, do I smell handholding here? I shudder at the thought.

Of course, I will have to see how this system works. Maybe it will be invaluable to playing the game? Devs know that best, not I, but the explanation given sounds like the devs assumes all players would want this. Such assumption is never advisable.

Let me worry about me, and have auto-refilling for those players who don't want to bother learning to play their games or brew potions.

It's very considerate of devs worrying about players, but cramming this system on every player, that's handholding.

I have faith in the devs, I do, but I really hope that this auto-refill and auto-level is up to each player to decide. I say player choice victory as usual.

 

[schinderhannes.999]

I feel you, but did you mix up threads by any chance?
Posts addressing the 'do-not-want' towards auto-refilling would make more sense over here.

Regarding the respeccing feature - there's a quite simple solution to it in case you absolutely despise the idea:

At least that's what I'm going to do.
I'd rather start all over again than resort to respeccing.

 

[dragonbird]

I'm wondering it they're talking about mutagens when they mentioned "respeccing". Given that the audience probably wouldn't have understood "mutagens". It would make more sense, as they said somewhere that mutagens wouldn't be permanent, and would be more significant than in TW2.

And hopefully that would mean a cost - you'd need to have earned the replacement, and maybe (I hope?) the one you're swapping out would be lost afterwards.

I'd like to see some changes in the level progression. I agree that there are problems if Geralt suddenly becomes incapable of doing a riposte, or deflecting arrows again, and "upgrade" skills like Improved Aard could be done with mutagens instead.

 

[Cs__sz__r]

I nearly forgot mutagens were playing a bigger part in this game.

If we're to be able to respecc I think there should be three quests or secret areas(one for each region maybe?) where it's possible. Once you use it you lose it.

Pretty much in the same vein as W2.

 

[dragonbird]

Moving into full-blown speculation mode now (specc-ulation? No, no puns today)

TW1 and TW2 levelling-up, both based on a standard mechanism. You start stupid. As you get XP, you acquire abilities. Some of these are "things you learn", like deflecting arrows, how to riposte, how to make a bomb. Others are "things you can do better" or "things you can upgrade", like the ability to withstand toxicity, more vigor and vitality, AoE on signs.

The problems, potentially:
"Starting stupid". OK, they could get away with it in the first game, and they cut back on this a lot in TW2, but should Geralt really need to learn all of those basic skills again?
Making a mistake. It's a long game, if you screw up your build, it would be nice NOT to have to go back to the beginning again. Or you finish the game, and want to experiment with different builds but not replay everything.

As long as it isn't easy.

So how about turning levelling up into "getting mutagens", similar to getting the bronze/silver/gold in TW1. But instead of just three choices, you can pick from a range of mutagens. You can keep it, use it, maybe even sell it. A mutagen may do any of the "upgrade" abilities - make you faster, stronger, better at signs, whatever. BUT you can only have a certain number of mutagens in use at any time. Swallowing another means destroying something you already have.

That gives you a cost (the XP cost and possibly other quest-related effort to get the mutagen, the loss of an existing mutagen if you upgrade), It also gives you flexibility to experiment without having to start a new game every time, and it gets rid of the problem of Geralt having to go back to stupid and then learn skills he should already have.

It's not that unusual a levelling-up method, other games use it. I think it may work for TW3.

 

[thislsmadness]

Honestly, I'd be surprised if there isn't some method to allow a total respec. Most recent RPGs have moved in that direction. I don't think it'll be a matter of just pushing a button. Most games have kept it very limited, and I think that is a good direction.

 

[HeelPower]

Its a really cool thing to experiment with builds and obviously it will have limitations.

Worked so well in Dark Souls 2.

 

[Marcin_Momot]

Respeccing will be possible, however we are still figuring out its extent and details, so stay tuned for more info regarding this topic.

 

[CostinRaz]

How about like in the W2 arena, pay a sum of gold to a mage and she does it for you.

As nice as the operator story wise it was not ideal gameplay wise.

 

[OptoNick]

I love how respecialisation option was implemented in TW2. If it'll be as interesting as a way to Operator and encounter with him - I'm up for that

 

[EmperorZorn]

Use a potion made with a rose of rememberance to do it.
As simple as that.

The advantage is clear: you can take it anywhere with you.

 

[Warlegend]

Use a potion made with a rose of rememberance to do it.
As simple as that.

The advantage is clear: you can take it anywhere with you.

And you have to find a rose first, so you have to do something to get rewarded with a respec. Maybe there is a ship in Novigrad that takes you to a small area of Shaerrawedd with an elfen ruin or there are some ruins containing roses in vellin, that you can find and loot for roses