The High Stakes Mission Sucks Because Hand to Hand Combat Sucks Rant

[ryguy90]

The High Stakes Mission Sucks Because Hand to Hand Combat Sucks Rant

The High Stakes Mission where you take part in a Gwent competition sucks so much because they tack on a hand to hand fight scene for no reason, which sucks because the hand to hand combat sucks. No seriously, you can't use your spells or potions, you can't doge roll, blocking only works sometimes, and it is nearly impossible to hurt your opponent while they are blocking. It was bad enough to have these restrictions in fist fighting side missions, but at least that made sense as to while you can't use your potions or spells because it would have been cheating. But while can't I use my Jedi mind trick on a crazy half-elf in a brothel to get some easy hits, or my potions to restore my health? It is a pointless scene that has arbitrary rules for no reason and it is driving me nuts because I have already loosed to this d-bag like five times and it is really getting on my nerves. (Big breath in, big breath out)

Well thanks for letting me rant, I feel much better. If there is anything you wish to rant about in this thread, go right ahead.

 

[Sunsibar]

I hated that fight too. It was insanely difficult. There isn't much space and you get stuck all the time with furniture, and that fellow hits very hard. I just hated it that they put this insane fight to GWENT tournament! I just wanted to play some cards. First time I went there way underleveled, 'cause where do you need levels with Gwent... :vava:


I just HATE that guy and now I'm going to face him yet again... But this time, after two Collect 'em Alls, I just quit and take the failed quest if needed. I'm playing with harder difficulty now and I don't wan to loose my nerves because of that asshole, 'cause I have completed this twice already.

 

[M4xw0lf]

I set the difficulty from death march to easiest for nearly all fist fights. They are just annoying.

 

[Sunsibar]

I set the difficulty from death march to easiest for nearly all fist fights. They are just annoying.

Sadly I can't do that now, 'cause I want my difficulty trophy Otherwise very good idea.

 

[M4xw0lf]

I don't care for achievements, I don't even use Galaxy or Steam for TW3

 

[dragonbird]

I set the difficulty from death march to easiest for nearly all fist fights. They are just annoying.

I did that too for this one. It's one of the few you can't really skip.

 

[Foxtrot1994]

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Seriously nobody uses riposte? It's a godsend and the time window to execute it is not even that small.

Just riposte and then you got 3 light punches to land before opponent blocks. Dunno how many heavy ones.

Also, keep your distance and then as soon as you see the opponent's hard punch animation starting, dodge and hit him with a hard punch yourself. You can follow up with another hard, or a couple of light ones.

If you are cornered, block and let the guy hit you if he uses light punches. Then as soon as he starts the hard punch, do as said before, riposte or dodge, and voilà.

Don't mash light punches, or people will counter and tear you a new one on high difficulties. Don't mash hard punches, or you'll get blocked or countered with light punches.

There, your tips for fistfights.

I'm often baffled to see that people usually don't spend the time to learn how combat works beside the... "surface" mechanics. Sometimes I kinda wish to do a combat guide thread or something, just to let people know of these tricks and tips.

 

[StormKorp]

Agreed fistfighting was terrible yet the specific fist-fighting missions weren't that bad because you could save just before the fight....however in the gwent tournament that fight was really annoying since it came immediately after two difficult gwent matches with no save...that was horrible.

 

[NicodemusTNT]

This fight and a couple others really force you to learn the combat mechanics. I got by with just riposte on Deathmarch. Same with the Tailor. I didn't have to get good at the normal combat mechanics either until the Imlerith fight. It would be a shame to get through the game just smashing buttons, like you can on the normal mode, when CDPR created such a vibrant combat system. On the other hand, getting stuck on furniture and other stuff is really annoying!

...
...
...
Seriously nobody uses riposte? It's a godsend and the time window to execute it is not even that small.

Just riposte and then you got 3 light punches to land before opponent blocks. Dunno how many heavy ones.

Also, keep your distance and then as soon as you see the opponent's hard punch animation starting, dodge and hit him with a hard punch yourself. You can follow up with another hard, or a couple of light ones.

If you are cornered, block and let the guy hit you if he uses light punches. Then as soon as he starts the hard punch, do as said before, riposte or dodge, and voilà.

Don't mash light punches, or people will counter and tear you a new one on high difficulties. Don't mash hard punches, or you'll get blocked or countered with light punches.

There, your tips for fistfights.

I'm often baffled to see that people usually don't spend the time to learn how combat works beside the... "surface" mechanics. Sometimes I kinda wish to do a combat guide thread or something, just to let people know of these tricks and tips.

 

[Foxtrot1994]

immediately after two difficult gwent matches with no save...that was horrible.

Wait a moment, you can save between gwent matches, if I remember correctly.

 

[StormKorp]

Wait a moment, you can save between gwent matches, if I remember correctly.

No in that occasion you can't..you win against Sasha (which is a pain) and you are immediately challenged by the damned half-elf who immediately attack you if you win him.

 

[ryguy90]

No in that occasion you can't..you win against Sasha (which is a pain) and you are immediately challenged by the damned half-elf who immediately attack you if you win him.

Actually you can save right before the fight. That's what I did, so I don't have to go through the entire gwent matches over and over.

 

[Garrison72]

Wonky animations ruin what could have been solid fist fighting, but if you riposte, attack and then back away so you don't get jabbed, you'll win every time. The key is to keep your distance so the foe throws heavy blows and not jabs.

 

[Lytha]

Wait until you run into the Vildkaarls during King's Gambit. These guys would rip Finneas a bunch of new ones, and you can't even save between the 3 fightfights in their little "tournament" quest thingie. They actually love the really fast but also extremely hard hitting blows which are difficult to block/riposte.

Fistfighting:

- keep some distance to your foe
- observe him as he moves closer
- hit the "block" key for a riposte as soon as you see him twitch an arm in your direction for a blow. Finneas and Velen/Novigrad fightfighters prefer the slow strong hits which give you plenty of reaction time for hitting that block key at the right time.
- he'll be riposted and stunned for 2-3 seconds.
- give him a strong hit or 2-3 fast ones.
- move away and keep some distance to your foe.
- repeat.

If cornered, hold the block key and hop/dodge around carefully on the search for a place that gives you some distance to your foe. Don't roll around carelessly and don't drop your block stance, as you'll be hit doing that.

 

[Sunsibar]

Wait until you run into the Vildkaarls during King's Gambit. These guys would rip Finneas a bunch of new ones, and you can't even save between the 3 fightfights in their little "tournament" quest thingie. They actually love the really fast but also extremely hard hitting blows which are difficult to block/riposte.

Wow... During my three games I never once realized to talk to these guys. So I never saw those fights And I'm not even sad about it... I HATE fistfighting in this game...

 

[Foxtrot1994]

Seriously, for what I could gather so far, a crap ton of people get frustrated with fistfighting because they just mash the punches and dodges.

Those who complain about animations, 90 cases out of 100 don't realize that you gotta hit the attack button the moment the previous attack's animation finishes, not earlier, not later. Kinda like how it works in fighting games. They instead hit it either while it's playing, causing obviously no response, or too late after it's finished, causing obviously a delay, or they just mash the button messing up the button press recognition. There's a rhythm to follow with the button presses.

 

[Lytha]

@Foxtrot1994 : Yes. I know that this was my problem with fistfighting initially. Fishgulper and other Velen dudes in normal or hardmode went down easily with a barrage of fast attacks. Then I ran into Gregorious George and others in Novigrad who were harder to defeat with that wonderful technique. And in Skellige, it just didn't work anymore.

First few times in deathmarch, I reduced the difficulty for the fistfights so that I could do more fast attack spam.


It took me a while to get it (distance, observe, hit block when they punch, don't get too greedy at opportunities - just hit some very few times). Now I post that little HowTo list from above in such threads and hope it helps others a bit.



I'd say that the learning curve is too steep or the start too damn easy, so that people think that fast attack spam is sufficient. If the game provided some more info about riposting, that might help too. I mean...

- TW1: dodging, blocking, all that is done automatically. Hopping around with double clicking on buttons I never did, and it interrupts the attack sequences anyway. No help from that game.

- TW2: In the skippable tutorial, I think I did 1-3 ripostes. Never used them or block when playing the game. Rolling for the win. Oh wait, I did use a bit of block (without riposte) in the fog on the way to the draug.

- TW3: Vesemir makes us riposte 3 times in the tutorial. You can do anything except fistfights without riposting later on, though it can make life considerably easier (Iris Greatest Fear). In normal fights against humanoid foes, I'd rather use Axii rather than try and riposte, but I am lazy. Riposting Rosa van Attre I only discovered as being possible 2 days ago... (playthrough #6). Uhm. Game is not good about teaching this.

 

[mj12]

First - it is a matter of proportion. I remember this fight with half-elf in Pasiflora - 4 -5 punches and you are dead. 4-5 punches from you make him lose maybe 25% of HP. Second - if I dodge I am able to get on his 9 or 3 and I should be able to hit him almost always while he always manages to block attack. Thirdly: his stamina vs mine - any questions? Fourth - why I am not allowed to use signs, potions? Not mentioning rolling? Fifth - I am goddam witcher and I can move faster than any other human. In fist fights you move as slow as other foes. Sixth - why not finish this mockery with one blow of the sword? Because what - it is not honorable? In my opinion fistfights absolutely suck - it is worst part of the game. Even crashes on my GTX970 don't annoy me so much. Fortunately in HoS there is only one mandatory fistfight and I hope in BoW I will not see ff anymore.

 

[DinkzOfRivia]

Well, I like fist-fighting in the game, it teaches you the proper timing for counter-attacking human opponents.
My most hated fist-fight is during the quest in Novigrad where you have to look for ushers. You'll have to fight two fighters simultaneously there, and I was able to finish and win it after multiple tries. That is of course if you WANT to win the fight, if you're okay with losing, you can just ignore this and have them take 140 crowns from you.

 

[Goodmongo]

All I can say is thank God for god mode. I enable the console for the fistfights.