The Witcher 3 Alchemy System

[Percival_Dickenbutts]

Judging by the way this is going, preparation will be boiled down to "press this button to prepare -> appropriate items equipped"

It's really sad, because everything else about this game looks fantastic. But the thing is that Alchemy was such an important part about The Witcher, removing it because some players who were undoubtedly the most casual of all casuals and probably didn't even finish the previous games anyway, couldn't be asked with learning simple game-mechanics.

 

[Sephira]

Mmm I preferred TW2 system, being forced to drink potion only during meditation.and not in the midst of combat. That adds tactics.

Yeah it was good too and added tactics, but there was a negative point for me: if you drank the potion and then you walked away, not knowing where the enemy was or when you'd face it, you could often lose time and so (all or half) the effect of the potion vanished.

It's for all consumables (potions included,) from what I understand.

 

[Pedrolago]

So bombs auto refill as well? ok cool CDPR has gone totally mad, no biggie

 

[Percival_Dickenbutts]

Mmm I preferred TW2 system, being forced to drink potion only during meditation.and not in the midst of combat. That adds tactics.

For the actual drinking process of the potion system I also liked this a lot, for the brewing however TW1 was far superior. Drinking potions in TW1 was basically the same as in TW2 for me though, I always drank them before going in to battle, never during. But TW2 was really lore-friendly in regards to Geralt sitting calmly and absorbing the effects of the potions.

 

[zesolol]

But the thing is that Alchemy was such an important part about The Witcher, removing it because some players who were undoubtedly the most casual of all casuals and probably didn't even finish the previous games anyway

Come on, I finished The Witcher 2 on the dark mode without using any potions. Don't say this kind of BS, please. The effect were so small and so short that I just didn't see the point of using them. So yeah, I'm kind of happy that they are trying a new system. maybe it will work, maybe not, but it can only get better from my point of view.

 

[nakachoko]

Don't know anything about traps, sorry.

No problem, I'm sure they won't remove them completely.

It's for all consumables (potions included,) from what I understand. I am actually surprised to see that people realised bombs would be affected too just now.

because some players who were undoubtedly the most casual of all casuals and probably didn't even finish the previous games anyway, couldn't be asked with learning simple game-mechanics

That makes me a bit sad to hear, but I have an idea how to fix it. Why can't there be merchants that just sell your the built bombs and brewed potions provided that you have a blue-print or a recipe in your inventory? It's just paper that you could carry with you. No weight and vice versa, just like TW2 had recipes. Fell free to make a poll and new thread about this idea, I will support it, but I have the feeling someone well known has to convince the CDPR devs to do this and why it's important.

Recipes/blue-prints and a merchant in every town or big settlement. Not much work to ask for!
:comeatmebro:

 

[GHOSTMD]

Well the poll i pretty clear about this issue i think. TW1 System it is..... of course with improvements

Once again... CDPR have the alternative to split it in a simplyfied alchemy and complex alchemy
System.

I also suggested they can "improve" the looting for ingedients ... so that we re not find the herbs everywhere...
just like i said... overhear some ppl talking about herbs that you can find.... or recognize a little girl wearing a
crown of flowers you recognize as herbs you can use and ask her where she found them....

and so on.... and the placed we find herbs? Hm... well clearing in the woods.... in a cave we find some
mushrooms... maybe a little garden put up by a peasant...

There are many ways to "fill" the world with herbs we can loot and NOT find a plant every 3 steps we take

 

[Percival_Dickenbutts]

Come on, I finished The Witcher 2 on the dark mode without using any potions. Don't say this kind of BS, please. The effect were so small and so short that I just didn't see the point of using them. So yeah, I'm kind of happy that they are trying a new system. maybe it will work, maybe not, but it can only get better from my point of view.

Sorry, that was uncalled for, I was a little riled up. But refilling potions is still the dumbest idea I have ever heard.

 

[C0bR]

Recommended potions? Just wait until we get recommended bombs, recommended traps, recommended weapon and recommended fighting style (which would be shown in pictures, so people don't get offended by being forced to read).

all of this auto-refilled of course

Oh, am I limited to 3 bombs per refill? Don't worry, because I got 15 bomb types learned, so I have more ammo than Nimitz carrier for every damn fight.

 

[zesolol]

Oh, am I limited to 3 bombs per refill? Don't worry, because I got 15 bomb types learned, so I have more ammo than Nimitz carrier for every damn fight.

What?! You can only have 2 types of bombs max from what I've seen in the gameplay.

 

[Tocsin]

Recommended potions? Just wait until we get recommended bombs, recommended traps, recommended weapon and recommended fighting style (which would be shown in pictures, so people don't get offended by being forced to read).

You mean, apart from the pictures, the same system as in the first game where you had what sword, style and oils to use againt any kind of monsters in your journal ?

Oh, am I limited to 3 bombs per refill? Don't worry, because I got 15 bomb types learned, so I have more ammo than Nimitz carrier for every damn fight.

From what we konw from gameplay footage, you can prep up to two type of bombs during meditation. So you may not be able to use every bombs of your inventory during one fight.

 

[Foxtrot1994]

Yeah it was good too and added tactics, but there was a negative point for me: if you drank the potion and then you walked away, not knowing where the enemy was or when you'd face it, you could often lose time and so (all or half) the effect of the potion vanished.

Just like in real life (if the world of The Witcher existed of course LOL).

 

[Pedrolago]

Unfortunately, something about the interviews makes me pretty sure that the decision is final and that the poll results mean squat, so Thank you CDPR for ripping my heart out and going all KALIMA! I was a bit disappointed with combat but that is understandable since its a very hard mechanic to balance, but making a conscious decision to destroy the great work achieved with TW1 potion system instead of taking steps to improve upon it (steps which are obvious to everyone I might add), if this is really how alchemy will be approached in TW3, it will be a crippling blow to the experience(for me at least), so yeah I love you Konrad, I really do, but thanks for ruining the alchemy part of being a witcher for me.

 

[schinderhannes.999]

Seems like The Witcher 3 will join the ranks of those games that have to be 'repaired' upon release by the community/modders.

 

[Juuuhan]

I can completely understand if people are sceptical but any other choice than either "Yes" as a response of it being better than previous games or "Need to see it in action" as a response of it sounding dodgy, are either dumb and or illogical.

Witcher 1 had a rather bad potion system, drinking potion in the middle of the fight really screwed up the flow of the combat and if implemented like in the Witcher 1, we will either feature the same stupid thing of Geralt standing still getting chopped while chugging or him running away like a headless chicken. Witcher 1 had nice alchemy system with side substances (all be it Geralt running around with a butt ton of liquor was a bit dumbfounded... Yes you can have a drinking system but you don't need useless tat for "realism" when we are talking about alchemy), not however how the potion was consumed in combat and people wanting it like in the Witcher 1 either have bad memory or confuse this with the alchemy system.

The alchemy system in Witcher 2 while being more close to the lore got criticized by gamers/journalists cause it was problematic to ever know when to consume a potion beforehand unless you've actually played the game before and knew each situation. This is bad game design and CD RED fixed (will fix) this with Witcher 3 (Game play is always more important than lore, cause these are video games, the whole purpose with a game over a book is the players possibility to interact).

This if anything is a step in the right direction which makes preparation beforehand still true to the lore but also doesn't disrupt the "flow" with combat. I would also like to stress that CD RED have talked about the potion system as being divided to, Basic potions you consume before hand, and support potions you consume in combat to sort of tackle both of these issues and also sort of give player a pat on the shoulder saying "See we have both W1 and W2 potion system, now please don't hate us". Whether Witcher 3 will feature both these features as well as the metabolism is something we'll see, though I wouldn't be completely surprised if they've actually removed the "release effect from metabolism" seeing as that is by now quite a old article and we are still 8 months from release.

 

[ferryman10]

Well, it is as @King Milhouse said probably too late to make any substantial changes to the system with the limited manpower CDPR has.
They are party at fault too, since there has been very little info about the mechanics that they want to implement in the game. There should have been dev diaries about features they are going thinking of adding into the game. Well I guess it's becoming more common for big developers to keep to themselves, rather than discuss what the community wants.
I still hope I will be pleasantly surprised. Small disagreement on some features isn't going to impact attitude towards the upcoming game or the studio.

 

[nakachoko]

Witcher 1 had a rather bad potion system, drinking potion in the middle of the fight really screwed up the flow of the combat and if implemented like in the Witcher 1, we will either feature the same stupid thing of Geralt standing still getting chopped while chugging or him running away like a headless chicken. Witcher 1 had nice alchemy system with side substances (all be it Geralt running around with a butt ton of liquor was a bit dumbfounded...

The word you are looking for might be challenging :secret:

Drinking potions during combat gives me a way to adopt to all kind of situations. I had to use potions more often in TW1 not to die than in TW2. The whole system felt more useful to me and in place. Honestly there was not a big need to use potions in TW2 unless forced in missions like searching the wood near Flotsam, Kairan quest, and inside the mines to see better in the pitch black dark.
:cheers:

 

[Aedan2]

Hey guy, I am new to this forum, but not in Witcher, I played first two witchers, and read some books, and i wanted to ask you if someone could write what is it in the new alchemy system that you dont like, and how will alchemy system work? if someone could write it down in a simple way I would be grateful, i would read whole topic but there are 65 pages, it is a bit too much

 

[ferryman10]

Hey guy, I am new to this forum, but not in Witcher, I played first two witchers, and read some books, and i wanted to ask you if someone could write what is it in the new alchemy system that you dont like, and how will alchemy system work? if someone could write it down in a simple way I would be grateful, i would read whole topic but there are 65 pages, it is a bit too much

Well, so far the biggest problem is, that the whole system is based around the auto-refill.
Once you unlock a potion (recipe + ingredients(we don't know whether they are common or tied with specific quest, therefore harvest-able only once)) it will automatically refill upon meditating. Many people liked gathering ingredients themselves + there was more depth to the system with secondary elements(albedo, nigredo and rubedo in W1 gave special bonuses).
Now there are said to be only upgradable potions(level 1,2,3).

Second main complaint (although not tied with alchemy) is that the game holds your hand and gives you "tips" on recommended potions for certain monster, rather than describing the monster and letting you come up with your own strategy(ie. poisonous attack - drink poison resistance potion).

Lastly there's been a discussion about whether it is better to drink potions beforehand in meditation (TW2) or allow drinking in battle (TW1). So far it seems that TW3 will use combined system with some potions being usable as short lasting battle boost and others lasting longer giving "permanent" effect.

 

[Ifrit30]

One thing I'm not sure about the new potion/alchemy system is,
they said that the potions and bombs will get auto-refill after meditation and that you can upgrade them (stronger, longer duration and more toxic), but do you always have to upgrade them (like getting the ingredients) or do they also get auto-refilled or rather do they replace the normal Basic Potions? I hope it's not the latter.