The Witcher 3 Alchemy System

[BlackWolf500.298]

Probably those who have high toxicity tolerance from the alchemy skill tree.

I have so far not a single decoction. Somehow the Noonwraith didn't spawn a noonwraith mutagen in the Prologue, and I have no other monster mutagen so far....
Could somebody maybe tell me at which point in the game decoctions are starting to play a role, meaning from which point on (lvl) can I expect having a few of them available?

Also, can we only make them out of SPECIAL boss monster mutagens (Nightwraith, Werewolf, etc.) or also from the relatively "normal ones" (Wraith mutagen, green mutagen, blue mutagen, Wivern mutagen etc.) ?

 

[whitelion1284]

Eesti, which decoctions do you use?

can we only make them out of SPECIAL boss monster mutagens (Nightwraith, Werewolf, etc.) or also from the relatively "normal ones" (Wraith mutagen, green mutagen, blue mutagen, Wivern mutagen etc.) ?

Both. Any mutagen that is not a generic red/blue/green variant has a decoction associated with it. You need recipe's and those show up all over. Sometimes you buy them, sometimes you find them, etc. They become more and more available as you progress through the game.

 

[Cirivia]

I like the Werewolf dedoction just for the fact it makes it so outside of combat you won't lose stamina from sprinting or jumping. It's especially useful for running around Novigrad.

 

[Smurfin]

I only use Fiend Decoction when overburdened, and Killer Whale Decoction for more breath. Hardly ever used the others if not at all.

 

[KingKnee]

I only use Fiend Decoction when overburdened, and Killer Whale Decoction for more breath. Hardly ever used the others if not at all.

Same, in my view they should have cut down on the potions and used some of their effects on static items such as armor and weapons to make them more unique. As in swords that give life leech, breastplate that gives health regen, shoes that makes you sprint for a long time before draining stamina and so on and so forth.

 

[Smurfin]

Same, in my view they should have cut down on the potions and used some of their effects on static items such as armor and weapons to make them more unique. As in swords that give life leech, breastplate that gives health regen, shoes that makes you sprint for a long time before draining stamina and so on and so forth.

Agree, armor piece and weapon in W3 lack uniqueness thus lose their values real quick. In other games even lower level piece can still retain its value because of their unique stat and face us with dilemma whether to upgrade defense or keep the unique stat, that kind of thing is non existent in TW3.

 

[Vasilyevich]

i don't because of this.. http://abload.de/img/w3failpoisontdubo.png

 

[Robmomanjaro]

Griffin one is good. Also the one that heals you when you use stamina.

 

[OptoNick]

Decoctions are superb if you'll boost max intoxication level (I had 243 from known recipes). My favorite are katakan and troll ones, ekimma and leshen are close second

 

[AircoolUK]

Not really... it's just another unwieldy part of the interface to mess about with.

 

[Chiatroll]

I'm playing alchemy spec and can use 3 at a time so I tend to. It's like having three customization extra perks. I always use the one that adds healing for stamina use because that one is broken good. I vary the other ones though.

 

[ZeroAffex]

Witchers rely heavily on potions/decoctions in lore. I like the current system as it is truer to the books. I think the problem is, you guys aren't playing it on a difficulty where you need to use them and are wanting a more hack/slash style of play with little to no preparation. Its fine either way. Great thing is there is no wrong way to play this game.

I don't think the weapons/armor need heavy power ups either. This is not a diablo game lol This is about killing monsters and taking their guts/blood for you to ingest to make yourself stronger basically, not finding powerful loot to make yourself stronger. A witcher lives in a world where people are incredibly powerless to monsters, hence why your needed constantly. Adding powerful weapons/armors contradicts the whole witchers existance! If people can have powerful wares, then why are we needed? lol

If you find you don't need potions, crank it up! Taking the time to prepare for a kill is standard for a witcher, but can be annoying for some to equip the right oil/potions/bombs/decoctions/ect. for each baddie. But like I said, no wrong way to play this game!!! Yahooooooooooo!!!!!

-Zero (^ _^ )

 

[KingKnee]

Agree, armor piece and weapon in W3 lack uniqueness thus lose their values real quick. In other games even lower level piece can still retain its value because of their unique stat and face us with dilemma whether to upgrade defense or keep the unique stat, that kind of thing is non existent in TW3.

Indeed, that's exactly what I'm talking about. There's rarely any dilemma here, higher level=better in almost all the cases because it's basically higher number wins. In the end I sometimes didn't upgrade because I thought an armor piece looked goofy compared to my current one, but that was the extent of my choice.

 

[Salfordio]

They're very useful once you get the alchemy ability that increases toxicity for every known recipe. Then you can have two active and still use potions as required.

 

[KingKnee]

Witchers rely heavily on potions/decoctions in lore. I like the current system as it is truer to the books. I think the problem is, you guys aren't playing it on a difficulty where you need to use them and are wanting a more hack/slash style of play with little to no preparation. Its fine either way. Great thing is there is no wrong way to play this game.

I don't think the weapons/armor need heavy power ups either. This is not a diablo game lol This is about killing monsters and taking their guts/blood for you to ingest to make yourself stronger basically, not finding powerful loot to make yourself stronger. A witcher lives in a world where people are incredibly powerless to monsters, hence why your needed constantly. Adding powerful weapons/armors contradicts the whole witchers existance! If people can have powerful wares, then why are we needed? lol

If you find you don't need potions, crank it up! Taking the time to prepare for a kill is standard for a witcher, but can be annoying for some to equip the right oil/potions/bombs/decoctions/ect. for each baddie. But like I said, no wrong way to play this game!!! Yahooooooooooo!!!!!

-Zero (^ _^ )

I think you're right about the difficulty setting but as someone who doesn't like "pre-buffing" and is big on diverse loot, I don't appreciate how they did it, even if it fits the lore better. Gameplay > Lore.

 

[Chiatroll]

I think you're right about the difficulty setting but as someone who doesn't like "pre-buffing" and is big on diverse loot, I don't appreciate how they did it, even if it fits the lore better. Gameplay > Lore.

I don't know if it disagree with your taste your taste means it hurts gameplay and is putting lore above gameplay.

The fight itself is smooth when it's starts but there is a slow planning stage where you pay attention to what you'll be doing and what you'll run into so you can win. Some people like that in gameplay since it doesn't interrupt the flow of the actual fight.

I like that mix up and changing in pace a lot. The focus to remind you to plan ahead all the time. I even chose alchemy specialization because I like it. I'm much better at paying attention then I am at being twitchy.

 

[kiadaw]

Nope. Its a shame. Unless one put points to Alchemy tree, th etoxity level will be too high.

Had the skills bepassive, as in no equipping required, I wouldn't mind putting a point or 2 into Alchemy tree, but at 12 skill limit, I do not see myself doing that . Hence Decoction have limited use period.

 

[KingKnee]

I don't know if your taste means it hurts gameplay.

The fight itself is smooth when it's starts but there is a slow planning stage where you pay attention to what you'll be doing and what you'll run into so you can win.

I like that mix up and changing in pace a lot. The focus to remind you to plan ahead all the time. I even chose alchemy specialization because I like it.

Well it hurt gameplay for me right? There's no alternative to pre-buffing in the game, the decoction effects aren't found on items or anywhere else in the game. The loot is not diverse at all.

So to me this design decision definitely hurt gameplay.

 

[Smurfin]

Witchers rely heavily on potions/decoctions in lore. I like the current system as it is truer to the books. I think the problem is, you guys aren't playing it on a difficulty where you need to use them and are wanting a more hack/slash style of play with little to no preparation. Its fine either way. Great thing is there is no wrong way to play this game.

I don't think the weapons/armor need heavy power ups either. This is not a diablo game lol This is about killing monsters and taking their guts/blood for you to ingest to make yourself stronger basically, not finding powerful loot to make yourself stronger. A witcher lives in a world where people are incredibly powerless to monsters, hence why your needed constantly. Adding powerful weapons/armors contradicts the whole witchers existance! If people can have powerful wares, then why are we needed? lol

If you find you don't need potions, crank it up! Taking the time to prepare for a kill is standard for a witcher, but can be annoying for some to equip the right oil/potions/bombs/decoctions/ect. for each baddie. But like I said, no wrong way to play this game!!! Yahooooooooooo!!!!!

-Zero (^ _^ )

I played on Blood and Broken Bones and later in the game I set it on Death March, but I relied heavily on Quen for survival and maxed it out. It's impossible to play W3 using conventional hack/slash type style with any built at early stage of the game. But it's still an RPG game and adopt a lot of elements from conventional ones like level, equipment stats, rune, socket etc.

We're not discussing about giving OP stats to the equipments, there are TONS of swords and armors but they're too excessive and lack of uniqueness. Most of them will only end up as wares for the nearest merchant. Speaking of contradictions, Geralt is a witcher, not a merchant, guards are more powerful than Geralt, why they still need witcher ?

 

[Salfordio]

"I wouldn't mind putting a point or 2 into Alchemy tree, but at 12 skill limit, I do not see myself doing that "

You only need one active ability to use them effectively, namely the one that increases toxicity level with every known recipe. You end up knowing a ton of recipes, budding alchemist or not, so it's always a viable skill to invest in, especially given the strength of some concoctions (health gained every time stamina is used? Yes please!).