Where do you concentrate your skills?

[Captmorgan72]

Where do you concentrate your skills?

Which skills do you put most of your points into and why? I usually go heavy in fencing but this time I am going to try more magic/alchemy.

 

[Garrison72]

I usually go with either magic or sword, but take a close look at what certain alchemy skills do. Being able to quaff 4 potions or decreasing ill effects and increasing positive ones has a huge impact on combat. Alchemy is supposedly the most powerful build.

 

[Randomdrowner2015]

Which skills do you put most of your points into and why? I usually go heavy in fencing but this time I am going to try more magic/alchemy.

I am a role-player so I try to stay as close to/express the character, both as described in lore and as I started playing him in W1.

It means I need to balance skill distribution. I usually go for impregnation level 2 in the Alchemy tree - to reflect Geralts advanced mutation, then I spend rest of the skills so I get both magic and sword adrenaline moves.

 

[M4xw0lf.978]

I concentrate heavily on swordsmanship... it's the most fun for me. Additional points go to aard (die, gargoyles, die!), quen and magical vigor... I never tried alchemy. Have to remember that for the next round in the future.

 

[FoggyFishburne]

I have a pretty awesome build that I constructed by myself. A lot of swordsmanship and a little big of magic. It turns me into a damn blademaster, allowing me to run around and spam omni-slash! (Cookie for reference)

So yeah, that's what I'm most comfortable with and it resonates really well with me. It's my style of fighting.

 

[M4xw0lf.978]

It's my style of fighting.

No sir, it's my style of fighting

 

[GuyNwah]

My Geralt lives by the Golden Rule, "do unto others before they do you." In Dark mode, this is the corollary of "don't get killed, witcher." Practically, this means spending talents on skills that do crippling damage from range or in the initial attack, at the expense of defensive skills and Vitality bonuses. It calls for advancing to the top of one skill tree (which one? your choice) as early as possible and promoting Adrenaline generation. It calls for maximizing the ability to deliver critical effects and one-hit kills. So these are my character development preferences:

Early in the game, get the third Vigor point in the Training tree. Later, use surplus talents to acquire Vigor points.

As soon as you can, build to the top of your chosen specialty. Once you're there, emphasize anything that produces Adrenaline.

Even if you do not emphasize swordsmanship, build out Riposte. Even if you do not emphasize magic, build out Aard. Even if you do not emphasize alchemy, build out Alchemist (bombs and traps).

Use mutagens when you get good ones. Critical Effects, Enhancement, Power, and Madness if you ever find one, are good.

 

[gibb_geralt]

It's pretty much essential to take the first few skills in Swordsmanship. So i always start there. Then i usually put the rest into magic.

 

[BlearySteve]

Sword play and a little magic, for defensive reasons.

 

[Guest 3593423]

I went with mainly swords the first time, magic the second. Magic makes the game way easier! But swords is nicer, much more realistic. Might give alchemy a try next playthrough, though it's benefits are a bit... non-beneficial? At least combat-wise...

lol Omni-Slash FFVII, FoggyFishburne? Now I'll never see the Witcher in the same way again...

 

[FoggyFishburne]

No sir, it's my style of fighting

If only there was multiplayer in arena mode. I'd so challenge you to a fight to the death, my good sir!

lol Omni-Slash FFVII, FoggyFishburne? Now I'll never see the Witcher in the same way again...

My apologizes ^^

 

[slicedice8]

I heavily upgrade my swordmanship, and with what ever is left I upgrade my magic. I only upgrade one slot in Alchemy (vitality +50). I never need alchemy, not even in dark mode.

 

[Lanaya]

According to Steam, only 4.3% of the players have ever invested their skills fully in the Alchemy tree. If the final skill was a little more awesome I would go for it too, unfortunately for that I go for a full on Mage Tree.

 

[GuyNwah]

According to Steam, only 4.3% of the players have ever invested their skills fully in the Alchemy tree. If the final skill was a little more awesome I would go for it too, unfortunately for that I go for a full on Mage Tree.

The way the Alchemy tree works, it's more obscure than the others and has a lot of seemingly useless talents, so it is not surprising that it is a rare choice. But by Act III, a well-developed Geralt the Alchemist can deliver death like no other.

I like the Magic tree too. Lots of ways to befuddle your enemies and render them helpless against you.

 

[Lanaya]

I like the Magic tree too. Lots of ways to befuddle your enemies and render them helpless against you.

I second that!
Heliotrope makes group fights a cake walk!

 

[Greed1914]

Mine is a mix of sword and magic, leaning more toward sword. It suits the way I like to play games that let you focus on such things, and it also fits with how Vesemir's training primarily focuses on sword fighting. I used to focus almost entirely on swords, but I found that I didn't like having such weak signs, and I also wanted the sixth sign, Heliotrope. That thing works great with the sword focus because you can do a finisher and all surrounding enemies are caught in the sign.

 

[William105.236]

People really underestimate the Alchemy tree. On my last 4 playthroughs and on all my recent runs in the Arena, I spend half in Swordmanship and half in Alchemy, and the damage output is clearly superior. Using the right swords I have a one-hit chance of about 8-10% and I kill the Operator with two heavy attacks.

 

[Demut]

So far I concentrated my points in the Sword category in my playthroughs. Alchemy just seems like a waste of points and Magic didn’t interest me that much either. Maybe I’ll go with it anyway in my next playthrough.