Why should anyone upgrade quen now?(whats the point of it)?

[karl_dietrich]

Why should anyone upgrade quen now?(whats the point of it)?

No matter if upgraded or not,on higher difficulties its canceled basecly the moment the player cast it. For escaping a bad situation(surrounded) or to avoid one hit kills from bosses(kayran or the dragon) basic quen is enough. Not even the damage reflection is worth it when i could damage enemys from a safe distance with igni or bombs without getting in danger. I am fine when bosses could cancel it immediatly, but mooks? I rather upgrade other signs and abilities.(except axii that is even worser)

 

[William105.236]

The thing is that it staggers most opponents so that it will give you some extra time, but I agree that it is not worth it, stopped upgrading it after EE.

 

[Garrison72]

It's saved my ass in Arena plenty of times, at lvl one.

 

[karl_dietrich]

It's saved my ass in Arena plenty of times, at lvl one.

I asked what is the point of upgrading it. If i want to stun opponents,i will upgrade aard. This also gives the chance to stun opponents and instantly kill them.
And i can keep my distance to them instead being in "the thick of it".
Upgrading quen is useless. A waste of points.

 

[bcheero]

Pre EE, I used to upgrade it completely since it was incredibly useful. Now I put points into Aard and parry much more. I do believe it's useful in Arena because those first few waves are very annoying without directional parry and less vigor available.

 

[CostinRaz]

I asked what is the point of upgrading it. If i want to stun opponents,i will upgrade aard. This also gives the chance to stun opponents and instantly kill them.
And i can keep my distance to them instead being in "the thick of it".
Upgrading quen is useless. A waste of points.

Not so. Upgrading it means you get a stagger effect when your enemies hit you, thus giving you a split second that you don't have otherwise to get the fuck out of there. It also damages the foe that hit you ( 20%/50% ) that's quite useful. Yeah you can ugprade Aard to stun foes. But using Aard means pressing a key whereas you can get the stagger effect, the deflect damage on top of absorbing the full damage of a hit without having to press an extra key.

 

[Greed1914]

I have to agree. At this point, upgrading quen isn't that useful. It was probably overpowered before, but since it disappears after one hit even when upgraded it doesn't help that much.

 

[Adonai-]

Before EE, yes it made you virtually invulnerable. Now - it's still useful. When you can get killed with one or two hits, it can still be worthwhile. You can't play the entire game letting people hit you & be taken out with reflected damage the way you used to, but it's now a handy first layer of defence.

 

[karl_dietrich]

Before EE, yes it made you virtually invulnerable. Now - it's still useful. When you can get killed with one or two hits, it can still be worthwhile. You can't play the entire game letting people hit you & be taken out with reflected damage the way you used to, but it's now a handy first layer of defence.

Dont know how it was before EE. That what you describe is already acomplished with the basic quen. Its just wrong that the upgraded one makes no difference except the reflection. There are better and safer ways to damage enemies then allow them to hit you for it.

 

[Adonai-]

There are better and safer ways to damage enemies then allow them to hit you for it.

Hence layer of defence. Pre-EE, I won a bunch of fights without ever using my sword - just let them swing at me & take the damage. Fun way to end a long gaming session Of course, that won't work now. What it will do is prevent that nasty backstab being prematurely fatal. Use quen at the start of a multi-enemy fight, then switch to aard or igni or whatever else takes your fancy.

 

[spacehamsterZH]

For Swordsman builds (and if I'm honest, that's the only thing I've ever done to the point where I can have an informed opinion about it), upgrading Quen is always the first thing I do right after Position, on any difficulty. Sure it doesn't absorb a lot of damage before it's canceled, but especially on Dark, the difference between taking the damage from that one hit or having it absorbed by Quen is huge. Then there's the stagger effect and the fact that you can upgrade it to damage (and stagger) multiple enemies, which can be extremely useful if you're being ganged up on.

 

[whiplash27]

I still used it occasionally in one of my recent playthroughs. It's useful, but not as useful. If you can get through a fight with only getting hit once or twice, then you're in good shape with the current version of quen.

 

[M4xw0lf.978]

For Swordsman builds (and if I'm honest, that's the only thing I've ever done to the point where I can have an informed opinion about it), upgrading Quen is always the first thing I do right after Position, on any difficulty. Sure it doesn't absorb a lot of damage before it's canceled, but especially on Dark, the difference between taking the damage from that one hit or having it absorbed by Quen is huge. Then there's the stagger effect and the fact that you can upgrade it to damage (and stagger) multiple enemies, which can be extremely useful if you're being ganged up on.

Totally agree. One hit taken or not taken can make all the difference on high difficulties.

 

[RSIK_4]

quen is not useful in higher difficuties..
Yeah i aard sometime stun the opponents but some time not..
Foes gives u a damage upto 20% each time...
thatstime its protect from damage..
aard quite useful ...quen sometime protects u some time from damage ....
at once
i did not use quen frequently though..aard sign is much useful in swordsmanship in arena mode..

 

[William105.236]

quen is not useful in higher difficuties..
Yeah i aard sometime stun the opponents but some time not..
Foes gives u a damage upto 20% each time...
thatstime its protect from damage..
aard quite useful ...quen sometime protects u some time from damage ....
at once
i did not use quen frequently though..aard sign is much useful in swordsmanship in arena mode..

I feel like you are pointing out the obvious bro

 

[227]

Upgrading Quen isn't worthless, because the deflected damage knocking your attackers back a bit is incredibly helpful. Sure, you can do the same with Aard, but Aard isn't preventative and won't do anything to help you when you screw up. The point isn't to use Quen in the same way as Aard and use the deflected damage to kill your enemies, but to try to kill them with your sword and bombs while it's up and, when you inevitably make a mistake, give you enough time to get out of trouble and allow your vigor to regenerate. The extra seconds that the upgraded Quen gives you to do this makes it especially valuable.

It's not the godlike ability that it used to be, but it's still a very useful tool for certain play styles.

 

[karl_dietrich]

But at least increase the amount of reflected damage to 100 percent then. On dark difficulty,the basic quen is enough and there no reason to upgrade. Aard and Yrden are prefereable and dont stop vigor regeneration.
And it doesnt help against hard enemys like gargoyles.
Also annoying that enemy mages and letho still have undestroyable versions...
Those things makes look Geralt like a complete wimp.

 

[green_abobo]

deflecting the damage to multiple enemies can be handy. like arena battle 13 or 14 (i forget) where you have to fight the army of nekkers.

combined with other skills, like whirl, it can be even more handy.

if nothing else, simply put, quen's the difference between taking damage, & not. it can also save your life, especially with low vitality, waiting for potions to kick in some.

to think of it another way, it was pretty useless in the first game. at least they made an attempt at improving it, along with axii.

for my money though, yarden is arguably one of the most important signs geralt can utilize. not only against small fast moving groups of enemies, but especially against the big & bad monsters geralt will encounter. really evens the odds, quite nicely.