You're about to start playing The Witcher -- what should you know?

[Corylea.723]

You're about to start playing The Witcher -- what should you know?

This is a very short, very quick guide to the most basic things you'll need to know when you play The Witcher for the first time. It doesn't cover anything that's in the manual; the Witcher Wiki recapitulates the manual if you need a refresher on that.1. If you've bought the Enhanced Edition of The Witcher, and if you're in North America, you should know that the manual is on the disk in PDF format. The booklet that's marked "Game Guide" is a walkthrough; it's good for looking things up when you're stuck, but it's not the game manual, and reading it before the game will provide you with so many spoilers as to ruin the game.While it's not a good idea to read the walkthrough before playing the game, it is a good idea to at least glance at the manual. If you have the game version where the manual is on the disk, I recommend that you print it out before installing the game; you can read the manual as you install.2. The first section of the game is called the Prologue, and it gives you both the background to the story that drives the game and a tutorial about how to play. If the Prologue seems a little simple, don't worry, the game will get more complicated soon; gameplay in the Prologue is intentionally simple because it's the tutorial.3. While this is a great game overall, its biggest strength is its story. That means that talking to everyone you see, reading the Quest and Character sections of your journal, and paying attention to what's said to you will probably increase your enjoyment of the game, because they'll help you understand the story.4. Save your game frequently. The Witcher doesn't crash all the time anymore, now that we have the Enhanced Edition, but it can still crash once in awhile (especially when entering a new area). And every once in awhile, a saved game seems to become somehow glitched, and the only solution is to restore from an earlier saved game. This doesn't happen OFTEN, mind you, but still, no one wants to have to replay three chapters because they don't have a saved game.Saved game files for The Witcher are BIG, especially once you get out of the Prologue. The game has to load all those files every time you start it up, and if you're saving frequently, you could end up with a very, very large saved game folder. If the game starts taking a long time to start up, consider writing new saved games over ones from previous chapters. If you can't bear to part with those files, you can manually move most of the saved game files to another folder, where you can retrieve them if you need them but where they won't slow down the loading of your game.5. At several points in the game, you'll need to make decisions about issues that have no clear answers. If the answer seems unclear, it doesn't necessarily mean that you've missed anything crucial -- making important decisions in ambiguous situations is part of what makes this game special. Much of the game is a mystery, where little things can be clues about what's really going on. These little things can be helpful in making your decision, but there is no clear, obvious answer that you're missing -- the game makers intentionally steered away from clear and obvious answers.6. There is a LOT of help available for this game. Not only does the Enhanced Edition come with a walkthrough, but you can get answers to almost any question by looking it up in the Witcher Wiki, which is found here: http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page. The Gamepressure online guide to The Witcher is also very useful; you can find it here: http://guides.gamepressure.com/thewitcher/guide.asp?ID=3629. In the unlikely event that you can't find what you need with a quick check of the wiki and the Gamepressure guide, you can probably find it on this forum. The forum is searchable -- just put any words you need in the box next to the question mark, found at the top right corner of this page. And if it's not in the wiki, and you can't find it by searching the forum, you can start a new thread to ask your question. There are a lot of people here who love, love, love The Witcher, and not only do those folks know a lot about the game, but they like to make it easier for other people to love the game by helping them out when they're stuck.7. If you did not buy the Enhanced Edition but have the original edition of the game, then you'll want the patch. The patch fixes bugs, speeds up loading times, dramatically reduces the risk that the game will crash, and adds all kinds of goodies to the game. 8. Caution, this game can be habit-forming. Remember to eat and sleep every day!

 

[serdinq]

Very nice series of advices, I'd like add some:9. If you are a normal skilled played and don't feel you are that good, start the game at normal difficulty you'll enjoy more the game. If you feel you are a very skilled player start the game at hard difficulty level.10. During fights, try mix fight styles, use movements during fights, this will improve a lot your fun in fights.

 

[thelostdunmer.651]

If you're new to The Witcher, watch the first movie don't skip it(as if you want to!), you'll know who you are in an instant although its been laid out pretty much want you are about to do. You are a mean killing machine, a professional monster hunter and worst a psychopath if you want to be one.Just unwind and let the good times roll jim!

 

[vanworden]

I would also add (I know that for many of us it’s obvious) that reading some Witcher book would be a great start for all newbie’s. You would know the background and understand better world shown in the game. Especially cause in The WItcher you’ll find many Easter eggs which can be fully understand only after knowing the world better. Have fun

 

[shadow0429]

Can you tell me how to overcome the awkwardness on the combat system?

 

[namelessoblivion]

Can you tell me how to overcome the awkwardness on the combat system?

I'm not sure what you mean by awkwardness, but if you're having the same problem I was at the beginning, I might be able to help.Attacking:TW:EE uses a different combat system from games like Diablo or Neverwinter Nights (both of which it resembles). Instead of clicking once per attack, you click once for a SET of attacks. For example, when you pick up the sword for the first time, you'll click on a target. Let the animation play! On the last stroke of the attack you'll hear a "swish-swish" sound and the sword will leave an orange-yellow blur effect. This is the cue to click again, triggering the next part of the combination attack and building up your attack chain. Longer attack chains deliver more damaging strikes, so they're important to doing the damage you'll need to dish out in order to survive. Clicking too fast or too slow will break your attack chain - timing is the key. (If you're used to "click-per-attack" games like Diablo, you can actually get Geralt to look like he's not attacking at all by clicking too fast!) You can switch targets mid-combo by clicking on a different enemy to continue the chain. In this way, you can use strong/fast style to combat two people - start the chain on the first one, switch to the second one for the second part in order to disrupt him, then back to the first target to finish the combo and deal solid damage to the wounded target.Styles:Each enemy has a "style" of attack that's more useful against it. This is explained in the prologue, so I won't repeat much of that. Consult your journal for which styles are effective against which creatures, as this information is listed there. When unsure (because there's no journal entry) then you can determine how effective you're being by how many times your attacks are dodged or parried. Use Strong/Fast style against single targets, and group style against mobs of targets. (Be cautious. Group style is not always best against groups of certain foes!) Fast style is generally for evasive and agile foes and Strong style for stronger or armored foes. Utilize Pause regularly to change styles.Evadingouble click on the ground, and Geralt will spin around foes, or hurdle over them to dodge and move to the new area. Use this to avoid being cornered, to give your Swallow potions more time to work, or simply to get at a foe that's not in reach (like archers).Signs:Using signs in combat can be a GREAT advantage. Using the first sign (whose name escapes me now) once you have the Stun enhancement (1 bronze talent) will make short work of ghouls. It also can knockdown so targets like mages that can move around can be temporarily disabled and then beat upon while they're immobilized. Use signs wisely, and make sure you know which are ineffective against a type of target.Potions:Consider which ones you're using. Swallow and Tawny Owl are good "all-purpose" potions, but you shouldn't need to use potions just to survive at most difficulties. Consider sharpening your weapon or putting an oil on it for more damage or better utility against certain foes.Food and Drink:Using these between fights can help minimize your use of potions. Carry some with you if you're going into a battle area, and use them between fights as needed to handle small wounds.Generally speaking, however, the combat system isn't awkward unless you're trying to "rush it". It's about timing, positioning and reactive fighting, not about how fast you can mash an attack while leaping from foe to foe. Use pause often if you find things getting out of hand, and try the Isometric camera if you have a hard time aiming in OTS mode (I prefer isometric, when I can't get a first person camera).

 

[ulteriormodem]

Ill add one..."The Witcher" is NOT a first person shooter game.

 

[petra_silie]

Very useful information from you all... 8) added it in our Enhanced Edition thread

 

[thelostdunmer.651]

Ill add one..."The Witcher" is NOT a first person shooter game.

Haha, I'd wished sometime that I had a .50 cal to blast all those pesky drowners!