Combat

[MasterZalm]

Is there any way to make the combat more bearable? I bought this game months ago when it was on sale for like 3 bucks(I can see why) and I have yet to beat it. I usually dont make it past the hydra due to how horrible the combat is. He pauses all the time mid combat to ponder the meaning of his horrid life all the time and then he dies. You'd think someone as badass as geralt the monsteer slayer would be more apt to be badass, but its unheard of where he comes fom apparently. The first game had better combat than this game.

Is there some trick to making combat more approachable so that I can just finish this game, or is it just one of those games that combat is the horrid chore you rsh through, skip all instances of, and ignore when possible to get the story done?

[MasterZalm]

I am using a gamepad, but I never activated the medallion mid combat. He literally just stalls mid fight while I inpt a command to turn around or attack or dodge, and he gets hit anyway. I made one character and got him to the hydra boss or whatever and beat it using nothing but melee method, but the games dodgeing and other combat mechanics were so lack luster that I died well over 10 times per fight, even with the basic nekkers.

Now I have a sorc based version and am still fairing horribly. The games seems to have horrible designs for combat overall, making it very difficult to fight even the most simple of monsters that Witcher 1 proved easy beyond compare. I just have issues with the combat in general, its lack luster ability, its seeminly mid fight pauses and input lag, as well as how easily you fall victim to a signle attack death vs enemies seem to take 20+ hits.

[MasterZalm]

For me, Witcher 1 had much better combat than this game. I mean, no matter what, the enemies seem to just ♥♥♥♥ off most of my health with very little effort, there seems to be no way to lock on and actually track your opponent, so there is no strafing, sidestepping or backpeddaling while keeping your target sighted. And even worse is that horrid occasional chance the Geralt just stops everything he is doing and gets hit, or luckily avoids being hit to produce whatever command after a short delay.

Mind you, this delay is negligable, but in a game that clearly tries to imitate darksouls styled combat, where you can be killed by any monster you come across, and every fight is a life or death situation, and you arent a skilled monster hunter, but a moderately skilled swordsman getting by on the skin of your teeth against every single individual you come across, it kinda takes away from the overall feel that the character gives off. You have the additude of Duke Nukem, with the skill level of lucky drunk. You dont really survive based on training, skill and knowledge, you get away with purely lucky strikes and improvised tactics.

[Avenger Grim]

Never found the combat that challenging, at least not unfair. Git gud, i guess? I mean, i don't know what else to say, i never had a problem where Geralt would stand there mid combat, he would always respond to my commands without input lag, heck, it's no rocket science, left click for light attack, right click for heavy attack, space to roll, Aard to stun/push enemies, Yrden to trap enemies, Quen if you feel like a ♥♥♥♥♥, and then you throw bombs for the easy win, even on Dark Mode, one you get a hang of the controls (mid first act was enough) it's a piece of cake...

I really don't get your complain, to me it sound like incompetence from the user rather than a design flaw, i mean the combat system is not the best and could use improvements but it's no way near as bad as you make it sound like...

[MasterZalm]

When a guy I hit requires 6 hits where he only needs 2 to kill me, it seems backawards. Like, what is this nancy doing fighting monsters when he takes less hits than a city guard to kill.

And the mechanics are problematic for me because there is no decent lockon system, combat seems to stuffy and rigid to be decent, and getting hit seems more like its a sure thing in most fights. and since there is a max level, I'm not going to delve into more than one tree, since combat is so difficult in early game, I dont even ant to think of it in later game when I'm weak on all three fronts, instead of weak in two, strong in one.

[MasterZalm]

Well look, I'm not going to explain over and over HOW the combat is troubling me, I asked if anyone had some tricks to just getting through it easily. Like skipping all the fights possible, and the few I have to do, is there cheap tricks to win them or some method of combat that works hands down so I can finish this game that has been in my library for over 6 months and I havent gotten past the first boss.

I dont want the combat in this game, and if there is a way to skip it, can I? Dark souls is punishing, but at least its combat is managable. This game combat feels more like me being a fish out of water and I just want some way to max level and get through it without dying 10+ times per encounter.

[MasterZalm]

I think I'm playing on normal. I started the game after 4 months of it sitting cuz I'm bored. I ran outside the first town, got into a fight with some nekkers that I remember being there, and two of them hit me once each, and I lost enough health that the 3 second bleed they inflicted on me killed me as I tried to run away.

And others have said that about darksouls, dont focus one mob at a time, but thats how I play best. I do well to dodge other enemies and focus on target to death, then move to the next, but I dont see any kind of targeting system that allows me to always be facing my enemies. I just turn around to attack them and get hit from behind when I try to backpedal.

[LeadStarDude]

As much as I don't like agreeing with people that start complaint threads I will have to agree with most of the points MasterZalm has posted in this thread. Combat is completely f*cked up in this game. Combat actually got me stuck on a boss for so long that I have never gone back to the game yet. I am still stuck, & that has been several months ago now...

Originally posted by eisberg:

LB Button on Xbox 360 Game pad is the lock on target button.

I did not know that. Now I really want to try again... ;)

[MasterZalm]

it doesnt keep me facing the target. I still move around as if I'm not targeting them, I just always attack them. It doesnt help me if I cant backpedal and seamlessly move around while facing my target, cuz Geralt has the issue that when I want to attack, or block, or cast, he needs to turn in that direction before he does, and it throws off my entire fighting ability.

When geralt decides its time to turn, 90 or 180, or anything, he requires a full movement stop and a moment of silence and perfectly motionless standing before he completes his turn so that he can continue his pathing. Its because of this that I continue to get killed.

[Avenger Grim]

Well, as i said, it's no rocket science, lure your enemies in the Yrden traps, upgrade your Aard to AoE knock down, use bombs, they are, as far as i experienced, the easiest way to fight most enemies, group them up, throw bombs, do massive damage, easy. Abuse of the roll, Geralt is a monster slayer, not a knight...

Of course he can't take much damage, he wear medium armor and is trained to either dodge or parry attacks, on a sigle enemy, light attack x2 (or 3, can't remember) + heavy attack and them back off/Aard, trap the enemies (eventually you can get AoE traps (Yrden) and then chop them or get back and explode them with bombs, stunning bombs are really cheated.

And as eisberg said, set the game on easy, turn off difficult QTE and take it easy, don't just throw yourself in the middle of a group, again, don't esitate to abuse the roll.

[MasterZalm]

As my review stated, he isnt really a monster slayer, more a drunken gymnyst. And even then. I get hit while rolling. I've been killed while rolling against that big guy, the real kingslayer.

That one fight, in the elven bath house. He killed me with a wide arc swing of his sword, while I was rolling.

[Avenger Grim]

Originally posted by MasterZalm:

As my review stated, he isnt really a monster slayer, more a drunken gymnyst. And even then. I get hit while rolling. I've been killed while rolling against that big guy, the real kingslayer.

That one fight, in the elven bath house. He killed me with a wide arc swing of his sword, while I was rolling.

Then you must time it better, i'm sorry, again, combat would need improvements but it's no way near as bad if you are not terrible to begin with...

Maybe you could try the Full Combat Rebalance mod, doesn't make the game easier per say but it does make it a lot more reactive, it may very well be your life saver in that case, other than that there is not much you can do but getting better :/

http://redkit.cdprojektred.com/?c=mod&m=show&p=77 <------- The mod in question.

[MasterZalm]

Normally, I would agree with you, to an extent, that it might be user error, but after having been through every single fight of Dark Souls without dying(twice) while helping a first time player go through the game, I cant see it as being my lack of skill. As I said, when I dodge, I get hit. I have no foe facing lock on system, and block is utterly useless since you have to use mana to block and that reduces my ability to cast, and even then, It doesnt seem to block all dmg.

[Avenger Grim]

Originally posted by eisberg:

lay a yerden trap down where the kayran testicle will land

I have such a childish mind sometime, made me laugh quite a bit... ><

[MasterZalm]

Originally posted by eisberg:

I played Dark Souls, and in that game I was able to concentrate on one target at a time, but with Witcher 2 I found that to be a really bad idea. I also like Witcher 2's combat a little more than the Dark Souls combat.

I love the dark souls combat. Thats the kind of battles I thought this game was going to have at the very least, but when I finally beat the first one, and got into this, I found myself getting assraped by everything with a health bar without any incentive to properly use lube. I did better on my first ever foray into the Dark Souls franchise than I did in this game.

[MasterZalm]

I would, if I could block or dodge successfully. Again, I dont know when or IF there are any iframes on the dodge, and block is useless, cuz its like using a targe 24/7, you still take dmg through the block.