is quen the only way to survive?

[succ]

seems the only way i can actually beat most things at level 7 is

use quen
hit till i get hit
run away
use quen
repeat
all while hp regens

[Akweh]

I do that too, but mostly when I'm surrounded by a large group of enemies.
If you are facing a single big target, you could use Yrden to trap the enemy and hit him in the back. But to be honest, this are the signs that I mostly use (Quen and Yrden)

ps. (You could also use a lot of Rolls/Evade too, like: "Use Quen, hit the enemy>evade>hit him again>evade>hit him in the back..." until you get hit and loose the Quen shield.)

[eyeC]

Combat against multiple opponents is difficult. It's mostly hit and run at early levels, trying to get one enemy ahead of the crowd just enough to smash him and be gone before they surround you. Axii works OK for crowd control. Aard can be very good against single targets -- particularly armored tough guy humans. I very rarely use Yrden, but your mileage may vary. Finally, Quen is good; but try to use it only from a full vigor bar. Regarding sign usage in general, be aware that lower vigor means you deal less sword damage. So if you're mixing signs and swords, try to balance that. If you'll be investing talents in the sword tree, be sure to get 'position'. I always like 2 points there, as it's very helpful. Finally, yeah, you got the basic idea -- just make the "run away" phase long enough to get that vigor point back, and look for opportunities to do something different.

[2LambBuna]

i find traps useful against big groups

[Akweh]

#2LambBuna: True that! I love to spread those "bear traps" along the ground, and wait for the enemy to walk on them. I always have some of them under my bag, lol.
And thank you #phramus for those tips, I didn't knew that Aard can be good against 'shield guys', and that the vigor bars counts for sword damage, that's some important info. I'll make sure to put them in good use. Thanks!

[LastSide]

Well combat in Witcher 2 at the start is really really terrible.

Unlike in some games, your sword swings can only hit a foe that Geralt is targeting where normally, like say Demon Souls, a swing of your sword will hit all foes the sword comes in contact with. To add insult to injury, that mechanic is lock away in a skill.

The hit detection is also a bit bad, rolling is almost useless since it takes way too long for Geralt to roll away from the starting spot of the roll.

I could go on and on, I remember Jim Sterling doing a review on this game, giving it a 7 (which I think is totally on the spot) and a bunch of people harassing him about it.

Try not to rely on dodges but more on the Quen, Igni and Aard. You will want to use Yrden agains the spiders at the start and single/duo foes then go to attack their backs (you have the ability Assassin at lvl 1).
Daggers/Bombs(Especially Grapeshot) can be your bread 'n' butter till you develop the skill trees for AoE sword swings(I think is called Swirl) and AoE spells (like AoE Effects for Quen/Aard and I think Igni).

[RazorChain]

I started on Dark mode difficulty and loving it. Every encounter is a challenge. Use everything at your disposal, throwing knives, bombs, potions, traps and signs. You have quite a large arsenal to fight things with.

I use Throwing knives and bombs in tougher fights, couple of knives will down most foes and bombs will weaken a group or/and stun for an easy finisher.

Aard is good for stuns
Igni is good to spam to weaken tough foes
Quen is good to get in couple of blows then roll out

If you are having a hard time then you bring out potions and oils