Is it just me or are Blood and Wine monsters ANNOYING!?

[Justin_760]

Jeez, I cannot express in words how much I despise giant centipedes and the arachnaspores. The centipedes more so, not only because they are ridiculous tanks who require two dozen slashes to kill, but because they constantly hop around like a game of whack a mole, and when you finally do catch them you can only hit them 2-3 times before they dissapear, then rinse and repeat.

Am I doing something wrong? Or are the DLC enemies just ridiculously difficult and irritating? The arachnamorphs and arachnaspores are also pesky. It feels like a bit of oversight that they made even the trash mob enemies like wolves level 35-40, as even they become a tedious slog to whittle down their health.

The shalemar was also pretty annoying. Hits cause no damage unless you cast aard which its "vulnerable" to, but that only stuns it for a second allowing you to get a SINGLE hit in before you have to wait for your stamina to refill, then rinse and repeat. Theres a recurring pattern of tanky spongeyness and whack a mole evasion that causes great gaps in between opportunities to damage them.

[Ratselhaft]

Yrden on the centipedes before they sprout from the ground and hit them from the front, it traps them in place for more hits. Depending on your DPS traps them enough to kill them

The rest.. Aye. Though Yrden is usefull for the plants again.

[whoeverxwins]

The plants weren't that bad. At least plants can burn. The centipedes were kind of annoying, but the above poster suggested Yrden, which helps. The shalemar wasn't that bad. You just need to hit it from the front, where it's not protected by that thick rock shell. One of the bombs will disorient it so you can get in close safely, whack it, and jump away again. I found it refreshing for things to get a little more challenging again after being able to nearly kill anything in 3 or 4 hits by the end of the main game.

[Wilglide]

Oh yes Giant Centipedes without using Yrden is tough, very tough.. I remember using bombs and broadhead bolts on my first centipedes, haha.

But yeah, you were doing it wrong, because they don't have to be annoying if you come up with the right tactic..

[DeadByLag]

Already with Hearts of Stone I noticed the game-changer with the absolutely annoying arachnomorph. It feels the developers were trying with great intention to raise highly the inconvenience of ranged opponents to offer players more challenge or frustration, depending on your perspective.

These creatures really understand guns > swords. But Geralt doesn't. And he does not get any mechanic updates for his crossbow.

[Living Broscillograph]

The expansion is called Blood and Whine for a reason!

[v0]

Originally posted by Living Broscillograph:

The expansion is called Blood and Whine for a reason!

^^^ :D :D :D

[boiling pie]

Against arachnomorph use axii to get close. Fast attacks usually stunlock them.


Foglets are still the worst (for me).

[whoeverxwins]

Originally posted by Living Broscillograph:

The expansion is called Blood and Whine for a reason!

lol Plenty of whining from those who don't read the bestiery and learn tactics!

[DeadByLag]

Originally posted by boiling pie:

Against arachnomorph use axii to get close. Fast attacks usually stunlock them.

Yes the moment you land a hit on an arachnomorph it is imperative to continue light attack combo on it alone in a straight line, all the while hoping no obstacle behind would divert its stagger trajectory and give it a chance to hop away to safety, or none of its flanking buddies would ejaculate on Geralt leaving him a sitting duck trying to get out of the sticky mess.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

damn late, read your bestiary dude, i was pissed mostly by the giant centipede too, but then yrden making it too easy.

[Silvashroom]

A bit late but yes, they are incredibly annoying. Everything teleports, jumps or runs around you and shoots at you.

Archespores, centipedes, bruxae, kikimores and to a degree even barghests jump around wildly. The arachnomorphs run away so fast that you can barely hit them. HP assignment is a bit random in my experience, seeing that I can down a golem or gargoyle with fewer hits than an archespore.

It's definitely tedious and the fighting system/controls are not made for that type of thing. The whole gameplay depends on a kind of smooth interaction, and that includes even the game menu which you can't open while doing other things. Yet the sudden jumping/running of certain enemies completely breaks that pattern.

That said, I do believe the game is still relatively easy to get through if you take medium or light armor with proper stamina regen, and keep your equipment up-to-date. Personally I play only with heavy armor (or heft enchantment) to keep stamina regen on a lore-friendly level, and usually outlevel my equipment by at least 5 levels. No overpowered talents, mutagens or weapons with high stun/burn, and I rarely use oils. Whole game was doable this way, but Toussaint occasionally gives me Dark Souls type rage.

[Dashurohem]

I read somewhere that people complained the base game was too easy and so they made the monsters in the expansions more difficult.