Should I focus on doing the main story line quests or explore as much as I can

[Cheeki Breeki]

Kinda new to the series and was wondering if I should just explore a lot like in fallout or skyrim for example or just follow the main quest line. I dont want to rush through the story but also don't want to be way overleveled for every mission after I've explored a certain area.

[harleyquinrazer]

Do what you like.

You could explore the whole map from the get go, but you'll run into enemies well above your level so many times you just have to run away.

Sticking to the main story quest lines keeps the difficulty steady since it's unlikely you'll be overlevelled for any of the quests. On the other hand if you turn back and go for side quests you might find some of them are far too easy by the time you flag them.

There are guides for this game, so if you're really stumped and don't want the hassle of going through everything only to die at a random high-level spawn you can always consult them whilst playing.

[Cheeki Breeki]

Originally posted by harleyquin84:

Do what you like.

You could explore the whole map from the get go, but you'll run into enemies well above your level so many times you just have to run away.

Sticking to the main story quest lines keeps the difficulty steady since it's unlikely you'll be overlevelled for any of the quests. On the other hand if you turn back and go for side quests you might find some of them are far too easy by the time you flag them.

There are guides for this game, so if you're really stumped and don't want the hassle of going through everything only to die at a random high-level spawn you can always consult them whilst playing.

alright, will stick to the main quests for now then, thank you

[Duncan]

Going with the main quests is the sure way to get overleveled for biggest part of the side content, remember that main quests grant you ~80% of all experience you will ever get in this game.
If you like the game enough and don't mind completing all the repetitive side quests and "?" on the map, I suggest you start doing it as early as possible.

[Jeff]

It may be radical thinking on my part but why not -- "Do side quests until they seem too hard, and then continue the story for a bit...". Rinse and repeat.

[♠.brT]

My recommendation would be to explore as much as possible, doing sidequests and contracts that are near your level first and then progressing the story. One thing you should look out for is that some of the main quests will also advance the timeline of the game significantly to the point where it could cause sidequests to fail (if they had not been finished by that point) there is no way to tell you which sidequests have this problem without spoiling you, so my recommendation is that before you do any main quest, create manual savegame so that if that happens you can go back if you want it to.

[meep_meep]

The game is broken up into sets of missions in a particular storyline (i.e. Bloody Baron storyline, Skellige secession storyline, etc.) IMO the best way to play the game (once you get out of White Orchard, at least) is to play all the way through one of the story lines (until the overarching quest completes, then to go back and do all the side quests that are at or just above your level. That's how you'll get a good balance of main story and side quests without getting over-leveled too much.

[jss1138]

Originally posted by Cheeki Breeki:

I dont want to rush through the story but also don't want to be way overleveled

To solve that, you will need to start a new game using the Wolf version below.

http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/178/?

[swiftdeath60]

In the options menu, you can set enemies to spawn at or near your level. This keeps a better combat balance through out the game. I have now done a complete play through at each of the difficulty settings. And my personal opinion is to explore everything. This extends the gameplay time considerably. Which equates to better value for your dollar spent. And there is far more adventure in exploring than there is in just breezing through main quest. In all my play throughs, I have never left White Orchard under level 10. And by the time I finished Velen I'm at, min. level 30. So then entering Novengrad at level 30 means finishing game at around level 50. Main quest takes around 40 real life hours to complete. But with exploration, can extend this another 50 hours more.