Healing during combat

[Eldrane]

Hi team, newbie question, what's the best/fastest way to heal during combat?
Potions or food?
I'm guessing there's not a "pause" and plan option lol
Loving the game but being a Baldur's gate kind of player am more used to turn based combat...
Real time combat always scares me 😳

[Lilowo]

It's always better (and easier imo) to prevent attacks instead of healing them. When you start early you have limited food and money (unless you go into town and punch chickens and goats all day). Before any real fighting starts in game, hold tab and hit Quen (your shield) , press q and attack without fear!
Also remember that you can only take swallow a couple of times before running out. I'd say rely on your signs and drink potions/ eat only when it's a dire situation :)

Good luck!!! :D

[Supafly]

Only thing decent for a quick health increase is the White Raf potions. Keep white honey to clear toxicity if its high before using it.
Alternatively YOu can spec Quen shil and use it in alternative mode so that when you get hit it converys it the dmg to health.
Swallow potion, food and drink for HP over time. Food/drink can be used at same time as Swallow.
Posion dmg to health....Golden Oriele potion or something like that converts posion dmg to health. Make sure to use it with enemies that do poison dmg or areas with poison clouds.

[Dala]

Superior White raffard will heal to full health, superior golden oriole will heal you when poisoned, swallow and food obviously. But a strong attack build, high enough rend damage will heal you to full if combined with ekimmara decoction. Gourmet skill is also interesting for you to look at.

[Eldrane]

So many options, love this game, currently only level 5 in Veren so I'm guessing some of these ideas are for later on, which are best between levels 5-10?
I'm going to take my time with doing all secondary quests around my progressing level..
Appreciated

[Dala]

Originally posted by Eldrane:

So many options, love this game, currently only level 5 in Veren so I'm guessing some of these ideas are for later on, which are best between levels 5-10?
I'm going to take my time with doing all secondary quests around my progressing level..
Appreciated

Swallow, if you got it and food. If you find a hard time with food may I sugest taking Gourmet skill, the brown color skill tree. But as some other said, best is to avoid taking damage. Dodge parry counter and Quen.

[Supafly]

Originally posted by Eldrane:

So many options, love this game, currently only level 5 in Veren so I'm guessing some of these ideas are for later on, which are best between levels 5-10?
I'm going to take my time with doing all secondary quests around my progressing level..
Appreciated

Cast Quen then dodge etc If/when you get hit hard/often enough that your Quen shield is gone just dodge and keep dodging till you can re-cast it. Can get a little boring but's a good thing to do if you have no health potions or food/drink.

[Mehfisto]

you'll find food and alcoholest to replenish potions everywhere so don't be too afraid of using them. early on i'd say swallow is by far the most effective way to heal up. If you want to spare them so you don't have to meditate often you can use food when you start taking damage (it heals a bit less)
As someone said try your best to avoid damage, you're not really supposed to make yourself get hit much and you have many tools to do that, ofcourse it will come with time!

Also remember the quick menu that lets you pick signs.. if you keep the button pressed it slows down everything while you pick, if you just tap it the game actually pause, and in that menu you can also use quick items.

On piece of advise I give you.. if you're a big BG fan you'll later notice that this game is not very well balanced the more you progress, and is very unlike the rpgs you're used to. So if you want to keep it challenging you'll have to adjust difficulty and try to find a build and ways that is fun more than strong. And stay away from OP things (ie. ekindha decoction is lol)

But don't worry too much about this now just keep in mind it if during your progression some things won't feel quite right.

I'm sure you'll love this game! Have a nice journey ;)

[revolver-22]

FOOD, EAT LOTS OF FOOD!

[CloudSeeker]

If you got the Gourmet skill from Blood and Wine you got easy mode. It will make food regenerate time over 20min (1200 seconds) instead of like 2-10 seconds which is default or something like it.

[Eldrane]

Originally posted by BuzzardBee:

Originally posted by Eldrane:

Hi team, newbie question, what's the best/fastest way to heal during combat?
Potions or food?
I'm guessing there's not a "pause" and plan option lol
Loving the game but being a Baldur's gate kind of player am more used to turn based combat...
Real time combat always scares me 😳

Wherever you are now, do a manul save. Then start up a new game so you can do the tutorial again. Stay there until you've got the moves down cold.

The key to winning fights in TW3 and basically enjoying yourself (since it's never fun to die or take massive damage) is to avoid getting hit. May sound like a no-brainer but in this game, it's the whole point. You're a professional monster slayer. You're nearly 100 years old and you've been doing this all of your life. With that much experience under your belt, you shouldn't be getting hit at all.

So learn the moves, practice them well, then load up your previous game and continue from there. Use your signs in combat to assist you. Igni burns your enemies. Let them burn. Do not attack them while they are still alight. If you do, it will end the burning and they will resume attacking you. Avoid fighting mobs head-on. Use bombs to disperse them. Use Igni or Aard to damage a few so you can target any that are isolated from the rest. Use Quen to shield yourself but don't rely on it to protect you 100%. It's there for that one blow that manages to get past your blocking. Dodge to avoid direct attacks. Roll out of the way when several charge at you.

Fighting on horseback is also effective. Watch for the fear level in your horse. If it gets too great, he will throw you off. Just ran away a bit with him until he calms down. Then charge again. While fighting on foot, Fast Attacks are betters as they are quicker and allow you to maneuver faster. But on horseback, use only Strong Attacks. The reason for this is they slow down time and allow you to get close to an enemy before striking, causing even more damage with each blow.

If you're looting everything you can as you play, you should find tons of free food. Queue one up in one of your quickslots and you can munch on it as you fight. But remember the goal is to avoid getting hit in the first place.

Thanks for this comprehensive RP response, appreciated!

[Nex3t]

Actually the best way i found to heal in my 450+ hours of playtime is the ekhidna decoction, it heals a portion of life everytime you consume stamina, like 1/5 of your total health which means that with 3 quens + dodge you can stay in the fight, its better than white raffards because it has no limit of times you can use it and its priceless in long fights like vs the caretaker

[Lilowo]

Originally posted by Eldrane:

So many options, love this game, currently only level 5 in Veren so I'm guessing some of these ideas are for later on, which are best between levels 5-10?
I'm going to take my time with doing all secondary quests around my progressing level..
Appreciated

You unlock all of your basic signs from the start, but its potions/oils/decoctions that are unlocked later on. It's valuable to put your skill points in the attack and sign trees. When you level up Quen to its second branch you get a shield which you can activate and explode, pushing enemies back. Axii is also very valuable as in the second branch you can actually "enchant" enemies to fight for you. Also, there are many situations that you can "get away with" by having a high skill in this!

That being said, I think you can already tell there are a ton of possibilities and routes you can take! I'm playing it on medium difficulty and am new to the witcher series and I've died more times by falling off cliffs/ "high" places than actually dying in combat.

The key to have a balance between knowing what signs to use in what scenario and learning how to dodge effectively! You'll be fine :)

Originally posted by Nex3t:

Actually the best way i found to heal in my 450+ hours of playtime is the ekhidna decoction, it heals a portion of life everytime you consume stamina, like 1/5 of your total health which means that with 3 quens + dodge you can stay in the fight, its better than white raffards because it has no limit of times you can use it and its priceless in long fights like vs the caretaker

I don't think you get that decoction in Velen though, I think the first time you meet that monster is in Novigrad and the OP has just started the game.

[Nex3t]

you're right, in early game best way is dodge+food i think, if you haven't spent many points in alchemy branch

[Tim Buck II]

Get the perk that makes food last for 20 minutes! It's so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ useful!