Even Odds Achievement.

[M]

So many questions surrounding this and I haven't found a recent post that explains this well.

So, here are the points that need explaination (Are the following allowed when trying get the Even Odds achievement?)

1.Sign buffs from places of power. Do they stop the achievement?

2.Food items

3.Mutagens decoctions or actual mutagens such as greater blue mutagen, wraith mutagen etc.

4.Oils that didn't "rub off" from swords but have no more charges. (0/20 charges)

5. Grindstone and Armorer Table buffs.

6.I'm guessing runes on swords are allowed?

7.None of those allowed for the fight only or for the entire quest? I'm guessing it's for the fight only since we're most likely to encounter other monsters or even do other quests while having accepted the contracts.

8.What if I damage the monster down to half health and then flee for healing, then re-engage? Does the "counter" start as soon as the target monster looses any health?

9.Achievement requires TWO such feats, so how do I know if I've done the first one right?

I'm on Blood and Broken Bones difficulty, already past White Orchard, so I guess Shrieker, and something else? Jenny? Swamp thing?
Even if you can't answer the above, your methods of doing it will help too.
Thanks in advance.

[WolfEisberg]

Kill 2 monsters you have a contract on without using Signs, potions, mutagens, oils or bombs.

That is all there is to it. Oils with 0 Charges on your sword don't count as having oil. Everything else is fair game, just kill the contract monsters without using any signs, potions, mutagens, oils, or bombs.

[WolfEisberg]

Originally posted by BuzzardBee:

1. Sign buffs from Places of Power. Not sure what's confusing to you about this. There are various Places of Power scattered throughout the maps in the game. When you find you, you can access it once for a temporary buff to a specific sign, meaning that the particular sign will be stronger or last longer (it's a buff after all) for a specific period of time. There is a timer that appears along with the sign's icon at the top of the HUD so you can clearly see which one is being buffed.

You also get an Ability Point, as if you had leveled up, which can then be used to upgrade any of your skills as you normally would with other Ability Points.

2. Food. Again, I don't see what needs explaining here but I'll try. While TW3 isn't the sort of RPG requiring the player to sleep or rest periodically or even eat to maintain their strength, food and other items (potions, water, etc.) can serve to regenerate lost health when injured. So keeping some food items slotted allows you to eat while in combat and taking damage so that you won't die.

Meditating will also regenerate health but only at the two lowest combat difficulty settings. The higher two (Blood and Broken Bones and Death March require food to regain health. Meditation will not allow you to regain health, adding to the greater challenge in playing.)

3. Mutagens in general. Monsters drop mutagens. Not all monsters drop them and they don't always drop as a guaranteed drop either. Lesser mutagens (green, red and blue) tend to drop from lower-leveled monsters more frequently. These can be combined to create higher leveled mutagens. The progression is: Lesser to Regular to Greater. Greater mutagens can be added to the Skill Tree to provide buffs or bonuses to activated skills.

There are also specific monster mutagens such as Wraith or Troll mutagens. These are usually requirements for decoctions, which are similar to Potions, but they tend to significantly increase Toxicity. They have varying effects such as generating Adrenaline Points more quickly or increasing Stamina regeneration for a short period of time. The higher Toxicity levels however can adversely affect other things such as some buffs or perks related to active skills currently being used. The benefits can outweigh the downside however in specific combat with certain monsters.

4. Oils. Well, no. The "red" on your sword or gear has nothing to do with any oils that have been applied. They refer to how badly damaged the item is. When damaged, they perform less well than their stats would indicate because they are damaged and not at full strength. Damaged items will need to be repaired by either a blacksmith or armorer or by the player himself if he owns some repair kits.

However, lower leveled armor and weapons should not be repaired as the cost will not be worth it. If you loot regularly everything you can, you will always find better gear and weapons with better stats than you currently are using. Just swap them out for the better items, even if they are also damaged, since they will most likely be higher leveled to what you already are using and will last longer until you find better things to swap them for. Save repairing for much higher items, such as the Witcher gear which is among the best in the game.

Oils are not considered an upgrade. Adding runes or glyphs is considered an upgrade and that's what blacksmiths or armorers would be removing. Oils are meant to enhance a Silver Sword against a very specific monster. And they can only be applied to Silver Swords.

Oils increase the amount of damage the swords can deliver. Each upgrade to the oils increases the damage multiplier. The progression is from Standard or Base to Enhanced to Superior, providing 10%, 20% and 50%, respectively and has a number of charges (20, 40 and 60, respectively). When the charges are used up, they disappear from the weapon.

5. Whetstone and Armorer Table buffs. I think you may be confusing Whetstones with Grindstones. Whetstones are items used to craft repair kits. Grindstones are used to provide temporary buffs to your swords, just as Armorer Tables provide temporary buffs to your armor.

Grindstones increase the damage inflicted by swords by 20% for a limited amount of time. These bonuses increase the damage done by swords. Armorer Tables do something similar for your armor.

These provide temporary buffs to your weapons and gear. Whetstones increase damage inflicted by 10%

6. Runestones are used to enhance your Silver and Steel Swords. They can be applied to any empty slot. They can increase weapon damage, add persistent conditions to enemies, or augement spell power. Once attached, it cannot be removed without destroying the weapon. This is the "remove upgrade" thing you mentioned ealier. A blacksmith woud be required to do this but in the process, the weapon would be lost.

Runestones are crafted from diagrams which can either be found by looting or purchased from merchants. Once owned, the player can craft them (only at a qualified blacksmith) by combining Lesser Ruenstones into Greater Runestones. Mind you, there are varying levels of craftsmen in the game (Amateur, Journeyman, Master) and you must find one that is learned enough to do the work properly.

Glyphs are similar to Runestones in that they provide the same benefits to armor and work in the same manner, but requiring an Armorer to upgrade, craft and remoe, again with the same various levels of proficiency.

7. Not really sure what you mean by "fight only". As you progree through the game, you will encounter notes, books, and similar items, all of which should be read because some will contain information necessary to learn how to fight various monsters. It's not a one-item (potion, sign, oil, etc) works for all kind of thing. By learning about various monsters, you will learn what their weaknesses are and what's recommended to use to combat them effectively.

So, each monster is different and requires a different approach. Some can only be damaged best by using your Silver Sword. These are generally magic-based creatures. Others such as Wild Dogs, Bears and the like are much more easily killed by using your Steel Sword. The game wll automatically choose the correct weapon for you in combat but part of just about any fight in the game will require you to do some sort of preparation (create some oils or bombs, drink some decoctions, prerp your sword with the correct oil, etc.)

You will find recipes for bombs, oils, potions, decoctions, etc as you progress through the game by either looting or purchasing from alchemists, herbalists or merchants. These can all be upgraded to higher level items with the correct recipes. Each will need to be made starting at the Base version first, then upgraded to Enhanced and finally Superior, in that order. Don't be discouraged if at first you find Enhanced recipes before you find the Base ones. The game was designed to do that to encourage you to explore the game world and loot everything you come across. You will find all you need eventually.

8. If you damage a monster, then flee to heal yourself, if you stray too far away or use meditation to heal, when you return, he will be back to full health. If you can health, so can he. If a fight is too much for you at present, return to it when you have gain a few levels otherwise you'll have a very long and frustrating time of it.

9. Achievements that require TWO such feats. Really lost here. Could you be more specific? The game keeps track of what you do but sometimes achievements don't always register thanks to internal coding and patches that have been applied. Sometimes they disabled the achievements or prevent them from unlocking.

If you could be more speicifc about which achievement you mean, I might be able to help more.

Okay, on Blood and Broken Bones, health will not regenerate with meditation. That's part of the added challenge. It also increases the amount of damage enemies will do to you and it also increases their resilience (meaning they're stronger and will be able to take far more damage than in the two other lower difficulty levels).

The Shrieker is a Cockatrice and pretty strong for low leveled players. While the recommended level is 8, players would do well to wait until they are 10 or 12 before tackling him. His weaknesses are Draconid Oil and the sign Aard. Also try to attack it from the rear. Its strengths are frontal attacks which may be hard to dodge. So when it is facing you, try to roll up behind it and strike. Dodge away from it and repeat as often as you can.

Aard will stagger the Cockatrice, grounding him, preventing him from flying and attacking you from above. Once on the ground, use the above tactics to harm him. Quen can also be usefel to help shield yourself from too much damages and Igni will harm him as well.

Jenny o' the Woods is a strong Wraith. Her weaknesses are Moon Dust (a bomb), Specter Oil and Yrden. There are two different types of Wraiths in the game and it is important to know which you are dealing with when fighting them. Nightwraiths will only appear at certain hours and can create multiple images of themselves which can damage the player and can be used to heal itself.

Yrden is a must when fighting any Wraiths as they tend to be elusive and unattackable. Yrden will slow them down and force them to solidify making it much easier to attack them and do damage. Yrden can be upgraded to Magic Trap which will do further damage to the Wraith while she is within its vicinity. Igni is also quite effective while caught in the trap.

The Swamp Thing requires you to have a medallion, Nehaleni's Eye, that you should have acquired from Keira Metz by doing her quest, Wandering in the Dark. If you did not do that quest yet, do so now as you will not be able to progress very far in the Swamp Thing Contract without it.

If you already have it, proceed to the area. You'll be fighting Drowners at first and then you'll find the mysterious fog. Search all areas carefully using your Witcher Senses. Loot all you can. Then you'll soon find an illusion. Use the medalllion and you'll enter the cave.

Necrophage Oil is best for fighting Foglets. Be sure to search all chests for recipes and diagrams. You should be around level 12 for the boss fight. Dodge as much as you can and use Quen to protect yourself. He won't be able to leave the fog so you can move off a bit to take potions or eat food to regain your healt if necessary and he won't regenerate his own health so long as you don't leave the cave.

He'll disappear into the fog often and call up other foglets to fight you. Just hit them once to be rid of them and get ready for the boss' return. Hit him right after you've dodge one of his attacks. Repeat until he's dead.

Even Odds is a name of an achievement: Kill 2 monsters you have a contract on without using Signs, potions, mutagens, oils or bombs.

His questions are related to that achievement. You said alot of good information, but unfortunately it had nothing to do with his question.

[M]

Thanks for response, I learnt a bit more. I've also updated the post to be more clear. I'm refering to whether any of those are allowed when trying to get the Even Odds Achievement.