Why do I suck so much at parrying?

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

I mean besides the fact that I just suck. Does anyone have any tips for me regarding this? I can only seem to pull off a parry once every four or five tries, so the rest of the time I'm getting my ass beaten and it's not worth trying.

Are there certain human weapons that I can't even parry against? It seems even harder to parry monster attacks, but I'm having the trouble I'm talking with freaking bandits. What gives?

Thanks in advance for any advice :)

[newman]

You can't parry attacks from two-handed weapons, other than that, you're good. Parrying monsters is not a good idea - it usually just leaves you stunned.

[katzenkrimis]

Parrying is a gimmick ability.

Some enemies are easy to parry, some are impossible. So you shouldn't be trying to use it full time just for the sake of using it full time.

Use it as a lark, on enemies that easily fall for it.

Once you get to know all the enemies, you'll know which ones you can parry, and which ones are hopelessly impossible.

It's a timing thing, while looking at their attack animations.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Thanks, you two!

Let's delve further into combat, since that is by far the aspect of the game with which I'm having the most trouble. I'm still very early in the game (level three, currently doing the Bloody Baron part of searching for Ciri -- I just finished The Nilfgaard Connection), and I decided to do hard difficulty because I read in many different places that normal was too easy and I do like a challenge. I'm dying in at least half my battles.

How do I dodge effectively? Any tips regarding that?

Also, any other general combat tips to keep me from dying all the freaking time? Thanks :P

[newman]

Originally posted by The Great Catsby:

Thanks, you two!

Let's delve further into combat, since that is by far the aspect of the game with which I'm having the most trouble. I'm still very early in the game (level three, currently doing the Bloody Baron part of searching for Ciri -- I just finished The Nilfgaard Connection), and I decided to do hard difficulty because I read in many different places that normal was too easy and I do like a challenge. I'm dying in at least half my battles.

How do I dodge effectively? Any tips regarding that?

Also, any other general combat tips to keep me from dying all the freaking time? Thanks :P

Use Quen a lot; it really helps. Other than that, it really depends on what you're fighting against. If you're 1v1 with someone, it's better to dodge - and if you're fighting a group of monsters it's better to use roll.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Thanks, Newman!

Ok, new question (I'm so sorry! Please feel free to ignore me once you get tired of this): if I put runes into a sword, can I remove them later and put them in a different one? What if the sword breaks eventually? Can I break down the sword somewhere and get the runes back? Should I save them for a better sword later?

Oy vey, there is soooo much depth to this game! And while that's always wonderful (it's REALLY hard for me to find games I actually enjoy for more than an hour because I'm more affected by a lack of depth than most), I'm also the kind of player who constantly worries that I might do something wrong and ruin something for later.

EDIT: oh, and once a sword is red, how long until it breaks? Do I need to repair as soon as they turn red?

EDIT 2: what I mean by games with lack of depth is something like the Assassin's Creed series. I've tried every AssCreed game up through IV. I could never get into those games (though IV gave me by far the most pleasure before I conked out) because there's just not enough substance to them -- they're repetitive, don't offer much beyond the few things you can do (e.g. in combat and free running, not necessarily the quests themselves), and ultimately become boring very quickly for me. Not the case with this game! The Witcher 3 might be the best game I've ever played.

[Pixelationist]

Originally posted by katzenkrimis:

Parrying is a gimmick ability.

Some enemies are easy to parry, some are impossible. So you shouldn't be trying to use it full time just for the sake of using it full time.

Is that true? I hope it is since I have had great trouble with this and started feeling like I was missing something. It always seems like I could parry humans with no problems, almost every attack, but was realy hit and miss with everything else.

20+ hours in at lvl 10 and I am having very little fun with the combat, just seems like an endless quen and roll fest. I'm just putting up with it for the story.

[newman]

Originally posted by The Great Catsby:

Thanks, Newman!

Ok, new question (I'm so sorry! Please feel free to ignore me once you get tired of this): if I put runes into a sword, can I remove them later and put them in a different one? What if the sword breaks eventually? Can I break down the sword somewhere and get the runes back? Should I save them for a better sword later?

Oy vey, there is soooo much depth to this game! And while that's always wonderful (it's REALLY hard for me to find games I actually enjoy for more than an hour because I'm more affected by a lack of depth than most), I'm also the kind of player who constantly worries that I might do something wrong and ruin something for later.

You can dismantle the sword if you want to keep the runes. You can also choose to remove the runes, which destroys them, but it'll not destroy the sword. Sword breaking shouldn't really be an issue, as you can easily repair it.

Edit for your edit:
The weapons have a number next to them so you can see what condition they're in. The more damaged the weapon is, the less damage it does (as indicated by the red numbers).

[Tirigon]

Regarding parrying: One thing I learned is that often you need to parry earlier than you wouldt think for it to work, because the animation is rather slow.

[Pixelationist]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPqKqTdkh4E

This was helpful. Invicible frames on dodge seems to be THE key to success.

[Nihilio]

You can parry humans bearing one handed weapons. That's it, and works wonders for soldiers with shields and most swordsmen who block every attack.
As for the battles, aard tends to knock down enemies for easy one-hit-kills, igni softens them up and aaxi stuns them for cheap shots. Try using potions for challenging battles.
If you are new to TW you can consider starting in Normal difficulty for the first ten levels to grasp the mechanics, then move to Blood and Broken Bones difficulty.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

You guys have all been super helpful, thanks so much!

I just want to say that I've posted quite a few questions over the last couple of months, and this community has been incredibly welcoming and generous with its assistance. The last time I posted some questions, I got three pages of replies and only two replies that were nasty. This is a lovely community :D

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by Pixelationist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPqKqTdkh4E

This was helpful. Invicible frames on dodge seems to be THE key to success.

That vid was remarkably helpful. Thanks!

[Kronos]

Originally posted by newman:

Originally posted by The Great Catsby:

Thanks, you two!

Let's delve further into combat, since that is by far the aspect of the game with which I'm having the most trouble. I'm still very early in the game (level three, currently doing the Bloody Baron part of searching for Ciri -- I just finished The Nilfgaard Connection), and I decided to do hard difficulty because I read in many different places that normal was too easy and I do like a challenge. I'm dying in at least half my battles.

How do I dodge effectively? Any tips regarding that?

Also, any other general combat tips to keep me from dying all the freaking time? Thanks :P

Use Quen a lot; it really helps. Other than that, it really depends on what you're fighting against. If you're 1v1 with someone, it's better to dodge - and if you're fighting a group of monsters it's better to use roll.

Wait wdym better to dodge than to roll, isn't that the same thing?

[Bstu]

Originally posted by KingUmbreon:

Originally posted by newman:

Use Quen a lot; it really helps. Other than that, it really depends on what you're fighting against. If you're 1v1 with someone, it's better to dodge - and if you're fighting a group of monsters it's better to use roll.

Wait wdym better to dodge than to roll, isn't that the same thing?

You have just won a prize. I don't think you want to collect it though.

[Nihilio]

Originally posted by KingUmbreon:

Originally posted by newman:

Use Quen a lot; it really helps. Other than that, it really depends on what you're fighting against. If you're 1v1 with someone, it's better to dodge - and if you're fighting a group of monsters it's better to use roll.

Wait wdym better to dodge than to roll, isn't that the same thing?

I spent half the game thinking the same, then discovered that quick tapping a direction key twice makes a dodge maneuvre that slightly puts you outside an enemy strike faster and closer than a roll, ao you can easily outflank and destroy opponents