[SOLVED] Can I leave Wandering in the Dark and still have portals open and Golem defeated?

[reachdabeach]

EDIT - the short answer is yes, but leaving the discussion as it veered off but is still of interest. Long answer is that setting a different quest will lead you out to a different entrance and Keira comes out also and tells you she will wait there. Makes sense as pretty much everything seems to be remembered. Even the reappearing minor enemies may just be roving bands; not sure.
2nd EDIT - I play on the easiest setting. I am old and slow and enjoy a good story with some action. Anyway, as noted below, I was facing Nithral when I left the cave. When I came back, the cave was pretty well cleared out except for a few minor monsters I had fled after taking out most of a group going in and out the first time. I don't always go looking for all the stragglers when I am in in transit. I cleared the rest of them, so now it is just carefully avoiding gas clouds, not getting lost (Keira is not as helpful in places where she already helped you get past before) and then I go through a door and there is the Gargoyle. For players on harder settings, that makes sense I guess. But when I went in the first time, I didn't have to face a Gargoyle. I beat the Golem and made it to Nithral. So it does mess with state to leave and come back.

I have made it to Nithral with no food. There is no way that I will finish the fight without recharging health and meditating for an hour or two in the middle of a fight seems like a bad strategy. I am not really skilled enough to be here. I was still supposed to find the Bloody Baron's wife but there was nothing left unchecked on the list and no destination to check out. I did a coupe of minor side quests as I read that would help, but it didn't, so I moved on to the next lowest (level wise) quest which was finding the with, which then became Wandering in the Dark.
Anyway, if I can leave and just have to fight my way through the minor monsters on the way out and when I come back, the I will try that. Otherwise, I may just go back to a save I did while on the quest to find the witch.

[TURD FERGENSON]

I don't think I would chance leaving the quest for fear of messing up all the game play thus far. If it was me, I would go back to a latter save. I do try at times to play the game in different orders just to see what would happen and have broken a quest because of it. Sorry, maybe someone else has a better idea.

[Tomas9970]

Are the 3 Swallow potions and Quen really not enough to win the fight? Thunderbolt potion and Elementa oil can also be useful. Just try to bridge the power gap somehow.

[reachdabeach]

I decided to try leaving and I think it will be fine. I picked a different quest and was led back out on the mini map. Golem was dead, portals all open and actually ran back out pretty quickly. Keira came with me and we exited out at a different spot, a mine opening in a hillside. She said she would stay and wait for me there. Might be a really long wait. I got Witcher 2 & 3 on a crazy 85% off sale a few days ago and started with 3 because I know it is a better game, but having second thoughts since I am planning to play both. I watched the two seasons of the Witcher series and there is definitely a story gap I need to fill. It will bug me if I don't.

[Tomas9970]

Since you mentioned a story gap, isn't the proper chronological order the Netflix series, then books from 1-7 and then the games from 1-3? The 8th book is a standalone novel in a weird spot so I wouldn't include it.

[reachdabeach]

Originally posted by Tomas9970:

Since you mentioned a story gap, isn't the proper chronological order the Netflix series, then books from 1-7 and then the games from 1-3? The 8th book is a standalone novel in a weird spot so I wouldn't include it.

I thought the series and games were from the books, but that is an interesting point about filling gaps, especially since 2, which I have played a few hours now, is very story heavy and somewhat linear..

[Tomas9970]

Well I was more looking at the wiki to see what is a sequel/prequel to what and this is what I figured out.

Only played the third game so far but I do want to read the books now.

[reachdabeach]

I found Witcher 1 for next to nothing; download key on {LINK REMOVED}G2A.com for $0.83, but requires joining GOG.com and redeeming there. I will give it a chance, but will likely put it off. I don't really mind that much if the order is off. Mostly it is stuff happening in the same universe with some connections that are nice to know, but if it might be a struggle, I will probably push ahead with 2. Fighting isn't great in 2, but not terrible. I have read comments about it being pretty bad in 1. Also, putting time in 3, then deciding to check out 2 and deciding to push ahead and now deciding to check out 1, I am a little weary of tutorials and prologues. But I will give it a few minutes...

[reachdabeach]

OK, Witcher 1 is a keyboard and mouse game. I might go back and deal with that at some point, but not feeling it right now. I play on a laptop, but do have one of the small one handed keyboard controllers. Witcher has some that aren't on it, but the fast action keys are in the expected places and the few that aren't I could remap or just reach over; they aren't ones you would pound. Definitely never doing the WASD, jump and swing stuff on my laptop's keyboard.
Also jumped through hoops to kill Gog's startup, task and services. EDIT - actually, you can uninstall GOG and keep the game.
EDIT 2 - after uninstalling GOG, I added Witcher 1 as a non Steam game so it will show up in my library.