Should I play death march as first playthrough

[Gilderoy Lockhart]

Its not my actual first time ever, I played it for a few hours about a week before hogwarts legacy came out (so 2 years ago) and got a feel for the game's combat, but normal was too easy

I was wondering if I should just play the hardest difficulty or if its *too* hard. Do I need to know the ins and outs of the game or do I just play it smart with good builds?

Researched a little bit recently and thought I might go as mage Geralt. Using signs and potions mainly with the occasional silver sword.

If only Geralt learned more magic like on the level of Yennefer, he'd be amazingly OP lol. Maybe Witcher 4 will let us explore that a little more, considering Ciri is the "protege surpasses the master" that they seem to be going for

[✧ Sergio ✧]

Of course, Death March's combat is based simply on reading the bestiary to learn how to fight monsters and dodge enemy attacks. Save up on food and make sure you have plenty of alchemical components to regenerate potions like Swallow, you'll need it.

[worm_master]

Deathmarch is a doodle, done cage au fou at level nine naked signs only, and taken out Corvo at level 3 also naked, I flamed her to death, I have also flamed the Toad prince, an beaten the Offeri mage with Igni only, b4 level 5....

N.B thanks to a MOD, you'll find me in Toussant from level 2-3 nowadays.

[kireta]

Ehh, the only difference between difficulties is how many hits you and your enemies can take before dying. That, and on Easy and Normal, waiting restores health, while on Hard and Very Hard you take 3 shots of Swallow (it's rubbish, but still quicker than food), and THEN wait for it to refill and take another 3 shots if you still need to. Basic Swallow heals like 1/9th of your starter HP, per shot. I said it was rubbish 😃.
Potions refill cost is irrelevant.

Difficulty can be changed anytime, even in middle of fight, so pick whichever you want.
The problem with Witcher 3 difficulty is it's reversed. Instead of tunning up the challenge as you advance, learn mechanics, and gain new tools, it starts at its hardest and gets easier as you level up. By level 30 you're basically a demigod, who can only die to gross incompetence or fall damage. So if you can handle Prologue in White Orchand, you don't want to go any lower.

[Weyrlock]

You can literally beat the entire game with only sidestep(avoiding attacks) and heavy attack intermittently, but of course most people would find that boring. I recommend not only deathmarch, but also enemy scaling activated, unless you often find yourself upset with difficulty in other games.
For builds you could focus only on magic, but it is extremely recommended to use everything at your disposal, including bombs, oils and some abilities from both combat and potions/mutagens skill trees, as this is a very, very long game and you could use more variety from time to time. The game will often remind you of that in various quests.
If you also really like to explore and do something close to what I described, invest early on a neutral skill/ability called Gourmet, it can be super useful for most of the game.

[kireta]

I didn't think Gourmet is that useful, it's not like you ever run out of food, unless you sell it for literal 1 crown a piece.

[Draconifors]

Your username namesake wouldn't have a chance of surviving Death March, but you should be fine once you learn the ropes.

[Vøn λ]

You should definitely go for it. Death march is the optimal way of experiencing the game imo since it just force you to engaging with some of the game mechanics. The only significant difference is how much damage enemies can inflict and your inability to regenerate health by just resting. The 1st hour or so might feel a bit overwhelming but once you're level'd up it's a cake walk.

[Gilderoy Lockhart]

Originally posted by Draconifors:

Your username namesake wouldn't have a chance of surviving Death March, but you should be fine once you learn the ropes.

Excuse me? I am a member of the dark force defense league and wrote a bunch of books on killing monsters