Witcher 3: Enemy Levels and a lack of Consistency

[AzureTheGamerKobold]

So As i played through Velen i kept thinking man everythings so high level, its so rough but, it was genuninely enjoyable, and i had fun in that zone it was expansive difficult but even there... you had level 6's by level 30's and then walk down the hill and see level 15's... was no consistency to the monster levels, it felt like everything was all mashed up and tossed in at random.

Now in skellige, i'm noticing the same issue only in reverse, so lets analyze a bit shall we? To get to the islands you need to be around level 16 to do the quest to get to the islands themselves. could MAYBE do it at level 10, but MOST of us are going to do all of the main story in velen, and do all the exploration we can before we leave. I was level 20 when i left Velen and hit the island and what did i notice? all of the enemies i am facing are 5-10 levels lower then i am... in fact feels like this should maybe have been the area we were sent to first? but no that cant be it as again isn't alot of consistency here, sirens are typically level15-16 or higher but then there are bandits are level 10-12...and i just fought level 7 wraiths...

I don't mean to gripe about it because i do like the game BUT this sort screams terrible game design, like they didn't have time to actually go through and adjust levels for all enemies approrpritely ...it really making the game borning as i can just man handle all of these enemies with out trying...

The game is good but this stands out as #1 most annoying problem i have...

Velen was often times to difficult

Skellige is often times to easy...

No consistency in enemy levels and it really breaks the enjoyment of the game for me something fierce...

[Saladbar]

@ CursedPanther. I think you missed his point.

This is a pretty big failing in the game from my point of view. With an open world setting, there really needs to be mob scaling like in Skyrim, or there needs to be some indication of what level mobs are in what areas. Exceptions for bosses are fine, I like running across the high level boss monsters out in the world.

I like to explore and do side quests, now I find that I outlevel (by 5 or more) about half the mobs I run into out in the world when I am entering new areas. I can either skip content to fight same level mobs, or do the content, which is not nearly as fun when it is so easy.

[Scripter]

I would like to think that the reason behind the high difference in enemy levels is, so you could not wipe everything out in one go. The levels are to guide you around areas that the developers wish you to explore later. But they do not prevent you from going to those areas.

And when I have seen significantly higher level monsters, they have mostly guarded a treasure and kind of makes sense to put some challenge to getting these as some of the treasure gear is meant for much higher levels so you couldn't use it anyway.

[Warlord]

Yes it's so utterly absurd. Everything dealing with levels from quests to what you encounter while going to do it has to worst design ever.

Game desperately needs level scailing.

[Warlord]

Originally posted by CursedPanther:

Originally posted by Saladbar:

@ CursedPanther. I think you missed his point.

This is a pretty big failing in the game from my point of view. With an open world setting, there really needs to be mob scaling like in Skyrim, or there needs to be some indication of what level mobs are in what areas. Exceptions for bosses are fine, I like running across the high level boss monsters out in the world.

I like to explore and do side quests, now I find that I outlevel (by 5 or more) about half the mobs I run into out in the world when I am entering new areas. I can either skip content to fight same level mobs, or do the content, which is not nearly as fun when it is so easy.

I think I explained pretty clearly why level scaling isn't the thing for W3.

On top of that, the developers have added a +/- 5 levels(a total of 10) 'safety' margin for the quests/activities you experience in the world. Assuming that you still have difficulties prioritize your actions, then there's little help anyone can give you.

Please.

level 13 quest main story throws you directly up against level 19 enemies then rewards 5 whole xp upon completion even when it's not grayed out.

Game is bananas.

[Setari]

I did run into a few quests that were... odd, in level. Like they said they required level 17 or something and you had to fight level 25 elementals or something. I was 30 at the time so it's not like I cared, but I noticed some of the quests in Skellege were a bit off in level requirement. Probably doable with enough patience and dodging skills but still.

Also at no stage in the Main Story did I EVER receive 5 EXP. So something's wrong there. I leveled from 26-35 in the last part of the Main Story.

[Scripter]

To you who wonder the quest level suggestion: it is just that: a suggestion. Below that and there is higher chance that the monsters will hand your pretty rear to you. Especially on higher difficulties.

Personally I like the variation. I can't just go everywhere in an area and kill everything outright. The occasional easy quest or pack of enemies is a nice change to the constant "skin-of-your-teeth" -fighting.

[jclosed]

It would be immensely boring if everything in the same area would be at the same level. I cannot understand why people would want that - honestly.

I mean - what's the fun of swiping complete areas, just because you have the same level? The big fun is that, just when you think you are comfortable and eveything is an walk in the park, you are confronted with an enemy that smash that silly dream to bits. Then it's time to think "Well - I can't go in blindly, so I have to do some surveying first... simply to be able to survive".

And others being an low level? Well somtimes you are lucky and earn your money the easy way. Nothing wrong with that...

[kurosect]

Scaling might not be fun, but having numbers everwhere is just worse. This monster is level 4, the same monster is level 14 so its 10 times stronger. WTF, its not some MMORPG but really feels like it. This ♥♥♥♥ with numbers should be hidden and monsters should scale but only to some extent, like weaker ones should stop spawning, stronger ones should have different names and appearance, not just a digit of their level. It is in the game but implemented as totally irrelevant. Not even saying how stupid the balance is between side quests and main quest.

[Scripter]

Originally posted by jclosed:

And others being an low level? Well somtimes you are lucky and earn your money the easy way. Nothing wrong with that...

Like he said: sometimes you get your pay easy. And sometimes you seriously have to work for a living.

And when it comes to displaying numbers: How would you feel that you could beat giant monster X without a hitch and then a small pipsqeak Y hands you your rear? With no dissernable difference between them, except their size.

The visible number gives me some estimate on as wether I have a chance, and what kind of a chance, against an enemy.

But if enough people want to hide the level, they could make it a selectable option to show / not show level numbers. Again, I personally prefer to see the number.

[ShadyYogaInstructor]

If you walk into a national park and see a rabbit standing next to a bear, do you also get mad that the level consistency seems off? XD

[Tamiore]

I think the actual problem is explicit levels-based system as such.
Geralt is already getting stronger simply by getting more skill points, by finding better equipment and potions.
Just don't USE levels for anything but skill-point gain. Make all equipment useable as long as you can find it/craft it.
Populate areas with strong monster — not just "higher level" of the same stuff.
And for the love of god — just get rid of a system where simply having higher "number" makes a mob immune to Geralt's abilities until his "number" is higher as well.

[Scripter]

Originally posted by st88:

I think the actual problem is explicit levels-based system as such.
Geralt is already getting stronger simply by getting more skill points, by finding better equipment and potions.
Just don't USE levels for anything but skill-point gain. Make all equipment useable as long as you can find it/craft it.
Populate areas with strong monster — not just "higher level" of the same stuff.
And for the love of god — just get rid of a system where simply having higher "number" makes a mob immune to Geralt's abilities until his "number" is higher as well.

But by not having such measures in place, one could get the best gear possible early on or be able to kill any enemy at any time. And if the best gear available right away what use is any other gear? Or then we would need to restrict movement so one just could not get the needed parts.
And if There was no level in enemies, there would be the issue of enemies getting successively easier to defeat the better gear you get, meaning that either all enemies are super hard at the beginning of the game and get to a set difficulty after you get the best gear. Or the enemies are tough at first but get to redicoulusly easy as you get the best gear.

Or if there is some secret behind the screen it could lead to a scenario where we have two enemies next to each other. the other being hard as hell to defeat and the other goes away by just looking at it nasty. But you would have no way of knowing this without getting your butt handed to you by the other and wasting preparations on the other.

And essentially with gear, it too comes down to numbers.

[Our Lord And Savior Jesus Christ]

I'm fine with the way Velen was but I do agree on Skellige.
I was looking forward travelling to Skellige (not sure which level I was) but it was such a huge letdown that the majority of quests/monsters there were extremely easy.

Originally posted by CursedPanther:

Because W3 is NOT an MMORPG, which most of them have clear level-gated regions or something, it makes this design sensible. CDPR doesn't want the players to abandon Velen completely after they've gone past level 10 and continue their grinding journey in Novirgrad and Skellige. However that doesn't mean you should not leave Velen until you're level 20 either.

1. A Witcher's adventure isn't about grinding XP in the first place;
2. A Witcher's job will bring him to wherever he needs to be, so there will NEVER be something like "the monsters in this region is too easy for me now and I'll just forget about the place forever";

High-level monsters at random locations in Velen provide the incentive for players to return to the region routinely, to finish up whatever is left or face brand new foes through exploring.

I feel like your explanation relies heavily on the lore. Lore isn't an absolute criteria to justify gameplay and I personally see this more as a lack in design than actually put it in for those reasons you stated.
Also, I'm not sure why you bring up 'grinding', don't see how that's relevant here.

[BDK]

What baffles my mind; Go to Skellige (Suggested level: 16)
Arrives at Skellige and finds a ton of level 9 quests.

Sure sure you can go there sooner if you so choose, but why suggest level 16 then?

[Radion]

Originally posted by Ninjaman999:

If you walk into a national park and see a rabbit standing next to a bear, do you also get mad that the level consistency seems off? XD

ya but in W3 the rabbit is lvl30 and the bear is lvl6