I’ve started using quen and it does help. It works for about 30 seconds and then you have to cast it again. It still works even if you attacks.
I’m not talking about ledges you’d die from falling off of. I’ve seen tree stumps I can’t climb over but much higher rocks that I can. It seems like you have to be in just the right spot to be able to trigger climbing.
I’ll have to give Quen a try then. I didn’t because it dispelled on attack in Witcher 1 and was meant to buy you time to drink a potion. Since you cannot drink a potion while in battle in Witcher 2 I guess it makes sense it does not dispell (I had not considered that).
As for climbing/jumping my sense of it has been that climbable/jumpable spots are specifically placed spots by the design team and you are not supposed to be able to climb any random place where (in theory) you should be able to climb if you wanted. Usually the places where you need to climb/jump are obvious enough and not a problem to activate.
Maybe I have been missing something though.
So yeah, combat is all kinds of hard. Must keep moving at all times.
Dash in, quick cut, cut, dodge, dodge, send someone flying with aard, heavy cut, quick cut, parry, dodge.
If you don’t keep moving, you die. If you let someone nail you in the back with a sword, you die.
I’m loving it.
Reminds me of batman AA. Except cdprojectred needs to ake some of the combat maneuvers more responsive.
I understand what you mean by the design. I just don’t like that kind of design. There is no reason Geralt can’t climb a lot of that stuff. I don’t like being told I have an open world to explore and being railroaded.
*and then being railroaded.
Also, be sure to buy a silver plated sword from the dwarf smith in the Nonhuman section of Floatsam.
I got through the fight via kiting too. Here are some things I’ve tried to do which helps a little. The mind control sign (Axll?) helps, though you have to stand still and press down the Q key till the person is ‘converted’. If you attack a converted person, he ‘re-converts’. Helps for breaking up big groups, and seem to work on any mob.
You also start with three stun bombs; I guess we’re given those because we need it. I haven’t tried daggers yet, though.
Anyone have ideas for shielded enemies?
Kill everyone else first, then just parry their attack. This will give you an opening to get in 2-3 quick attacks. Just repeat that until they’re dead.
I restarted the game from the beginning (wanted to do some things differently) and this time around I had no problem. I meleed the lot of them. I was sure to buff as much as possible beforehand but the real difference was using Quen. I would say Quen is overpowered but given how hard it is without it I guess it is fine.
On another note, this game is non-linear. Doing one quest before another could trigger a event which would not be there if you do those quests in a different order. I wish there is a New Game+ feature now.
I experienced this on my second play through (following is definitely a spoiler):
[spoiler]In my first time through I killed Aryan when I confronted him atop the castle. While escaping prison I came across his half naked mother being tortured and saved her. She was not happy I had killed her son (although not too bent out of shape about it). An ambassador shows up who then helps me escape the prison by drawing out the guards. He also corners the Baroness into an unhappy political compromise.
Second playthrough I did not kill Aryan. While in the prison instead of saving a half naked hot chick who would be thrilled I saved her and her son I find Aryan instead. It is then Aryan who ultimately helps me achieve my escape from prison.
What future ramifications this will have I do not know. I can only hope I’ll run into his mother and get some…gratitude…from her. 
[/spoiler]
Has anyone figured out how to beat the first major boss: I can’t seem to figure out how to kill that tentacle beast. I can get two of his tentacles off but then he just smashes me into dust.
How do you win at dice poker? Because now it’s important to the plot and I have no clue what I’m doing.
It’s just poker with dice - closer to yahtzee than anything else. Wager, roll, reroll and repeat. The dice carvings are hard to understand, but you’re really only interested in maximizing what you have most of.
Thanks. I figured it out via google before you replied. I didn’t try that first because the game is so new that I didn’t think there would be any info.
I found a glitch. Sometimes the quest marker will point you to an area off the map for a quest. In one case it was not even close to where you’re supposed to go.
After dying one or two dozen times, I finally managed to beat this boss. I wrote up some tips on defeating it on Gaming.SE:
[SPOILER]You need to trap the tentacles using the Yrden sign (The 4 tentacles with the slightly glowing, thicker part). If you crafted a Kayran trap, you can use that one for the first tentacle, the location is highlighted if you have the trap in your inventory. You need to place an Yrden trap at a location where the tentacle will hit the ground. The easiest way to achieve this is to stand in the same location as the trap, once the Kayran lifts its tentacles, immediately roll to the side. The tentacle will hit the trap and you can sever it.
Avoiding the tentacles is important, a direct hit can do a lot of damage. Watch the pattern, you’ll quickly notice when the Kayran lifts its tentacles and it is time to evade. Sometimes it also hits you from the side with a tentacle, but I haven’t found what triggers this attack. You also shouldn’t stand directly in front of the Kayrans mouth, it can perform an attack that poisons you (if you didn’t drink the Mongoose potion) and immobilizes you.
You can also use the Quen sign to protect yourself from damage, but you have to time the casting right or you’ll just be hit by a tentacle while or shortly after casting it.
After severing the third tentacle you get a quicktime event (right click, repeated left clicks and space) which will cause parts of the old bridge to collapse. The Kayran now throws stones after you. You need to go to the left and go up the fallen down part of the bridge that now leads directly onto the Kayran. And then you’ve finished this fight. Don’t forget to loot the Kayran for reagents and crafting material.[/SPOILER]
I beat this boss right after posting that. I’m now in the beginning of Chapter 3.
Anyone else finish the game yet? I finished at around 6 AM today. The non spoiler conclusion is it’s fucking epic and awesome. I give it an A-.
If you sided with Roche in the beginning you get to fight a dragon in the end game! Also Letho’s voice actor is baaaaad. You chose not to fight Letho in the end and I chose not to because he’d be a let down after a fucking dragon.
I’ve finished yesterday and started my second run on hard. I’m very curious how much the game will change based on making different choices. And it’s a great game indeed, despite the UI and control flaws.
How long is it? I’m curious, because I’m just now at the point where you fight Letho, for the first (?) time.Have I got a lot left or am I looking at the end-game soon?
You have a lot of game left. You’re at the end of the first chapter. There are 3 chapters.