AFAIK, mutagens do not have any negative side effects and since the mutagen you get appears to be a perfectly standard one, there is no reason for it to generate negative side effects. Now, when TW3 comes around, expect to grow a 2nd head etc :)
I think triggercut’s theory about these 2 characters makes sense. Although, I quite like how they add that extra touch of flavour to the game.
Yeah, that’s what I was curious about, if it would be like, “You have a third arm growing out of your back, +1 strength! But it keeps smacking you in the back of the head, -1 concentration!”
Maybe this is obvious but about mutagens, try and hold out for the “greater” variety since you can’t re-spec them.
When you say “hold out” are you saying refrain from using lesser mutagens? Is it possible to use lesser ones to craft a greater mutagen? I’m still fairly early in the game so I don’t have many and haven’t yet used any, just because I’m nervous about misusing them.
Yes on the refrain and no you can’t craft them. Mutagens come in three strengths lesser, named, and greater. But here’s the deal, I suppose its possible that you may not be lucky enough to ever see a “greater” drop for the mutagen you want.
So far I’m 1/3 the way into chapter 2 (my second play through) and I’ve only seen two “greater” drops and both were vitality.
I like the idea of +10 vitality but I’ve been holding out for a greater critical mutagen.
My first play through I remember many more “greater” drops but I never play sober so there’s that.
Fair enough. I just played the mission where I got drunk with soldiers and tried to ride prostitutes across the river, then spent the next day mostly naked trying to track down my gear. So I think playing this thing sober is missing the point.
Lynxara
3027
Not every Mutagen type has a Greater variety, though. I know Madness doesn’t have one, I want to say there’s a couple others that don’t.
Crap! Thanks Lynxara. I wasn’t aware of that and should have looked it up before posting.
On better understanding the backstory, I found the official map (pdf download) to be a big help. I think better when I can place things. This whole battle for the Pontar Valley is center to the game and I think the map provides important context as to why.
Th game throws lots of names and places (some important, some not) at you constantly like you should know them. When it does this I look it up on the map.
Yeah, kingdoms in the Witcher are a bit like characters in Game of Thrones - you’d think they could have left out a few and still have plenty to be going on with.
Yes and the dogs in the streets.
Yea, but you know that’s what I like about the Witcher.
Unlike Mass Effect you’re not trying to save the galaxy. You’re just trying to get your friends and your ass the fuck out of harms way.
The depth of the back story makes the player feel small to the grander schemes being plotted by the big dogs. I dig it. Feels more real this way.
Geralt is like a mix of Caine from Kungfu and John Marston from RDR. You’re a badass but still a bug on the windshield of “progress”.
It’s actually one of the little flaws of the game, it will give you dozens of lesser or common mutagens but they have no use, or at least you shouldn’t use them, as the slots for mutagens are very few and you can’t respec.
Timex
3033
Picked this game up yesterday for the 360, and it definitely feels solid.
I’m playing it on “Dark”, and it took a little while to get the hang of the combat. I died a lot. A LOT. But the promise of extra quests and items was too tempting to pass up.
I don’t really regret it, although there was a point where I was wondering if maybe I had made a mistake. Once I kind of got the hang of things, I stopped dying a million times. Also, loading a saved game is quite fast, so even the dying isn’t terrible (once you learn to save your game constantly).
One thing that definitely makes it rough is the fact that you really can’t ever truly “block” stuff… seems like it’s much more about dodging and maneuvering. I mean, I can choose to try and block, but I’m still gonna take a decent chunk of damage, especially if I’ve used magic recently. This isn’t a bad thing at all, but took a bit of getting used to.
There is an ability to improve the damage reduction when you block. But from what I have heard, in Dark Mode is better to roll away.
Does that (blocking with less damage) rely on something up the character skill tree?
Yes. It’s in the sword branch.
There is also the “parrying” ability in the Training tree, the second level says "Damage reduction while parrying with full Vigor 100% "
BDGE
3038
Many would never realize that during the prologue sections, the game gives freebie weapons(bombs, traps) in your inventory to equip. These are immensely useful for those opening hours on Dark difficulty. They even replenish each time a new section starts in your inventory.
Of course, it is also very helpful to get accustomed to magic and combat in general. But tossing a couple bombs at the 5 troops guarding the ballista is a lot less strenuous than taking them all on with the puny abilities you start with.
Timex
3039
I’m totally digging this game at this point. It’s still pretty crazy hard, mainly in that a lot more preparation is required for combat… and you need to think a lot more about what’s going on. But I think this is the biggest strength of the game.
Overall, it’s a lot of fun. One thing I’m running into is that my inventory is filling up, but now I’ve gotten to places where there are vendors I can sell stuff to, so that’s not as big an issue.
I’ve been making heavy use of the mind-control sign, which is a common theme for me in every game where you can control enemies… I tend to always keep an enemy under control, so that they can distract some enemies while also damaging them, taking a lot of heat off me. I’m not sure if this is the most effective way to go, but it seems to work pretty well. The other sign I tend to use is the one that force-pushes folks and knocks them down. I don’t really use the other ones much.
You also have universal storage chests in all chapters of the game for excess inventory.
