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[JohnnyFootball]

They got the difficulty balance wayyyyy off for this DLC. I had completed the game on Deathmarch so I decided I wanted to enjoy the DLC and dropped the difficulty down to Just the Story and holy fuck there were several instances were I was still getting one shotted and several enemies could still do more than half damage. I was playing it on NG+ so maybe it was a glitch, but the worst part was when I went into the academy and there was one Witch Hunter who had a skull above his head, the other ones were level 65. That one fucker would one shot me even with Quen and you couldn't block his attacks. I eventually had to just spam Aard and finally killed him.

Man was I pissed. That was harder and cheaper than anything I experienced in my main Deathmarch run.

 

[Respect]

So, in NG+ and finally getting to the hearts of stone DLC...runeright is appearing to be a big waste of money, tested out a few of the enchants and not impressed at all, especially considering it is locking out your rune slots for other buffs.

Am I just trying out the wrong ones or is this the consensus?

Wanted to cross post this here too, see anyone's thoughts.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Wanted to cross post this here too, see anyone's thoughts.

Never used a single one. Was pretty happy with current buffs.

 

[Lingitiz]

Picked back up into this DLC and started the Caretaker boss...why the hell does CDPR think bosses that regenerate health is good design? It's just grindy timewasting bullshit that's tedious and not fun.

While the actual storytelling in this DLC has been fantastic, all the combat sections have just highlighted the combat's weaknesses. The boss fights are just truly awful garbage that are really souring me on the game.

 

[CambriaRising]

Wanted to cross post this here too, see anyone's thoughts.

Yup. Big waste of money IMO.

 

[darkslayer101]

Picked back up into this DLC and started the Caretaker boss...why the hell does CDPR think bosses that regenerate health is good design? It's just grindy timewasting bullshit that's tedious and not fun.

While the actual storytelling in this DLC has been fantastic, all the combat sections have just highlighted the combat's weaknesses. The boss fights are just truly awful garbage that are really souring me on the game.

I think boss regen design deters players from running away from the fight to gain their bearings...

 

[Denton]

Picked back up into this DLC and started the Caretaker boss...why the hell does CDPR think bosses that regenerate health is good design? It's just grindy timewasting bullshit that's tedious and not fun.

While the actual storytelling in this DLC has been fantastic, all the combat sections have just highlighted the combat's weaknesses. The boss fights are just truly awful garbage that are really souring me on the game.

The fight with caretaker was awesome. It wasn't particularly hard to figure out how top beat him, but it was fun and satisfying.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Picked back up into this DLC and started the Caretaker boss...why the hell does CDPR think bosses that regenerate health is good design? It's just grindy timewasting bullshit that's tedious and not fun.

While the actual storytelling in this DLC has been fantastic, all the combat sections have just highlighted the combat's weaknesses. The boss fights are just truly awful garbage that are really souring me on the game.

Best fight in the expansion.
In practical terms the regen means the fight is done in 6 minutes instead of 3.

Get good.

 

[Lingitiz]

Best fight in the expansion.
In practical terms the regen means the fight is done in 6 minutes instead of 3.

Get good.

Ugh with this damn argument.

I never said it was a hard fight. It's just tedious. Although the toad fight was a lot harder my disappointment was more in realizing that the pattern to kill him was incredibly boring.

Same thing here. The boss itself is not particularly difficult but the pattern to beat him is fairly repetitive and boring.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

Ugh with this damn argument.

I never said it was a hard fight. It's just tedious. Although the toad fight was a lot harder my disappointment was more in realizing that the pattern to kill him was incredibly boring.

Same thing here. The boss itself is not particularly difficult but the pattern to beat him is fairly repetitive and boring.

You're supposed to cancel him when he is regenerating health. Or just kill him before he gets a chance to do so.

 

[Coreda]

Wanted to cross post this here too, see anyone's thoughts.

At the mastercrafted level I only bought two enchantments. Can't remember the first I used for my trousers but the second is auto Quen when entering combat which I added to my armorless shirt. Seemed the most useful out of a fairly mediocre offering.

The guy is a rip-off merchant and Geralt is suckered like a fool rather than the streetwise bargaining Witcher he usually is. He should have got a lot more out of that deal than he did. On the bright side he pays well for loot.

 

[Exentryk]

Wanted to cross post this here too, see anyone's thoughts.

Given the price, and the fact that enchantments don't stack with the other runes and glyphs, it makes them a tough sell. Add on to this that most enchantments are quite underwhelming, and it doesn't really make them worth it in the end.

Having said that, if you have the money lying around, there are some decent enchantments. For example, Invigoration increases your damage up to 50% as long as you are at full health AND regening health. Depending on how fast you are regening, you can keep dealing an extra 5-10% damage with every strike. If you wait longer for a strike, then the damage will increase even further. The increase effect only lasts for one strike, and then it restarts the build up. Would have been better if the build up lasted for 10-20 strikes before starting again.

Replenishment is a neat little runeword that after every sign casting and an adrenaline point, gives your sword the spell's attribute. For example, after casting Aard, your sword will have an Aard attribute which will stagger an enemy when you strike it. Quen-sword will heal 50% of the damage dealt to the enemy. Fire-sword will deal burning damage in addition to your normal damage, which can be quite a lot against non fire resistant enemies. It only lasts for one strike though, and it requires an adrenaline point. Would have been better if it lasted for maybe 5-10 strikes, and didn't consume an adrenaline point.

Severance is also fun as it increases your Whirl and Rend range. This is the one that I personally use on both Steel and Silver. The utility of this in battle is more useful to me than some extra damage.

With glyphwords, the ones that change your weight class have potential. But these are currently bugged, so best wait till future patches fix them.

The rest of the enchantments are quite poor in my opinion. What the devs should do is at least make these enchantments stack with the other runes and glyphs, and also make the effects global. So, having one Severance on one sword should apply the effect for both swords. Then these would definitely be worth all of the money.

 

[brau]

can anyone recommend me a good photomode to use for PC? i just got hte game on pc and would like to tinker with the reshade and take awesome pics.

 

[Gibbles17]

So I can't get past [Early Expansion Spoiler]

Spoiler

the end of the wedding with Shani in the boat

.

Display drivers crash every time. I've been dealing with this my whole 170 hours in the game, saving every 5 minutes because the crashes are frequent, but never consistent like this.

Anyone had luck with fixing this? Seems to be widespread. The drivers, not necessarily at that scene.

Doesn't look like this has been answered since you asked but for others in the same boat

Spoiler

, I (and many other Nvidia users) were able to bypass it by dropping all gfx settings to low and disabling all post-processing. Scene does still skip to the end but that's what youtube is for I reckon.

Don't think there's been any word on an official fix which sucks as it is definitely widespread but I was real pumped the fix worked as the DLC is too legit to quit.

Edit: Pretty surprised at all the folks having trouble with the difficulty at high levels. I just beat the xp on DM @ lvl 38 and had no trouble at all. Was rocking maxxed out Ursine set throughout, never used signs outside of the occasional Quen and no potions besides Swallow and Thunderbolt.

Edit2: Why the fuck can't I find the diagrams for certain upgrade sets? I have all but level 2 of Wolf and am missing pretty much all of Feline. Are they scattered throughout the world? Found a few that way but thought the main means of obtaining them was by visiting blacksmiths over and over in hopes they'd be selling them .

 

[Hoplatee]

Edit2: Why the fuck can't I find the diagrams for certain upgrade sets? I have all but level 2 of Wolf and am missing pretty much all of Feline. Are they scattered throughout the world? Found a few that way but thought the main means of obtaining them was by visiting blacksmiths over and over in hopes they'd be selling them .

They are scattered yes. They (smiths) don't sell the diagrams but some of them sell maps that start the quests to track the parts down.

I'm not sure which though. Lindenvale is one I think. 100% sure there is one in Oxenfurt.

Make sure you actually read them. Should show up in your inv. quest tab.

 

[Karl Hawk]

can anyone recommend me a good photomode to use for PC? i just got hte game on pc and would like to tinker with the reshade and take awesome pics.

http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/190/?

This mod got what you need. Keep in mind that you need to have the Debug console enabler in order to do free-cam screenshots

 

[Wagram]

Received my Gwent limited edition in the mail today, and it's awesome! I really hope they decide to sell the other two decks with the next expansion or separately.

Gwent is too damn fun man.

 

[Gibbles17]

They are scattered yes. They (smiths) don't sell the diagrams but some of them sell maps that start the quests to track the parts down.

I'm not sure which though. Lindenvale is one I think. 100% sure there is one in Oxenfurt.

Make sure you actually read them. Should show up in your inv. quest tab.

Thanks for the suggestion. Might have to check Lindenvale, that name doesn't ring a bell, wonder if I've missed it somehow. Also I will /facedesk reaaaally hard if I go home today and find that I've had a few in my inventory I haven't read yet.

I've definitely stumbled across the odd diagram while exploring and frequently make my rounds to every smith I've found to see if they had the maps. Also, I may just be crazy but I'm 99% sure smiths will often sell maps they didn't have before following some kind of progress (maybe crafting more of the witcher sets?). Namely I found the smith in Skellige (the one in the castle thing) was selling a few that he didn't have prior to me crafting some Ursine gear.

 

[RDreamer]

Received my Gwent limited edition in the mail today, and it's awesome! I really hope they decide to sell the other two decks with the next expansion or separately.

Gwent is too damn fun man.

I just got mine to and I'm hoping for the other two decks next, too... Especially since in game I almost never play with these two decks.

 

[Hupsel]

Finished it, loved the expansion. Everything is top notch (except the combat and some of Geralt's movement). Quests were varied, characters were awesome... great price for the amount of content. I still wish they completely redo the games combat for the next entry in the series.

 

[Gibbles17]

Finished it, loved the expansion. Everything is top notch (except the combat and some of Geralt's movement). Quests were varied, characters were awesome... great price for the amount of content. I still wish they completely redo the games combat for the next entry in the series.

Absolutely agreed. ~10 bucks for HoS is a steal and I can't wait for Blood and Wine. Internet says the two expansions are about the same size as all of TW2 which is insane. CDPR right up there with From in terms of the best DLC in the biz.

 

[EatChildren]

Spose I'll post it here. Had a chat with Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (lead quest designer, though I think he got promoted recently) about making quests for Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, lessons learned, etc. Not much in the ways of new info, but it's short and sweet: http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/mateusz-tomaszkiewicz-interview-384123/

 

[brau]

http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/190/?

This mod got what you need. Keep in mind that you need to have the Debug console enabler in order to do free-cam screenshots

Awesome. This is perfect.

Now i have to find a good reshade.

 

[Gibbles17]

Spose I'll post it here. Had a chat with Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (lead quest designer, though I think he got promoted recently) about making quests for Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, lessons learned, etc. Not much in the ways of new info, but it's short and sweet: http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/mateusz-tomaszkiewicz-interview-384123/

Could be because I'm at work but link is dead.

Wrt to mods: Has anyone found or heard of a Skyrim-esque compass to replace the minimap? I'm real bad for tunnel visioning onto the minimap in open-world games ignoring the world itself. Thought Skyrim had it perfect with its setup and would love the same in TW3. Quick google gives me nada with some comments saying it might not even be possible due to some modding restrictions?

Edit: Link working.

 

[Majestad]

Just finished this. What a ride.

Fantastic but sad story. CDPR are the new masters of storytelling and characters.

 

[Lunar15]

Spose I'll post it here. Had a chat with Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (lead quest designer, though I think he got promoted recently) about making quests for Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, lessons learned, etc. Not much in the ways of new info, but it's short and sweet: http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/mateusz-tomaszkiewicz-interview-384123/

Ooh, thanks for this.

Didn't one of the quest designers move over to Guerrilla for Horizon? I'll have to look that up.

 

[Denton]

Spose I'll post it here. Had a chat with Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (lead quest designer, though I think he got promoted recently) about making quests for Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, lessons learned, etc. Not much in the ways of new info, but it's short and sweet: http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/mateusz-tomaszkiewicz-interview-384123/

That was nice. Could have been longer
You have an awesome name.

 

[Exentryk]

Spose I'll post it here. Had a chat with Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (lead quest designer, though I think he got promoted recently) about making quests for Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, lessons learned, etc. Not much in the ways of new info, but it's short and sweet: http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/mateusz-tomaszkiewicz-interview-384123/

Good read. Thanks for sharing.

 

[iNvid02]

Spose I'll post it here. Had a chat with Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (lead quest designer, though I think he got promoted recently) about making quests for Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, lessons learned, etc. Not much in the ways of new info, but it's short and sweet: http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/mateusz-tomaszkiewicz-interview-384123/

theres never enough witcher 3, be it base game, expansions or interviews 😨

 

[Ultimadrago]

Spose I'll post it here. Had a chat with Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (lead quest designer, though I think he got promoted recently) about making quests for Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, lessons learned, etc. Not much in the ways of new info, but it's short and sweet: http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/mateusz-tomaszkiewicz-interview-384123/

Thanks for this!

 

[EatChildren]

Cheers cunts.

That was nice. Could have been longer

Had fuck all time unfortunately. I was late to the interview, thank you Melbourne public transport. I tried to poke for Blood & Wine news, but he wasn't biting.

 

[Karl Hawk]

Somewhat trivial but new info for BaW:
You can expect to meet some characters you read about in the books

Fingers crossed for Fringilla Vigo and Anna Henrietta

 

[Braag]

Finally finished all the quests in the expansion, a lot of quality conent.
I really liked the characters involved in the main quest and it kept me interested from beginning to end.
Now I'm really looking forward to the next expansion.

 

[Impulsor]

Some advice here please. I started playing this game now, left it at the big city when it released.

the combat... I don't really find it enjoyable. Am I doing something wrong here?

 

[Denton]

Somewhat trivial but new info for BaW:
You can expect to meet some characters you read about in the books

Fingers crossed for Fringilla Vigo and Anna Henrietta

Man, the guy in that QA blew an opportunity..it still got answered, but I would like to hear specific thoughts. I am talking about the question where he asked that his problem with TW3 was that sometimes you had the option to leave or fight mortally, and he wanted to just knock enemies down. I am sure he talked about Dijkstra and it is a shame he did not specify that. Matteusz said they knew about this but didn't have a game mechanic developed that would allow it and would not have time to develop one, but dammit. Such a shame.

Some advice here please. I started playing this game now, left it at the big city when it released.

the combat... I don't really find it enjoyable. Am I doing something wrong here?

That's like the least specific question ever.

What do you not find enjoyable ? I played on Blood and broken bones difficulty and had fun with it. It is fast, responsive and fairly faithful to the combat as described in the books.

 

[Impulsor]

That's like the least specific question ever.

What do you not find enjoyable ? I played on Blood and broken bones difficulty and had fun with it. It is fast, responsive and fairly faithful to the combat as described in the books.

True. Sorry, I'll elaborate.

I kinda find the combat too simple, if you know what I mean. Button Mashing has carried me since I started playing, some dodges and parries, but mostly button mashing.

Maybe its just a visceral sensation. Visually, the combat is awesome of course, you watch the moves he makles and they are awesome. But yeah, as I said, I'm not sure it can be helped. I was hoping I was doing something wrong.

 

[Denton]

True. Sorry, I'll elaborate.

I kinda find the combat too simple, if you know what I mean. Button Mashing has carried me since I started playing, some dodges and parries, but mostly button mashing.

Maybe its just a visceral sensation. Visually, the combat is awesome of course, you watch the moves he makles and they are awesome. But yeah, as I said, I'm not sure it can be helped. I was hoping I was doing something wrong.

Hmm not sure what to do about this criticism, personally on blood and broken bones and death march I could not just button mash, but also used various signs and skills, potions, bombs etc, it was fun.

 

[Rubixcuba]

Spoiler

The wedding

is the finest most humorous section of video game I have played in a long, long time. This DLC is incredible, does an amazing job of fleshing out Geralt's personality.

 

[Zaheer]

Gwent set finally came in the mail today.

 

[misho8723]

Playing this after the main story, and even though it's really great and well made, all the time all I can think about is, that basically all the main characters from the main story are gone.. Shani and all other characters introduced by this DLC are great, but no Zoltan, Yen, Triss, Dandelion, Ciri, etc. is just too much distracting and frustrating.. the world after the main story should be set after her, not before the end.. the world of the game feels really empty without those characters.. and the journal entry doesn't even have a closing summary of the fate of those characters, which is another problem that I have after completing the main story..

But as the DLC goes, yeah, it's pretty great

 

[Jay Shadow]

Playing this after the main story, and even though it's really great and well made, all the time all I can think about is, that basically all the main characters from the main story are gone..

I guess I'm just used to the books where everyone travels a lot and the characters don't see each other for months or years at a time, so it didn't really bother me.

 

[misho8723]

I guess I'm just used to the books where everyone travels a lot and the characters don't see each other for months or years at a time, so it didn't really bother me.

Hmmmm... after I played TW1 (which was in 2009 I think), I have read all the short stories and the novels and after that TW2 was released.. last year and this year I read again some of the books again, but still.. just the feeling that you know how everyone ends at the end of the main story and now I'm basically alone in there.. why there's no one on Kaer Morhen? Where's my love Yennefer? My friends Dandelion, Zoltan or Triss ? My long missing daughter Ciri? .. it feels as the ending was just a "dream" by Geralt.. as it doesn't have any meaning - as if it had not happened.. they could handle this better.. and no dialog options about Yen, Triss, Ciri or Dandelion with Shani is somewhat strange too

 

[Denton]

Playing this after the main story, and even though it's really great and well made, all the time all I can think about is, that basically all the main characters from the main story are gone.. Shani and all other characters introduced by this DLC are great, but no Zoltan, Yen, Triss, Dandelion, Ciri, etc. is just too much distracting and frustrating.. the world after the main story should be set after her, not before the end.. the world of the game feels really empty without those characters.. and the journal entry doesn't even have a closing summary of the fate of those characters, which is another problem that I have after completing the main story..

But as the DLC goes, yeah, it's pretty great

Didn't bother me at all. I was like, Yennefer is in Vengerberg, Ciri in Nilfgaard, and good old Geralt is again on the Path. Checks the notice board, and off we go.

 

[Coreda]

Playing this after the main story, and even though it's really great and well made, all the time all I can think about is, that basically all the main characters from the main story are gone.. the world after the main story should be set after her, not before the end..

Not sure it would have worked well with every ending though, let alone all the NPC dialog, etc that needs to be considered. The thing is the expansion can be played either during the game or post-completion. Many are playing it after finishing the main game but there would be others who have either started from the expansion with a preset Geralt or are in the middle of the main storyline. So not everyone is experiencing the events at the same time. I expect they wanted to keep things simple and just focus on a single story.

With the ending I had the post-game

Spoiler

(Geralt in vacation mode and Ciri on the Witcher path)

I could more easily reconcile the feeling of coming back into world and continuing with other quests. Still, there is that divide after being away from the other characters. I can remember trying the debug console for the first time and spawning Ciri. Immediately felt an emotional connection, was strange seeing her again just standing there.

 

[illusionary]

Playing this after the main story, and even though it's really great and well made, all the time all I can think about is, that basically all the main characters from the main story are gone.. Shani and all other characters introduced by this DLC are great, but no Zoltan, Yen, Triss, Dandelion, Ciri, etc. is just too much distracting and frustrating.. the world after the main story should be set after her, not before the end.. the world of the game feels really empty without those characters.. and the journal entry doesn't even have a closing summary of the fate of those characters, which is another problem that I have after completing the main story..

Looking back on the expansion after completing the main questline a couple of days ago, yeah, I can see where you're coming from. I think the relative finality of the main game endings probably makes that inevitable. Regardless, the expansion content has been superb, well worth the cost (including the physical Gwent cards!) and I'll be eagerly awaiting Blood and Wine now.

I 100%ed the trophies just last night (main game and expansion)... but I'm still somehow compelled to do some more question mark hunting in Skellige! If nothing else, reaching level 39 (I'm currently 38) for that sword feels mandatory!

 

[Meccanical]

The expansion is pretty much just like the series in the sense that's it's a short story.

The main game was the novel.

 

[Zomba13]

Picked back up into this DLC and started the Caretaker boss...why the hell does CDPR think bosses that regenerate health is good design? It's just grindy timewasting bullshit that's tedious and not fun.

While the actual storytelling in this DLC has been fantastic, all the combat sections have just highlighted the combat's weaknesses. The boss fights are just truly awful garbage that are really souring me on the game.

Just finished this earlier and yeah, great story that is told very well but the combat is just a highlight reel of everything wrong with the combat system.

 

[Karl Hawk]

Just finished this earlier and yeah, great story that is told very well but the combat is just a highlight reel of everything wrong with the combat system.

Let's be honest, vanilla Death March was a joke once you are at level 15 or even lower. The difficulty curve becomes fucked. The bosses in vanilla themselves aren't challenging by any means.

So when I see people complaining about the HoS bosses being too hard and tedious on Death March, it frustrates me because it shows that even when CDPR willingly made the hardest difficulties a challenge in the expansion, they get some people crying for nerfs

I feel like every time someone complains about DM difficulty being too hard, they should just lower the difficulty instead of demanding for nerfs.

Now, don't get me wrong, some bosses were frustrating like the wraith. I'm just giving a point of view of why Death March should be challenging rather than too easy.

 

[SlickVic]

Ugh, my physical Gwent card order appears to have gone from an ETA of 11/9 to TBD. Ordered it on 10/13. Hope they're still making more and they're not just going to cancel the order.

 

[His Majesty]

Picked back up into this DLC and started the Caretaker boss...why the hell does CDPR think bosses that regenerate health is good design? It's just grindy timewasting bullshit that's tedious and not fun.

While the actual storytelling in this DLC has been fantastic, all the combat sections have just highlighted the combat's weaknesses. The boss fights are just truly awful garbage that are really souring me on the game.

The boss fights are excellent, only one I didn't like was the wraith. You can disrupt his health regeneration by the way.