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I'll echo everything above, but it's also worth noting that the BaW story is relatively disconnected from the rest of Witcher 3. It isn't as self-contained as HoS, but it's entirely possible to start it, decide it's not for you, and then return to it in a month or three. Even starting it then, it's not like trying to take a 3 month break from the main game, and then return hoping you remember what your most recent activities were, and what your next steps would be.
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Jan 3, 2023 05:32
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Arc Hammer posted:There should be an option in the gameplay menu that makes you automatically draw your sword at the start of combat rather than doing it manually. There is, thanks, just found it
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Jan 3, 2023 05:34
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hey alexaa look up witcher 3 real crone rule34
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Jan 3, 2023 05:45
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Got through the fight I was dreading most on Death March, Ciri vs the Crones. Cut it pretty close but managed to pull it off. Always feels like such a relief to be back in control of Geralt again after a Ciri section, with all the tools and skills I've come to rely on.
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Jan 3, 2023 06:11
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I know what that guy upthread means about burnout, the first time I played W3 it clicked so hard I played like 10 hours a day for two weeks straight and never did B&W because of it. This time I'm pacing myself so that doesn't happen again, so despite only getting through Keira Metz handful of quests I'm taking a little break before going hard on the Crones/Baron/etc. Here's a few screencaps/thoughts on Geralt and Keira's excellent adventure:  F-f-f-frozen golems?? The dungeon you explore with Keira is one of the few 'proper' dungeons in the game, with little side rooms and optional loot and trick puzzles. Only most of these are just a room where you fight a foglet or a golem or something and combat is not the game's strength, so most of it falls flat. Though I kinda like that you fight the Wild Hunt this one time and then don't see them again for another 60+ hours.  A towerful of mice. If White Orchard is a tutorial on general mechanics, Fyke Island feels like a tutorial on how bad you can gently caress things up by making the wrong choices. Like if you're not paying attention refusing to help the tower ghost seems like the 'mean' option, and pressing Keira in the wrong way can end up with you accidentally murdering her, whereas before this most quests generally work out in your favor. Its a pretty nice way to ease you into the game's ethical dilemmas.  Geralt furrowing his brow at the discarded dress. Keira is also the 'starter' romance to let you know its okay to have flings with random hotties and it won't actually mess up your relationship with Yen/Triss. The first time I played I assumed this was just a gameplay conceit and then I read the novels and no, Yen and Geralt cheat on each other all the time.
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Jan 3, 2023 07:36
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Question. Is there a way to edit plot flags using the console? On my first playthrough I got witcheress Ciri but on this playthrough I had planned on taking her to the emperor so she could become empress at the end, but I'm just finishing up Final Preparations and completely forgot to take her. DOH. I'd just want to change the plot flag that says I took her to see Emhyr. Yeah, I know I can just look that ending up on youtube but it's not the same. 
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Jan 3, 2023 14:24
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Wolfsheim posted:Keira is also the 'starter' romance to let you know its okay to have flings with random hotties and it won't actually mess up your relationship with Yen/Triss. The first time I played I assumed this was just a gameplay conceit and then I read the novels and no, Yen and Geralt cheat on each other all the time. Yeah, the reason the Triss thing is a much bigger deal is that is a full blown relationship AND is one of Yen's close friends. Neither of them will be too excited over flings given they are apart for long periods of time often and up until the events of the game cannot put a shared life life together.
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Jan 3, 2023 15:08
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ShakeZula posted:Always feels like such a relief to be back in control of Geralt again after a Ciri section, with all the tools and skills I've come to rely on. Except for the bit leading up to Ciri's fight aganst Caranthir, which is the ultimate power fantasy in the game. So satisfying. And people who don't think B&W is all that great clearly picked the Orianna path (which has its own payoff when you go and revisit one of the earliest game trailers from 2015, "A night to remember" after finishing). "Beyond Hill and Dale" is the best setpiece/side quest area in any game ever for me.
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Jan 3, 2023 15:16
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mcbexx posted:Except for the bit leading up to Ciri's fight aganst Caranthir, which is the ultimate power fantasy in the game. So satisfying. that being optional is a choice I've never agreed with. the main pathway should just have both that and the Orianna storlyline, because both are so good and cool and a lot of players might not ever replay the DLC that is soft gated after a huge game. yes i know you can just start a new save there, but how many people truly do that?
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Jan 3, 2023 15:31
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I'm pretty sure you can do all the Orianna stuff and then just tell Regis you changed your mind and do Beyond Hill and Dale, right? I feel like that's what I did last time
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Jan 3, 2023 15:35
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I just started Blood and Wine myself and initially thought something was wrong with my display settings because of the color tone
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Jan 3, 2023 17:24
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NieR Occomata posted:Whoever loving thought the crones fight was a good idea should be punched in the loving dick. Yeah just did Ciri vs Crones yesterday and it was by far the most difficult fight of the game to that point. Oddly enough I don't even remember this from my first playthrough, is it possible that earlier choices in the Crones storyline change what happens here?
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Jan 3, 2023 18:06
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WoodrowSkillson posted:that being optional is a choice I've never agreed with. the main pathway should just have both that and the Orianna storlyline, because both are so good and cool and a lot of players might not ever replay the DLC that is soft gated after a huge game. yes i know you can just start a new save there, but how many people truly do that? That’s their loss for not replaying. I wish MORE RPGs had diverging paths and cool new things to see on subsequent playthroughs, not less. The idea that I need to experience all of a game’s content in one playthrough is definitely not my preference. It’s what makes games like Skyrim so bland.
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Jan 3, 2023 18:34
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chaosapiant posted:That’s their loss for not replaying. I wish MORE RPGs had diverging paths and cool new things to see on subsequent playthroughs, not less. The idea that I need to experience all of a game’s content in one playthrough is definitely not my preference. It’s what makes games like Skyrim so bland. in general i agree, the 2 storylines in B&W though are so good it just sucks that a bunch of people never see one or the other. like it sucks to think someone never sees beyond hill and dale
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Jan 3, 2023 18:42
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I've got way too many hours in this single player game, and gods help me I'm half tempted to buy it on PS5 and play through it again. Also, if nothing else start up Blood and Wine to do the Equine Phantoms quest. 10 Beers fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Jan 3, 2023 |
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Jan 3, 2023 18:59
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Got the mutation that lets Aard freeze enemies, which also has the side effect of making Aard do an insane amount of damage, which has the even better side effect of making anyone killed by Aard explode into chunks of gore. Combine that with me having a lot of cleanup to do in Velen, and you get a pretty excellent afternoon of Geralt walking into a bandit or pirate encampment, thrusting out his hand, and then watching an entire group of thieves just turn into a rain of body parts. 
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Jan 3, 2023 19:05
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Honestly the secret elder vampire is loving nothing compared to the alternative which is a whole separate area with multiple sidequests. I chose the elder vampire the first time around because I thought it'd be like some secret throne room instead of an empty cave with a couple interdimensional physics weirdness bits. Might be a little interesting if you're into that, but it really pales in comparison. The alternate dimension bits in the main game were pretty interesting and might be nice to see a game focus on that sort of thing, but don't really fit with the rest of the game.
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Jan 3, 2023 20:34
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Blood and Wine is the ending Geralt earned after three games of being treated like poo poo. I love the idea of him retiring in a place where people actually treat him like a person
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Jan 3, 2023 20:52
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I think them being something you only see at the very edges of the known, mundane universe was pretty sweet though. Like 10 steps away from the baba yaga swamp hut is this churning vortex of impossible physics. Moreso with the late game vignettes with the elf guy, like you said, but the vampire lair being very metaphysically weird in a way that doesn't feel routine for Geralt was a cool idea. Maybe the execution didn't end up feeling as intense as it should because you'd just played 120 hours of the game
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Jan 3, 2023 20:54
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Had a couple days off from my Witcher 1 playthrough but I'm absolutely mindblown by the Lady of the Lake "romance" and the one woman who just yells TAKE ME ON THE NEAREST ROCK. I continue on because I know a (slightly) less horny Geralt awaits.
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Jan 3, 2023 21:50
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Nobody Interesting posted:Had a couple days off from my Witcher 1 playthrough but I'm absolutely mindblown by the Lady of the Lake "romance" and the one woman who just yells TAKE ME ON THE NEAREST ROCK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJLJvlMFgpA
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Jan 3, 2023 21:59
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Importing my Witcher 1 save to add every sexual conquest to Geralt's Gwent deck
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Jan 3, 2023 22:00
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Hobo Clown posted:Importing my Witcher 1 save to add every sexual conquest to Geralt's Gwent deck 
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Jan 3, 2023 22:49
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chaosapiant posted:That’s their loss for not replaying. I wish MORE RPGs had diverging paths and cool new things to see on subsequent playthroughs, not less. The idea that I need to experience all of a game’s content in one playthrough is definitely not my preference. It’s what makes games like Skyrim so bland. From a design standpoint it's a net loser though. You're pouring work, art and man-hours into something half the players probably won't ever see (assuming a simple fork, and a 50/50 distribution). That was how Witcher 2 was, which was daring ; but I'm not sure how many players saw both paths. Or enjoyed the game *more* or *because* it had these two dramatically different halves. Art and Industry very much at odds, there. AcidCat posted:Yeah just did Ciri vs Crones yesterday and it was by far the most difficult fight of the game to that point. Oddly enough I don't even remember this from my first playthrough, is it possible that earlier choices in the Crones storyline change what happens here? To me the issue isn't really that it's difficult (although it is), but also it takes FOR loving EVER. It's a sidebit. Don't put bullet sponges in sidebits, devs. (If they wanted to emphasize how crazy dangerous the Crones are, they should have given them flashy attacks and/or one-hit kills. Not buckets of hitpoints.)
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Jan 3, 2023 22:54
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Somewhat related, but as a book late-reader ; W3 was so jarring to me back then. Like for 2 games they go hard on the "horny witcher will gently caress everything that moves and/or moans convincingly ; and also Triss ship is real" and then out of seemingly nowhere the intro & Emhyr bits establish that "Oh yeah no, but his/your akshual true love is some bint you've only heard about in a finale cutscene you sort of half-remember, maybe ? Oh, and you both have a kid together, that's a Thing, it's the most important Thing in either of your lives akshully. That's a fact as of now, just, just roll with it."
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Jan 3, 2023 23:03
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For as much as it gets talked about as a choice, it's definitely true that the game seemingly wants and expects you to romance Yen instead of Triss. I played 3 as my first exposure to the Witcher universe, so while it wasn't too jarring for me on my initial run I was definitely surprised when I went back and played 2 how important Triss was to Geralt and how Yen never even came up at all until the very end.
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Jan 3, 2023 23:36
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The Witcher’s combat fails during combat against large hp enemies (because it just becomes jamming on one button for hours, maybe with a dodge thrown in there every once in a while) and it sucks against multiple enemies at once, especially enemies with ranged attacks, especially enemies that can just evade damage constantly- the consistently worst fights in the game are the ones where the enemy is able to dodge/teleport out of the way and it turns into keep away. The Crones have literally all of these things. Ed: Also you’re Ciri who although nimbler and honestly more fun to play than Geralt’s slow boring rear end, she doesn’t have any of the things Geralt does to trivialize the tougher/more tedious fights. hopefully in whatever Witcher 4 they do they just turn the combat into dmc and focus more on the strengths of playing as Ciri over just the ciri-flavored weaker Geralt we had in 3. NieR Occomata fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Jan 3, 2023 |
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Jan 3, 2023 23:54
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NieR Occomata posted:The Witcher’s combat fails during combat against large hp enemies (because it just becomes jamming on one button for hours, maybe with a dodge thrown in there every once in a while) and it sucks against multiple enemies at once, especially enemies with ranged attacks, especially enemies that can just evade damage constantly- the consistently worst fights in the game are the ones where the enemy is able to dodge/teleport out of the way and it turns into keep away. The Crones have literally all of these things. Yea but you fight the crones with Ciri, who has her own magical teleport and “stab everyone” move that is quite effective.
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Jan 3, 2023 23:58
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NieR Occomata posted:hopefully in whatever Witcher 4 they do they just turn the combat into dmc and focus more on the strengths of playing as Ciri over just the ciri-flavored weaker Geralt we had in 3. In Witcher 4 I expect using light attack will just catapult you into the stratosphere and/or make the scenery melt half the time. #Witcher2077.
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Jan 4, 2023 01:01
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NieR Occomata posted:The Witcher’s combat fails during combat against large hp enemies (because it just becomes jamming on one button for hours, maybe with a dodge thrown in there every once in a while) and it sucks against multiple enemies at once, especially enemies with ranged attacks, especially enemies that can just evade damage constantly- the consistently worst fights in the game are the ones where the enemy is able to dodge/teleport out of the way and it turns into keep away. The Crones have literally all of these things. Hmm, maybe you are not doing something right. Large single-entity monsters are among the easiest and fastest foes to beat. Unless you have a truly terrible build or not doing the bestiary lookups these things typically have very predictable attack patterns, telegraphed windup animations, and well-defined downtime so you know exactly how many swings you can take before you dodge and repeat another combo. Unless you are severely underleveled or undergeared, even on DM, most large monsters should take no more than 4 to 5 combos, maybe 6 or 7 for truly high HP sponges as long as you got your oiled applied and your build isn't poo poo. For perma evade monsters, it is usually a matter of identifying either Yrden or Aard to disable them and get in with a sword combo for a third of their health or more. Often times they immediately counterattack after x blows so you literally hit them x times immediately dodge and launch into the next combo or if you have signs build you can chain the disabling sign and then continuously hack at them till they die. The worst offenders in Witcher combat imo are actually the large mobs of humanoids or dogs/wolves since the camera angle isn't well suited to seeing what is behind you and they can come in rather quickly with a charge attack that staggers. Bowmen are especially obnoxious since you need to see the shot in advance to parry the arrow so I usually roll my way to them and take them out first. NieR Occomata posted:Ed: Also you’re Ciri who although nimbler and honestly more fun to play than Geralt’s slow boring rear end, she doesn’t have any of the things Geralt does to trivialize the tougher/more tedious fights. hopefully in whatever Witcher 4 they do they just turn the combat into dmc and focus more on the strengths of playing as Ciri over just the ciri-flavored weaker Geralt we had in 3. The circle teleport attack just owns the Crones though. The issue is more of the fact that you don't have access to heal effects like Swallow or White Rafford's so if you gently caress up and get hit on DM, you have to be really careful or the next hit might kill you. I do agree the Crones in general have a bit too much HP on DM that slows down the fight.
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Jan 4, 2023 01:13
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ShakeZula posted:For as much as it gets talked about as a choice, it's definitely true that the game seemingly wants and expects you to romance Yen instead of Triss. I played 3 as my first exposure to the Witcher universe, so while it wasn't too jarring for me on my initial run I was definitely surprised when I went back and played 2 how important Triss was to Geralt and how Yen never even came up at all until the very end. In the end, even in my first W3 playthrough I went Yen because, dammit, they just *click* together, don't they ? Tribute to the writers I suppose. That or an undiagnosed Mommy Dom thing on my part.
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Jan 4, 2023 01:15
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I did think it was kind of weird that for the first half of the game, the Wild Hunt was this looming threat that could strike anywhere at any time, but after Kaer Morhen they just kinda... leave you alone. Nobody even brings up the possibility they will attack again, everyone just goes about their business like it's not even a concern. The endgame is literally about forcing them to show up again, which they apparently do not want to do, despite the fact that the last time they were here, they pretty much kicked everybody's asses and would've won if Ciri hadn't gone into the Avatar state.
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Jan 4, 2023 04:12
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Now that I think about it, that is really weird. It’s also what makes the imo pacing mistake of the 8 hours or so between Kaer Mohren and the end of the game more damning, because if they know exactly where Ciri is, where she’s going, what she’s doing, as previously established by what the Wild Hunt have been doing all game up until that point, why would they sit back and relax when Ciri is traveling around with a bunch of people whose asses the Wild Hunt just kicked getting more people to fight back? Why didn’t the Wild Hunt attack the ship when it was sailing to Skellige or whatever?
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Jan 4, 2023 04:44
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NieR Occomata posted:Now that I think about it, that is really weird. It’s also what makes the imo pacing mistake of the 8 hours or so between Kaer Mohren and the end of the game more damning, because if they know exactly where Ciri is, where she’s going, what she’s doing, as previously established by what the Wild Hunt have been doing all game up until that point I'm not quite there (again) yet ; but I don't believe they have that ability ? Much like Geralt, they're following her tracks both magical and mundane (to the point where they torture witnesses of her passage once in Velen and once in Skellige) - it's just that, fast travel notwithstanding, being able to teleport all over the place helps a lot when it comes to reaching the next breadcrumb before Geralt & co.
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Jan 4, 2023 15:11
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The in game explanation is that long term, Eredin has some method of tracking her without ability use (never precisely defined as how other than fuzzy feel IIRC). Short term, if Ciri uses teleportation over long distances, she is immediately picked up by Eredin like issuing a sonar blast. If it is short hops (ie combat), she doesn't make enough of a splash to notice. The plot hole in Act 3 is that it made no sense to stay on Kaer Morhen after the attack because they could regroup and hit the location again and is only partially filled by the fact that maybe the Ciri scream hosed the Wild Hunt leaders up and they have to recuperate. Really I agree that they should have found a way to get the Act 3 busy work together with Act 2 (assemble the mages, deny Eredin reinforcements etc) and have Kaer Morhen as the single final battle with the full crew. It wouldn't need the contrived Wild Hunt finds Ciri right as Geralt does and it would make sense to weaken the Wild Hunt prior to triggering the big teleport. Edit: The memory leak that has been forcing me to restart the game every 45 min or so seems to be widely confirmed. Tweet also has potential help for pc users to squeeze more fps on dx12 version via cloth sim. https://twitter.com/kiryukazuma2788/status/1610315012886650884?s=20&t=_o9EVHCMABpSWN3fILnL-A MikeC fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Jan 4, 2023 |
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Jan 4, 2023 15:44
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instead of playing the 10 or 20 or 30 new games i picked up in steam sale i finally got the itch to go back and finish blood and wine here instead. and i just have one question, having farmed a respawning hanse enough to afford it, what on earth was cdprojektred's intended path for getting the sheer amount of cash required to put together grandmaster witcher equipment? i dismantled and crafted everything i possibly could to cut costs and that got me approximately one piece. i feel like the answer must be "sell every crafting ingredient that isn't directly related to the construction of the grandmaster gear", but i feel like even using the merchants in toussaint who pay more for everything that crafting materials sell for tiny amounts and wouldn't even begin to cover the cost.
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Jan 4, 2023 17:54
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Loot everything at bandit camps. There is a fuckton of materials there. Understand that the crafting system is undeniably poo poo and overly complex and that you may have to break down certain items to get base items and recombine them to stuff you need. Some items have multiple sub parts. Ie glowing ore turns into dimerdian ore into bars into enriched etc. Metallic dust can be combined into ores into bars etc. Explore caves in Toussant carefully for B&W only metals that you need. A big one is acid. Multiple monster parts which literally have no use break down into acid which you need.
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Jan 4, 2023 18:02
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I feel like I played exhaustively on my first run, did every quest, looted everything I came across (didn't do all the question marks, but every treasure hunt I found I did), a bunch of selling of the best crafting materials, and had a real hard time affording it. I think I got one or two pieces by the end. Yeah it was strange.
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Jan 4, 2023 18:04
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Cowcaster posted:instead of playing the 10 or 20 or 30 new games i picked up in steam sale i finally got the itch to go back and finish blood and wine here instead. and i just have one question, having farmed a respawning hanse enough to afford it, what on earth was cdprojektred's intended path for getting the sheer amount of cash required to put together grandmaster witcher equipment? i dismantled and crafted everything i possibly could to cut costs and that got me approximately one piece. i feel like the answer must be "sell every crafting ingredient that isn't directly related to the construction of the grandmaster gear", but i feel like even using the merchants in toussaint who pay more for everything that crafting materials sell for tiny amounts and wouldn't even begin to cover the cost. if you played the entire game up to that point, you are normally swimming in cash by toussaint, and have so many materials that you likely can break everything down into constituent parts and craft the gear. I have a save with all the GM armors crafted and i did it without farming hanses
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Jan 4, 2023 18:04
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WoodrowSkillson posted:if you played the entire game up to that point, you are normally swimming in cash by toussaint, and have so many materials that you likely can break everything down into constituent parts and craft the gear. I have a save with all the GM armors crafted and i did it without farming hanses hmm, but: no
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Jan 4, 2023 18:06
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