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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone |OT| Heroes of Gwent

Ricker

Member
Really...? a fucking quest on a timer...? after close to 100 hours of playing,improving my gear,skills,etc etc I am getting a fucking Game over,literally,because of a quest on a timer...shm,jesus christ.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
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.

Yeah, I beat the game on deathmarch and it was rarely too hard. However, the DLC was very unbalanced in that there were a few enemies that could one-shot me even with the difficulty set on Just the Story. I certainly made it through, but for the difficulty being set at something that wasn't supposed to be a challenge, I was surprised at how often I was challenged. I had one instance in the DLC that was far more frustrating and aggravating that anything on my deathmarch run in the main game. I was playing on NG+ and maybe it was a glitch, but towards the end of the expansion you go inside the Oxenfurt academy and there are level 65 witchhunters AND there was one witchhunter that had a skull above him and even with a fully cast Quen, he could still one shot me when I was at level 68. You also couldn't block or counter his attacks. After about seven deaths and much raging over how cheap and frustrating it was I finally took the bastard down by spamming Aard. I am certain it may have been a glitch though.
 

burgerdog

Member
Really...? a fucking quest on a timer...? after close to 100 hours of playing,improving my gear,skills,etc etc I am getting a fucking Game over,literally,because of a quest on a timer...shm,jesus christ.

I had to look up a youtube video. Quests on a timer are some of the dumbest things in video games.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Really...? a fucking quest on a timer...? after close to 100 hours of playing,improving my gear,skills,etc etc I am getting a fucking Game over,literally,because of a quest on a timer...shm,jesus christ.
If you're talking about the quest I think you're talking about, why it is a big deal? Its not like the save doesn't reload if you fail
 

PFD

Member
Really...? a fucking quest on a timer...? after close to 100 hours of playing,improving my gear,skills,etc etc I am getting a fucking Game over,literally,because of a quest on a timer...shm,jesus christ.

First try I explored all the pathways and found out where to go, second try I made a beeline to the objective. It's really not that bad
 

Lingitiz

Member
Finished the DLC up finally. I appreciate that CDPR tried experimenting with a lot of different things here. New bosses, different types of quest gameplay like the party and reconstructing scenes, and just having such a different tone than the main game.

Not all of it hit. I didn't enjoy some of the bosses and I thought the last quest was a drag. Even though the bosses had fairly interesting patterns to learn and fight through, they were designed in a somewhat frustrating way that goes against the mobility you're allowed. I rarely ever found myself slogging through fights in the main game but I did feel like combat was a bit of a chore here. But overall a great DLC and a standard setter for the rest of the industry. Blood and Wine might as well be a new game if we're going by this.
 
Really...? a fucking quest on a timer...? after close to 100 hours of playing,improving my gear,skills,etc etc I am getting a fucking Game over,literally,because of a quest on a timer...shm,jesus christ.

Yeah, didn't like that. Especially when it culminates in a puzzle that you're only likely to get to as the timer's ticking its last ticks. I ended up looking at a walkthrough, because the pressure of a timer is anathema to trying to work out a puzzle that involves steering Geralt's unresponsive ass around tight confines :p

That bit, and a couple of moments exploring the "Scenes from a Marriage" manor that was just too fucking dark to see the spectres I was trying to fight in, are the only sore spots for me in an absolutely wonderful 17ish hours of Hearts of Stone-ing. Fell in love with my GOTY of the year all over again. Hearts of Stone felt like it was exclusively populated with that specific kind of quest that sticks with you above all the dozens of others you've experienced in a normal playthrough; just all killer, no filler. I can't wait to see what they do with Blood and Wine.
 
Really...? a fucking quest on a timer...? after close to 100 hours of playing,improving my gear,skills,etc etc I am getting a fucking Game over,literally,because of a quest on a timer...shm,jesus christ.

The least you could do is at least mention what the quest is, because I sure as heck don't remember a quest with a timer.
 
Think he meant the one where
you must beat Gaunter O'Dimm at his own game

I really hope that's not what he's referring to, because that would be so stupid. The timer adds so much to that level. It's supposed to be stressful. And even then, I finished it with about half the time left, so they do give you a lot of time.
 
Think he meant the one where
you must beat Gaunter O'Dimm at his own game

Oh. It makes sense, it's a section without combat, so the only challenge is that timer. You eliminate it, you eliminate all the challenge. I did it on my second try, which would mean that quest was easier than most of the boss fights where I died 4-6 times.
 
Just completed, overall it was excellent especially for the price.

The bosses were hard as shit but each one had something that could be exploited to get a win if you tried hard enough.

The ending sequence made me feel smart.
 

Ricker

Member
I really hope that's not what he's referring to, because that would be so stupid. The timer adds so much to that level. It's supposed to be stressful. And even then, I finished it with about half the time left, so they do give you a lot of time.

They do once you figure out a few things to reach the goal faster but it took me 2 tries and the loading screen doesnt help the situation,also I kept it vague because this is not a spoiler thread....but anyway,I got it after 2 tries so yeah,but I just hate stuff like this for the reason I mentionned initially and what a few others said...stressful can be done in a lot of other ways then this...like you know,a hard Boss fight like the Caretaker etc etc...
 
They do once you figure out a few things to reach the goal faster but it took me 2 tries and the loading screen doesnt help the situation,also I kept it vague because this is not a spoiler thread....but anyway,I got it after 2 tries so yeah,but I just hate stuff like this for the reason I mentionned initially and what a few others said...stressful can be done in a lot of other ways then this...like you know,a hard Boss fight like the Caretaker etc etc...

Man, I had no idea what I was doing. I was mostly running around going "omg, holy shit". And I still did it first try with half of the time left. So long as you don't stop and fight everything, it really is a piece of cake. I can see it from your perspective, but I can't agree that it was poorly designed in any aspect. The whole point of it was the timer. It was a unique and interesting fight.

Also, you can post spoilers in this thread too, as long as you use spoiler tags. You can use spoiler tags by writing [*spoiler] without the asterisk.
 
Sorry if this has been asked before but considering all the patches this game has gone through, which version performs better? Xbox One or Ps4?
 

Exentryk

Member
Thanks to this i was able to turn a level 78 archgriffin into confetti.

Nice! That build was for NG, but looks like it works decently in NG+ too. The aard intensity would need to be a lot higher to knock down every enemy though, so might need some tweaks in NG+.
 

DarkFlame

Banned
So actually depending on your choice the
puzzle quest with O Dimm is entirely optional? I mean i chose to save Olgierd,but I thought that if didn't choose it you'd somehow be forced to play it either way coz it seemed really well crafted.Damn CD Project is amazing
 

illusionary

Member
So actually depending on your choice the
puzzle quest with O Dimm is entirely optional? I mean i chose to save Olgierd,but I thought that if didn't choose it you'd somehow be forced to play it either way coz it seemed really well crafted.Damn CD Project is amazing

Indeed. The quest rewards are entirely different as well.
 

MrOogieBoogie

BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Figured I'd get quicker responses ITT than in the performance thread.

I just got this game and was wondering if it's running as well as it can on my system.

i3-2100
GTX 960 2GB
8GB RAM

VSync: Off
Maximum Frames Per Second: Unlimited
Resolution: 1680x1050
Display Mode: Full Screen
NVIDIA HairWorks: Off
Number of Background Characters: Ultra
Shadow Quality: Medium
Terrain Quality: Ultra
Water Quality: High
Grass Density: Ultra
Texture Quality: Ultra
Foliage Visibility Range: High
Detail Level: Ultra
Hardware Cursor: On

Motion Blur: On
Blur: On
Anti-aliasing: On
Bloom: On
Sharpening: Low
Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
Depth of Field: On
Chromatic Aberration: Off
Vignetting: On
Light Shafts: On

Averaging 50-60fps, although I've played only a tiny portion of the beginning. Getting some tearing during cutscenes.

What's everyone's opinion of vignetting? Should I turn it on or off? What other settings should I adjust for optimal performance?
 
Figured I'd get quicker responses ITT than in the performance thread.

I just got this game and was wondering if it's running as well as it can on my system.

i3-2100
GTX 960 2GB
8GB RAM



Averaging 50-60fps, although I've played only a tiny portion of the beginning. Getting some tearing during cutscenes.

What's everyone's opinion of vignetting? Should I turn it on or off? What other settings should I adjust for optimal performance?

You can bump down Grass Density to high.
 

Exentryk

Member
Yeah, grass density to medium even. You don't notice it after a while unless you actively look for it. Turn on Vsync. For Vignetting, I turn it off.
 

Dr.Acula

Banned
Figured I'd get quicker responses ITT than in the performance thread.

I just got this game and was wondering if it's running as well as it can on my system.

i3-2100
GTX 960 2GB
8GB RAM



Averaging 50-60fps, although I've played only a tiny portion of the beginning. Getting some tearing during cutscenes.

What's everyone's opinion of vignetting? Should I turn it on or off? What other settings should I adjust for optimal performance?

Vignetting is a minor minor hit, it makes the edges of the screen darker, like in a film, I like it personally.

nVidia has a really good break-down of all the options and their performance impacts.

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/gu...-hunt-graphics-performance-and-tweaking-guide

I would bump textures down from Ultra because you only have a 2 gig card.
 

Karl Hawk

Banned
>Tfw that your OT is going to be transferred to community section

sad.png
 

Wagram

Member
Question about enchanting: If I put a buff such as preservation on one sword does it count for all weapons and armor or that sword alone?

Pretty sure it's universal for all stuff.
 
Though I don't know if this is the right time or place to post this. After having played Fallout 4 for over 20 hrs. I can safely say The Witcher 3 is without a doubt my GOTY for 2015. I can't claim to have played everything released this year, but I've played most of the big games and for me personally this is my clear number one. The scale, combined with the consistent beauty of the world throughout, the story, the characters, the graphics! This game has it all and although it has its' fair number of faults, I think all of the above work together to overcome that! I think this is significant for me, because if you look at my initial impressions of this game they were not positive! It really just pulls you in to its' fully realized world and never lets you go.

Bethesda, Bioware, etc take notice CD Project RED just stole your lunch!
 

Exentryk

Member
Question about enchanting: If I put a buff such as preservation on one sword does it count for all weapons and armor or that sword alone?

Pretty sure it's universal for all stuff.

Preservation is only required on one sword for a global effect. Other Words may or may not be global.
 
Lazy question, but what's the general consensus? Wisdom teeth coming out and need something to sink time into after Fallout fell completely flat for me.
 
Lazy question, but what's the general consensus? Wisdom teeth coming out and need something to sink time into after Fallout fell completely flat for me.

It is amazing, must buy if you loved the base game. Big difficulty spike but if you beat the game on Death March you should be fine. If not just turn down the difficulty or pay more attention then you did for the base game.
 
It is amazing, must buy if you loved the base game. Big difficulty spike but if you beat the game on Death March you should be fine. If not just turn down the difficulty or pay more attention then you did for the base game.

If you want more Witcher 3 , you'll love it.

Warning, the bosses are hard as fuck.

Good to know, thanks.

I should probably play on easy. I have no recollection of how I built my character or how to be halfway decent in fights.
 
Just booted it up yesterday for the first time. It's been a while since I played the base game, but I managed to recall the controls quickly and my fighting ability should be almost where it was when finishing the base game. Somehow I get completely crushed by the DLC's bosses. Even the final bosses in the base game weren't nearly as hard in my opinion.

In Hearts of Stone the
toad prince
killed me like 5 times so I decided to lower the difficulty to 'Just the story'. Right now I try to fight
Olgierd
an this seems an impossible task even on the easiest difficulty.

It's really strange since I didn't encounter any problems on normal in the whole base game. I seem to do almost no damage and lose health pretty fast despite exceeding the recommended level for the current quest by two. Didn't really care for my gear tho. Any advice?

Problem is that I decided this games combat isn't for me (site note: got the platinum in bloodborne recently so I'm not per se against difficult games) so I'd rather just enjoy the story.
 

Kinyou

Member
Can't believe how extensive this expansion felt. Plenty of quests, interesting story and most important a lot of variety. Bioware's typical DLC looks pretty pitiful in comparison.

Cdpr showing everyone how to do Dlc right.


Can't wait for the Blood and wine expansion.
 

Frillen

Member
Ok so I enhanced one of my weapons which provided me with the perk "Armorer's table and grindstone bonuses never expire."

Does this mean all of my weapons and armor or just the item that has the enhancement?
 

Coreda

Member
Ok so I enhanced one of my weapons which provided me with the perk "Armorer's table and grindstone bonuses never expire."

This sounds useful, is it available from the Runesmith?

I put aside the game after the
Caretaker
boss to try MGSV, so I may have missed something obvious.
 

PFD

Member
Lazy question, but what's the general consensus? Wisdom teeth coming out and need something to sink time into after Fallout fell completely flat for me.

IMO it's essential for all Witcher 3 owners, not because it's continuation of the story or anything (it is not), but because it's incredibly fun, and amazing value for money.
 

tbd

Member
Really...? a fucking quest on a timer...? after close to 100 hours of playing,improving my gear,skills,etc etc I am getting a fucking Game over,literally,because of a quest on a timer...shm,jesus christ.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this. The problem with that quest/puzzle was that it made no sense and was nothing but "run to the huge, obvious house and look for something red with your witcher senses". You don't even have to solve the puzzle and people that solved it will never feel rewarded for doing so. There should have been clues somewhere, maybe pictures in the form of celestical alignments in the sky, all kinds of symbols, maybe a horned skull, a rose, a number, a comb and of course a mirror. So you can solve the puzzle and it actually affects level design.
 

Thrakier

Member
Finished the expansion today and loved it. The best way to describe tw3 is that it's not an open world game, it's an world game. While the first are using patterns to such an extent that it still feels like levels, tw3 just feels like you are visiting a different world. And that makes it so super immersive and enjoyable. Can't wait to get back to it. The parts of the game are good but the sum of its parts males it genious. For me it's one of the best game experiences I ever had and it's probably on par with ffvii. However, I was a kid when I played that and I was easier to impress. ;)
 

Nordicus

Member
I'm genuinely pleased with the bosses in this expansion being original and genuinely challenging. One issue though!

They don't really give you fun/decent uses for crossbow, signs or bombs. Dimeritium Bombs and Moon Dust are still some of the most useless bombs you can have, and DoT doesn't do much unless it's a non-igni burn.

I get that with a Swordsmanship build my non-sword options aren't going to be all that great, but my only moment of surprising efficiency was when I noticed that Yrden straight up paralyzes arachnomorphs.

I want witcher tools, even the more basic ones, work as occasional hard counters to enemy boss tactics. Even as a melee build, I want to do more than just swordfight with Quen on. I want more puzzles than just dodge/parry timing
 
I'm genuinely pleased with the bosses in this expansion being original and genuinely challenging. One issue though!

They don't really give you fun/decent uses for crossbow, signs or bombs. Dimeritium Bombs and Moon Dust are still some of the most useless bombs you can have, and DoT doesn't do much unless it's a non-igni burn.

I get that with a Swordsmanship build my non-sword options aren't going to be all that great, but my only moment of surprising efficiency was when I noticed that Yrden straight up paralyzes arachnomorphs.

I want witcher tools, even the more basic ones, work as occasional hard counters to enemy boss tactics. Even as a melee build, I want to do more than just swordfight with Quen on. I want more puzzles than just dodge/parry timing

They are not useless if used right. Dimeritium bomb is great to disable strong attack on golems, Moon Dust to prevent Werewolves from regenning, going invisible, Wraiths from teleporting for example.

Signs are really fun as well, Aard to knock down weak enemies, etc.

Crossbow can drop flying enemies, from Harpies to even a fucking Griffin mid flight charge.

Granted, crossbow doesn't have much use other than those but for signs there are lots more uses which I don't have enough time to list right now.

To note, I have a swordmanship build too and I use everything in fights.
 

Nordicus

Member
They are not useless if used right. Dimeritium bomb is great to disable strong attack on golems, Moon Dust to prevent Werewolves from regenning, going invisible, Wraiths from teleporting for example.

Signs are really fun as well, Aard to knock down weak enemies, etc.

Crossbow can drop flying enemies, from Harpies to even a fucking Griffin mid flight charge.

Granted, crossbow doesn't have much use other than those but for signs there are lots more uses which I don't have enough time to list right now.

To note, I have a swordmanship build too.
I was talking about bosses there, the new bosses that have otherwise excellent mechanics, but the way to beating them isn't very interesting at all. The very first boss might have allowed for some creativity in my tactics, but that quickly dropped
 
I was talking about bosses there

Then why did you list this, "when I noticed that Yrden straight up paralyzes arachnomorphs." , as an example?

By bosses, I consider those big monsters hunt to be bosses as well and those tactics work the same on them.

Sure, if you only count bosses as in actual story bosses then it's more limited.
 

Nordicus

Member
Then why did you list this, "when I noticed that Yrden straight up paralyzes arachnomorphs." , as an example?
Because I was so struggling to find any remarkable strategies for anything else introduced in the whole expansion, I had to mention something that illustrated what I want.

Also note, this is the expansion OT, not Witcher 3 OT
 
Because I was so struggling to find any remarkable strategies for anything else introduced in the whole expansion, I had to mention something that illustrated what I want.

Also note, this is the expansion OT, not Witcher 3 OT

Yeah I did not notice the OT. Anyway, I did say I agreed already. Your example made me confused a bit, that's it.
 
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