An Impromptu Witcher Lets Play - now with the Witcher 2!

[Norrdicus]

Anyway, it turns out that the monster is a MOTHERFUCKING KRAKEN!!! Hell fucking yeah! Some Sorceress chick that Triss doesn't like scares it off and the local yokels ***** about it. I use a Sign to tell them to piss off so the adults can talk.

She calls it something else, a "Kayren" I think, but it's obviously just a mispronunciation of Kraken. I am quite psyched about this. Kraken are awesome.

Nah, Kraken aren't usually shaped like a giant bug with an octopus head

Question - are Neckers formed from the corpses of the beheaded or hung? Because there's something very weird about their "heads" and, well, "necker". Plus, I thought the Big Bad Assassin mentioned the King's body becoming a Necker during that cutscene.

*shrug*

Ah. So I need some sort of bomb other than my "stun bomb" type that I can currently make, huh? That sucks.

Yeah, you need Grapeshot, the pure damage bomb. I wouldn't play Act 1 without them anyway, clears out Nekker groups like a BAWS

Once I've killed that one, I loot the queen's body. The loot includes a mutagin! Cool. Now... if only I knew how to use Mutagens in this game. I also leveled up, so I meditate and do that.

Yes, mutagens can be used on specific Talents. If you see a small black circle on the edge of your unlocked talent, you can mutate it with a small bonus stat

I head back towards town. And, finally, I see where Cedric is. I try to get to the ladder to climb up and see him, but the game won't let me. It looks like it wants me to use that wooden sky-bridge from... up a hill or something. However, at just that moment, time Dings to Evening. Ah. I'm expected back at the main plot. I guess the Kraken will have to wait until tomorrow.

Naah, the ladder from inside the small village works, it's just that the game's kinda picky about your position.

New Minigame - I save first.

Okay, let's do this. And... the minigame is unplayable. After failing several times simply on "huh" I googled how to do it properly, and found that I WAS doing it properly, but that the game automatically INCREASES mouse sensitivity to make it harder. Considering that the mouse is still sucky, even with all the adjustments and a good Frame Rate, this pretty much makes the minigame impossible. Hell, I tried turning the mouse over so it couldn't register and using the mouse pad on the laptop, and even THAT didn't work.

After a dozen failed attempts, I gave up, reloaded the save, and just bribed her. 50 gold poorer, the plot moves onward.

The mini-game isn't unplayable, just terribly designed in terms of telling the player know how they're affecting the icon.

Usually the icon goes towards the enemy border automatically, but at different rate from the yellow bar. So you kinda have to keep to the left edge of the bar in the case that your icon suddenly moves quicker, which means the yellow bar likely changes direction because it's harder to "hit the brakes" than accelerate, and then you lose in about 5 seconds.

If you want to try an easier version of it, there are a bunch of arm-wrestlers at the Flotsam inn. Fast way to earn money when you know how to play.

Several failed attempts followed (where I reloaded as soon as I was caught). The Cat potion, while neat, didn't help much. I decided to check the internet to see what I was doing wrong... and learned that I can knock guards out.

THANKS FOR TELLING ME GAME.

*scratches head*

The game didn't tell you during the prison escape?

Question: What crafting plans are the best to buy? I've built up quite a pile of random crap. What should I be crafting with it?

Hmmm, well, I usually pick up crafting diagrams for good pieces of weapons and armor.

Then Cedric sells trap and bomb recipes, most of those are pretty useful except for Biter trap. It's probably the only trap diagram that doesn't use monster parts, but it's weeeeeeak.

In the end it's a case-by-case thing. Recipes are expensive, and any crafting diagrams (this excludes bomb and potion recipes) use money anyway, so you can't turn a profit.

Oh, if you find it, get a blade oil (also known as just "oil") recipe, not a diagram. The diagram uses parts that are much easier to get in Act 2, and each oil costs money, but the recipe will use alchemy materials, which don't weigh much at all and are abundant throughout the game

Also, what difficulty are you playing on, normal or easy?

 

[The Madman]

I think you're confusing some of the decisions. Sure there is that one timed decision in the latter half of act 1 that'll affect the next hour or so of gameplay, but the truly important decision will let you take all the time you need. Heck, the decision will be marked as 2 separate quests on your journal and you have to walk a long way before you can finalize it

You are correct, I was confusing some of the decisions. My mistake!

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

The mini-game isn't unplayable, just terribly designed in terms of telling the player know how they're affecting the icon.

No, it's unplayable because they turned up the mouse sensitivity in a game where the mouse is already FAR too sensitive, difficult to control, and generally unhelpful.

The game gets away with this because 99% of the time, the precision of the mouse doesn't matter. You're using WASD to control your character, the mouse BUTTONS to fight, and just using the mouse to adjust the camera angle, which doesn't require precision.

I object to the timed decisions the same way - if my mouse is at the bottom of the screen from the last time I said "take all" to an inventory select, then getting it up to the dialog options takes most of the "timed response" timelimit, particularly since when one first moves the mouse, one is likely to go past the dialog options and have to go back, and then slowly move the mouse over the desired option to avoid overshooting.

This isn't a problem if you have all the time in the world to select a response, but it is if you're on a timer.

This minigame takes that already bad mouse (which sucks even with a good framerate on the rest of the game, but I've learned to live with it) and actually increases the mouse sensitivity to make it worse. And then asks you to use precision.

One time, I didn't touch the mouse at all. I didn't move. And the item in the center moved on its own (not the yellow bar, the sensor on top, with no input). It is so sensitive that the mouse just sitting on the mousepad caused it to move. Any attempt actually play the mini game instantly sent the sensor not just outside of the yellow area but to the FAR SIDE OF THE SCREEN.

Unplayable.

*scratches head*
The game didn't tell you during the prison escape?

Nope. The game was too busy prioritizing turning torches next to the guard's head on and off over and over again. The range on that torch trick is actually pretty nuts, whereas the range on Stun Guard is very small. Thus, if I was within two meters (in game) of a torch, I couldn't knock anyone out. Or attack. Or do anything but stand there effectively flicking light switch on and off again.

 

[Norrdicus]

One time, I didn't touch the mouse at all. I didn't move. And the item in the center moved on its own (not the yellow bar, the sensor on top, with no input). It is so sensitive that the mouse just sitting on the mousepad caused it to move. Any attempt actually play the mini game instantly sent the sensor not just outside of the yellow area but to the FAR SIDE OF THE SCREEN.

Isn't that exactly what I said, though?

"Usually the icon goes towards the enemy border automatically, but at different rate from the yellow bar."

The mini-game has you use mouse movement (rather than position) to counter-act the inconsistent automatic movement of the icon to keep it in the yellow bar. Small, steady movements are sometimes involved, but half the duration you barely need to move the mouse at all.

There's a whole series of side-quests involving this mini-game. Easiest in Flotsam, hardest in Act 3, naturally. You're not missing any story content if you skip it though, if that's worrying you

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Update: Chapter 1 continues

So, I head upstairs and talk to the... guy I just robbed. Who I rob some more, because he has orens just sitting around. Anyway, he lets me know he knows about bounty on Geralt's head, but that he doesn't plan to do anything about it. Nice of him. He wants me to kill the Kraken too. Ah, dovetailing quests. I'm guessing that this chapter will end with the Kraken's death, so I'll have to make sure I get all quests done before moving that story along too far.

Anyway, too far and a little farther are different, so I decide to go see Cedric next. Triss is there waiting for me. I talk to Cedric about the Kraken, about a haunted house, and a missing elf woman. Righto, time to do the Witcher thing.

Cedric says to go "South, then east" to get to the shipwreck. Weirdly, the quest icon says North. Well... screw it, I head south.

This proves to be wrong - the plot is north afterall - but I don't mind because I had a fun entire night of monster murdering.

So, first up, I get attacked by Squirrels. Not wanting to engage them, I run south. I loose all but one, who follows me - into a drowner ambush.

And for the first time, I see the enemy AI in this game is better than the last one. The drowners attack the Squirrel, and he fights them, while I stand back and laugh. Well, no, not really. I help the Squirrel kill the drowners, hoping we can come to some sort of agreement afterwards... and then he attacks me. Asshole. Fine. I stab him (once) and he dies (the drowners almost killed him). Jerk.

Anyway, having gone south, I end up at the "Elven Baths" with a nice statue.

There's nothing there, so I head back down to the pool, and then head east. I hit some invisible (and visible) walls, and work my way around until I find a way over. I head over -

- and see a pair of people, hung.

I go to investigate that, and a Wraith appears and attacks me. A NAMED Wraith. Nifty! I fight it, but just when the battle is getting interesting, it... vanishes? With half of it's HP remaining. I run around, trying to respawn it to finish the battle, but only manage to spawn some Drowners and Drowned Dead. And - damn, these guys are tougher than I remember from last game. Then again, I'm only seventh level, so... yeah.

Still unable to respawn the ghost woman - is that the missing elf that Cedric mentioned? - I wander around a bit and find a House. With bandits outside. I retreat, switch swords, and then kill them. And level up! I try the cabin door, but it's locked, and none of the dead bandits have the key. Bummer.

I explore the rest of the area, but walls invisible and otherwise block my path. Time to backtrack.

I end up near the broken bridge, and I spot the troll. I save and try to sneak around, but the Troll yells at me and my attempt at diplomacy goes badly. Agro. Running away doesn't help. To avoid possibly screwing up the quest, I reload and go the long way around.

Eventually I find Triss and meet up with her to go NORTH and look at the Kraken wrecked ship. Where we get attacked by a fuck-ton of Drowners. Crap! I Igni a few and then head in, sword flashing. I recently took the first level of Sword path so I only take +50% damage from back-attacks rather than +100%, so that helps. I try to keep the drowners off Triss while not dying. Eventually we're victorious and collect the Kraken drool. Turns out the Kraken is dying. It only has a few decades left to live. This will practically be a mercy killing. Yay.

I loot the ship as well, getting 50 gold and a new quest. It involves a mailbox and the journal suggests I know where that is. I do? Okay?

I head back towards town, talk to Cedric about the potion component, and head into the woods. I probably shouldn't get too far, so instead I start on some side quests. I already killed one Scorpion Queen, and bombed two Necker holes, so I start looking for more. I don't find any more necker holes, but I do find the last cocoons and (after finishing off a massive number of scorpions) summon (and kill) the queen.

After failing to find any more necker holes, I head to town to get my reward for the queens. I get there - and the guy I turn it into has a Mail Box. Huh. Okay, so I ask to see the mail - using a sign to make it so - and read the documents. Nothing left now but to... mail the letter. Sure, why not.

Post Master Geralt having finished with that, I loot the house and leave.

So, what now? I was planning to pursue that mysterious missing person quest that Cedric put me on (the two disappearances, not the missing elf girl, who may or may not have been that ghost/wraith). That sounds like fun. ^^

Are there any other quests I should be pursuing?

And where are those other two Necker holes? I can't seem to find any but the ones I've already blown up (both near that waterfall, north of the Elven Baths).

Oh, and any crafting I should be doing? I picked up the grape bomb formula so I can make my own (which is how I blew up the first two holes).

Also, what should I be doing with these "armor upgrades"? I put one that looked good on my Raven armor. Are these things removable later? Should I be putting weapon runes on my swords? Should I be buying or making new swords?

I await your thoughts.

 

[Norrdicus]

I'm guessing that this chapter will end with the Kraken's death, so I'll have to make sure I get all quests done before moving that story along too far.

Actually, you'd be incorrect. I too thought killing the Kayran would be the finale of the Act, but not so.

I end up near the broken bridge, and I spot the troll. I save and try to sneak around, but the Troll yells at me and my attempt at diplomacy goes badly. Agro. Running away doesn't help. To avoid possibly screwing up the quest, I reload and go the long way around.

No need to worry about screwing up the quest.

Are there any other quests I should be pursuing?

A handful in fact.

For some laughs, visit the Special Forces office right west of the inn during the night.

For non-combat cash, visit the downstairs of the inn. There'll be 2 mini-game related quests there (NOT the armwrestling one, mind you, that's on the middle floor).

There's also a quest waiting to happen in Lobinden, the small village outside the gates. Look for a big group of guards.

And finally, there's one short one in the docks. Ask around

And where are those other two Necker holes? I can't seem to find any but the ones I've already blown up (both near that waterfall, north of the Elven Baths).

One of the remaining ones should be around the swampy area north of the pretty statue and near the river coming from the waterfall, and one of them should be south of the town, near a road.

Also, what should I be doing with these "armor upgrades"? I put one that looked good on my Raven armor. Are these things removable later? Should I be putting weapon runes on my swords? Should I be buying or making new swords?

You can't remove armor upgrades, but they're usually either plentiful or cheap, so you can use them how you want.

The runes are expensive though. If you find a rune, and are about to buy/craft a better sword very soon, hold on to it (unless you have tons of them) and put it on the new sword.

Whether you want to craft or buy new gear really depends on which you find more cost efficient.

 

[Fell]

You are actually suppose to fight the troll. I believe when he reaches 50% HP he will surrender and you can then talk to him

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

One of the remaining ones should be around the swampy area north of the pretty statue and near the river coming from the waterfall,

That was the "one north of the pool" that I listed.

and one of them should be south of the town, near a road.

South of what part of town? The entire area is "south of town" - and there are lots of roads.

You can't remove armor upgrades, but they're usually either plentiful or cheap, so you can use them how you want.

My concern was putting crappy upgrades on my best armor (Raven's). I don't want to fill up all three slots if I can't unslot (or destroy) the upgrades later.

The runes are expensive though. If you find a rune, and are about to buy/craft a better sword very soon, hold on to it (unless you have tons of them) and put it on the new sword.
Whether you want to craft or buy new gear really depends on which you find more cost efficient.

What sword recipes are "worth it"? I already have Excalibur, the Wyvern sword, and Adda's cutlas from the last game, and those are some hard acts to follow.

Also, what runes are the "best" runes this time? Last time yellow won all.

You are actually suppose to fight the troll. I believe when he reaches 50% HP he will surrender and you can then talk to him

Oh. Well, next time then.

 

[Norrdicus]

That was the "one north of the pool" that I listed.

A total of three of the Nekker holes can be found in the area I described, you've found two. Follow the "river" up from the elven pools. If you leave heavily lined area of the map (meaning marshes I believe) too far north and reach the big main road splitting the area, you've gone too far

South of what part of town? The entire area is "south of town" - and there are lots of roads.

The spots you've found are south-east of the town. One of the remaining ones is directly south. I'd tell you better than "part of the road from where the wall of the city is still seeable", but the locations of the damn things can't really be pinpointed through descriptions without just bringing up a picture

My concern was putting crappy upgrades on my best armor (Raven's). I don't want to fill up all three slots if I can't unslot (or destroy) the upgrades later.

What sword recipes are "worth it"? I already have Excalibur, the Wyvern sword, and Adda's cutlas from the last game, and those are some hard acts to follow.

You're gravely overestimating the strength of your imported gear. You'll find stronger replacements for almost all of them before Act 1 ends

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

That monster you saw down by the shipwreck isn't the Kayran, but something else that has been infected by the Kayran's poison. It's basically a warning that the Kayran's toxins can fuck you up majorly.

 

[exxxed]

On another note I have no idea why people complained about quick time events in this game, I feel that they fitted the new gameplay style nicely, but people tend to hate them in general so I guess I just answered my own quarrel...

As for the arm wrestle mini-game, they intentionally made the mouse pointer ''sucky'', the main idea is that you have to anticipate the movement of the yella' bar and be ready to move the mouse ahead of it slightly, and about the imported gear, if you really like them store them and put in some nice enhancements later on so they won't become quite useless (here's a Mass Effect 1 reference, I always went with the Gladiator armor because it's awesome, even if it made the game quite challenging on Insanity difficulty, made the ''rewards'' that more... well... rewarding ).

Have fun!

 

[exxxed]

woops

 

[Norrdicus]

On another note I have no idea why people complained about quick time events in this game

I have an idea. Most of the time it comes at the very end of a fight, with a tiny yellow mark showing what you're supposed to do, then failing it causes either massive amounts of damage and/or kills you. And with the exception of tapping LMB, they aren't immediately identifiable.

In a game that does QTE right more often than not, like God of War series, the QTE is used in abundance during even the shortest action scenes, throughout the entire scene, sometimes you are "taught" what each QTE does (tapping O or tapping L1 and R1 usually means you're pushing something), you use QTE during regular combat and it's extremely apparent which button they want you to press, which motion to make.

The difference is like night and day, and the only parts when Witcher 2 does QTE somewhat well is during the fistfights, because there you don't need to read the WASD prompts, it soon becomes very clear that each directional key has its own corner on the screen. However, the QTE is often just too damn easy. Could have used some 3-hit and 4-hit QTE combos.

For most, the Witcher 2 QTEs are as useful as wisdom teeth.

EDIT: In fact, there's one game example where the QTE is used even better than in God of War. Telltale Games' The Walking Dead

 

[exxxed]

Great explanation, but my first interaction with QTE's was Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy for others) so my point of view is certainly not shared by many...

... right... usefulness... many things are silly.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Update: An Elf, a Wraith, and a Troll

On advisement, I headed out to find a group of guards and an elf woman. I do so. They claim she's a spy. She (and one guard) claim she's a prostitute. Okay then. They ask me to investigate a cave, so I head over that way (finding one more necker lair - still can't find that other one), take a Swallow potion, and head inside.

And it's a good thing too, because there are a FUCKTON of Neckers. Damn! I fight and fight, then I roll around the rock a few times - cute Yackity Sacks again - and then take them on a few at a time. Finally, they're all dead. I medallion scan and loot and loot and loot.....

Also, I find some evidence - a body was dragged. I continue investigating - and looting - and come across the corpses, shot with arrows. So she is a Squirrel after all. Hm. I head back out and the guards ask me what I found. I have Geralt lie - I'd like to get back in with the Squirrels so not turning in their operative seems like a good start. The guards shrug and head off and she offers to thank me. Hm. This could be very good or very bad.

I save and follow her. My Swallow potion is still in effect, so I head in and, just as I talk to her, a bunch of Drowners pop up behind her. It's hilarious - one of them is standing in the background, waiting patiently for our conversation. She... springs her sudden but inevitable betrayal. **sigh**

Since the elves are coming from the woods, I run into the water. The Elves meet the Drowners and - once again - I stand back and laugh at them while one group of enemies fights another group of enemies. I roll around to the side (and switch to my steel blade) and start attacking Elves while the others are distracted. Two turn to fight me, and I kill them pretty easily while their buddies take out the drowners (and the drowners kill one of the elves). I take on the last two, kill them, and loot their bodies. Well that was... pointless. Good loot though - lots of swords to sell. The game wants me to find her, but I don't know where she went. After wandering about the woods for a bit, I head back to town to sell the swords. I... guess I'll find her later?

Whatever. Instead, I choose the Madness quest and head south. I end up at some ruins I never noticed before. A guy says that his friend went inside. Stupid friend. Oh, and neckers. CRAZED neckers, whatever that means.

I kill the neckers, but not before they kill the guy's dog. The god* dog is next to some stairs, so I head in.

*typo left in for your amusement

I head down and things are on fire! I explore, loot, and fight some wraiths. Eventually I find the guy. He spills the beans about treasure maps and torture and stupidity and riots. Lovely. So I head on and meet the wraith. He wants eyes and hearts of the guys. I'm mildly tempted to kill them, but... meh. I'm not so concerned that I feel like buying pig parts, so I go with Necker bits and head back down. The wraith doesn't but it, but Excalibur makes short work of him. I try to loot his awesome rainbow sword, but the game won't let me. Bah.

Outside, I have the option to let them go or arrest them. Hoping for a reward, I arrest them. The constable doesn't have any interest, but his WIFE does. Hm. Does that mean she's the woman from the madhouse who was "willing" and stole their map? That might explain the guy's wealth. Interesting twist. She takes them... for some reason. And doesn't rewards me. Well, screw her then.

Whatever, I got XP.

I head back to the ruins to loot some herbs and I bump into the Elf woman there (and some giant scorpions). I let her go because, dammit, I'm trying to make nice with the squirrels. Probably won't help.

Troll time. I head back to town and talk to people about the troll. And then, since you mentioned it, I head into the inn and play some dice. Everyone is really bitchy about who I play first, so I eventually work my way through them. I loot a room, sell some loot, and move onward.

Next up - talking to the troll. As predicted, the troll attacks me, so I give him a taste of Excalibur. He relents and I learn that he's drunk because his wife was murdered. I return to town, talk to MORE people about trolls, and find his wife's head. The guy won't hand over the head until I play dice with someone else first, so I'm off to find that person and the actual murderer.

I find the dice guy first (and beat him, which pisses him off) and that's where I left off this time. Not a lot accomplished, aside from a level up and some potion making.

I haven't yet found the quest on the docks. Any time of day best for finding it?

Oh, and I crafted a "jagged sword" because it had really good stats and I had all the stuff for it. Very nice.

 

[Norrdicus]

I haven't yet found the quest on the docks. Any time of day best for finding it?

There's no specific time of day really, just search for an abnormally well-dressed man, in either upper and lower level of the dock.

The trolls in this game are weirdly adorable, by the way.

Edit: Oh right, that old woman you met while bringing the two men to custody was Loredo's mother, not his wife

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Update: the Kraken

Having acquired the Troll head, I head to the inn to ask about the guy. The quest icon points me right to one dude and I talk to him. He's a minion of the guy, it seems. After an intimidate, he tells me where the guys is.

I head to the graveyard. There I find the guy - and kill him (and his buddies). Then back to the Troll. I tell him I avenged his wife, and then give him the head. He gives me some plans for some armor. I then head back get my reward for the troll.

Oh - by the way. When you said "docks" I thought you meant over by the area where I first entered town. I kept going around there and not finding anyone. However, when you said "two levels" I said "huh? the docks don't have two levels... wait a minute!" and looked around some more. Turns out there's this area behind Inn I hadn't noticed before (but remembered from a cut-scene. Huh. Okay, that explains why I couldn't find the guy - I wasn't in the right place.

I talk to him, and he wants some incense formula, so I head to the incense shop and ask for it. And then intimidate for it when the guy's a dick. I head back, and he wants to "confirm it" and there's a bit of an argument. He agrees to take me to his "lab" and I refuse to be blindfolded, so he marks it on my map. Good enough.

This is getting a bit Hinky, but I go along anyway. Inside the cave, I turn over the formula (and loot the place). However, it turns out these guys are working for the former Salamanders. Geralt... doesn't seem to care, and I have no choice but to go along with it. Weird. Afterwards I save and draw my sword. And the guys attack me! Well, that works out well. I murder everyoen, loot their corpses, and then head back to town on a boat I found there. Neat.

I still can't find that last Necker nest (I've found the two just south of Lombdan, and another one near the pond - still can't find the third) and I'm running out of other quests, so I decide it's time to get that Kraken potion. I head to the cave and head inside.

Neckers! Lots and lots of neckers. Well, not as much as the last cave. I take it slow and kill them all.

At the very end is a special... undead something. A necrophage, apparently, according to the blood I loot from it. Anyway, I get the stuff for the potion.

I head back to town and make the potion - and another 10 because +20000% vs poison is fucking amazing. And, even if it only works on the Kraken, I can always sell them.

I also take a moment and get that Kraken trap made. And I make that Troll armor cause holy crap +10 armor. That beats my +8 Raven armor.

Since I can't think of anything else to do... I talk to the Sorceress and go after the Kraken.

I save, take my potions (Mongoose, Rook, and Swallow), and head into the cut scene. The battle begins, and a little yellow icon tells me where to place the trap, so I place it. The trap cuts off one of the tentacles! Wow, impressive. And that pisses the Kraken off.

I see more glowy weak spots, so I go try to hit them with my sword.

And the Kraken beats me to death.

The next time, the Sorceress shouts at me to use my trap spell. I press ctrl to change spells... and the Kraken beats me to death.

The next time, I place the trap first so I have somewhere safe to stand while I change spells. Turns out, no where is safe. Squashed again.

Finally, I just start rolling like a break-dancer. I roll over to the trap spot, roll past it, roll back to it, place the trap, roll away - the tentacle gets chopped off - but no time to celebrate - roll more - change spell - roll more - roll, roll, roll - cast the spell, roll away.

And success! A tentacle gets trapped! I run over and start hacking. Nothing hits me while I cut through it. Yay!

Okay, now that I see the technique (roll, roll, roll - cast - roll, roll, chop) I proceed to finish off the rest of the tentacles. Nice!

And then a tentacle grabs me. I see the QTE and start hitting the button to not die. I don't die. Yay. Rocks fall on the Kraken. And... I spend some time standing around, regenning, and trying to figure out where to go. When my first couple of ideas fail, I go up the rock and see two flailing tentacles.

I spend several fruitless minutes attempting to trap these tentacles. It does not work, and I'm sure you're all laughing at me. Each time I try, I get thwacked. Fortunately, I am able to simply stand back and let my Swallow potion regen me before trying again.

Eventually, I just try running past them. That works! And I get a cut scene of Geralt killing the Kraken. Awesome!

The Kraken dead, I get a cut scene with the Sorceress and go up TWO LEVELS. Sweet.

I loot the Kraken and head back to town to get paid. Which I do. Yay. 200 Oriens seems kinda... low, but whatever. I also get plans for something, but I don't get to look at that, because Triss is here to see me. Um, okay? She wants to question some Elf guy on the barge.

I follow her to the ship and Triss needs to heal him. I switch to the hold spell and cast it. And I fail to see the QTE, so I just stand there until Triss scolds me. Ah. The next time I do it properly. Questioning occurs and we learn about a Rose of Rememberance (and the assassin's name). Nice.

Triss says the Rose could restore Geralt's memory - and Geralt has another flashback.

... apparently, after Geralt and Yennifer "died" they were taken to... Avalon. Where they were healed. And where they had lots of sex. Until the Wild Hunt showed up and kidnapped Yennifer. For some reason? And Geralt set out after them.

And ended up unconscious outside of the Witcher castle. So it wasn't dying that lost Geralt his memories, it was something to do with the Hunt? Huh. Very interesting.

And there goes my theory that he's actually Clone Geralt. Ah well.

Also... since he has Excalibur and went to Avalon, does that mean that Geralt is actually King Arthur?

Anyway... Triss asks if she can come along. I don't see why not. We head out into the woods, fighting Neckers along the way (I still can't find that fourth nest - seriously, a copy of the in-game map with X-es on the locations would not go amiss) and we end up at that Elven Bath. Triss talks about the statue. Geralt picks a rose. Triss talks about a legend that a rose given to one's love will never die.

Well, that's a straight line if I ever heard one. So I have Geralt give the Rose to Triss. She's all like "oh my" - as if we haven't been over this before - and I suggest that she can remove a petal without harming the rest of the Rose.

And then bandits show up. So we kill them (I take two, Triss takes one). And, before I can loot their corpses, the ground gives way and dumps us into... a bath house!

What follows is one of the best sex scenes in the franchise so far. It combines the humor of the "haunted mill" from Chapter 1 of the first game, with some actual nudity and romance. The sex scene itself reminds me a tad of some of the sex scenes from Dragon Age 1, but without bras (ie, the parts where Geralt runs his hands over Triss looks a bit awkward because the skin doesn't seem to yield). Also, apparently the only position they could make look not-bad was "doggy style" because that's what they go with.

One minor disappointment - they never shot Geralt's cock. Spartacus on Stars actually shows more (male) skin than this.

Overall, I give it a 7 out of 10. This is one of the top three video game sex scenes I've ever seen (Mass Effect 1 and Xenosaga 3 being the other two). It has both humor, sexiness, and romance. Good scene.

That out of the way, Triss asks what's happening next. I have Geralt decide to chase his memories - he wants to go off with Triss and help Yennifer. Triss seems to care for Yennifer a lot (and not mind helping Geralt find the other love of his life). Personally, I'm hoping this leads to a three-way.

Which means I only have a couple of days to catch the Kingslayer. Roach isn't pleased (when he shows up and blocks further cock from being had) but screw Roach. ... speaking of three-ways.

Ahem. Anyway... I'm supposed to talk to Zoltan now. I want to visit the blacksmith first and see what I can do with those Kraken bits. And I'd really like to find that last Necker next.

This has GOT to be end of Chapter, right?

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Micro Update: Never mind the map. I got frustrated, looked up a map online, and found the last Nekker location. I have no idea why I never ran across it before - I scoured that area with medallion scans looking for it.

Anyway, I got plans for a "Superb Silver Witcher Sword" as a reward.

Should I make that? It has very good stats, but it uses up ALL of the silver I've managed to scrounge up this chapter. Or should I stick with Excalibur and wait until next chapter to make a better silver sword?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Stuff

Grats on beating the Kayran, I found that encounter MADLY frustrating when I first encountered it.

How are you enjoying the game so far? Getting accustomed to over-the-shoulder?

 

[Norrdicus]

And the Kayran beats me to death.

Oh boy have we all been there before

I also get plans for something, but I don't get to look at that, because Triss is here to see me. Um, okay? She wants to question some Elf guy on the barge.

Between the small window of time between getting the Kayran reward and Triss meeting you, there's exactly 0 main quest in your journal. They needed to give you a quest hook through some means.

... apparently, after Geralt and Triss "died" they were taken to... Avalon. Where they were healed. And where they had lots of sex. Until the Wild Hunt showed up and kidnapped Triss. For some reason? And Geralt set out after them.

No, that wasn't Triss in the flashback, that was Yennefer. She was mentioned by name. Exactly how did yo- nevermind.

*scratches his head*

And ended up unconscious outside of the Witcher castle. So it wasn't dying that lost Geralt his memories, it was something to do with the Hunt? Huh. Very interesting.

You're catching on

Ahem. Anyway... I'm supposed to talk to Zoltan now. I want to visit the blacksmith first and see what I can do with those Kraken bits. And I'd really like to find that last Necker next.

This has GOT to be end of Chapter, right?

You getting warmer, but still no. You're getting closer to shaking the status quo of the Act, but it's not the end.

There's still the fistfighting ring questline at the lower floor of the inn, and the night-time shenanigans of Temerian Special Forces in the building just west of the Inn.

Anyway, I got plans for a "Superb Silver Witcher Sword" as a reward.

Should I make that? It has very good stats, but it uses up ALL of the silver I've managed to scrounge up this chapter. Or should I stick with Excalibur and wait until next chapter to make a better silver sword?

Actually no, it's not worth it. There'll be a main plot mini-boss soon, and after beating the mini-boss, if you look around carefully in the fighting spot, you should find a silver sword that's almost as good

Even if you don't find that sword after the fight, your steel sword will be more important until the start of next Act, so don't bother if you don't really want to.