The Witcher 3 Comments on Combat

I have been getting better at the combat in The Witcher 3. On Death March difficulty, there is some room for error, but most of the exchanges require precision to survive. About a couple hours into Death March mode, a survivalist approach is necessary to play this game. Meditation not recovering health means that supplies must be cared for at all times and there are some if you know where to look.

See for yourself:

As you can see by watching, Geralt is not invincible while evading, so timing might be even more important than it is in a game like Ninja Gaiden Black from the original Xbox. This design of this mechanic is more similar to dodging in Gears of War. The melee is not combo-based; it is more like Batman: Arkham freeflow combat without a combat multiplier and it works beautifully. It is a challenge to learn and I am finding improving fulfilling.

What are your thoughts on combat in this game?

I love the rhythm of the combat and the crowd control. This is becoming one of the most rewarding combat systems I've played. It can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the controls but once I've mastered them I feel they're really precise, and when I die it always feels I'm the one to blame, for being too greedy and impulsive. It's a very open system too, most of the time you can choose different technics and the game doesn't punishes you for doing so as long as you are smart. I tend to use level 1 Igni a lot for crowd control, and level 2 Igni to punish 1 or 2 enemies at a time in close range. It really satisfying to use the level 2, I think it my favourite thing in the whole game. :D

If you look at the bestiary, you can see that enemy types have certain vulnerabilities. Drowners, for example, are weak against igni. Combine that with a ignitable barrel and you can do major combustion damage to them.

I know, I always check that when a new enemy appears.

Interestingly, there is no enemy information on bandits in the glossary.