Witcher 2

uanime5

Edit history:

uanime5: 2012-05-15 01:19:55 pm

uanime5: 2012-05-09 06:18:55 am

uanime5: 2012-05-09 06:17:29 am

uanime5: 2012-05-08 06:32:48 am

uanime5: 2011-07-03 12:00:07 pm

uanime5: 2011-06-23 03:20:41 pm

uanime5: 2011-06-23 02:55:44 pm

uanime5: 2011-06-23 02:55:06 pm

2011-06-23 02:29:34 pm

This thread is for information for anyone who wishes to undertake a Witcher 2 speed run.

Build

The best build for speed running in Witcher 2 is one that uses bombs and the igni (fire) sign as it is effective against groups, and does not require high level swords or armour. The best bomb is Grapeshot (Beehive) which does 30-40 base damage (60-80 with both Alchemist skills) and its diagram can be purchased from Cedric in act 1.

You require the following skills:

Training: 2 levels of Vigor Regeneration, Fortitude
Training: 1 level of Parrying (prerequisite), Dagger Throwing (useful)

Alchemy: 2 levels of Alchemist (100% bomb damage)

Magic: 2 levels of Destructive Magic, Magic intensification, Enhanced Igni Sign,
Magic: 1 level of Enhanced Quen Sign (prerequisite)

This will give you 6 vigor, a powerful igni blast, and bombs that do double damage at level 15.

On the higher difficulties I'd recommend getting 1 level of 'Feet work' from the Swordsmanship tree to make it easier to dodge enemy attacks.

Walkthrough

I'm just going to briefly give advice regarding which choices are the quickest and which optional quests are worth doing. The exact route is up to the runner.

Prologue

Using Aard to knock soldiers off the walls is quicker than killing them with your sword.

Convincing Aryan to surrender is quicker than fighting him.

The fastest way to escape the dungeon is to go down to the lower level and save Aryan. This skips most of the stealth section as Aryan shows you a secret escape tunnel.

Act 1 Flotsam

Buy a Robust Witcher Sword from the Mysterious Merchant. The only better Silver Sword in this act requires you to complete the Nekker + Endrega quests.

The Kayran trap is quicker than hacking off a tentacle because it doesn't have the cutting cut scene.

Helping Roche at the Elven ruins and siding with him is quicker than helping Iorveth at the ruins (violent Flotsom has repeated cut scenes of non-humans being attacked) and siding with Iorveth (involves either slowly walking through Flotsom with Iorveth or fighting a lot of soldiers). However siding with Roche means you have to do Roche's Act 2 and 3.

The only optional question worth completing are Troll Trouble and Mystic River. In Troll Trouble you can get the Hunter's armour diagram by helping the troll and by killing Dmitri you can get a Robust Cutlass. If you complete Mystic River in acts 1-3 you'll get some good armour that improves your signs.

Act 2 Roche

Buy a Robust meteorite sword and Poisoned Zerrikanian saberra from the Mysterious Merchant. These are the best swords you'll get in Act 2.

You'll be given Zireael's armor by Dethmold during The Blood Curse quest, which is the best non-craftable armour you can get in this chapter.

UPDATE: in the enhanced edition you can win the Princess Xenthia sword (steel) from Skalen Burdon by beating him at dice poker. The Blood sword (silver) can also be found in the tunnels under Vergen. Both are very powerful and free.

Complete the side quest Mystic River for the Act 3 armour.

Unsure whether killing or not killing Henselt is quicker. Both result in cut scenes that can be skipped.

Act 3 Roche

Get the Deithwen (silver sword) from the caves east of Loc Muinne.

Complete the side quest Mystic River for the Armor of Ysgith or Vran armor.

Unsure if rescuing Anais is quicker than saving Triss. Both involve fighting a lot of soldiers, though Dethmold has good armour and a great steel sword (Forgotten vran sword).

Saving Sila is quicker that waiting for her to die.

Don't fight Letho.

Act 2 Iorveth

Buy a Robust meteorite sword and Poisoned Zerrikanian saberra from the Mysterious Merchant. These are the best you'll get in Act 2.

Buy 'Dragon scale armor' from Mael. This is the best armour available in Act 2.

Let the mob kill Stennis as it's quicker than going to Henselt to get his blood.

Complete the side quest Mystic River for the Act 3 armour.

Act 3 Iorveth

Get the Deithwen (silver sword) from the caves Iorveth goes into at the start of Act 3.

Complete the side quest Mystic River for the Armor of Ysgith or Vran armor.

Save Saskia rather than rescue Triss. It's much quicker as you only have to fight one golem, rather than dozens of soldiers. You'll also only need a good silver sword for his act because you won't be fighting humans.

UPDATE: in the enhanced edition you can get the Forgotten vran sword (steel) by completing the 'The Secrets of Loc Muinne' quest.

Saving Sila is quicker that waiting for her to die.

Don't fight Letho.

Thread title:

This thread is for information for anyone who wishes to undertake a Witcher 2 speed run.

[u]Build[/u]

The best build for speed running in Witcher 2 is one that uses bombs and the igni (fire) sign as it is effective against groups, and does not require high level swords or armour. The best bomb is Grapeshot (Beehive) which does 30-40 base damage (60-80 with both Alchemist skills) and its diagram can be purchased from Cedric in act 1.

You require the following skills:

Training: 2 levels of Vigor Regeneration, Fortitude
Training: 1 level of Parrying (prerequisite), Dagger Throwing (useful)

Alchemy: 2 levels of Alchemist (100% bomb damage)

Magic: 2 levels of Destructive Magic, Magic intensification, Enhanced Igni Sign, 
Magic: 1 level of Enhanced Quen Sign (prerequisite)

This will give you 6 vigor, a powerful igni blast, and bombs that do double damage at level 15.

On the higher difficulties I'd recommend getting 1 level of 'Feet work' from the Swordsmanship tree to make it easier to dodge enemy attacks.

[u]Walkthrough[/u]

I'm just going to briefly give advice regarding which choices are the quickest and which optional quests are worth doing. The exact route is up to the runner.

[u]Prologue[/u]

Using Aard to knock soldiers off the walls is quicker than killing them with your sword.

Convincing Aryan to surrender is quicker than fighting him.

The fastest way to escape the dungeon is to go down to the lower level and save Aryan. This skips most of the stealth section as Aryan shows you a secret escape tunnel.

[u]Act 1 Flotsam[/u]

Buy a Robust Witcher Sword from the Mysterious Merchant. The only better Silver Sword in this act requires you to complete the Nekker + Endrega quests.

The Kayran trap is quicker than hacking off a tentacle because it doesn't have the cutting cut scene.

Helping Roche at the Elven ruins and siding with him is quicker than helping Iorveth at the ruins (violent Flotsom has repeated cut scenes of non-humans being attacked) and siding with Iorveth (involves either slowly walking through Flotsom with Iorveth or fighting a lot of soldiers). However siding with Roche means you have to do Roche's Act 2 and 3.

The only optional question worth completing are Troll Trouble and Mystic River. In Troll Trouble you can get the Hunter's armour diagram by helping the troll and by killing Dmitri you can get a Robust Cutlass. If you complete Mystic River in acts 1-3 you'll get some good armour that improves your signs.

[u]Act 2 Roche[/u]

Buy a Robust meteorite sword and Poisoned Zerrikanian saberra from the Mysterious Merchant. These are the best swords you'll get in Act 2.

You'll be given Zireael's armor by Dethmold during The Blood Curse quest, which is the best non-craftable armour you can get in this chapter.

UPDATE: in the enhanced edition you can win the Princess Xenthia sword (steel) from Skalen Burdon by beating him at dice poker. The Blood sword (silver) can also be found in the tunnels under Vergen. Both are very powerful and free.

Complete the side quest Mystic River for the Act 3 armour.

Unsure whether killing or not killing Henselt is quicker. Both result in cut scenes that can be skipped.

[u]Act 3 Roche[/u]

Get the Deithwen (silver sword) from the caves east of Loc Muinne.

Complete the side quest Mystic River for the Armor of Ysgith or Vran armor.

Unsure if rescuing Anais is quicker than saving Triss. Both involve fighting a lot of soldiers, though Dethmold has good armour and a great steel sword (Forgotten vran sword).

Saving Sila is quicker that waiting for her to die.

Don't fight Letho.

[u]Act 2 Iorveth[/u]

Buy a Robust meteorite sword and Poisoned Zerrikanian saberra from the Mysterious Merchant. These are the best you'll get in Act 2.

Buy 'Dragon scale armor' from Mael. This is the best armour available in Act 2.

Let the mob kill Stennis as it's quicker than going to Henselt to get his blood.

Complete the side quest Mystic River for the Act 3 armour.

[u]Act 3 Iorveth[/u]

Get the Deithwen (silver sword) from the caves Iorveth goes into at the start of Act 3.

Complete the side quest Mystic River for the Armor of Ysgith or Vran armor.

Save Saskia rather than rescue Triss. It's much quicker as you only have to fight one golem, rather than dozens of soldiers. You'll also only need a good silver sword for his act because you won't be fighting humans.

UPDATE: in the enhanced edition you can get the Forgotten vran sword (steel) by completing the 'The Secrets of Loc Muinne' quest.

Saving Sila is quicker that waiting for her to die.

Don't fight Letho.

usernameguy

2011-06-23 05:20:45 pm

Hey, I was thinking about routing too on this one. Good to see you here.

I've played through both Iorveth's path and Roche's. My initial thinking is that Iorveth's path is faster; Iorveth's allows for more "fuck this person, let them die" moments than Roche's (eg letting Stennis die, and skipping the very end of Act I, IIRC?).

But it will take some more detailed analysis than just that to know for sure. It's complicated. The 2 act twos are so different. It even extends into Act 3 (with Roche, you just run straight into the city, with Iorveth, you have to sneak through caves to get in; and with Roche, you can either save Triss or fight the Kaedwenis and Dethmold, but with Iorveth, you can either save Triss, or save Phillipa). I did notice that the "through the mist" portion of Act 2 is much much quicker for Iorveth's path, than for Roche's.

I'm pretty sure all optional quests will be skipped. Or at least, if I were to run the game (I won't, but if I were), I'd skip them. I have a feeling most looting is skippable as well. You'll be stuck mostly with the "freebie" swords and armor you can loot quickly, or buy quickly. I doubt there will be much crafting and alchemy, except for absolutely needed items. It's so time-consuming.

I'm skeptical about one other claim you made above - namely, that saving Aryan is faster. Because saving him means having to go get him in the dungeon, then drag his slow ass through it. (Also, killing him doesn't take too terribly long - you can force him into a one-on-one duel with the right dialog options, then Yrden/Aard him to death.) You have three or four options, ultimately, with Aryan and the dungeon - you can save him, then lead him to the oil; you can save him, then I think ignore him?; you can kill him, then talk to his mother in the dungeon; and then I think there are some options with his mother, too. Then I think you even can run into Aryan in Act 3 somehow? Point is, it's the total time that matters, and we need to map out all the branch points and get the total time for the whole game each option costs.

Another thought in terms of speed running - someone mentioned you can turn off the little animation you get when you do a "finisher" - either with Aard or with a group finisher. I haven't checked for sure. But if so, that makes a lot more sense than wailing away on people. Especially those group fights which can last forever.

Most fights are actually skippable. Just run right past. A sign of an unskippable fight is a ledge or door blocking your path.

Hey, I was thinking about routing too on this one. Good to see you here.

I've played through both Iorveth's path and Roche's. My initial thinking is that Iorveth's path is faster; Iorveth's allows for more "fuck this person, let them die" moments than Roche's (eg letting Stennis die, and skipping the very end of Act I, IIRC?).

But it will take some more detailed analysis than just that to know for sure. It's complicated. The 2 act twos are so different. It even extends into Act 3 (with Roche, you just run straight into the city, with Iorveth, you have to sneak through caves to get in; and with Roche, you can either save Triss or fight the Kaedwenis and Dethmold, but with Iorveth, you can either save Triss, or save Phillipa). I did notice that the "through the mist" portion of Act 2 is much much quicker for Iorveth's path, than for Roche's.

I'm pretty sure all optional quests will be skipped. Or at least, if I were to run the game (I won't, but if I were), I'd skip them. I have a feeling most looting is skippable as well. You'll be stuck mostly with the "freebie" swords and armor you can loot quickly, or buy quickly. I doubt there will be much crafting and alchemy, except for absolutely needed items. It's so time-consuming.

I'm skeptical about one other claim you made above - namely, that saving Aryan is faster. Because saving him means having to go get him in the dungeon, then drag his slow ass through it. (Also, killing him doesn't take too terribly long - you can force him into a one-on-one duel with the right dialog options, then Yrden/Aard him to death.) You have three or four options, ultimately, with Aryan and the dungeon - you can save him, then lead him to the oil; you can save him, then I think ignore him?; you can kill him, then talk to his mother in the dungeon; and then I think there are some options with his mother, too. Then I think you even can run into Aryan in Act 3 somehow? Point is, it's the total time that matters, and we need to map out all the branch points and get the total time for the whole game each option costs.

Another thought in terms of speed running - someone mentioned you can turn off the little animation you get when you do a "finisher" - either with Aard or with a group finisher. I haven't checked for sure. But if so, that makes a lot more sense than wailing away on people. Especially those group fights which can last forever.

Most fights are actually skippable. Just run right past. A sign of an unskippable fight is a ledge or door blocking your path.

uanime5

Edit history:

uanime5: 2011-06-24 07:52:50 am

2011-06-24 07:49:09 am

I said Aryan was quicker because not fighting is quicker than a short fight and if you side with his mother you have to listen to a speech by the Nilfgaard ambassador, then sneak through more of the castle. Though I haven't timed both and can't be certain which is quickest Aryan's route felt quicker.

I didn't know you could meet Aryan in Act 3 if you saved him and sided with Roche. This needs to be taken into account if you do Roche's path.

Also being unable to skip a conversation means that it contains a quick time event.

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-24 07:09:37 pm

2011-06-24 10:57:12 am

I think you can meet Maria. I was wrong about Aryan - Aryan dies either way. But I seem to remember that decision or set of decisions in the dungeon can affect Act 3. Read that somewhere. (Maybe the Ambassador?)

Yeah, there are conversations with quick time events, conversations with timers (like with Iorveth at the beginning of Act 1), and then there are scenes/conversations that are not done in the conversation system, and are unskippable. You can usually spot these right off because of unusual camera movement. Every once in a while, there's a normal conversation that's 100% unskippable for no apparent reason, too.

EDIT: Discounting the sneaking vs. going-in-hot issue, there are four paths through the dungeon:
1. Saving Mary Louisa from the torturer; Shilard comes into the torture room mid-conversation, and you can walk almost straight out from there. You have to go well out of your way to get to Mary Louisa, but it's quick otherwise.
2. Watching Mary Louisa leave the torture room, then following her and Shilard into the interrogation room. You end up having to wait forever for Shilard to get the door open. This one clearly makes no sense.
3. Saving Aryan from the torturer; he's very hurt and needs help to the oil room. This one makes little sense, since #4 avoids the detour to the torture room with little consequence, and there's a nasty unskippable scene on your way out of the torture room
4. Watching Aryan leave the torture room, clear out the upper room, and help him to the oil room. This is also pretty quick - not a lot of distance to cover, overall, and you drag Aryan less distance.

It's clearly between 1 and 4. The complicating factor with 1 is how fast you can kill Aryan to begin with. He's sensitive to Aard, but doesn't get stunned. 4 would be very quick, if it weren't for the whole "go back, go to the front of Aryan, pick up Aryan, drag him up stairs" thing. I mentally timed it out and it's about as long as it takes to get to the torture room back door. It may come down to how sneaky and quick you can get to the door in case #1 - if you can bypass the guards entirely in that case, it will be faster than 4, since 4 requires you to kill all the guards, first.

(BTW you can always run right past the last two guards, once you're outside. The prologue ends when you reach the boat, combat or no combat.)

Anyhow, I guess my meta-point here is, man, this game's complicated! Lots of decisions points. We may need to investigate and time all possible branches to get a real feel for what's fastest.

I think you can meet Maria. I was wrong about Aryan - Aryan dies either way. But I seem to remember that decision or set of decisions in the dungeon can affect Act 3. Read that somewhere. (Maybe the Ambassador?)

Yeah, there are conversations with quick time events, conversations with timers (like with Iorveth at the beginning of Act 1), and then there are scenes/conversations that are not done in the conversation system, and are unskippable. You can usually spot these right off because of unusual camera movement. Every once in a while, there's a normal conversation that's 100% unskippable for no apparent reason, too.

EDIT: Discounting the sneaking vs. going-in-hot issue, there are four paths through the dungeon:
 1. Saving Mary Louisa from the torturer; Shilard comes into the torture room mid-conversation, and you can walk almost straight out from there. You have to go well out of your way to get to Mary Louisa, but it's quick otherwise.
 2. Watching Mary Louisa leave the torture room, then following her and Shilard into the interrogation room. You end up having to wait forever for Shilard to get the door open. This one clearly makes no sense.
 3. Saving Aryan from the torturer; he's very hurt and needs help to the oil room. This one makes little sense, since #4 avoids the detour to the torture room with little consequence, and there's a nasty unskippable scene on your way out of the torture room
 4. Watching Aryan leave the torture room, clear out the upper room, and help him to the oil room. This is also pretty quick - not a lot of distance to cover, overall, and you drag Aryan less distance.

It's clearly between 1 and 4. The complicating factor with 1 is how fast you can kill Aryan to begin with. He's sensitive to Aard, but doesn't get stunned. 4 would be very quick, if it weren't for the whole "go back, go to the front of Aryan, pick up Aryan, drag him up stairs" thing. I mentally timed it out and it's about as long as it takes to get to the torture room back door. It may come down to how sneaky and quick you can get to the door in case #1 - if you can bypass the guards entirely in that case, it will be faster than 4, since 4 requires you to kill all the guards, first.

(BTW you can always run right past the last two guards, once you're outside. The prologue ends when you reach the boat, combat or no combat.)

Anyhow, I guess my meta-point here is, man, this game's complicated! Lots of decisions points. We may need to investigate and time all possible branches to get a real feel for what's fastest.

Aphox

2011-06-25 05:14:04 am

Also know as L0rdy

Hi Guys,

I kinda put already a lot of thought and effort into this game and route for this game, so that I already finished this game a few times on insane in around 2 hours and 40 minutes. The route is not perfect yet I guess and since I didn't played the game for about a week now my combat is a little bit rusty, have to find more time to play it : P. I will try and record the route soon and show it to you guys.

For now, I took the 4th option usernameguy mentioned above for the prision escape. You can skip an annoying fight in the prologue which saves time and its not that slow. There are tricks to skip a few guys that spawn in your back a few times if you are lucky in there as well.
But I wonder about the two guards at the end when you have to run to the boat. I tested that and it didnt worked out for me at all. I couldnt skip fighting these guards for some reason. Will have to retry that maybe I missed the trigger for Triss (which can happen) and I dont remember.
My idea was to throw them both down with Aard, since skipping didnt worked for me. Was not a 100% thing thought, sometimes they just dont fly off : ).

Hi Guys,

I kinda put already a lot of thought and effort into this game and route for this game, so that I already finished this game a few times on insane in around 2 hours and 40 minutes. The route is not perfect yet I guess and since I didn't played the game for about a week now my combat is a little bit rusty, have to find more time to play it : P. I will try and record the route soon and show it to you guys.

For now, I took the 4th option usernameguy mentioned above for the prision escape. You can skip an annoying fight in the prologue which saves time and its not that slow. There are tricks to skip a few guys that spawn in your back a few times if you are lucky in there as well.
But I wonder about the two guards at the end when you have to run to the boat. I tested that and it didnt worked out for me at all. I couldnt skip fighting these guards for some reason. Will have to retry that maybe I missed the trigger for Triss (which can happen) and I dont remember.
My idea was to throw them both down with Aard, since skipping didnt worked for me. Was not a 100% thing thought, sometimes they just dont fly off : ).

usernameguy

2011-06-25 11:37:49 am

Huh, interesting! 2:40, huh? I was figuring around 3, nice job. What's the build you use? What do you do for Iorveth vs Roche? Have you tried both? Any other tricks in the route?

The two guards are a sure lock if you save Mary Louisa. If you save Aryan instead, you end up by the door on the side of the castle by the boat, not the far door. So you have to kind of delay the guards a bit - make like you're going to the other exit, then u-turn and run right past them. Then Triss will hold them up, if you time it right, and you'll be out of combat by the time you reach the boat (not sure if Triss and the two crossbowmen kill them or what). I just tried it. This is on normal, though - maybe they act differently on insane.

Aphox

2011-06-25 11:58:12 am

Also know as L0rdy

Well there are ton's of Tricks basicly I dont like to discribe everything in detail without a visual backup. There are many small tricks I found which save time. I am using the swordmans tree, I am not 100% sure, but I feel like it is the fastest tree to use. Also I use the improved Queen, because I run on Insane atleast for now I will use it since enemys kinda 1-2 hit you so easy and then you wasted a try. Well I did stop playing for like a week because I watched dreamhack etc : P and now another good tournament is running atm which I enjoy watching. Will find more time soon to play it again and will post it here afterwards.

Aphox

2011-06-27 06:06:39 am

Also know as L0rdy

Ok, I finished a "playthrough" today, which basicly shows the route I am using I try to explain stuff while playing, hope that will give a little insight from time to time. If there are any more questions etc just ask and I am not sure that the route is the fastest, yet.

Of course I made a lot of mistakes since I just wanted to record one playthrough with commentary and didnt wanted to do it over and over again until I have a real speedrun ^^ since I am still improving and stuff. I played it on hard so it wouldnt screw me up if I die (what once happend sadly). But still after all the mess ups I got a 2:45. The dragon fight can be much much faster I messed up there a lot T_T. And the draught fight is really shitty : /.

http://www.justin.tv/aphox/b/288959104

Hope I can get some feedback, and excuse my english : P, I am german so its not perfect :x

usernameguy

2011-06-27 12:32:39 pm

This is great. I'll be sure to watch this in the next couple of days. Thanks!

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-28 01:00:35 am

usernameguy: 2011-06-28 01:00:22 am

usernameguy: 2011-06-28 12:59:39 am

2011-06-28 12:58:39 am

notes as I watch the prologue:
- the Assassin point in the prologue - the way you play - lots of rolls to the back - I think going to get the point makes a lot of sense.
- nice find on the bowman in that same scene, and getting out of combat in general. didn't know that. seems like a lot of your time is spent just waiting to get out of combat.
- are you planning on a single-segment or a segmented run? you seem like you'd be happier segmented, off autosaves
- if you have Quen up, you're protected from dragon fire (at least, on Normal). that should be faster than waiting for the dragon to go away
- nice work on the way to the temple, and nice use of bombs on that fight; makes me think uanime may be right and that putting some points in bombs may be worth it, just to speed up group fights like that. too bad that talents are so few.
- someone said you can turn off those annoying long finishers cut-scenes, like the ones you have in the dungeon; I've never tried to.
- strange! I've never gotten the quest to finish and NOT gotten the cut scene. yeah, maybe further in? I think it has to do with whether you drag Triss towards you a bit as well, so when you u-turn, they run in to Triss and get hung up. it has to do with where the mobs are when you hit the trigger, I think. it may be worth some practice.

notes as I watch the prologue:
 - the Assassin point in the prologue - the way you play - lots of rolls to the back - I think going to get the point makes a lot of sense.
 - nice find on the bowman in that same scene, and getting out of combat in general. didn't know that. seems like a lot of your time is spent just waiting to get out of combat.
 - are you planning on a single-segment or a segmented run? you seem like you'd be happier segmented, off autosaves
 - if you have Quen up, you're protected from dragon fire (at least, on Normal). that should be faster than waiting for the dragon to go away
 - nice work on the way to the temple, and nice use of bombs on that fight; makes me think uanime may be right and that putting some points in bombs may be worth it, just to speed up group fights like that. too bad that talents are so few.
 - someone said you can turn off those annoying long finishers cut-scenes, like the ones you have in the dungeon; I've never tried to.
 - strange! I've never gotten the quest to finish and NOT gotten the cut scene. yeah, maybe further in? I think it has to do with whether you drag Triss towards you a bit as well, so when you u-turn, they run in to Triss and get hung up. it has to do with where the mobs are when you hit the trigger, I think. it may be worth some practice.

Aphox

2011-06-28 02:35:13 am

Also know as L0rdy

Thanks for the feedback so far.
-I am not 100% sure about the assassin perc. But if you think about it its +25% dmg in the back for like 10 seconds worth of time. "Should" add up in the whole run.
-I did plan to make it single segmented on insane to be honest. Atleast that was what my idea was when I got into planning. But I agree that doing this segmented will be much easier : P.
-I dont like the the idea of skilling 100% more bomb damage, the fastest you could skill it is the start of chapter 2 and by then you already have few to no bombs that it does not seem worth it to me. Creating bombs also waste a lot of time because you have to either depend on loot or buy the material to create bombs + creating bombs themselfs. It cost much time actually : P, more than you can gain by a fast fight or two you might have.
-I wonder about the cutscenes that would be nice if you can turn them off, but I dont know how ^^. Will check that.
-Well I guess you must be out of combat to trigger the cutscene might be the case that if I wait long enough at the boat I get out of combat there too, have to test that ^^.

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-28 10:38:15 am

2011-06-28 10:36:25 am

Cool.

Two other thoughts - if you're gonna get the Assassin point , you might as well get it ASAP - before the first scene with the ballista. I think it costs you the same time either way, but this way, you get it for the battles between the ballista scenes, too.

And I'm not 100% sure of this, but maybe it would be faster to sheath the sword, go open the gate, then loot, then talk to the king, in the courtyard. Rather than sheath, loot, open the gate, then talk to the king. Because you're on the move constantly that way. Maybe not though, haven't tried it. Also it might save time to drag the big guy over towards the door a bit, if you can, easily.

oh, also - your English is great, don't sweat it so much. (MUCH better than my German Smiley

) in fact, turn it up a bit next time you record, I have trouble hearing you!

Aphox

2011-06-28 10:44:45 am

Also know as L0rdy

If you talking about the fight in the monastery courtyard then you must loot first to get the key to open the door : P, else I dont know which one you are talking about ^^. The point with the assassin perc is good I should do that indeed : ).

usernameguy

2011-06-28 10:48:32 am

Ohhh, right. Smiley

Dang, it's always something. Well, at least maybe you can drag him towards the door a bit.

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-28 02:13:12 pm

usernameguy: 2011-06-28 02:12:50 pm

2011-06-28 02:11:53 pm

notes on watching act1 -
- I discovered you can lead the butterfly spell a bit - but not too much, otherwise you die instantly (!). Nice work running for the cutscene.
- I wonder if the fistfights have certain set patterns, or whether they're truly random. If they do, you can predict the next punch, maybe.
- maybe it'd be worth a side trip earlier to try out a conjuror, just so you have a higher chance with that merchant on doubling the reward. not sure if you've already done that, hard for me to tell at this tiny resolution. (have you considered uploading to YouTube instead?)
- the missing xp - maybe a conversation option? maybe you skipped some xp accidentally by one of your "maybe I can skip this conversation" attempts.
- the Kayran trophy is like 5 seconds, max. In a perfect run, you'd only really use the damage on it; but on a single segment, the armor and vitality will come in handy. so yeah, single segment, I think you should pick it up; segmented, don't bother.
- interesting bit about rolling, in general, nicely done.
- Zoltan definitely sets the whole town into a weird state. There's a quest flag he sets. In general, the game is very quirky when it comes to the quests with people following you. There might be exploits worth looking into related to that, there.
- wow, I never realized how overpowered daggers are. makes the Letho fight a joke. nice.
- like I was saying earlier, I think there are three separate game modes - there's the normal game mode, there's the conversation mode, and then there's the "live cutscene" mode. This last mode is marked by special camera movements, like zooms or pans. Basically any cutscene in this special cutscene mode is unskippable.
- the doors - there's this really annoying thing where the region you can open a door or jump a ledge doesn't extend all the way up to the door or ledge - you have to be a foot or so away from the door/ledge to hit it. but only sometimes, on some doors/ledges. why it's that way, I have no idea.
- yeah those guys with the shields you hit in the back, alone, justify the Assassin point, I think.
- have you tried working on a Roche run? is it even close ? (can you tell?)
- good find on the two big guys being the trigger there.
- have you updated the Witcher 2? there was a big patch at some point. maybe some of the bomb bugs and xp bugs go away, but maybe it gets harder to move around.
- you made up time in the second half of the act. I figure your optimum time on the current route is in 2:38-9 range?

notes on watching act1 - 
 - I discovered you can lead the butterfly spell a bit - but not too much, otherwise you die instantly (!). Nice work running for the cutscene.
 - I wonder if the fistfights have certain set patterns, or whether they're truly random. If they do, you can predict the next punch, maybe.
 - maybe it'd be worth a side trip earlier to try out a conjuror, just so you have a higher chance with that merchant on doubling the reward. not sure if you've already done that, hard for me to tell at this tiny resolution. (have you considered uploading to YouTube instead?)
 - the missing xp - maybe a conversation option? maybe you skipped some xp accidentally by one of your "maybe I can skip this conversation" attempts.
 - the Kayran trophy is like 5 seconds, max. In a perfect run, you'd only really use the damage on it; but on a single segment, the armor and vitality will come in handy. so yeah, single segment, I think you should pick it up; segmented, don't bother.
 - interesting bit about rolling, in general, nicely done.
 - Zoltan definitely sets the whole town into a weird state. There's a quest flag he sets. In general, the game is very quirky when it comes to the quests with people following you. There might be exploits worth looking into related to that, there.
 - wow, I never realized how overpowered daggers are. makes the Letho fight a joke. nice.
 - like I was saying earlier, I think there are three separate game modes - there's the normal game mode, there's the conversation mode, and then there's the "live cutscene" mode. This last mode is marked by special camera movements, like zooms or pans. Basically any cutscene in this special cutscene mode is unskippable.
 - the doors - there's this really annoying thing where the region you can open a door or jump a ledge doesn't extend all the way up to the door or ledge - you have to be a foot or so away from the door/ledge to hit it. but only sometimes, on some doors/ledges. why it's that way, I have no idea.
 - yeah those guys with the shields you hit in the back, alone, justify the Assassin point, I think.
 - have you tried working on a Roche run? is it even close ? (can you tell?)
 - good find on the two big guys being the trigger there.
 - have you updated the Witcher 2? there was a big patch at some point. maybe some of the bomb bugs and xp bugs go away, but maybe it gets harder to move around.
 - you made up time in the second half of the act. I figure your optimum time on the current route is in 2:38-9 range?

Aphox

2011-06-28 02:31:12 pm

Also know as L0rdy

The chance with the merchant to double the fee for me is around 90%+ so I think I need to increase the chance.

I found out what the problem is with the missing xp and why I am sometimes level 8. I noticed when I reloaded the same savegame I used for this run and loaded right before the kayran fight... and after I fought him I was only lvl 8... and in the run I was lvl 9 afterwards. So I tested a bit around and it seems that the kayran himself does give you random amounts of xp... which lead to the difference. Tried out if I have any influence on that but it doesnt seem like I have. So this just adds another random factor to the game : /.

I think if just wait for Zoltan first that he moved away from the merchant and afterwards I try to buy stuff from him. Atleast I had trys where it didnt happened so there must be a way to avoid that.

Didnt tried Roach run tbh, I wanted to focus on just one route which I think is faster since the two routes will be different categories anyway... but I do believe the Iorveth path is faster.

My Witcher 2 is on Patch 1.2 right now and there is no newer patch yet as far as I know. : ( Hope there will be one soon since the game has still so many annoying bugs and random crashes -.-.

I think the optimal time with this route is 2:30 if you have luck with the fights etc. But well fights can waste so much time so fast T_T, just by 1-2 blogs and you loose position on ppl or they clumb up to much etc. Well I must train the combat more as well but yeah as I said that was the first time I played in a while ^^.

The chance with the merchant to double the fee for me is around 90%+ so I think I need to increase the chance.

I found out what the problem is with the missing xp and why I am sometimes level 8. I noticed when I reloaded the same savegame I used for this run and loaded right before the kayran fight... and after I fought him I was only lvl 8... and in the run I was lvl 9 afterwards. So I tested a bit around and it seems that the kayran himself does give you random amounts of xp... which lead to the difference. Tried out if I have any influence on that but it doesnt seem like I have. So this just adds another random factor to the game : /.

I think if just wait for Zoltan first that he moved away from the merchant and afterwards I try to buy stuff from him. Atleast I had trys where it didnt happened so there must be a way to avoid that.

Didnt tried Roach run tbh, I wanted to focus on just one route which I think is faster since the two routes will be different categories anyway... but I do believe the Iorveth path is faster.

My Witcher 2 is on Patch 1.2 right now and there is no newer patch yet as far as I know. : ( Hope there will be one soon since the game has still so many annoying bugs and random crashes -.-.

I think the optimal time with this route is 2:30 if you have luck with the fights etc. But well fights can waste so much time so fast T_T, just by 1-2 blogs and you loose position on ppl or they clumb up to much etc. Well I must train the combat more as well but yeah as I said that was the first time I played in a while ^^.

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-28 02:45:07 pm

2011-06-28 02:40:20 pm

It seems like you're almost required to pick up any knives dropped by mobs. And then use every knife by the end. Since they make nearly any fight go faster.

Similarly, I wonder what the time budget looks like for simple bombs. Grapeshot's a two-ingredient bomb, for example. Maybe it's worth budgeting out orens, purchasing ingredients, and making bombs all at once, just to speed up a few fights with them.

BTW also, do you own an SSD? You could speed up the whole run by speeding up loads. Smiley

So far, so good. I think you have a pretty mature route going. I'd be looking to submit a run to SDA sooner rather than later. You could wait for a bunch of exploits to be found, but that might take months. You have a good straightforward run already, with good fighting skills. I doubt your run will be beat without some major exploits any time soon.

Also, don't discount the Roche path. Iorveth's path has a lot of shortcuts, but a few longer sections (eg running into Loc Muinne is much quicker with Roche than Iorveth - you even end up on the completely wrong side of the city with Iorveth. Roche can run through the Termerian camp much easier.)

It seems like you're almost required to pick up any knives dropped by mobs. And then use every knife by the end. Since they make nearly any fight go faster.

Similarly, I wonder what the time budget looks like for simple bombs. Grapeshot's a two-ingredient bomb, for example. Maybe it's worth budgeting out orens, purchasing ingredients, and making bombs all at once, just to speed up a few fights with them.

BTW also, do you own an SSD? You could speed up the whole run by speeding up loads. :)

So far, so good. I think you have a pretty mature route going. I'd be looking to submit a run to SDA sooner rather than later. You could wait for a bunch of exploits to be found, but that might take months. You have a good straightforward run already, with good fighting skills. I doubt your run will be beat without some major exploits any time soon.

Also, don't discount the Roche path. Iorveth's path has a lot of shortcuts, but a few longer sections (eg running into Loc Muinne is much quicker with Roche than Iorveth - you even end up on the completely wrong side of the city with Iorveth. Roche can run through the Termerian camp much easier.)

Aphox

2011-06-28 02:54:52 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Well what holds me up at the moment is mostly the crashes and random bugs which destroy nearly every run. I think I didnt had one attempt yet where I wasnt fucked up by a bug / crash. I guess segmenting would still be possible, but for some reason I enjoy the thought more of single segmenting this on insane ^^.

For money. Since they included all the DLCs which you would usually only have with like the collectors edition etc in patch 1.2 you dont have any money issues at all... You can sell so many herbs you have in your inventory now for some reason, and also the weathstones sell for high price I think and you dont need all of them in the whole run. However buying does cost time. And I dont think buying stuff to create bombs is worth at all since it does cost a lot of time to buy all the necessary ingredients and reset the shop over and over again etc. However I have to test if it is a good idea for later stages of the game to like buy daggers for later fights. But as long as I manage to get hits into the back of opponents it should be faster as daggers. The damage output for swords is not to bad only in the beginning daggers are just not comparable to swords. I like to test it anyway (Parry can be really annoying ^^).

Well what holds me up at the moment is mostly the crashes and random bugs which destroy nearly every run. I think I didnt had one attempt yet where I wasnt fucked up by a bug / crash. I guess segmenting would still be possible, but for some reason I enjoy the thought more of single segmenting this on insane ^^.

For money. Since they included all the DLCs which you would usually only have with like the collectors edition etc in patch 1.2 you dont have any money issues at all... You can sell so many herbs you have in your inventory now for some reason, and also the weathstones sell for high price I think and you dont need all of them in the whole run. However buying does cost time. And I dont think buying stuff to create bombs is worth at all since it does cost a lot of time to buy all the necessary ingredients and reset the shop over and over again etc. However I have to test if it is a good idea for later stages of the game to like buy daggers for later fights. But as long as I manage to get hits into the back of opponents it should be faster as daggers. The damage output for swords is not to bad only in the beginning daggers are just not comparable to swords. I like to test it anyway (Parry can be really annoying ^^).

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-28 09:01:22 pm

2011-06-28 08:19:52 pm

notes on watching act 2 -
- Sometimes level loads take 2x as long on Witcher 2, like your first Act 2 load. Not sure why, or how to fix it, but it's real. Maybe having more memory assigned to it (forcing it to be 64-bit, somehow?) would help.
- Are you sure you aren't accidentally blocking Phillipa (the owl) through the mist? The pathing seems very touchy. In my experience, you never want to be directly in front of her.
- Once you have the 200% dodge, can't you outrun town guards that get offended by your sword being drawn (in Acts 1, 2, and 3)? If so, is there any harm to having the sword out in town?
- Sword of Dun Banner and Harpy Sword are probably the best swords directly on the route for a while, I'm guessing... have you looked at where all the good swords are, relative to your route, in detail? it might be worth a small side trip to upgrade your swords, just to speed up the times you need to use them. Armor, for that matter.
- You can do the math explicitly on the Assassin point. Time the difference between getting it and not getting. +25% in the back means that if you're fighting someone with, say, 500 hp, and you do 100 hp per hit, you take him down in 4 hits, not 5. So you can count the number of hits it saves you, over the game, and roughly how much time each hit would've taken. I think you do enough hits in the back over the game that the time taken is worth it.
- Your use of places of power could be better in general - there are a few you pass right by that would take you less than 3 seconds to pick up and would come in useful in fights within the next 5 minutes. I think that's one advantage of segmenting, potentially - being able to plan out and know which to use, and why.
- Interesting that you go to the Harpy Queen and the Dun Banner before the mines, even though you have to be on that side of town earlier. I assume that's because you want the two swords, first, right?
- The mines seem like a good spot to use area of effect weapons or spells, but I can't imagine offhand what, or where to get them. Maybe it's worth it to shop for things just for the mines - the time spent crafting/shopping would offset quickly in the mines. (Side note: the mines in Roche's path use nekkers, which are even more area-of-effect susceptible than rotfiends.)
- Been meaning to say, the runner's waypoint app you have is really nice. Too bad it doesn't also hook into the game and trigger the waypoints itself.
- Phillipa's only at home after specific quests, for one zone entry only. She disappears after those. It may be worth it to figure out which quests, exactly, so you can plan when to see her better, but maybe not.
- Aren't there paths through the Prince-killing quest that don't involve talking to the guy outside the room? I thought at one point I had finished that quest, accidentally, without leaving that room. Maybe I'm wrong.
- Pretty sure you can pay her less than 500 orens - not that it seems to matter much either way on your route.
- Bullvores will always block the nth blow, I've noticed (n=4?) - so maybe instead of swinging the sword then, roll behind him on that one, and reset the counter.
- Oh god, I know what you mean about the game unequipping the swords. Geralt will even have a fake sword equipped that does nothing! So irritating. I think it happens whenever Geralt has a scene where his swords get unequipped - even if he just falls asleep or something. Who thought that fake sword was a good idea?
- A point or two in Parry might be worth it just for the Eternal Battle section.
- The trebuchets that take down the fence blocking you from the Draug don't do damage, IIRC. You can run right up to the edge of the fence and not get hurt. I think.
- I think the Draug tends to call for his archers and trebuchets more when you're more than about 25 feet away from him. There's an ideal distance from him to get the charge, not the archers/trebuchets, but it's really hard to hit. But yeah, this fight is really annoying. Lots of luck involved.
- Have you considered pumping group style, just for the fight on the wall? Maybe spending the two points you have as of the 2nd fight would be worth the time to spend them.

Aphox

2011-06-29 05:28:47 am

Also know as L0rdy

Loading Screens
Well loading screen times are not counted by SDA on PC runs anyway as far as I know, because its totally depends on how good your system is.

The Owl (start of Chapter 2)
I dont think you can block the owl itself the owl movement is connected to the prince which is the slowest part in the group, if he gets fucked up the owl will stop moving as well. I take a good eye on these guys because they love to get screwed over.

Sword in Town?
For the sword in town, as you see in Vergen I constantly have my sword out the whole time. But that is only because there are luckily no guards around the areas I need to use something, like doors etc and I am out of combat of the last guards which saw me by that point. In act1 however you dont have that luxury you have to open doors or talk to vendors and there are guards nearby when you have your sword out all the time you have to wait to get out of combat first before you can interact with the door//merchant or whatever, however when its night the guards are sleeping and you usually can roll in Floatsom during the night.

Places of Power
Yeah I know many of them but I dont think any are worth it but additional damage, and the one place near the city gate I can use it only once for some reason. When I use it while going down to the harpy nest it wont have respawned for me when I go back, dont know why, if I recall from my first playthrough it was there all the time -.-. Well for other Places of Power, I dont understand why I would use them since I can manage without as fast as with them.

Harpy Queen before mines
I calculated the amount of time I loose by going to the Harpy queen first and its less then 10 seconds actually. Thats why I made the choice to go for the Harpy silver sword first which will easily make up for it and makes the whole mine much easier and faster.

Area of effect damage in the Mines
Well I thought about this, however I came to the conclusion that its not worth it because there are like only 3 packs of enemys where you would want to use bombs and putting all the preparation into this looked as a bad idea for me. But I think I should try it atleast once, time a mine with just killing enemys via sword and one with the bombs + preparation time. That's another thing on my to do list (man I should start write down a to do list lol). Also an idea pops to mind, I usually have like 2-3 Dancing Star left, the ones that ignite and I use on the Harpy Queen. Might be worth it to just use these instead : P.

Phillipa's Disappearing
I figured that out, she disappears after you found Triss bandana. That is because if you talk to her about it this triggers the part about the royal blood quest. However the game does not wants you to do that part before you have collected everything else. That is why Phillipa wont be at home until you have done everything else.

Prince killing quest
I dont really know about what you are talking here to be honest ^^. "Aren't there paths through the Prince-killing quest that don't involve talking to the guy outside the room?" If you could specify where and what you mean by this : P, I can not find the exact point in my head you are talking about.

Pay her less than 500 Orens?
Well I really tried everything up to 498 Orens ^^ and she only accepted it when I went up to 500 : P, might be luck based below 500 but she always accepts when its over 500.

Bullvores
Hmm yeah there could be a pattern for their block, I will have to test that ^^, thanks.

The trebuchets that take down the fence blocking you from the Draug don't do damage
Haha, yeah thats what I thought until I died there on an insane playthrough for some reason : P, really happend I dont know why they do damage sometimes... also what happend to me once was that they were not crushed at all because I stood there.. and there was no way to break them afterwards lol.

The Draug fight
I really have to put some time into training this fight, I think if you have him figured out he atleast wont take 5 minutes to fight ^^.

Fight at the Wall (Vergen defence)
Well it didnt worked here very good, but usually what you can do is killing every single guy which comes up the one latter before he can attack // block you due to the waypoint system in this game. The guys want to get to the exact spot after they climbed up the latter, before they switch to combat mode, if you block their path you can just kill them easily. I messed that up big time in that recording : /. And then I usually use the adrenalin in the meantime to kill the other guys which came up the other latter. Anyway I agree that the skillpoints are well put in group style since you get more adrenalin this way too and can start hitting the x button faster and more often ^^.

[u][b]Loading Screens[/b][/u]
Well loading screen times are not counted by SDA on PC runs anyway as far as I know, because its totally depends on how good your system is.

[u][b]The Owl (start of Chapter 2)[/b][/u]
I dont think you can block the owl itself the owl movement is connected to the prince which is the slowest part in the group, if he gets fucked up the owl will stop moving as well. I take a good eye on these guys because they love to get screwed over.
[u]
[b]Sword in Town?[/b][/u]
For the sword in town, as you see in Vergen I constantly have my sword out the whole time. But that is only because there are luckily no guards around the areas I need to use something, like doors etc and I am out of combat of the last guards which saw me by that point. In act1 however you dont have that luxury you have to open doors or talk to vendors and there are guards nearby when you have your sword out all the time you have to wait to get out of combat first before you can interact with the door//merchant or whatever, however when its night the guards are sleeping and you usually can roll in Floatsom during the night.

[u][b]Places of Power[/b][/u]
Yeah I know many of them but I dont think any are worth it but additional damage, and the one place near the city gate I can use it only once for some reason. When I use it while going down to the harpy nest it wont have respawned for me when I go back, dont know why, if I recall from my first playthrough it was there all the time -.-. Well for other Places of Power, I dont understand why I would use them since I can manage without as fast as with them.

[u][b]Harpy Queen before mines[/b][/u]
I calculated the amount of time I loose by going to the Harpy queen first and its less then 10 seconds actually. Thats why I made the choice to go for the Harpy silver sword first which will easily make up for it and makes the whole mine much easier and faster.

[u][b]Area of effect damage in the Mines[/b][/u]
Well I thought about this, however I came to the conclusion that its not worth it because there are like only 3 packs of enemys where you would want to use bombs and putting all the preparation into this looked as a bad idea for me. But I think I should try it atleast once, time a mine with just killing enemys via sword and one with the bombs + preparation time. That's another thing on my to do list (man I should start write down a to do list lol). Also an idea pops to mind, I usually have like 2-3 Dancing Star left, the ones that ignite and I use on the Harpy Queen. Might be worth it to just use these instead : P.

[u][b]Phillipa's Disappearing[/b][/u]
I figured that out, she disappears after you found Triss bandana. That is because if you talk to her about it this triggers the part about the royal blood quest. However the game does not wants you to do that part before you have collected everything else. That is why Phillipa wont be at home until you have done everything else.
[u]
[b]Prince killing quest[/b][/u]
I dont really know about what you are talking here to be honest ^^. "Aren't there paths through the Prince-killing quest that don't involve talking to the guy outside the room?" If you could specify where and what you mean by this : P, I can not find the exact point in my head you are talking about.

[u][b]Pay her less than 500 Orens?[/b][/u]
Well I really tried everything up to 498 Orens ^^ and she only accepted it when I went up to 500 : P, might be luck based below 500 but she always accepts when its over 500.

[u][b]Bullvores[/b][/u]
Hmm yeah there could be a pattern for their block, I will have to test that ^^, thanks.
[u]
[b]The trebuchets that take down the fence blocking you from the Draug don't do damage[/b][/u]
Haha, yeah thats what I thought until I died there on an insane playthrough for some reason : P, really happend I dont know why they do damage sometimes... also what happend to me once was that they were not crushed at all because I stood there.. and there was no way to break them afterwards lol.

[u][b]The Draug fight[/b][/u]
I really have to put some time into training this fight, I think if you have him figured out he atleast wont take 5 minutes to fight ^^.

[u][b]Fight at the Wall (Vergen defence)[/b][/u]
Well it didnt worked here very good, but usually what you can do is killing every single guy which comes up the one latter before he can attack // block you due to the waypoint system in this game. The guys want to get to the exact spot after they climbed up the latter, before they switch to combat mode, if you block their path you can just kill them easily. I messed that up big time in that recording : /. And then I usually use the adrenalin in the meantime to kill the other guys which came up the other latter. Anyway I agree that the skillpoints are well put in group style since you get more adrenalin this way too and can start hitting the x button faster and more often ^^.

Aphox

2011-06-29 06:29:48 am

Also know as L0rdy

Currently testing a bit around I think this is the fastest way for the two guards at the end of the prision escape:

Aphox

2011-06-29 08:16:04 am

Also know as L0rdy

Ok is just tested the bombs in the mines to make sure:

I'd say if you manage to get lucky with the amount of herbs you can buy you get like 15 bombs in 2 minutes (including crafting them).
If you buy the bombs directly (grapshots) from Cedric it costs even more time since he moves around climbs latters etc really annoying also a bomb costs 81 Orens each... actually if you buy 15-16 bombs you cant buy the daggers and complete the game with just selling your stuff anymore.

Also I made a test through the mines with 23 grapeshots(+talent 100% more dmg with bombs) and had decent fights vs a sloppy executed one with sword only. I didnt even loose a minute compared to the ones with bombs.

Well I am sure that getting bombs costs more time then actually gaining time, just because you need to get bombs somehow : P.

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-29 01:42:06 pm

usernameguy: 2011-06-29 01:35:15 pm

2011-06-29 01:30:34 pm

Ah, interesting path on the prison escape - what that tells me is that it's a question of whether the two are dead or not. Kill one for Triss and the two crossbowmen, and they can take care of the other by the time you get to the boat.

It's good that we have an estimate on gathering bombs now. I was figuring it was pretty expensive, time-wise. It's a good thing to keep in mind (15 bombs cost 2 minutes and create gold problems) when estimating changes on some of the Act 2 & 3 fights. I think what that really tells me the group style point(s) are important by the time you reach the mines. Maybe more important than the other points? Hard to tell. Worth testing?

Other stuff:
- Yup, you're right. I forgot SDA doesn't count loading screens. But an SSD would just make your time use better, too Smiley

Can you tell I like SSDs? Pick one up if you can afford to.
- I think the way you should judge Places of Power is a) how long does it take off a normal route to get them, then b) would it speed up the fights any? I suspect most Places wouldn't speed up the fights - only the buffs that up offense would. So I guess I'm saying, if a Place of Power buffs offense, and it takes like, 3 extra seconds to get (that is, it's right on the route anyhow), it might actually be worth the time to get.
- Prince-killing quest - oh, sorry, I meant the quest where you meet the mob in town hall to decide the fate of Prince Stennis. I forget the name. But yeah, I could've swore there was some way of getting through that quest without leaving town hall. Maybe I'm confused, though.
- Something I've noticed about the bribe screen - the first bribe is cheapest. Did you reload every time when you tested the bribe to the madam? Or did you keep bribing her over and over? A failed bribe can cost +20% or more. (NB: apparently the bribe amount changes every time you open the screen! or so this guy claims - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3413023&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=82#post392159673 VERY interesting, if true. I think this would be a good argument in favor of segmenting - you could be more loose with your money in a segmented run, and "manipulate the luck" on the bribe to get a low price.)

EDIT: One other thought on Places of Power - you talk a lot about needing armor for certain fights. If it's a limited number of fights, though, maybe you need less if you factor in Places of Power buffs, especially life or armor buffs. But I doubt the need for armor is that restricted, and buffs that plentiful.

EDIT: In re the madame and her bribe - have you tested the time it takes to just walk around the base, vs. giving her the bribe? The option there creates an interesting tradeoff - you can trade orens for time, essentially. So instead of spending 500 orens on the madame, take the X extra seconds to walk around, instead, and ... buy something else. Better armor, a better sword at the right time, etc.

Ah, interesting path on the prison escape - what that tells me is that it's a question of whether the two are dead or not. Kill one for Triss and the two crossbowmen, and they can take care of the other by the time you get to the boat.

It's good that we have an estimate on gathering bombs now. I was figuring it was pretty expensive, time-wise. It's a good thing to keep in mind (15 bombs cost 2 minutes and create gold problems) when estimating changes on some of the Act 2 & 3 fights. I think what that really tells me the group style point(s) are important by the time you reach the mines. Maybe more important than the other points? Hard to tell. Worth testing?

Other stuff:
 - Yup, you're right. I forgot SDA doesn't count loading screens. But an SSD would just make your time use better, too :) Can you tell I like SSDs? Pick one up if you can afford to.
 - I think the way you should judge Places of Power is a) how long does it take off a normal route to get them, then b) would it speed up the fights any? I suspect most Places wouldn't speed up the fights - only the buffs that up offense would. So I guess I'm saying, if a Place of Power buffs offense, and it takes like, 3 extra seconds to get (that is, it's right on the route anyhow), it might actually be worth the time to get.
 - Prince-killing quest - oh, sorry, I meant the quest where you meet the mob in town hall to decide the fate of Prince Stennis. I forget the name. But yeah, I could've swore there was some way of getting through that quest without leaving town hall. Maybe I'm confused, though.
 - Something I've noticed about the bribe screen - the first bribe is cheapest. Did you reload every time when you tested the bribe to the madam? Or did you keep bribing her over and over? A failed bribe can cost +20% or more. (NB: apparently the bribe amount changes every time you open the screen! or so this guy claims - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3413023&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=82#post392159673 VERY interesting, if true. I think this would be a good argument in favor of segmenting - you could be more loose with your money in a segmented run, and "manipulate the luck" on the bribe to get a low price.)

EDIT: One other thought on Places of Power - you talk a lot about needing armor for certain fights. If it's a limited number of fights, though, maybe you need less if you factor in Places of Power buffs, especially life or armor buffs. But I doubt the need for armor is that restricted, and buffs that plentiful.

EDIT: In re the madame and her bribe - have you tested the time it takes to just walk around the base, vs. giving her the bribe? The option there creates an interesting tradeoff - you can trade orens for time, essentially. So instead of spending 500 orens on the madame, take the X extra seconds to walk around, instead, and ... buy something else. Better armor, a better sword at the right time, etc.

Aphox

2011-06-29 03:22:05 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Hmm I just noticed that I thought you meant with groupstyle the thing that hits multiple enemys with sword, I checked and I couldnt find a skill in the tree which is called groups style. Would be nice to clarify which skill you actually mean ^^. If its the hit multiple enemys skill as I though then its not worth is because it would slow you down from getting the adrenalin finisher from the sword tree.

About SSD's I might buy me one but not because you mention it here so often ^^.

For the Prince killing quest I have to check the conversation if there is a way to end it faster. (Put on my to do list :D)

The only fight I want armor is in the Eternal Battle because the game does not allow you to do any styles or skills its easy to die without a certain amount of armor. However the game removes every buff you have when going into the eternal battle including power place buffs : P.

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-07-01 07:35:56 pm

usernameguy: 2011-06-30 12:51:22 am

usernameguy: 2011-06-30 12:50:53 am

2011-06-29 03:39:18 pm

Heh, fair enough on the SSD. It's your money, after all! Smiley

I'm sorry I forget so many names. Here's a skill tree reference:
http://witchervault.ign.com/View.php?view=Editorials.Detail&id=8

I refer to Whirl when I say Group Style (I tend to think of Whirl as the replacement of the Group Style from Witcher 1). Interesting that you think the adrenaline is more important that Whirl, I would not have guessed that. I could see maybe having a Whirl build and comparing that to an Adrenaline build, maybe, then. But Whirl's only really useful when Geralt is engaged fully with two or more mobs at once. You seem to avoid that situation the best you can in your combat style. Maybe a Whirl build is effective, but only using a particular combat play style, or only on Easy, etc.

Yeah, so, basically, I think the only Places of Power you should worry about are the offensive buffs, and only those that you basically walk over, anyhow. If an offensive buff saves you a few swings - say, in the Wall fights - it's probably worth the effort.

Heh, fair enough on the SSD. It's your money, after all! :)

I'm sorry I forget so many names. Here's a skill tree reference:
http://witchervault.ign.com/View.php?view=Editorials.Detail&id=8

I refer to Whirl when I say Group Style (I tend to think of Whirl as the replacement of the Group Style from Witcher 1). Interesting that you think the adrenaline is more important that Whirl, I would not have guessed that. I could see maybe having a Whirl build and comparing that to an Adrenaline build, maybe, then. But Whirl's only really useful when Geralt is engaged fully with two or more mobs at once. You seem to avoid that situation the best you can in your combat style. Maybe a Whirl build is effective, but only using a particular combat play style, or only on Easy, etc.

Yeah, so, basically, I think the only Places of Power you should worry about are the offensive buffs, and only those that you basically walk over, anyhow. If an offensive buff saves you a few swings - say, in the Wall fights - it's probably worth the effort.