Witcher 2

Aphox

Edit history:

Aphox: 2011-06-29 04:22:31 pm

2011-06-29 04:17:44 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Checked the prince you can talk to more people near the townhall and avoid to talk to the servant like this. Nice that shaves off a little bit of time : ).

Yeah it think whirl might be good for easier difficulties, I think you should aim for the adrenalin asap on hard/insane.

I found some small improvements in the prologue today for some reason I didnt really looked out for them either ^^.
First one improves the dragon time in the pologue, I also showed after I did it correctly that you will die on hard with shield on when you get cought by the fire, just to make thinks clear that you can not just walk through it Cheesy

The other thing is just a random fight I found a better strategy for also in the prologue:
Now I hit the only guy I need to kill with Aard to know him back so he is separated from the other guys. Now I can more easily just focus on him while the other guys are handled by the king. After killing him you get out of combat and can just climb the latter.
I know the fight is not perfectly executed! Please dont bother about that : P

Checked the prince you can talk to more people near the townhall and avoid to talk to the servant like this. Nice that shaves off a little bit of time : ).

Yeah it think whirl might be good for easier difficulties, I think you should aim for the adrenalin asap on hard/insane.

I found some small improvements in the prologue today for some reason I didnt really looked out for them either ^^.
First one improves the dragon time in the pologue, I also showed after I did it correctly that you will die on hard with shield on when you get cought by the fire, just to make thinks clear that you can not just walk through it :D
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT7mpUKl7Ks[/url]

The other thing is just a random fight I found a better strategy for also in the prologue:
Now I hit the only guy I need to kill with Aard to know him back so he is separated from the other guys. Now I can more easily just focus on him while the other guys are handled by the king. After killing him you get out of combat and can just climb the latter.
I know the fight is not perfectly executed! Please dont bother about that : P
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEQqjszFOHc[/url]

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-29 04:36:13 pm

2011-06-29 04:35:15 pm

Nice! Those both look to be as good as you're going to get them, strategy-wise. The knight fight is much faster now.

I suspect the dragon is acting partially like a door between the hoardings - the game wants you to defeat the two soldiers, then move on. I also wonder if Quen is dragon-proof on Normal, and just not on Hard + Insane - it seems too harsh and too quick a change. Maybe it's just slightly more harmful on Hard, and then a buffed Quen can resist it on Normal but not quite keep up on Hard?

uanime5

2011-06-29 06:46:46 pm

At the end of the Prologue you can avoid fighting the guards in front of the boat if you convince New Boy to wear his armour (first flashback). He'll appear outside the castle and be so grateful that he distracts the guards. This may save some time.

The karyan trap is faster than cutting off a tentacle because you don't have to clip on the tentacle several times and watch a cutscene. However the time it takes to get the metal part and make the trap may be longer.

I've also found a build that beat the dragon in 4 hits on hard:
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/the_witcher_2/operator_in_1_hit_letho_in_2_hits_dragon_in_4_hits_on_hard_alchemy_swords_vid/page1

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-06-30 12:52:09 am

2011-06-29 07:20:53 pm

That build is nuts! Too bad it requires a ton of mutagen farming.

notes on watching Lordy's Act 3 and Epilogue:
- Interesting to note that a Roche run doesn't go right past the good silver sword as closely as the Iorveth path. Makes sense to me to get it - a direct speedup of the dragon fight.
- Also the Roche path is definitely a lot quicker to get into the city, but a lot slower to reach the first quest goal. I wonder, Act 3 alone, which is faster.
- People talk online about how hard the dragon is, but I thought the Nilfgaardian camp was much harder. Yeah, basically this is where the speedrunning really catches up to you - you're under level, your armor isn't optimized, and the man-killing sword is from last act (early last act), so it's no surprise that those fights take forever. Makes me wonder whether it's worth saving up money or going out of your way for a better steel sword, just for the Nilfgaardian camp and the two guards in front of the amphitheater. (Also, do you have any oils beyond the sharpening stone to use on the Nilfgaardian camp?)
- Targeting on Saesenthesis/Saskia is really weird. I bet it changed in a patch, too.
- Have you tried daggers on Saskia? I doubt you could afford them at this point
- Great job manipulating the dragon AI, in general; you really have this fight dialed in better than the Draug fight. (ignoring the hiccups - I can tell you can play that even better.)
- Funny thing with the audio glitch Smiley

EDIT: There are a couple of points in your run when you go to spend your talent points, and (by instinct, apparently), you hit Ctrl, and go into meditation mode. You can avoid the animation of Geralt kneeling into meditation in those cases just by hitting 'c' instead. That takes you directly into the character build screen.

That build is nuts! Too bad it requires a ton of mutagen farming.

notes on watching Lordy's Act 3 and Epilogue:
- Interesting to note that a Roche run doesn't go right past the good silver sword as closely as the Iorveth path. Makes sense to me to get it - a direct speedup of the dragon fight.
- Also the Roche path is definitely a lot quicker to get into the city, but a lot slower to reach the first quest goal. I wonder, Act 3 alone, which is faster.
- People talk online about how hard the dragon is, but I thought the Nilfgaardian camp was much harder. Yeah, basically this is where the speedrunning really catches up to you - you're under level, your armor isn't optimized, and the man-killing sword is from last act (early last act), so it's no surprise that those fights take forever. Makes me wonder whether it's worth saving up money or going out of your way for a better steel sword, just for the Nilfgaardian camp and the two guards in front of the amphitheater. (Also, do you have any oils beyond the sharpening stone to use on the Nilfgaardian camp?)
- Targeting on Saesenthesis/Saskia is really weird. I bet it changed in a patch, too.
- Have you tried daggers on Saskia? I doubt you could afford them at this point
- Great job manipulating the dragon AI, in general; you really have this fight dialed in better than the Draug fight. (ignoring the hiccups - I can tell you can play that even better.)
- Funny thing with the audio glitch :)

EDIT: There are a couple of points in your run when you go to spend your talent points, and (by instinct, apparently), you hit Ctrl, and go into meditation mode. You can avoid the animation of Geralt kneeling into meditation in those cases just by hitting 'c' instead. That takes you directly into the character build screen.

Aphox

Edit history:

Aphox: 2011-06-30 12:12:36 pm

2011-06-30 03:29:29 am

Also know as L0rdy

Quote from usernameguy:

EDIT: There are a couple of points in your run when you go to spend your talent points, and (by instinct, apparently), you hit Ctrl, and go into meditation mode. You can avoid the animation of Geralt kneeling into meditation in those cases just by hitting 'c' instead. That takes you directly into the character build screen.

Haha Thats what all guys think which played in normal only. If you play on hard or insane you can only skill by accessing the screen through meditation : P.

Quote from uanime5:

I've also found a build that beat the dragon in 4 hits on hard:

I saw that too, looks cool but sadly you can not get to this point with speedrunning ^^.

Quote from usernameguy:

- Targeting on Saesenthesis/Saskia is really weird. I bet it changed in a patch, too.

I dont know what was up with me, I never had her beeing so bitchy I played through this on patch 1.2 a few times already and I never had such a bad fight lol.

Quote from usernameguy:

People talk online about how hard the dragon is, but I thought the Nilfgaardian camp was much harder. Yeah, basically this is where the speedrunning really catches up to you - you're under level, your armor isn't optimized, and the man-killing sword is from last act (early last act), so it's no surprise that those fights take forever. Makes me wonder whether it's worth saving up money or going out of your way for a better steel sword, just for the Nilfgaardian camp and the two guards in front of the amphitheater. (Also, do you have any oils beyond the sharpening stone to use on the Nilfgaardian camp?)

You can not use the Stone and oils at the same time. Atleast when I tried it didnt work : P. Also yeah the fights take long : / but I mess up a lot too I should be able to get into their back and kill more of them faster I think. Also the same guys which I have to fight drop a better sword which I didnt took in that run for some unknown reason :D, its like 40-44 dmg, and helps out in the last few fights. I dont think its worth time-wise to find any other steel sword. Also buying is not really an option, the first time you come to the shops you have basicly fought all the fights necessary with the steel sword.

Quote from uanime5:

At the end of the Prologue you can avoid fighting the guards in front of the boat if you convince New Boy to wear his armour (first flashback). He'll appear outside the castle and be so grateful that he distracts the guards. This may save some time.

So if you ask the guy in the prologue he will come back later and help you out again? Where exactly can he help you? Outside the casle in act 3 or where? : ).

[quote=usernameguy]
EDIT: There are a couple of points in your run when you go to spend your talent points, and (by instinct, apparently), you hit Ctrl, and go into meditation mode. You can avoid the animation of Geralt kneeling into meditation in those cases just by hitting 'c' instead. That takes you directly into the character build screen.[/quote]
Haha Thats what all guys think which played in normal only. If you play on hard or insane you can only skill by accessing the screen through meditation : P.

[quote=uanime5]I've also found a build that beat the dragon in 4 hits on hard:[/quote]
I saw that too, looks cool but sadly you can not get to this point with speedrunning ^^.

[quote=usernameguy]- Targeting on Saesenthesis/Saskia is really weird. I bet it changed in a patch, too.[/quote]
I dont know what was up with me, I never had her beeing so bitchy I played through this on patch 1.2 a few times already and I never had such a bad fight lol.

[quote=usernameguy]People talk online about how hard the dragon is, but I thought the Nilfgaardian camp was much harder. Yeah, basically this is where the speedrunning really catches up to you - you're under level, your armor isn't optimized, and the man-killing sword is from last act (early last act), so it's no surprise that those fights take forever. Makes me wonder whether it's worth saving up money or going out of your way for a better steel sword, just for the Nilfgaardian camp and the two guards in front of the amphitheater. (Also, do you have any oils beyond the sharpening stone to use on the Nilfgaardian camp?)[/quote]
You can not use the Stone and oils at the same time. Atleast when I tried it didnt work : P. Also yeah the fights take long : / but I mess up a lot too I should be able to get into their back and kill more of them faster I think. Also the same guys which I have to fight drop a better sword which I didnt took in that run for some unknown reason :D, its like 40-44 dmg, and helps out in the last few fights. I dont think its worth time-wise to find any other steel sword. Also buying is not really an option, the first time you come to the shops you have basicly fought all the fights necessary with the steel sword.

[quote=uanime5]At the end of the Prologue you can avoid fighting the guards in front of the boat if you convince New Boy to wear his armour (first flashback). He'll appear outside the castle and be so grateful that he distracts the guards. This may save some time.[/quote]
So if you ask the guy in the prologue he will come back later and help you out again? Where exactly can he help you? Outside the casle in act 3 or where? : ).

usernameguy

2011-06-30 10:33:16 am

Huh. Would NOT have guess that'd be a difference in Hard/Insane. It's a weird game sometimes.

BTW I ran Roche Act 3 last night after seeing your run, just to see the difference. I'd guess the two Act 3s are really close. On Roche's path, you get into the city much more directly, but have to go talk to the Redanian king, who's way in the back. But then you don't have to drag the Ambassador nearly as far, and you don't have to fight in front of the amphitheater. It probably evens out.

Also, there's not much of a difference if you kill Henselt or not. Some lines change, but Dethmold does exactly the same thing, either way.

Aphox

Edit history:

Aphox: 2011-07-01 10:19:16 am

2011-07-01 10:13:11 am

Also know as L0rdy

I had a new run today and wanted to test how well you can do without improved shield in chapter 2. Usually I went for this as soon as possible at the start of chapter 2 but instead I maxed now the Whril skill and +15% more sword damage. I can say that went pretty well : P even more well then I expected to be honest. I finished the run 7 minutes faster then my last run... now fastest time is 2:33:10 : ).

However I think around 2 minutes of improvement I can give to my godly draugh fight lol watch this!
http://www.justin.tv/aphox/b/289250232

I didnt even die once in the playthrough only thing what happend was that I had a stupid game breaking bug happen so I had to stop the timer there reload and do it over to that point. Also I stopped the timer once because I accidently skilled wrong lol and walked back to that point and then unpause timer.

usernameguy

2011-07-01 12:25:50 pm

It's great to see the run is improving. You will never have a faster Draug, that was outstanding. Getting the Draug AI stuck in a corner is important?

Seems like damage is your main problem in Act 2/3, if +15% + whirl helps. I wonder if that's whirl or the 15%. Maybe better swords, more use of oils, etc would help too.

2:30 may be possible (!), if you can find more damage output, and maybe some new route improvements too. I want to test options in Act 2 a little more closely, when I get a chance. Also maybe map out where exactly the best swords are, and when. I really wonder now if gaining +10 damage on a sword for half an act is worth going out of the way for.

Aphox

Edit history:

Aphox: 2011-07-01 12:54:15 pm

2011-07-01 12:53:25 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Well sadly it seems (atleast I read it in an other forum and it was confirmed by many people, not confirmed myself) that oils and weathstones etc if used on the silver sword, dont make any difference. So thats why I dont use them so often anymore. I use weathstones whenever I have a big fight against humans thought on the steel sword.

Also I think getting other swords which are not on the route will take more time then they save. However I dont know every sidequest of the whole game I might be wrong. It would be quite helpful to have a better silver sword in the fight of vergen and or in act 3. But well whatever. I think we can savely say that under 2:30 is possible. Its not like I didnt wasted time in my run : P.

usernameguy

2011-07-01 01:03:19 pm

Yeah I think the main "need more damage!" areas (need more *group* damage?) are the mines, the Siege of Vergen fights on the wall, and Nilfgaardian camp. More damage wouldn't hurt the harpy caves, the draug, or the dragon, either.

Aphox

2011-07-01 01:31:57 pm

Also know as L0rdy

I dont feel that I need group damage in the vergen defence fight. Since I abuse nicely the lattered if you try to hit multiple enemys they can parry etc compared to killing enemy by enemy in 3 swings without a potential block(atleast if you do it correctly), while you get adrenalin to finish 3 guys at once now and then.

Nilfgardian camp, actually something I did not do in the run you watched is, I didnt picked up the Nilfgaadian sword, which does more damage. In the run in 2:33 I had a pretty decent Nilfgaadian fight, I dont think I need to much more power there, I wouldnt mind thought. I think if I could get a better steel sword before the end of chapter 2 that would help.

For The Harpy caves, wow just when I thought about it I was like "there is no way you can afford a better sword", then the mysterious merchant popped into mind and I checked it I can buy a much better sword. My current (Harpy 16-29 dmg) the one I think about is buying is robust yellow meteorite sword(29-33 dmg +2 adrenalin generation). This is actually a big improvement I think lol because it has more dmg output for the whole chapter 2. Just rechecked to make sure you can buy it from the start there... and I can sell enough to still be able to pay the 500 to get into the camp. Nice improvement there :D.

For the Dragon, I already get a new sword at the start of chapter 3 just for the dragon fight. As far as I know there is no better sword which does not cost to much time to get.

I dont feel that I need group damage in the vergen defence fight. Since I abuse nicely the lattered if you try to hit multiple enemys they can parry etc compared to killing enemy by enemy in 3 swings without a potential block(atleast if you do it correctly), while you get adrenalin to finish 3 guys at once now and then.

Nilfgardian camp, actually something I did not do in the run you watched is, I didnt picked up the Nilfgaadian sword, which does more damage. In the run in 2:33 I had a pretty decent Nilfgaadian fight, I dont think I need to much more power there, I wouldnt mind thought. I think if I could get a better steel sword before the end of chapter 2 that would help.

For The Harpy caves, wow just when I thought about it I was like "there is no way you can afford a better sword", then the mysterious merchant popped into mind and I checked it I can buy a much better sword. My current (Harpy 16-29 dmg) the one I think about is buying is robust yellow meteorite sword(29-33 dmg +2 adrenalin generation). This is actually a big improvement I think lol because it has more dmg output for the whole chapter 2. Just rechecked to make sure you can buy it from the start there... and I can sell enough to still be able to pay the 500 to get into the camp. Nice improvement there :D.

For the Dragon, I already get a new sword at the start of chapter 3 just for the dragon fight. As far as I know there is no better sword which does not cost to much time to get.

usernameguy

2011-07-01 01:46:56 pm

I still want to test bribing the madame vs. walking around. That 500 orens could make a big difference too.

Aphox

Edit history:

Aphox: 2011-07-01 02:17:52 pm

2011-07-01 01:49:04 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Nah I dont think so, and walking around is much slower I tested atleast walking through the camp a few times and the worst thing is that you can't skip anything else with this. You waste much time in the camp and then you just get into the same tunnel system as when you bribed her -.-. I dont think there is anything to gain from that : P.

Aphox

2011-07-01 02:38:37 pm

Also know as L0rdy

I always wanted to show you guys this little glitch I found some time ago. Really funny, couldnt find any other location in the game where this was possible : P. So its not really an useable glitch for a speedrun "yet". If this is possible somewhere else it would help I guess ^^.

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-07-01 09:54:36 pm

usernameguy: 2011-07-01 09:50:04 pm

usernameguy: 2011-07-01 07:54:22 pm

2011-07-01 03:54:00 pm

Oooh, an Out-of-Bound (OOB) glitch. Nice. I didn't know you could get OOB easily in Witcher 2.

Yeah, too bad it's in the prologue, in that map. If you could get OOB in the swamp in Act 1, you could maybe run more directly to the elven ruins, or skip part of the act finale; or in Act 2, run directly to the mercenaries past the trolls, skip parts of the mines, or maybe skip the mist... yeah, it'd be much more handy in other spots.

EDIT: Messing around in Act 2, and yeah, you're right, going the long way though camp is a LOT longer. I thought there was a faster path to the left of camp, but there's not.

That said, here's a place of power you should consider in Act 2 - a Circle of Strength in the caves below Kaewedi Camp. It can help the mage fight. The route goes right over it (it's right outside where that golem and Armor of Ban Ard are, across a leap).

Here's one other route thought for you. (Something that should be tested better than I have.) You end up saving the elf women on your route. So, as you head towards the harpy caves (around 1:20:20 in your first published video), it maybe is faster to go sleep with the survivor elf woman to get her key, then cut through her mine, to the left, rather than go right and down through the burned village. I already know it isn't worth it just one-way - but you can also return by that mine when you come back with Triss' bandanna (at around 1:29:10). It may save a few seconds. You miss the place of power that way, though.

EDIT2: (watching your 2:33:10 run) - Oh, you take the long way out of Kaedweni Camp (at 1:46 or so). You can just go to the nearest Mist exit. Phillipa will find you no matter which exit you take. (The map marker even leads you to the nearest exit, if you don't believe me.)

One other idea: Maybe taking the sidetrip to the Ban Ard Armor next to the golem would be worth it, just so you can spend your points on something other than armor. You seem so concerned with armor in Eternal Battle. Those points will come in handy if you put them in offense, instead, against the Draug, on the Wall, in Nilfgaardian Camp, etc.

Oooh, an Out-of-Bound (OOB) glitch. Nice. I didn't know you could get OOB easily in Witcher 2.

Yeah, too bad it's in the prologue, in that map. If you could get OOB in the swamp in Act 1, you could maybe run more directly to the elven ruins, or skip part of the act finale; or in Act 2, run directly to the mercenaries past the trolls, skip parts of the mines, or maybe skip the mist... yeah, it'd be much more handy in other spots.

EDIT: Messing around in Act 2, and yeah, you're right, going the long way though camp is a LOT longer. I thought there was a faster path to the left of camp, but there's not.

That said, here's a place of power you should consider in Act 2 - a Circle of Strength in the caves below Kaewedi Camp. It can help the mage fight. The route goes right over it (it's right outside where that golem and Armor of Ban Ard are, across a leap).

Here's one other route thought for you.  (Something that should be tested better than I have.) You end up saving the elf women on your route. So, as you head towards the harpy caves (around 1:20:20 in your first published video), it maybe is faster to go sleep with the survivor elf woman to get her key, then cut through her mine, to the left, rather than go right and down through the burned village.  I already know it isn't worth it just one-way - but you can also return by that mine when you come back with Triss' bandanna (at around 1:29:10). It may save a few seconds. You miss the place of power that way, though.

EDIT2: (watching your 2:33:10 run) - Oh, you take the long way out of Kaedweni Camp (at 1:46 or so). You can just go to the nearest Mist exit. Phillipa will find you no matter which exit you take. (The map marker even leads you to the nearest exit, if you don't believe me.)

One other idea: Maybe taking the sidetrip to the Ban Ard Armor next to the golem would be worth it, just so you can spend your points on something other than armor. You seem so concerned with armor in Eternal Battle. Those points will come in handy if you put them in offense, instead, against the Draug, on the Wall, in Nilfgaardian Camp, etc.

Aphox

2011-07-02 03:08:20 am

Also know as L0rdy

Quote from usernameguy:

One other idea: Maybe taking the sidetrip to the Ban Ard Armor next to the golem would be worth it, just so you can spend your points on something other than armor. You seem so concerned with armor in Eternal Battle. Those points will come in handy if you put them in offense, instead, against the Draug, on the Wall, in Nilfgaardian Camp, etc.

I take a Kaedweni Armor on the way in the Harpy nest, which hast 15 armor, Armor of Ban Ard has 16 Armor I dont think that would make a big deal. Also I got much better at the Eternal Battle fight, I think I might be able to skip the two points in less damage, however there are not many good points to choose from at that point which would make it worth it to skip them. Atleast I dont see something that would really speed up the route.(might be wrong here so I will recheck to make sure)

Quote from usernameguy:

(watching your 2:33:10 run) - Oh, you take the long way out of Kaedweni Camp (at 1:46 or so). You can just go to the nearest Mist exit. Phillipa will find you no matter which exit you take. (The map marker even leads you to the nearest exit, if you don't believe me.)

Yeah you are right I should do that. : P

[quote=usernameguy]One other idea: Maybe taking the sidetrip to the Ban Ard Armor next to the golem would be worth it, just so you can spend your points on something other than armor. You seem so concerned with armor in Eternal Battle. Those points will come in handy if you put them in offense, instead, against the Draug, on the Wall, in Nilfgaardian Camp, etc.
[/quote]
I take a Kaedweni Armor on the way in the Harpy nest, which hast 15 armor, Armor of Ban Ard has 16 Armor I dont think that would make a big deal. Also I got much better at the Eternal Battle fight, I think I might be able to skip the two points in less damage, however there are not many good points to choose from at that point which would make it worth it to skip them. Atleast I dont see something that would really speed up the route.(might be wrong here so I will recheck to make sure)

[quote=usernameguy](watching your 2:33:10 run) - Oh, you take the long way out of Kaedweni Camp (at 1:46 or so). You can just go to the nearest Mist exit. Phillipa will find you no matter which exit you take. (The map marker even leads you to the nearest exit, if you don't believe me.)
[/quote]
Yeah you are right I should do that. : P

Aphox

2011-07-02 02:09:06 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Man I really hated that part when you just started chapter 2 and you had to follow the prince slowly through all of the mist oO.
Good thing you can skip basicly all of that! ( I think that saves like 5 minutes lol )
You have to wait for the first fight to start, if you roll far enough away from the fight you wont take damage anymore : P.

usernameguy

2011-07-02 03:00:34 pm

Wow, great find! Saves tons of time. You're probably under 2:30 now. I wonder what's the fastest out on the Mist map from that point. Also, does that work the second and third times you cross the Mist?

In re spending points, the build you used on the 2:33 run had 1 point in the following skills just before crossing the mist: Tough Guy (+5% DR), Schemer (+10% vigor regen), Hardy (+25 vitality), Finesse (+5% crit chance), and Invincible (+50 vitality , +10% DR). And 2 points in Feet Work (+200% dodge), Whirl (100% damage to everyone), Violence (+30% damage), and Combat Acumen (+20% damage, +10% DR, adrenaline).

(Here's a guide for reference - http://www.gamebanshee.com/thewitcher2/talentsswordsmanship.php )

Then, when you get back from the Mist, you spend a second point each in Invincible (now +150 vitality, +30% DR) and Tough Guy (DR +15%).

I think I'd argue the 2nd Tough Guy point is probably better spent in Whirlwind (adrenaline +30%, resists +20%, crits +20%), to get the quicker adrenaline and more crits. Or maybe you should spend that on the +20% sword damage in Precision #2 (+20% bleeding +20% sword damage). Whether you think you need the extra +20% DR in Invincible for Eternal Battle is a judgment call, but I think Tough Guy #2 should be Whirlwind #2 or Precision #2 instead.

(Side note - is it clear which talents you lose, exactly, as dead Kaedwenis in Eternal Battle? You obviously lose dodge and are a lot slower in general ... does the DR still apply? The vitality? The +crits?)

Wow, great find! Saves tons of time. You're probably under 2:30 now. I wonder what's the fastest out on the Mist map from that point. Also, does that work the second and third times you cross the Mist?

In re spending points, the build you used on the 2:33 run had 1 point in the following skills just before crossing the mist: Tough Guy (+5% DR),  Schemer (+10% vigor regen), Hardy (+25 vitality), Finesse (+5% crit  chance), and Invincible (+50 vitality , +10% DR). And 2 points in Feet Work (+200% dodge), Whirl (100% damage to everyone), Violence (+30% damage), and Combat Acumen (+20% damage, +10% DR, adrenaline).

(Here's a guide for reference - http://www.gamebanshee.com/thewitcher2/talentsswordsmanship.php )

Then, when you get back from the Mist, you spend a second point each in Invincible (now +150 vitality, +30% DR) and Tough Guy (DR +15%).

I think I'd argue the 2nd Tough Guy point is probably better spent in Whirlwind (adrenaline +30%, resists +20%, crits +20%), to get the quicker adrenaline and more crits. Or maybe you should spend that on the +20% sword damage in Precision #2 (+20% bleeding +20% sword damage). Whether you think you need the extra +20% DR in Invincible for Eternal Battle is a judgment call, but I think Tough Guy #2 should be Whirlwind #2 or Precision #2 instead.

(Side note - is it clear which talents you lose, exactly, as dead Kaedwenis in Eternal Battle? You obviously lose dodge and are a lot slower in general ... does the DR still apply? The vitality? The +crits?)

Aphox

Edit history:

Aphox: 2011-07-02 03:23:33 pm

2011-07-02 03:16:58 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Yeah the skill tree I made some thoughts about this, find attached a picture how I skill now. I found it stupid to continue the tree after the 200% dodge skill this basicly wasted 2 points I dont need just to go into the other direction again.

The talent tree you posted seems to be out of date, I dont know if in version 1.0 the tree looked like this but in 1.2 precision does only +5% sword damage :(.

Something else I noticed, not 100% sure it is correct. But I found that I did far more damage in the eternal battle then usual today when I played through the game with buying the new silver sword from the mysterious merchant. It might be the case that the damage from the silver sword carries over to the battle, the same as armor does.
You cant get any crits in the eternal battle thought, I think the vitality carries over too.

EDIT:
Might still be better to put 1 point in Precision on the way to Adrenalin instead of Fitness, to gain the +5% damage when I can spare an additionl point. Which I can easily in chapter 3.

Yeah the skill tree I made some thoughts about this, find attached a picture how I skill now. I found it stupid to continue the tree after the 200% dodge skill this basicly wasted 2 points I dont need just to go into the other direction again.

The talent tree you posted seems to be out of date, I dont know if in version 1.0 the tree looked like this but in 1.2 precision does only +5% sword damage :(.

Something else I noticed, not 100% sure it is correct. But I found that I did far more damage in the eternal battle then usual today when I played through the game with buying the new silver sword from the mysterious merchant. It might be the case that the damage from the silver sword carries over to the battle, the same as armor does.
You cant get any crits in the eternal battle thought, I think the vitality carries over too.

EDIT:
Might still be better to put 1 point in Precision on the way to Adrenalin instead of Fitness, to gain the +5% damage when I can spare an additionl point. Which I can easily in chapter 3.

Attachment:

witcher2.jpg

usernameguy

2011-07-02 03:37:47 pm

Yeah, good thinking, all around. Just enough armor/vitality to get through Eternal Battle, then the rest in offense. The best defense is a good offense. Smiley

Maybe you won't even need the second point in Invincible at some point.

Aphox

Edit history:

Aphox: 2011-07-02 05:45:52 pm

2011-07-02 05:42:02 pm

Also know as L0rdy

I think that is a good idea to put the point instead of Invincible into the Precision #2 at that point, I think I can manage the eternal battle now : P.

Also some bug to be aware of is that there are points in the game where your buffs like Wheatstone just stop work. For example when you go from one chapter to another. The timer is still running and the buff shows, however the effect is not working. But now the best part. When you put another Wheatstone on the sword, the new buff effect will stop as soon as the old buff runs out. I had this happen today and I was pretty annoyed ^^. I had a buff left shown before a fight with the nilfgaadian which had 1 min left to run out, added the buff again and the effect ran out as soon as the minute from the first was over lol. Yeah and the buff does not stack, I checked that ^^.

Oh btw if you wanna see a really good "Vergen Defence" fight check out this one I got today:
http://www.justin.tv/aphox/b/289338035

usernameguy

2011-07-02 05:49:21 pm

It's hard to tell sometimes if you're running the game, or the game's bugs, sometimes. Smiley

I ran into that Phillipa-doesn't-move bug in late Act 2 the other day, really annoying.

Yeah I think you've got the run dialed in now. Which is great - it opens up all the offensive options.

Aphox

2011-07-02 06:00:58 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Atm the only thing which holds me from trying attemps is basicly the game bugs, its not worth it right now because the game will have atleast one gamebreaking bug during an attempt. I have yet to finish a run where there was not one : P. So before the new patch is out I will just continue testing / practicing : ).

Well I am still finding things which improve the run so I still have much fun just running around. Hope they dont change too much stuff with the patch that are not bugfixes thought : P. The most annoying thing will be that all the stuff that didnt worked before might work now, so you have to retest a lot ^^.

usernameguy

2011-07-02 06:10:36 pm

I was just thinking of your style and your segmenting strategy. Right now you are single segmenting, more or less. Maybe for an SDA submission, you'll want to use a large-segment strategy - something like "whole prologue", "act 1 up to the act finale", "the rest of act 1", etc. Basically, take a segment break whenever there's something risky, like a bug, or a tough fight that doesn't always go all the well.

I don't think there's much of a need for a "segment every minute" kind of run right now. The game's too unstable. And it seems like there are big sections of the game that are always +/- 5 seconds and not worth optimizing all that much. Just get a single good-ish segment in for them. It's the things like the Phillipa owl bug, the Vergen defense, the draug fight, and the dragon fight that vary a lot and need a lot of re-play. I figure you could produce a lightly segmented run like that, soon, and it'd be a good fast run.

Aphox

2011-07-03 09:33:37 am

Also know as L0rdy

Hmm I thought about it, and if I would make a segmented run it has to be on hard instead of insane and also I need the first segment to be the king part. Because luck manipulating the king that he does not screw up while walking up that tower is pretty annoying and would screw 90% of my segments... dont want that to happen lol...

And I think it would be worth it to make one segment out of every prologue level, if you can manage to make them perfectly without any block etc that would be awesome, if an enemy blocks you just instantly loose like 5 seconds because you have to get behind him again, its so stupid ^^.

Then I would split the chapter 1 in like 2 segments because most of it is pretty much walking and you cant screw up too much bust still there is this lucky fight you can skip and get the cutscene instantly when you go through the forest with Zoltan : / I would have to make sure to get that one done.

Also using Autosave does not give a penalty as far as I know, the game gives you many opportunitys to use Autosaves : P.

Hmm I thought about it, and if I would make a segmented run it has to be on hard instead of insane and also I need the first segment to be the king part. Because luck manipulating the king that he does not screw up while walking up that tower is pretty annoying and would screw 90% of my segments... dont want that to happen lol...

And I think it would be worth it to make one segment out of every prologue level, if you can manage to make them perfectly without any block etc that would be awesome, if an enemy blocks you just instantly loose like 5 seconds because you have to get behind him again, its so stupid ^^.

Then I would split the chapter 1 in like 2 segments because most of it is pretty much walking and you cant screw up too much bust still there is this lucky fight you can skip and get the cutscene instantly when you go through the forest with Zoltan : / I would have to make sure to get that one done.

Also using Autosave does not give a penalty as far as I know, the game gives you many opportunitys to use Autosaves : P.