Witcher 3

Decoctions yes, but those aren't potions. Potions are short duration and don't really add much (like Thunderbolt). Decoctions are great. The only potion I ever find myself using is Swallow (that's the healing one right?)

When talking about alchemy builds they don't use potions, they use decoctions. You can't really use both because of toxicity limits and it is always better to use decoctions to hit the toxicity limit than potions.

I'm assuming you're talking about Euphoria though. Lol impregnate?

A potion/decoction build end game in Witcher 3 is probably one of the more powerful ways to play. Makes me want to load up my old game and force Geralt to overdose on the good stuff and see crazy numbers.

Araysar said:

Yeah potions and decoctions are super useful.

Maybe theyre useless if you're playing on story mode where everything is killed in 2 sword swings anyways

Frenzied Wombat Im in the same boat as you, that part of the game bugs me a bit.

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I've only ever played on Death March and the game is easy even with no potions or decoctions.

This is a very silly semantics argument. Potions and Decoctions are two entirely different categories in Witcher 3. So when he asked about potions I didn't think he meant "alchemy" in general, I thought he actually meant potions. And potions aren't really useful outside a few utility potions like I mentioned or swallow for the healing early game.

When you get to B&W and unlock the new mutation system Euphoria makes Geralt an unkillable wrecking machine in a Whirl/Rend/Alchemy build. And those builds use Decoctions, not potions, to hit the toxicity limit.

Khane said:

Decoctions yes, but those aren't potions. Potions are short duration and don't really add much (like Thunderbolt). Decoctions are great. The only potion I ever find myself using is Swallow (that's the healing one right?)

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White Rafford's (sp?) potion is probably the best imho since the health gain is instant. I actually like Thunderbolt.. Most of the basic potions do suck because they only have 30s duration, but once you upgrade them to 60s duration they're far more useful.

I actually find Cat and even advanced Cat fairly crap because 30 or 60 second vision enhancement when you need 30+ minutes to explore a dark dungeon is pretty weak.. I generally use a torch and use Cat if I'm in combat since torch takes out your heavy swing.

Also, I don't know if this is a bug, but it drives me fucking crazy. Anybody else have an issue where shit disappears and reappears seemingly at random on the world map? Like I discovered every armorer and blacksmith in Novingrad, then I take a look at the World Map and none of the icons are there, yet I see it on the mini map up in the upper right. I had to re-explore the whole fucking city to find them again, then use custom icons to mark them on the map.. Then, sometimes their icons will reappear.. I checked an the there is no ma filter in place, it's set to "all".

Yea the icons disappear when the merchant isn't there but there is also some wonky behavior with the icons on the map for sure. I was playing this morning and a blacksmith I wanted to sell to was standing in front of me wailing on his anvil but I couldn't interract with him and his icon wasn't even on the minimap even though he was right in front of me. I had to meditate to get him to become interactable.

Valderen said:

I'm not 100% certain but I think the icons disappear when the NPC isn't there, like the armorer going home for the night.

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Yes, you are correct. However this issue occurs during the day as well. Also of worthy note because it freaked the shit out of me, but all the fast travel markers disappear off the map when you are in a boat.

Khane said:

Yea the icons disappear when the merchant isn't there but there is also some wonky behavior with the icons on the map for sure. I was playing this morning and a blacksmith I wanted to sell to was standing in front of me wailing on his anvil but I couldn't interract with him and his icon wasn't even on the minimap even though he was right in front of me. I had to meditate to get him to become interactable.

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This happens to me with the blacksmith in Midcopse all the time. He's standing there hammering and there's no option to talk to him. Meditate sometimes doesn't even work for me, I have to fast travel or reload my save. You on PS4 too? Funny how the game has been out for years and has gotten tons of patches, but there are some fairly consistent non-critical bugs still around. I've probably PS4 "blue screened" 4-5 times over 25 hours of play as well.

It was midcopse where it happened to me as well. Playing on PC this time around. First 2 playthroughs were on PS4 with pretty much the same experience.

Random bit of trivia: The name of the voice actress for Priscilla (the bard who sings the love song about Yennefer and Geralt) is Emma Hiddleston.

Jorren said:

Controller is making for a much more enjoyable experience. Had to switch to Tell me a story to get used to controller a bit though, it has been years since I have used one.

Also, holy crap does the HD pack make a big difference. Game was great looking before but wow!

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yeah, HD pack and 99999 weight limit are a must. Fast travel from anywhere is debatable.

Khane said:

I've only ever played on Death March and the game is easy even with no potions or decoctions.

This is a very silly semantics argument. Potions and Decoctions are two entirely different categories in Witcher 3. So when he asked about potions I didn't think he meant "alchemy" in general, I thought he actually meant potions. And potions aren't really useful outside a few utility potions like I mentioned or swallow for the healing early game.

When you get to B&W and unlock the new mutation system Euphoria makes Geralt an unkillable wrecking machine in a Whirl/Rend/Alchemy build. And those builds use Decoctions, not potions, to hit the toxicity limit.

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Is there a vanilla/heart of stone build that is similar Melee heavy that works out pretty well? I'm currently a signs build, and just light stuff on fire, and it works pretty well, but I much prefer beating stuff up with my sword. Wanted to change things up a bit. Probably just push through, and switch to this build when I get to blood and wine.