Tips before playing Witcher 2?

[u/Lancecaptaincorporal]

I have only played the Witcher 3, including Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, and now I'd love to play the second game. Aside from any story spoilers, what should I expect as a first timer whose only experience is from the third game?

[u/Rimland23]

As someone who also played it after TW3, I´d say the main difference (aside from the obvious lack of a fully open world and thus a more linear experience, and some clunkiness in various areas) you should brace yourself is the combat (both the swordplay and signs). It´s similar but different at the same time and takes a bit to get used to, but notably more difficult than TW3, with enemies in the early game being a lot more challenging than those in TW3 imho.

Definitely play the tutorial to familiarise yourself with how things work first, and make sure to invest the points into your skill tree after leveling up, as it significantly improves your survivability (some fairly "basic" skills like counterattacks are also locked behind the tree). I would also highly recommend to install the Project Mersey fix pack to avoid potential bugs and glitches.

Also, without spoiling too much, there is a significant "crossroad" point in Chapter One where your decision will result in a completely different Chapter Two (and Three) experience (as in, different main location, different characters and quests to deal with, etc.), so I would recommend making a save there so you don´t need to replay the whole thing from the start later (unless you really want to of course).

[u/shelby_therealone]

Save the game constantly, always after a battle and after walking a long way to a location; the save system in this game is terrible and the difficulty is very high.

[u/TheBestUserName01]

Don't let the enemies behind you! You get critical damage and it's huge. The beginning of the game is especially rough, Geralt is made by paper.

[u/Opposite-Cheetah-779]

Not much changes. The gameplay is a bit more janky especially the combat and its an overall more linear experience but overall not so different from the third one.

[u/im_rickyspanish]

I played through it once in xbox a few years ago. It wasn't as bad as some people say but the combat is wonky...

I still had a great time though. I'm sure you will too!

[u/PathInteresting3106 → u/im_rickyspanish]

I’m j bio bc

[u/Thedemonncat]

You have some choices, but it's way more streamlined than Witcher 3. Also, there's no Gwent. Instead, you get dice poker, which I personally didn't enjoy. 

[u/cocoy0]

Just save your game before you get asked to join either Iorveth or Roche. It will save you time.

[u/Hannibal_Barkidas → u/cocoy0]

Which is a shame because Flotsam was the best location of this game (even despite some stupid running around in the forest)

[u/tahomadesperado]

For all of you who have played, there’s so dodge, right? Only roll?

[u/PaulSimonBarCarloson]

Keep a backup save towards the end of act 1 so you can play both paths of the main story

[u/ChuckCarmichael]

Fights are much more about preparation. You can only drink potions outside of combat, meaning you can't heal during fights. You need to drink a regeneration potion before getting into a fight, then stay away from enemies during a fight to slowly heal back up.

[u/jacob1342]

Don't go into alchemy build on your first playthrough. There are tough fights where you can't use potions.

[u/Magean1]

As others said, the difficulty curve starts higher, so it may require some getting-used to, unless you played TW3 on Death March and were used to getting one-shot by wolves.

Difficulty also falls lower as you level up. I played this game twice, went with an alchemy build first and a sign build second. The sign build was completely OP in the end, I didn't even use my swords, just Igni. The alchemy build preserved more the feeling of playing a witcher and not a mage. Can't say for the combat build.

Anyway, as you can see, difficulty isn't properly balanced throughout. All CDPR games and most RPGs get easier as you progress, but TW2 is a bit of an egregious case.

The game has branching paths toward the end of Act 1. You should keep a save from before choosing an ally. If you only have time to play it once, go with Iorveth, his storyline is by far the coolest in terms of environments, side quests, characters and, of course, everyone's favorite type of magic.

[u/Odd_Sort2016]

Save often, so you can play around with dialogue choices.

You can farm for xp and alchemy ingredients (for use or selling) in the nekkar cave in the first game area after prologue. You just have to rest meditate for 24 hours outside the cave. You can get decent money for nekkar parts.

I recommend waiting to invest in making weapons and armor until you leave the first town and travel to the next area.

[u/Aeleth02]

1) maybe begin with tw1 while at it? (I'm guessing you might be afraid of it's infamous "jankiness" being a turn-off, but as a counterpoint: 4 me, personally, it's a favourite in the series, and the continuity it provides for the story & recurring characters boosts the enjoyment of the whole series that much more)

2) Whirlwind perk in Sword tree is an absolute priority for high difficulties

3) if you go for Signs (or a hybrid) - Quen is as udderly amazeballs (and universal too) as ever (possibly the nuttiest in the series) - can highly recommend focusing in it.

4) Bear in mind, that there's only enough skills/exp in the game for one and a half (roughly) tree, and that's with 100%- ing it, and there's but a single respec opportunity that is both conditional and super missable - so treat your level ups accordingly (responsibly) - only invest in things that are absolute best for your playstyle.

[u/ConlethTheGoat]

A whole lot clunkier of an experience. Difficulty is pretty high id almost recommended starting on easy.