Witcher III : PT III : Blood and Winos

[Bjorn Le]

I actually think Gwent is way too easy. All decks have killer strategies where all but the worst of hands isn't enough to allow the AI to beat you. Early on you don't really have the cards to beat some of the tough opponents but once you beat a few you snowball. It's still crazy fun and addicting, but I don't have a problem with the AI being advantaged (though it is immersion breaking that you'll play Gwent with someone who has no idea who you are and definitely hasn't seen Ciri yet they have both Ciri and Geralt cards.

 

[Nizdizzle]

Yup, you can beat almost all of the Gwent content with the default deck, just use lots of artillery (with the leader card that doubles their value), spy cards, and a few hero cards.

 

[Bocephus86]

The first play through I did, I ignored Gwent until I was almost through Novograd; really regretted that as I ended up loving it and having to go back through the world completing my northern deck. On my second playthrough and challenge every person I can to it - still love it. But I've also only played the Northern Deck; never tried the others (really). Except for when you are forced to in Toussaint. Anyone else run the other decks? Northern spies & decoy cards - I can't play without them haha.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

I only liked skillege and the north.

I think I used nilf on rare ocassions. Spies are so broken

 

[Nizdizzle]

Nilfgard deck can make some really obnoxious revive decks. Combine those with spies and decoy and you can play all your strong cards every round.

 

[Bjorn Le]

The first play through I did, I ignored Gwent until I was almost through Novograd; really regretted that as I ended up loving it and having to go back through the world completing my northern deck. On my second playthrough and challenge every person I can to it - still love it. But I've also only played the Northern Deck; never tried the others (really). Except for when you are forced to in Toussaint. Anyone else run the other decks? Northern spies & decoy cards - I can't play without them haha.

If you like the spy and decoy strategy, Nilfgaard is arguably better for that. I like Northern Realms for it's ability to exponentially increase your score. Though spies are really good as support cards for them.

I've played Scoia'tael for the hell of it, and it's not my jam. It's good solid strategies but I just had more fun with Nilfgaard and Northern Realms. I also really like Nilfgaard conceptually so anything to do with them is great. They're the Holy Roman Empire if the HRE actually managed to become a true successor to the Roman Empire. Monster is similar to Scoia'tael, not a big fan but it can be strong too.

Skellige is really fun as well. It's a shame you don't keep your Gwent cards in NG+, because I'd love to run through the main game Gwent with a Skellige deck.

CKPR has a standalone Gwent F2P game, but I've never tried it. I've read that it's similar conceptually to W3 Gwent but fairly different. Maybe I'll try it one day.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Never go without a Northern deck against an opponent. Put a few decoy cards in there in case my opponent is Nilfgaard so I can swipe their spies, and boom I dominate.

Also I like to ramp up the score at the end for no reason. I enjoy beating my opponent 100-12 or something like that in the final round.

 

[Bocephus86]

I run Northern like you both said: Spies & decoys until I get a horn or two and one set of Blue Strips/Dragon Guys/Catapults. I don't usually bring any weather cards, the bare minimum "real" cards then all of the horns & decoys I have available - I also use the leader card that clears weather effects just in case.

I should branch out and try the other decks but I don't think I've ever played a "person" (NPC) with any other deck... it's just so strong so early and I know how to play it.

I will try Nilf next time I play as I'm at a point in my second playthrough where that deck is pretty strong (based on winning cards & hero cards). Monster is weak-ish still (missing the witches and I'm sure some others); elf one is weak too I think but I have trouble telling if/when that deck is strong either way.

Edit: And how'd I forget the medic card from the base deck? That and a couple decoys let's me replay a hand twice, basically.

 

[Nizdizzle]

So, on my playthrough I start two weeks ago I'm on the final mission to finish the base game, then I get to start the DLC which I've never played before. Really excited for B&W. I'm thinking I should have turned the difficulty up and most fights have been pretty easy and I've been ~5 levels above the recommended the entire game.

I fooled around with a few builds. I really like the look of the Ursine Armour, and tried a heavy attack build but found it way too slow and boring (and wanted to rage quit every time I ran into a pack of wolves I could never land a hit on). Alchemy/Combat I didn't really enjoy because I found looking through all my potions and oils to somewhat take me out of the moment. Played most of the game with Combat/Quen build.

I think I'll goof around for a few more builds for HoS and turn the difficulty up a level or two for B&W once I find something I enjoy. Really want to use the Ursine Armour, but not use heavy attack.

 

[Papa Francouz]

I played a decent chunk of the base game using the Feline School armor. I didn’t know the Wolf School armor set existed until a bit later on, and as soon as I learned about it I basically switched my entire playstyle to fit the Wolf School armor set. I started reading the books about halfway through the base game my first go-around, and I immediately wanted to make my playthrough as authentic as I could. Yes, I’m a gigantic nerd.

 

[Bjorn Le]

I played a decent chunk of the base game using the Feline School armor. I didn’t know the Wolf School armor set existed until a bit later on, and as soon as I learned about it I basically switched my entire playstyle to fit the Wolf School armor set. I started reading the books about halfway through the base game my first go-around, and I immediately wanted to make my playthrough as authentic as I could. Yes, I’m a gigantic nerd.

Wolf school glitched out on my playthrough and I couldn't get the first set. Didn't use it until Blood & Wine, where you can build them without the original sets. In base and Heart of Stone, I almost exclusively used Feline.

 

[Papa Francouz]

Wolf school glitched out on my playthrough and I couldn't get the first set. Didn't use it until Blood & Wine, where you can build them without the original sets. In base and Heart of Stone, I almost exclusively used Feline.

Sounds like we played the same game, haha. At least combat-wise. I’m thinking of running alchemy in my next playthrough. Apparently the damage output with an alchemy build is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Now I remember why I turned the difficulty down. The load times for this game are insaaane. Even when you're loading a into a cave it takes over a minute

Getting the hang of but it's a real hassle to craft potions. Probably going to need to do that for the higher difficulties though.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Hassle? Meaning what, exactly? Getting the ingredients?

 

[aleshemsky83]

Hassle? Meaning what, exactly? Getting the ingredients?

Yup, never crafted a single potion in my main story playthrough. I got most of the materials I just realized I just needed to farm a couple nekker hearts. Not as much of a hassle as I thought.

Still not a fan of the combat. I'm back to spamming yrden with light armor. Still haven't figured out a viable strategy other than that.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I never played because of the combat. I found the combat perfectly fine, but the interactions with the world in general kept me coming back, and the interactions with the major characters made me love the game even more.

I didn't even really use potions other than the basic ones up until my most recent playthrough. So I may be a bad person to talk to about potions since I am on my second new game+ playthrough so I have all the ingredients needed for the other potions.

 

[Bjorn Le]

I used potions but I was never a big fan of their UI. In general I wasn't a big fan of Witcher's UI.

 

[TheCanasianfrasian]

so i bought the 2 DLC during the Black Friday sale, i think i want to start a new playthrough from skratch on DeathMarch and maybe go for the plat.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

I just played through Heart of Stone, about to start Blood & Wine.
My god, the enchanting quest takes a lot of coin to finish (30,000 if I am correct). I'm on the third and final stage of the quest - paying the 15,000. Is it worth it? That's a lot of coin, I feel like I'll be finished Blood & Wine by the time I have saved up that much.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Money is incredible hard to make, they really blew pricing in this game, even big quests pay 50 or 100 coins and meanwhile a single rare crafting material can cost 2500 coins.

Any ways to make money in this game like banking or opening up a shop or something I'm not thinking of?

 

[Bocephus86]

I just played through Heart of Stone, about to start Blood & Wine.
My god, the enchanting quest takes a lot of coin to finish (30,000 if I am correct). I'm on the third and final stage of the quest - paying the 15,000. Is it worth it? That's a lot of coin, I feel like I'll be finished Blood & Wine by the time I have saved up that much.

I remember being disappointed after I spent all my money on him but I know others (who probably understand the enchanting buffs better) would disagree. I spent the whole game saving, basically (it's how I play all RPGs...) and, after him, I had like 11k left. Then I wanted mastercrafted cat gear and had to grind for money again.

If you're really curious, there are some guides & reddit threads where you can see what you get for the price. If youre rich? Do it without question. If I remember correctly, the catschool gear enchantment didn't fit my play style, which drove my disappointment.

Money is incredible hard to make, they really blew pricing in this game, even big quests pay 50 or 100 coins and meanwhile a single rare crafting material can cost 2500 coins.

Any ways to make money in this game like banking or opening up a shop or something I'm not thinking of?

Loot everything & every monster you kill. Sell everything you can spare at every vendor you come across (except crafting materials; I make a rule that anything over 15 monster-loot wise, I sell). It's a slog but if you start it early, it pays off (currently doing that on my second playthrough so the enchanting guy above doesn't feel as bad this time haha).

If you're on PC and don't mind a "minor" cheat, there are mods for rich merchants which gives them all like 5k so it's easier to dump everything at 1 person when you're a higher level and the loot is worth more.

Edit: Love that this thread is still active 3 years later.

 

[Bjorn Le]

People complained that in the base game you had too much money and nothing to spend it on, so in the expansions they made things cost a Kingdom and all their horses worth of gold.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

so i bought the 2 DLC during the Black Friday sale, i think i want to start a new playthrough from skratch on DeathMarch and maybe go for the plat.

I did that when Blood and Wine released and honestly, I suggest otherwise.

Going through the main game, even if you are hurrying, will take around 40-50 hours. Now not everyone is the same but as much as I love this game (and I do) I was going through the motions in Blood & Wine, I did not enioy it as much as I think I should have.

 

[TheCanasianfrasian]

oh i already gave up

i tried killing the 1st alghouls right at the beginning of the game and died a couple times then said screw this

 

[aleshemsky83]

oh i already gave up

i tried killing the 1st alghouls right at the beginning of the game and died a couple times then said screw this

I was going to mention how terrible higher difficulties are.

Weaker enemies basically kill you in one hit. With how awkward and clunky combat is, that's a difficulty that shouldn't even be in the game. You need to earn that type of difficulty as a developer with rewarding satisfying gameplay before you put that in.