Anne I agree with you about the graphics and the story line and thought they continued the original story as no other sequel has ever done.

However, it is much shorter and less gamer friendly than witcher 1. My biggest pieves are the map and trying to find NPC's. In witcher 1 you had the option of turning on captions to identify everything but not so in Witcher 2.

My second playthrough is going to take me probably twice as long to finish as I'm concentrating on all the side quests while in the first I just followed the quest markers and the game automatically took me through the main quest and I was at the end before I realized it.

And, I also much prefer the new Triss Merigold. In fact, Polish Playboy even had her in a playboy spread. I've seen pictures of the actors that portray Triss and Geralt and, after makeup, they look remarkably like the game characters. I would imagine that they were used as models for the graphics designers in the game.

Anyway Witcher 1 was a little more gritty but I thought it added to the atmosphere that the game was portraying.

Now, the map is something I agree with you on, oldman. The mini-map is essentially useless. I'm doing all the quests I can in this first play through. And the "grittiness" was one of my favorite things about Witcher 1.

Oldman, the bomb to be used for nekker nests is Grapeshot, you can buy formula from elf in the village outside the town, forgot the name, but he's the one on the tree that you need to talk to regarding main quest line. It will be activated on "destroy nest" button, and you need to move away or you get incinerated to.
Regarding incineration, I have heard there is some perk that you can get if you run through fires, I think I'm on good way to obtain it as I never miss campfires when talking to npc's .

Thank you Srebna. I'm on my second time around and plan on picking up all the side quests this time around. I'm in Chapter one and have those quests on my list so will go to the elf and get the bombs and be equipped to blow up some nests.


Well I've found 3 of 4 nests and have just about given up on finding the fourth. In Wiki it states that there is one east of the others but I've searched everywhere I can and used z until I'm z'd in the face and have yet to find the fourth. Another pieve of mine. In Witcher 1 at least they showed you which way to go to get a quest.

Oldman , I stumbled on a-couple of them by accident, doing something else.

They are hard to find.

Dunn

I need to buy the Beehive Bombs or the Crafting Diagram to finish the Mines Side Quest.

This is a permanent problem I have in this game - either I don't know where to go or how to get an item I need.

I read that Beehive is a misnomer in the game. They are actually the grapeshot bombs and you can check srebrna's post above about them.

I found a map that shows all four of the Nekker nests and finished the quest. I lost the url but printed out the map so if anyone wants it let me know and I'll email you a copy of the map.

Thanks oldman, I have seen a guy who sales grapeshots.

I am interested on the map because I want to start over again after I finish this game because I am missing too many things. When I play for the second time there should be also more WTs, making these things clearer.

Let me know if you need a copy of the map. I'm holding on to the hard copy just in case. My email is available in my profile.

Okay, I've downloaded the patch and as soon as I'm done with Dragon Age 2 (sadly, I won't be diving in for a second run through it, at not immediately) I'll be trying again with Witcher 2, see if the patch gets me past that glitch in the dungeons.

hagatha, may be here there is a player who didn't kill Aryan and could advise you and also say if the task is possible or there is really a glitch, the Dungeons are very confusing and you could easily be missing something.

Do you have a mini guide that comes with the game? There is a map, not excellent, but is something. I you haven't seen Aryan maybe you haven't reached the #4 in the map, after reaching that room the game splits from A) having killed Aryan or B) Aryan is alive and the way to exit changes.

There are a couple of videos right here that show two different ways of getting out of the dungeon.

Oldman

I had to go back to a previous save to get the Nilfgardian ghost to show up, so maybe hagatha had a similar issue.

Thanks for the tips. Operator error is always a possibility with me. I'll check it out tonight. I'm still playing Dragon Age 2, but am dying to get back to W2.

hagatha , HERE you can find a very good map of the Dungeons

Hey, guys, glad to see y'all playing Witcher 2.

I'm in chapter 2 now, so can't comment on game as a whole, but at this point I'm still preferring at least the first game's interface, and alchemy and battle mechanics in the first game. (Not to mention inventory managment!)

Phew, but some of these graphics are pretty, like the forest at Flotsam!

Wow, well done on finishing already, Oldman.

Moondancer I just hurried through the first playthrough to see how the game was and didn't do any side quests. However, I was surprised when it ended. I was expecting a couple more chapters and all of a sudden I got to the end.

I'm now playing a second run through doing all the side quests and just hit chapter 2. The first time I went with the elves and this time I'm going with the Special Forces (or whatever they're called). Have been trying to find and do all the side quests in the game so it will take a little longer. I'm even disappointed in the amount of side quests in W2 versus W1.

Oh well they sold it and I bought it so I'll try to get my money's worth. Still miss all the stuff in W1 that they don't have in W2 though.

While I'm on it, I can't figure out which dice are higher and which are lower in this version of poker dice. So it's all hit and miss. I just save and guess and if I lose I reload and repeat.

I finished the game. Did very few Side Quests mainly because I didn't see how to do some of them. I will start again and do different choices as oldman did.

Excellent graphics, some the best I had seen, good story, all in all I enjoyed the game, but terrible map, difficult to find places and not clear instructions for the Side Quests. Also no many places to do real trade and the trading possibility is finished after the battle starts, I finished with a super full inventory even when I discarded may things. I hope now there are more WTs available.

The Patch 1.2 is coming tomorrow, I'll then I'll wait for it.

Yes, as mcc says patch 1.2 will be out tomorrow.


There will be a new dlc included in the patch called Barbers and Coiffeurs

(source: http://www.rpgwatch.com/#1740 )

Should make many people, including me, happy...;)

Edit:

As you probably know by now (those of us who watched the press conference - for some reasons I alwaus forget about these...) Witcher 2 will be released for Xbox 360 later this year. (same source as above)

Karsten, it should make me happy also

Count me in too!

I just want to mention, that although I don't usually play with mods or trainers, in this case, I used a mod to increase inventory capacity. You can find some nice inventory expanding mods at the Witcher Nexus.

Oldman and MCC I hope you kept your alternate choice older saves for chapter 2, since some of the (actually I think most of the chapter 2 side quests? ) are dependent on the choice you made; because you find yourself in a different place/town depending which choice you make.

I find that the side quests are taking quite a lot of my time. I also plan to play both choices so will let you know on that once I'm done.

A question for people who ended the game siding with the elves


Moondancer, I am a pack rat my inventory is always fuuuuullll and I keep ALL my saves.

As soon as the new Patch comes out I will restart a new game, trying to do more Side Quests and this time will side with Roche.

Many of the problems I had with Side Quests were related to not knowing where to go or what to do in a certain moment, in the Baltimore Dream, e.g., that I supposedly finished, I was left with a Thorak key and a chest in the shipwreck I couldn't open. In the Harpy contract the guide says one needs to find "Firefly" bombs, I don't know if it is another bomb misnomer like with the Beehives but I couldn't get any, I had harpy traps though but I didn't know where to put them.

Well when I went to launch the game today I got a popup that asked if I wanted to install patch 1.2. I clicked yes and the patch automatically installed. Now the launcher no longer has downloadable content as an option which is no big thing because it wasn't working all that well anyway. So now I have the 1.2 patch installed and I didn't have to hunt it down it just installed itself automatically which I think is cool.