More The Witcher 3 Guides:
- Console Commands (Cheat Codes).
- Complete Achievement / Trophy Guide.
- Guide for Stutter Free Smooth Gameplay.
- Off Map Secret Chest in White Orchard.
- Gwent Card Collector Guide.
- Death March Walkthrough.
- Useful Tips and Tricks.
This is a guide that gives some tips on the combat and should help anyone struggling.
Contents
Useful Tips for Combats
All credit goes to E39!
Intro
The Witcher 3’s combat is absolutely amazing, in my opinion. It is, however, vastly different from Witcher 2, and it took me a while to get settled. Here’s some tips on how to fight those “pieces of filth”, as Geralt calls them.
Oh, and remember the rule of thumb for defence in this game: parry and block with humans, and dodge away from monsters.
Do Not Button-Mash
This is probably an obvious one, but please for the love of god, don’t button-mash in this game. You will be eradicated. Completely annihilated. You will get nowhere in this game if you do.
Time your attacks and dodge.
Never Let Your Guard Down
This should go without saying, but in The Witcher 3, you must never let your guard down. Block as much as you can, and dodge as often as possible. Remember the way you played Dark Souls, where you tried your best to not allow any damage to be taken? That is how you must fight in Witcher 3. As little damage as possible. Almost everything is capable of one-shotting you. If you let your guard down, then you will be demolished. And, even if you think a boss is dying and has no health, hit it one more time just to be sure, because if it’s still alive, you’ll have to fight it all over again. And speaking of dodging, that leads me to my next tip…
Use the Quick-Dodge
Learn to master the dodge (which is by default, ALT), not the roll. It does not drain any stamina, and this is why it is critical. You can use the dodge to quickly build up your stamina and use your signs again. Don’t get me wrong, the roll is most definitely needed, in cases where you need to get distance from your opponents. But in most cases the quick dodge will be fine.
Combo Your Signs
Don’t just use Quen nonstop, or Igni, combo your signs to deal the most damage. Always use Quen before a fight, but then switch to Igni or Aard during the fight, when you’ve gained more stamina to stagger or damage your opponent, and then go in for the kill.
Use Consumables Wisely
Don’t spam meat or water in the middle of a fight. It will only waste them, and won’t give any benefits. Use consumables only when you need to, (in my opinion, less than 50% health) and when you do, wait for the effect to wear off, then eat another if needed.
Do not spam potions as well, your toxicity will skyrocket and you’ll die if it’s too high.
Great help, Had problem with a shreiker started to use dodge instead of roll much easier 😀
Double tapping the direction key also allows you to quick-dodge. For example a+a (left-left) which quick-dodges you to the left. There is no need to use direction+dodge (ALT by default).
Also I feel like it should be said not to ignore certain signs, in my first playthrough i completely ignored axii and yrden outside of situations where i absolutely had to use them to progress and while i still use yrden rarely (usualy when fighting a wraith), I found that axii can be very useful against shielded or heavy-weapon carrying type enemies.Every sign can be used under certain circumstanes to make the fight a lot easier.
Good tips for a beginner to understand, this guide wont make you pro, but it is good for new players, thanks!
One thing I am struggling with is when to use strong attacks. Like generally I’d expect that you should combine fast attacks, Signs and strong attacks to maximize damage (IIRC in TW1 you had to either use strong or fast attacks, depending on your knowledge of the foe). However, often times I end up spamming fast attacks, bombs and signs. I don’t really see a reason to use strong attacks and every time I tried it either felt unnecessary (I’d be better off with a fast attack then dodge/block) or it missed/got blocked.
Great guide overall and I think this game has an underrated combat system. One of the only complaints I hear about TW3 is about the combat system but I really like it. It could improve, sure, but it’s miles better than a lot of stuff other RPGs do.