How are you guys going about "Master Marksman"?

[cuteboyinsuburb]

Considering the trick at Devil's Pit no longer works on the next-gen update, is everyone just doing it legit throughout the game, or is there another decent spot available to farm the headshots that just isn't as well known? Any input would be much appreciated.

[FireOfTheWind]

There was a spot at one of the Skellige islands, where 2 berserkers spawn near the edge of the hill. You go there, kill them, walk away, and when u go there again these 2 spawned again. You could farm all combat achievements there. I don't know if it still works but you can look for it in youtube.

Edited December 25, 2022 by FireOfTheWind

[Optinooby]

Taken from my Platinum Speedrun from years back, hope it helps;

ENDGAME TROPHY CLEANUP (Continued)

Cleanup part 7

MASTER MARKSMAN

This is the last combat trophy, but also the most frustrating. You will need to kill 50 enemies with HEADSHOTS from a CROSSBOW!! We will still be using the same two enemies north of TROTTHEIM SP as used on the last few trophies.

 

Little did you know, you have actually been planning for this throughout the game. This trophy cannot be made any easier than this method here so you will just have to bear with it. Anyway, this method keeps it pretty simple.

 

First, make a manual save, and remember which save this is. We are now about to reset your Skills and we will need to revert back to this save afterwards.

 

Now consume the POTION OF CLEARANCE in your Inventory then head over to the Character Tab where you should have 60 Points to spend. Purchase the following Skills and assign those mentioned:

• GENERAL TREE: - Griffin School Techniques (Assign)
• COMBAT TREE: - Lightning Reflexes 3/3 (Assign)
• SIGNS: - Delusion 3/3 (Assign) - Melt Armor 5/5 (Assign) - Far Reaching Aard 3/3 - Puppet 3/3 - Active Shield 3/3 - Magic Trap 1/3 - Axii Intensity 5/5 (Assign) - Igni Intensity 5/5 (Assign) - Aard Intensity 5/5 (Assign) - Domination 3/3 (Assign) - Pyromaniac 5/5 (Assign) - Quen Discharge 5/5 (Assign) - Supercharged Glyphs 5/5 (Assign) - Quen Intensity 5/5 (Assign) *Don't worry if you can't max this*

 

Make sure the first two Skills mentioned above are in the same vertical column and then head over to your Alchemy Tab. Craft as many BLUE MUTAGENS as you can and then as many GREATER BLUE MUTAGENS as you can.

 

Head over to your Character Tab again and assign four BLUE MUTAGENS to the Mutagen slots. Obviously, assign any GREATER BLUE MUTAGENS first, followed by BLUE MUTAGENS and then LEESER BLUE MUTAGENS last, but hopefully you will have four GREATER BLUE MUTAGENS. Don't worry too much as whatever you have will suffice and you should have at least two GBMs.

 

Next, equip all four pieces of your GRIFFIN ARMOR SET and then UNEQUIP your Swords. You will need the FELINE CROSSBOW equipped and BOLTS (the default infinite type). Lastly, equip your SUPERIOR TAWNY OWL POTION if you have it.

 

You may have worked out by now that the two enemies you have been using to farm the last few trophies can actually respawn just from walking away a short distance with the Camera facing in the direction you're traveling. This causes the enemies to spawn behind you off the screen. They usually take a few seconds to spawn so it's best once you have killed them to just start slowly walking away. It's only a small distance you need to be from their spawn point; their spawn point should still be in view on the minimap.

 

I would advise you to just play about with the spawn mechanic for a few minutes to get a feel for it. When you do walk away, walk along the cliff to the west with the small mountain in front. That way you have a clear view to fight them when they respawn with no trees obstructing you.

 

If you have the SUPERIOR TAWNY OWL POTION (STO), make sure it's nighttime, as this is permanent throughout the night. If day comes, meditate until night. It also needs to be on the lowest difficulty for this method to work. If you get low on HP or Potions, meditate to refill.

 

On 'Just The Story' difficulty, with you at Level 35 with the FELINE CROSSBOW and with no Swords equipped, one Heavy Punch and one standard Bolt will kill these enemies, even without any Crossbow damage Skills assigned.

 

Now that you are ready with the Build above, here is the method:

1. Make sure it's night if you have a STO Potion. Use it, then spawn the enemies.
2. Cast AXII on one enemy straight away, then slowly move to the second enemy and cast AXII on him. If he closes on you too quickly before your stamina has refilled, dodge back once then cast AXII.
3. Now hit the second enemy with Heavy Attack (fist); he should have a very small amount of HP left.
4. Now cast AXII again on him and hit him in the head with the Crossbow. You should be quite close to him so this should be easy. Try to hit in the top half of the head.
5. Cast AXII again on the first enemy if needed; once you get used to this, the first enemy will still be dazed by the time to get to him. Now Heavy Attack (fist) the first enemy.
6. Cast AXII on same again then headshot with Crossbow
7. Walk away west slowly towards the small mountain until they respawn then turn and repeat.

So, in a nutshell:

1. Spawn enemies,
2. cast AXII on first,
3. then cast AXII on second and then heavy Attack second,
4. then cast AXII on him again and headshot with Crossbow.
5. Now AXII first enemy again if needed, then Heavy Attack, cast AXII again then headshot with Crossbow.
6. Respawn enemies and repeat!!

 

Because you have the AXII Domination Skill assigned, sometimes you may daze both enemies at once with one AXII cast. This is random, but helps slightly when it occurs.

 

This build gives you a really fast Stamina recovery rate which makes this all possible. And although most other guides advise increasing damage on Crossbow, apart from what I have instructed here, the lowest difficulty makes the rest possible.

 

The game can sometimes be finicky with counting headshots, so you may need to get more than 50 Crossbow headshot kills, but it shouldn't be much more as this method keeps it pretty simple.

 

Once the trophy pops, reload the manual save you made before starting this to revert back to your previous build.

Edited December 25, 2022 by Optinooby

[YTPerfectParadox]

I assume you'd prefer to do it legit but just in case it hadn't occurred to you - i can confirm that transferring a PS4 save that's already gotten the combat trophies can trigger them all with one addition. I.E you can get Master Marksman by loading the save and just getting one more headshot.

[Axeman_Phoenix]

the underwater enemies may be a good idea has well , since he autolocks and gets a headshot most of the time

[KAdamsy1]

57 minutes ago, Axeman_Phoenix said:

the underwater enemies may be a good idea has well , since he autolocks and gets a headshot most of the time

That wont work as it has to be human or non human for head shots, drowners etc are monsters

[Axeman_Phoenix]

really? they must have changed it then, i got this trophy hitting the underwater monsters, mind you it was some time ago

Just double checked on my profile
Master Marksman
Kill 50 human and nonhuman opponents by striking them in the head with a crossbow bolt.

 

yeah it can on certain humanoid monsters maybe

Edited December 26, 2022 by Axeman_Phoenix

[Taliesin_2943]

13 hours ago, cuteboyinsuburb said:

Considering the trick at Devil's Pit no longer works on the next-gen update, is everyone just doing it legit throughout the game, or is there another decent spot available to farm the headshots that just isn't as well known? Any input would be much appreciated.

Why doesn't devil's pit work now exactly?

[KAdamsy1]

1 hour ago, Taliesin_2943 said:

Why doesn't devil's pit work now exactly?

They added in a new quest in that area and fixed what was wrong in the first place

[Bloke]

 

Not sure if this works on the PS5 version, however it proved useful on the PS4 version. The devils pit never worked for me, so I used this video instead.

[boyds1987]

Does the screen still shake when you get a headshot?

Edited December 27, 2022 by boyds1987

[Creasy007]

14 hours ago, TriadThunder said:

 

Not sure if this works on the PS5 version, however it proved useful on the PS4 version. The devils pit never worked for me, so I used this video instead.

Can confirm this works on PS5. I used it for the trophy and went from 0 to 50 headshots in 25-30 minutes max. This spot rocks. 

[Bloke]

54 minutes ago, boyds1987 said:

Does the screen still shake when you get a headshot?

Yes it should shake the screen. The aiming is a little off, however i remember getting this done quickly with the method in the video

[Datboy1991]

On 12/25/2022 at 4:09 PM, cuteboyinsuburb said:

Considering the trick at Devil's Pit no longer works on the next-gen update, is everyone just doing it legit throughout the game, or is there another decent spot available to farm the headshots that just isn't as well known? Any input would be much appreciated.

 

Do enemies no longer respawn if you travel away and meditate? Or is it just the bug with the gate where enemies get stuck that's fixed?

[WitcherScotty]

1 minute ago, Datboy1991 said:

 

Do enemies no longer respawn if you travel away and meditate? Or is it just the bug with the gate where enemies get stuck that's fixed?

 They've used the Devil's Pit area as the place for the new 'Netflix-inspired' quest they added and afterwards it's used as a hospital of sorts so no longer has any respawning enemies.

[KAdamsy1]

On 27/12/2022 at 2:06 AM, boyds1987 said:

Does the screen still shake when you get a headshot?

Screen only shakes when you get a critical, Otherwise screen does not shake for a headsot in general.

[OTPYG]

35 minutes ago, KAdamsy1 said:

Screen only shakes when you get a critical, Otherwise screen does not shake for a headsot in general.

For the headshot to count towards the Trophy, the screen needs to shake. Multiple videos confirm this, including the one in this thread that I’ll quote below. 

 

On 26/12/2022 at 10:41 PM, TriadThunder said:

 

Not sure if this works on the PS5 version, however it proved useful on the PS4 version. The devils pit never worked for me, so I used this video instead.

This is the method I used. I was level 100 when I did it, in case that makes a difference to the following: I unequalled my swords, strong punched an enemy which made them only 1HP away from death, headshot with the crossbow, rinse and repeat. Took no more than 20 minutes and I wish I knew of this method on my previous 2 Plats of the game - much easier than Devils Pit!

Edited January 1, 2023 by OTPYG

[KAdamsy1]

24 minutes ago, OTPYG said:

For the headshot to count towards the Trophy, the screen needs to shake. Multiple videos confirm this, including the one in this thread that I’ll quote below. 

 

This is the method I used. I was level 100 when I did it, in case that makes a difference to the following: I unequalled my swords, strong punched an enemy which made them only 1HP away from death, headshot with the crossbow, rinse and repeat. Took no more than 20 minutes and I wish I knew of this method on my previous 2 Plats of the game - much easier than Devils Pit!

Screen DOES NOT need to shake for this trophy every single one of my headshots the screen did not shake and i've got the trophy 3 times over.

Screen shake is to indicate a crictial damage headshot nothing more. As long as you do a headshot and the screen doesn't shake it doesn't matter.

[OTPYG]

18 minutes ago, KAdamsy1 said:

Screen DOES NOT need to shake for this trophy every single one of my headshots the screen did not shake and i've got the trophy 3 times over.

Screen shake is to indicate a crictial damage headshot nothing more. As long as you do a headshot and the screen doesn't shake it doesn't matter.

I also have the trophy three times over and it’s only counted when the screen HAS shaken. 
 

Happy to be proven wrong about this but nearly every guide out there stipulates the need of a screen shake for it to count. You’re honestly the first I’ve seen to claim otherwise. Curious how others here have found it - have you needed the screen shake or as long as your target is over the enemies head when you fire, are you finding it to count towards the 50?

Edited January 1, 2023 by OTPYG

[KAdamsy1]

6 minutes ago, OTPYG said:

I also have the trophy three times over and it’s only counted when the screen HAS shaken. 
 

Happy to be proven wrong about this but nearly every guide out there stipulates the need of a screen shake for it to count. You’re honestly the first I’ve seen to claim otherwise. Curious how others here have found it - have you needed the screen shake or as long as your target is over the enemies head when you fire, are you finding it to count towards the 50?

Personally for me it was just get in close while enemy was axxi'd and shoot his head point blank range, no screen shake.

I guess either way long as people are getting the trophy its a win win.

[Warlord99956]

On 31/12/2022 at 10:14 PM, WitcherScotty said:

 They've used the Devil's Pit area as the place for the new 'Netflix-inspired' quest they added and afterwards it's used as a hospital of sorts so no longer has any respawning enemies.

You can get the enemies to respawn at devils pit (that’s where I did all the combat trophies again on the ps5 stack). I spoke to the priest to start the quest, ran in, killed everyone except a final enemy, fast travelled to vizima, fast travelled back and they had respawned. Sometimes only 50% of the enemies respawn but usually they are all there. The glitch with the gate no longer works as it closes behind you when you run in but it’s still a good spot to do everything fairly quickly. 

[WitcherScotty]

56 minutes ago, Warlord99956 said:

You can get the enemies to respawn at devils pit (that’s where I did all the combat trophies again on the ps5 stack). I spoke to the priest to start the quest, ran in, killed everyone except a final enemy, fast travelled to vizima, fast travelled back and they had respawned. Sometimes only 50% of the enemies respawn but usually they are all there. The glitch with the gate no longer works as it closes behind you when you run in but it’s still a good spot to do everything fairly quickly. 

 

Ah right, good to know! I always used Devils pit in the 4 versions of the game I completed before the update, but using the 2 pirates at Skellige this time made me realize it's a hell of a lot faster with not having to travel between maps.

[Datboy1991]

23 hours ago, Warlord99956 said:

You can get the enemies to respawn at devils pit (that’s where I did all the combat trophies again on the ps5 stack). I spoke to the priest to start the quest, ran in, killed everyone except a final enemy, fast travelled to vizima, fast travelled back and they had respawned. Sometimes only 50% of the enemies respawn but usually they are all there. The glitch with the gate no longer works as it closes behind you when you run in but it’s still a good spot to do everything fairly quickly. 

This is what I ended up doing. As long as you are careful, it's still a good spot to farm the various kill trophies. 

[Ben-Gun]

Here's the best spot I found - 2 enemies keep respawning. You can get all misc trophies here, including Overkill, Humpty Dumpty, The Enemy of My Enemy etc.

 

[Silocia]

Devils Pit does work if you're like me and you want to get rid of the misc trophies as early as possible.

 

You don't need to start the quest from the priest. if you run through the gates and then run straight back out you can usually get them to come out of the gates. The gates "lock" when you're in combat. So run in, run out and as soon as one comes through the gates run up to them to initiate combat keeping the rest locked up. once their health is low, use the stun sign, position yourself to the right of them (as in stand as close as you can on THEIR right hand side) aim further right than you think and you should always get a headshot (takes a while to get a feel for it) 

 

For them to respawn, don't kill them all. usually 2 spawn right at the top which should never agro if you're staying near the gates to trap them like mentioned above. use the signpost to leave the area and come back and they will have respawned. 

 

Its probably more efficient to use the Skellige method however, if like me you'd rather just get misc trophies out of the way early on the above method 100% works because its how I got it. 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Silocia