Tackling 100%

[Jelti_2]

So, I recently got this game and I'm thinking about how I should approach 100%-ing this game.

 

What I usually do is just go through the game while doing all the side content as I stumble upon it, avoiding the main story for as long as possible. I also don't replay games for that reason - The Witcher 3 is one of my favorite games, but after doing everything in that game, the chance I'm ever going to replay it is slim. I usually deal with NG+ just for the trophies.

 

My idea is this - first playthrough just to get through the story, no side content. Second playthrough for NG+ where I play the game the usual way, going through everything, with the added benefit of getting the Champion Tokens to buy all the DLC stuff. Third playthrough for NG++ on Ultra Hard. Finito. This also allows for a save file from that NG+ playthrough that is ready for the expansion that is complete and ahs all the best weapons.

 

Does this make sense?

[DarkGermanGamer]

1 hour ago, Jelti_2 said:

My idea is this - first playthrough just to get through the story, no side content. Second playthrough for NG+ where I play the game the usual way, going through everything, with the added benefit of getting the Champion Tokens to buy all the DLC stuff. Third playthrough for NG++ on Ultra Hard. Finito. This also allows for a save file from that NG+ playthrough that is ready for the expansion that is complete and ahs all the best weapons.

 

Yes, I think that is the best way to earn all of the trophies. It doesn't make much sense to do the optional content on your first playthrough since you'd have to do most of it again on NG+ anyway to earn the Champion Tokens.

After completing all of the side content on NG+ you should take some time to fully upgrade your best weapons/armor. I went into Ultra Hard with most of the legendary weapons upgraded but sadly neglected my armor before starting the playthrough. The extra bit of defense would probably have made some of the later fights a bit easier.

Also don't forget to do your Ultra Hard NG++ playthrough on a seperate save file since you can't lower the difficulty on UH and would have to do another partial playthrough to access the upcoming DLC (or play it on Ultra Hard).

[Shmeefly]

2 hours ago, Jelti_2 said:

So, I recently got this game and I'm thinking about how I should approach 100%-ing this game.

 

What I usually do is just go through the game while doing all the side content as I stumble upon it, avoiding the main story for as long as possible. I also don't replay games for that reason - The Witcher 3 is one of my favorite games, but after doing everything in that game, the chance I'm ever going to replay it is slim. I usually deal with NG+ just for the trophies.

 

My idea is this - first playthrough just to get through the story, no side content. Second playthrough for NG+ where I play the game the usual way, going through everything, with the added benefit of getting the Champion Tokens to buy all the DLC stuff. Third playthrough for NG++ on Ultra Hard. Finito. This also allows for a save file from that NG+ playthrough that is ready for the expansion that is complete and ahs all the best weapons.

 

Does this make sense?

If your planning on prioritising trophies on your first playthrough for this game don’t, it’s a fantastic game, just let yourself be immersed and enjoy the world your in, isn’t that the point? Play the side content, do it all, I’m not entirely sure anything is missable, double check a guide, note anything missable for trophies and make sure to check that off, but beyond that forget the trophies and enjoy the game the way it’s supposed to be enjoyed, the trophies will naturally pop anyway by doing just that, I’m semi retired so take it from someone who’s kinda ruined really good games cos ‘trophy hore’ mode was enabled, enjoy the good games when you play them or you’ll regret it one day, that would be my best advice to anyone on this site, I personally did everything you can do and listened to every snippet of dialogue the game had to offer, I loved every second, no game is ‘perfect’ but this is pretty damn close, a few combat elements could be refined but I’m not one to nit pick over such quality, hope you enjoy it as much as I did

[deldoomgun]

Being someone that just finished obtaining 100% of Forbidden West not long ago, this is will be my recommedations:

1) First playthrough, any difficulty besides Ultra Hard, complete story only and don't have to bother about any side quests. Once story is done, go to the Maw of the Arena and complete all Arena challenges. Switch the game difficulty to Story if you want to make this easier. Your goal is to complete all challeneges, use arena tokens to buy all the orange grade weapons / legendary weapons. Once you've gotten all the weapons, also upgrade them to max level. You might not have to upgrade everything, but you should at least upgrade the legendary sling shot (Wings of Ten) legendary hunter bow (Death Seekers Shadow) and legendary sharpshot bow (Forgefall). I personally used these three weapons the most and they would be my recommendations for second playthrough.

 

2) Start second playthrough on Ultra hard, focus on story only again. This is where the legendary gear comes in - to help you complete Ultra Hard. Once story is completed for a second time, move on to another third playthrough to switch the difficulty settings back down to anything but Ultra Hard. 

 

3) On your third playthrough, you can now focus on all the side quests and activities like clearing rebel camp, gauntlet race, cauldrons, tall necks etc, as well as going for any other miscellanoues trophies from the main game that you might have missed up until now. This should be the playthrough where you stay on the most / spend most amount of time on. The first two are basically just rushing through the story.

 

Reason for the above approach:

 

* You need a total of 125 champion tokens to unlock all new game plus gears for the trophy. Champion tokens are usually gained by completing the activities the game has designed for you, but you only get champion tokens from 2nd playthrough onwards. You don't get any champion toekns if you complete side quests / rebel camp / gauntlet race / cauldrons / tall necks on your first playthrough. So if you spend time on your first playthrough doing any of these things, you're just setting up yourself to do them all again if you want 100% all trophies.

 

* Second reason is with this playthrough order, by the time you're done, you'll be on your 3rd playthrough but free to choose any difficulty setting any time you want. Other people proposes leaving Ultra hard to be your third playthrough, but the problem with that is, not only this means once you're done with everything, you're stuck with Ultra Hard on your third playthrough with no option to change unless you start a 4th playthrough. The other factor is, this makes it mandatory to fully complete the story three times. If you go with my recommended play order, you don't have to fully complete all story missions on the third playthrough. I only did my third playthrough up to The Kulrut, as I was only focusing on side quests to get champion tokens. I managed to collect more than 125 champion tokens without completing all story missions on the third playthrough. If you are free to change difficulty settings then this also means you don't have to force yourself to play the upcoming Burning Shores DLC on Ultra Hard.
 

Edited January 11, 2023 by deldoomgun