Main story - hardest difficulty

[Crispy_Oglop]

I'm currently playing on the hardest difficulty and up until getting access to potions & oils, it was truly kicking my ass. I just completed White Orchard and am now moving on into the game proper. I have already missed my chance with some of the trophies in this playthrough (like the Gwent Master).

 

My question is:

 

If I dropped all of the side missions and just focused on the main story for this difficulty playthrough - will this be relatively straightforward to complete in comparison to doing all of the side missions too?

 

Reason why i'm asking is, the main story so far has been relatively easy in comparison to some of the side content I've faced so far.

 

I want to get that out of the way really, then start over on a lower difficulty to enjoy all of the side content that the world has to offer

[Saltyie]

No, you earn XP at a slower rate on Death March difficulty, and the Main Questline will quickly leave you under levelled if you don't do any side missions.

[NarcissusBaz]

Main Questline will quickly leave you under levelled if you don't do any side missions.

I have to disagree. Side missions usually give like 25-50 xp. Some main missions give you 600-1000 xp (one of the final missions gave me two levels!). I think it is possible to focus mainly on the main quests. I was doing SOME (not all) side quests and was always 3-4 levels above the recommended level for the main story path (Death March dif). You should also find some good loot and gear during main missions, so you won't be undergeared.

[Crispy_Oglop]

I think i'll try ploughing further into the main story exclusively then. If I start getting crushed i'll level up a bit and come back. Normally I would do this the other way - play on normal and see the whole game, then go for the heavy difficulty after.

 

I'm not trying to devalue this great game, I want to get the difficulty stuff out of the way before I give it 200+ hours of my life Between this and Arkham Knight, I am sorted for a couple of months now

[Boooda]

I can tell you from experience, that doing side quests to level helps greatly. Not all side missions give you minimal xp. Helping Kiera gave me 300xp, and thats a side quest. I got my ass handed to me at level 5 doing a level 6 quest, levelled up to 6 and breezed through it. Some of the bosses especially will woop your ass back to White Orchard.

 

My advice is to try and stay atleast the recommended level for main quests, and in some cases you can get away with being 1-2 levels behind. The game definitely gets easier as you get more OP and spec in the right categories. 

[x9zachattack5x]

What do you mean you missed your chance for Gwent Master? You can return to White Orchard.

[Dmytro-S]

I think he refers to one of the NPCs in White Orchard that sells Gwent cards, but leaves after certain events after the Prologue. I've read that CDPR plans to patch that with a different NPC that has all those cards.

 

That said though, I'm kind of doing it in reverse - currently playing on second-highest difficulty level, enjoying the story and side-content (I love Witcher Set Gear quests), and after I'm finished with it, I'll go back to playing on the highest difficulty, choosing different options in quests and collecting Gwent cards, as well as finishing all trophies I might've missed on the first go. Thing is, I'm enjoying it so much, I might end up doing a lot of the side stuff all over again just to see different outcomes.

[oretnom85]

I can tell you from experience, that doing side quests to level helps greatly. Not all side missions give you minimal xp. Helping Kiera gave me 300xp, and thats a side quest. I got my ass handed to me at level 5 doing a level 6 quest, levelled up to 6 and breezed through it. Some of the bosses especially will woop your ass back to White Orchard.

 

My advice is to try and stay atleast the recommended level for main quests, and in some cases you can get away with being 1-2 levels behind. The game definitely gets easier as you get more OP and spec in the right categories. 

Is it really that different by levelling up just once? I'm really struggling with a side mission where you have to kill a werewolf, and I have the recommended level. Or maybe I'm just plain bad haha.

[Clay_Davis83]

Don't feel bad, I am struggling with the Griffin on the hardest difficulty.

[Boooda]

Is it really that different by levelling up just once? I'm really struggling with a side mission where you have to kill a werewolf, and I have the recommended level. Or maybe I'm just plain bad haha.

 

Yes and no. Me levelling up to 6 let me put on the level 6 gear that I crafted, which made the fights that I was stuck on much more manageable. 

 

I know which werewolf you're talking about, that was a pain and I got pretty lucky during that fight. Im also solely focusing on signs just because Igni is really OP if you get your sign intensity % up. But everyones different. 

[Dmytro-S]

I like how everyone says that a particular Sign is OP because they are using that sing only (it's like that with Quen for me). I wonder how it is actually balanced. Are they all OP (meaning none of them), or are they just very well done and interesting to use, making you feel really progressing with each new skill point.