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Monsters will give you a hard time in The Witcher 3

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The Witcher 3 is now under two weeks away, so it’s surprising that there’s still so many new features CD Project Red can wax lyrical about in order to build up even more hype. Monsters are a big part of the series (with you being a monster hunter after all), and even they have undergone a few big changes in the transition to the open-world. Changes which will make them far more formidable throughout your journey.

In a new video for the game, developers from CD project Red detail the process of creating new monsters, and how their inherent strengths and weaknesses effect how players will be able to approach them. Each mythical creature will have to be engaged with Geralt’s silver sword, but that’s the only thing they all have in common.

As you encounter more creatures, your Bestiary notebook will update with their strength, weaknesses and general attributes around certain areas. Drowners, for example, are buffed when near water – but also have a rather nasty tendency to evaporate when hit with the Igni Sign (or fire spell). A Werewolf, as another example, will have regenerative health – unless you manage to set off a silver bomb before you engage him.

I experienced this during my time with the game, where a particularly nasty Moonwraith me puzzled for a few minutes. The wraith was seemingly invincible to my silver sword strikes, taking hardly any damage regardless of our level equity. Turns out I needed to throw down Yrden, a trap Sign, to transform her from a spectral mirage into a more earthly form – allowing me to deal far greater damage.

All of this information will fill your Bestiary notebook the more you explore the world of The Witcher 3, which should keep first encounters with creatures just as surprising throughout. CD Project Red have really poured a lot into this system, which is a great way to address the sometimes lacklustre creature design of the previous title (where a silver sword was all you really needed).

The Witcher 3 is out on PS4, Xbox One and PC come May 19th. Pre-loads for pre-orders should be up in a few days too.

Last Updated: May 6, 2015

52 Comments

  1. Only issue I have with everything they’ve shown is that the monsters seem incredibly underwhelming. I was watching a video where he fights a Wyvern and it just felt like he was fighting an oversized bird. Even the Gryphon
    looks pretty meh when compared to games like Dragon’s Dogma for instance.

    Reply

    • SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

      May 6, 2015 at 11:48

      I don’t even know how to disagree with this. That’s how wrong it feels.

      Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        May 6, 2015 at 11:50

        Like this:

        That’s because this isn’t a JRPG Umar, and he’s using normal human-sized weaponry. So he’s not going to fight against monsters the size of 10-story buildings.

        Reply

        • Pariah

          May 6, 2015 at 11:54

          But how is it even epic then? I can go to my local government office and have the same experience as TW3 then… I want fantasy and epicness in my games, thanks.

          Reply

          • SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

            May 6, 2015 at 11:56

            Dude. There are fucking GRYPHONS flying all over the show. And WHALE TAILS! It’s like you’re sailing around in Black Flag and FANTASY HITS YOU IN THE FACE WITH A MAGICAL EXPLOSION! AND YOU JUST REALISED YOU HAVE NO TORGUE WEAPONRY! OH NOOOOO! SAD GUITAR SOLO!

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2015 at 12:19

            What are you doing out of dota anyway?

            Also, Borderlands 3 is going to make The Witcher 3 look like Zork.

          • Skoobaz

            May 6, 2015 at 13:34

            Hehe, twang twang twang..

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            May 6, 2015 at 12:00

            I think you’re getting confused with Papers, Please.

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2015 at 12:19

            Have you seen the monsters running this country?

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            May 6, 2015 at 12:24

            They’re not monsters, they were quoted out of context. 😉

          • Skoobaz

            May 6, 2015 at 13:34

            Yet they leave no stone unturned

        • Umar

          May 6, 2015 at 12:27

          Boring. It’s a fantasy world, it doesn’t have to comply to real world laws and physics.

          Reply

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2015 at 12:29

            This.

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            May 6, 2015 at 12:31

            It probably won’t if they release modding tools for it hehe

            “I killed the monster with my silver sword.”
            “Yeah? Well I killed it with The Penetrator from Saint’s Row!”

    • Greylingad

      May 6, 2015 at 12:22

      I think a large part of it has to do with viability more than trying to stagger the player with something the size of a Blue Whale on land, so you have to sacrifice somewhere with that approach, what would be interesting to see is if the monsters are as tough as they are supposed to be….

      Reply

    • Kronos0999

      May 6, 2015 at 16:40

      That is because “they” were playing on easy difficulty and above level 30.If you want a challenge play on hard difficulty or if you are truly hardcore play on the dark difficulty.

      Reply

      • Umar

        May 6, 2015 at 17:44

        I don’t have an issue with the difficulty or technicalities, the monsters just looked really underwhelming. The Wyvern looked kinda meek, but thats just my opinion.

        Reply

        • RustedFaith

          May 7, 2015 at 01:14

          I find big npc to be more clumsy usually kill the immersion. It is a fantasy world yes but I will rather have better rendered and animated models than massive clumsy ones.

          Check the rendering of the feathers on the griphon or the hair on the bull thing now that is just wow.

          Reply

        • Kronos0999

          May 7, 2015 at 05:49

          Yeah,I think other monsters look good enough but the wyvern does look a bit…..ummmm….hairy birdy.

          Reply

  2. Spathi

    May 6, 2015 at 11:42

    “Monsters will give you a hard time in The Witcher 3” – No shit Sherlock 😛

    But seriously, the system sounds awesome and makes for much more interesting fights. With each passing day, I’m getting more and more excited!

    Reply

    • SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

      May 6, 2015 at 11:47

      Monsters were pretty easy in the Witcher 2. Overall, I did not find the game very challenging.

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        May 6, 2015 at 11:51

        Nor I, but that is because I ROCK!

        Reply

        • SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

          May 6, 2015 at 11:53

          I’m reminded of Sir Terry Pratchett’s take on music-with-rocks-in-it. Do you rock literally, or figuratively? Because if you literally rock, while the rest of us steel and silver, I think you’ll be in for a very bad time. 🙂

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            May 6, 2015 at 12:00

            Le sigh. What an awesome man he was.

        • Blood Emperor Trevor

          May 6, 2015 at 11:59

          Yes, you do!

          Reply

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2015 at 12:20

            Yes, you are!*

            Fixed it for you.

        • Rock789

          May 6, 2015 at 15:08

          Or because you had it set to the “Very Easy” setting… **runs**

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            May 7, 2015 at 09:42

            How do you, YOU SHUT UP!

      • Spathi

        May 6, 2015 at 11:57

        Yeah was just joking, thinking to myself that it’s not like monsters will buy you drinks or send you a friend request on “facerockslab” or something. Yeah, my mind is a weird scary place!

        Reply

  3. SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

    May 6, 2015 at 11:46

    This sounds more like you’ll be a Monster Hunter rather than a Monster Bash-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-until-dead-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-er.

    Someone call Sam and Dean! We need that hunter journal!

    *Edit: Okay. Maybe not Sam. We want to kill things. Not talk them into taking a Monster-No-More plea deal.

    Reply

  4. Hammersteyn

    May 6, 2015 at 11:48

    “You will give monster a hard time in The Witcher 3”
    *Fixed

    Reply

    • SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

      May 6, 2015 at 11:49

      “where a particularly nasty Moonwraith had me puzzled”
      *Fixed

      Reply

  5. number_four

    May 6, 2015 at 11:53

    Ummm, so we’re all going to ignore the saggy monster boob?

    Reply

    • SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

      May 6, 2015 at 11:54

      NO WE NEEDED SOMEONE ELSE TO SAY IT FIRST! SO GLAD IT WAS YOU!

      Reply

  6. Jonah Cash

    May 6, 2015 at 11:53

    Hang boobs soos ‘n siek meerkat

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      May 6, 2015 at 11:53

      Agsies

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      May 6, 2015 at 12:01

      Bwahahahaha

      Reply

  7. Blood Emperor Trevor

    May 6, 2015 at 11:55

    Well there’s your problem right there – it’s a Noonwraith, not a Moonwraith. 😉

    Reply

    • SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

      May 6, 2015 at 11:57

      😀

      Reply

  8. Admiral Chief

    May 6, 2015 at 11:56

    SO EXCITE!

    Reply

    • SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5

      May 6, 2015 at 11:58

      I’m going to sell a heart to get this game. Not my heart, of course. But I hear they go for a fair bit on the black market. And this game is going to be acquired at it’s full price of R1ALOTOF0’S.

      Reply

  9. Greylingad

    May 6, 2015 at 12:20

    The monsters look as detailed as the system that they’ve got in place, yes they look a little underwhelming, but that’s because they are trying to represent animals that are physically possible… I now have 13 days and a few hours left to wait for this…. ok a few seconds less… another few… this might take a while..another few….

    Reply

  10. Frost

    May 6, 2015 at 12:28

    I still have to play Witcher 2. I’ve heard there is a good combat mod that’s pretty much required for it on PC. Anybody care to point me in the right direction?

    Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      May 6, 2015 at 12:36

      It’s called the combat rebalance mod, it’s around 1gb, and if I remember right you can dl it from the official Witcher 2 site – there’s a link there to mods.

      Reply

  11. Koko

    May 6, 2015 at 12:42

    Have they revealed how the other playable character is going to work? Will you be able to choose Geralt or Ciri at the start of the game, or will she only be usable for certain quests?

    Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      May 6, 2015 at 12:49

      Only for certain quests, not the whole game.

      Reply

      • Koko

        May 6, 2015 at 13:00

        Thx!

        Reply

  12. Skoobaz

    May 6, 2015 at 13:33

    I entered the Megarom competition. CMON BABY!

    Reply

    • Jonah Cash

      May 6, 2015 at 13:34

      I also entered, even though I am getting it for free on PC. Maybe I will give my copy away on here to someone.

      Reply

      • Skoobaz

        May 6, 2015 at 13:38

        PICK MEEEEEEEE!

        Reply

  13. Rock789

    May 6, 2015 at 15:05

    Oh man, really looking forward to this!

    Actually, this sorta thing is one of the many things I loved about Witcher 2. It didn’t hold your hand. I remember one quest I had to hunt down a pack of some or other monsters in the forest. There was no marker as to what to do next and no hint as to where you may find them. So I did what I would’ve done in real life – bought a book in the village about the beasts to read up about them… This told me their strengths, weaknesses and the types of places they like to make their homes. Armed that info, off you go into the forest in search of them, now knowing roughly where to look. Epic questing!

    Reply

    • Drew

      May 6, 2015 at 16:08

      Yeah I really enjoyed that about TW2 as well, but there were some parts that were a little counter-intuitive about the combat. The cave in Flotsam with the Nekkers for e.g. – I got brutalised on many an occasion only to realise that there was a point at the entrance beyond which the Nekkers would not go. Beating them then became easy – bomb into crowd, a few slashes then back off. But that wasn’t really anything to do with my skill or intuition, rather an exploitable flaw in the game’s mechanics.

      I’m sure TW3, being open-world, will not have the same get-outs though – should be brutal, rewarding and entertaining!

      Reply

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