u/ssjchiel

First it was the default looking manticore armor for his time in Velen and Novigrad. Then when going to Skellige it was time to go all green. (as stated in previous post). Now that me and Yennefer have declared our love for another it was time for Geralt to go all black also. To show not only Emhyr, but also the wild hunt, the two of us are united, and we will stop at nothing to protect Ciri and give her the best life she finally deserves.

Easiest: ''Iris biggest fear'', this actually surprised me as I had in memory that this was a though fight. Yet I only died twice and both times my own dumb fault. Every time I defeated the first specters in under a minute using aard and whirl. Didn't even take a hit. The last one I got greedy twice and he cut me down with one strike. The third time I just used some patience and got him.

Easy: ''wraith from the painting'', this fight wasn't that easy until I discovered something. You can destroy the paintings using aard. Before that Geralt his horrible sword striking when trying to destroy a painting would always give the wraith plenty of time to heal large chunks of health. That was all over when I started using aard. No more shitty turning, just looking at painting from a distance and destroying it. After that this fight was over for the wraith.

Medium: ''the caretaker'', this fight basically has one phase you need to nail and that's the summoning of ghosts. There are just so many to tackle. At least on new game + death march. I died quite a few times during that. Trying to get them all before the caretaker meant taking risks and rushing myself. Also because you don't really know where they all are. The rest of the fight is a breeze as you just have to dodge very slow and telegraphed attacks. I thought this would be me having to kill ghosts endlessly to win, but in the end I only had to deal with him summoning them twice before I cut him down.

Medium: ''toad prince'', this one was all about circling, landing two blows and backing away. Rinse and repeat. It took a long time as it the toad could eat my damage like crazy, so it was all about staying focused and not getting too eager.

Hard: ''Olgier'', the most fun battle by far. The unpredictability and me not being able to take more than two hits was what made this one hard. I died many times and the time I won was literally by the skin of my teeth. Full potion faced Geralt in the cutscenes never looked more on point after the fight. So much dodging and trying to get a strike in at just the right time. Epic fight.

Very hard: ''Mage on the beach'', doing this one not equipping your armor is just trying to see how far you stretch your sanity. The least ''I feel like a witcher'' fight in the entire game. It was just me constantly running away like a scared bitch and then trying to get max two blows in after his whirl attack. No single element of other strategy to it. I died so, so, so many times. When I beat this guy I actually stopped the game and went outside to drink a beer in my back garden. Just had to let it sink in that I could move on in the game.

So first off I invested heavy in fast swordplay as that is the most common thing Geralt uses. I don't even use heavy attacks. For signs I've only put points in aard for some crowd control at times. As this is the sign Geralt uses the most in the books. Then I have delusion axii activated as in the short stories he is seens as being able to slightly manipulate people with it. For alchemy I went for better use of mutagens as this makes Geralt an even better sword fighter and combined with the second alchemy perk more resistant. The second one is the hightened potion tolerance. Which brings me to the next point of the build. I use potions only besides aard sign and swords. No bombs or oils. As Geralt never uses them in the books.

From the beginning I've only worn the manticore armor. No updates since. This armor for me is the best final armor for a witcher. I don't like all the chainmail in others or the bear look. It wouldn't serve a book witcher at all. For potions I have the same ones equipped the entire game. Thunderbolt for even more attack power, swallow and raffard's for increased life. And an ekimmara decoction for another health boost. I've chosen these as think a witcher who's main weapon is swordplay would stick to such potions above anything else.

All this combines makes for a real fun playthrough. It, for me at least, feels like the purest wither experience possible. The main story game and side quests were still not really hard. But with this build, the last three battles felt like a true dogfight. I had to take my time and stay focused to beat all three of time. The frog prince I only died a few times before getting him. The mage was the most infuriating one as I chose not to equip my armor. (I feel I cheated a bit though as I did use potions and normally they would've been on my armor, can't have it all I guess) This guy took me a long time and it took immense patience to beat him in the end. Olgier was the most fun battle for sure as it was a pure sword battle. For me it felt like if book Geralt had met Leo Bonhart. And that thought made it so epic. Two guys just getting it on with swords. I died quite a few times and the last time I had gone through all my potions and was almost dead myself before getting him.

The absolute best moments in my witcher 3 playthroughs. Can't wait to get to toussaint later.