[speakpkhq]

I'm a pretty solid gamer of many years, and this is the first game i've not been able to advance in!

I am currently in the 2nd chapter of the game (i think) and have the following quests:
dice
lost lamb
mysterious tower
berengar's secret
dice poker
fist fight
old friend of mine
suspsect kalkstein
suspect thaler
alghoul contract
echinops contract
vizimia confidential
wanted
what lies beneath
witchers' secrets.

i have gone to every quest that has a waypoint possibility and there's either nothing there, or i can't beat the creatures there, or i don't have the quest items (there's one where i'm suppose to put something in every altar i guess, but don't have enough items to put in all the altars).

i am super stuck.. i can't continue on any quest or beat any of the "contract" beasts, even on easy. i don't know what i'm doing wrong. i think i've either specced horribly, or need to buy some armor or something?

also, when do i get to start alchemy? i have not made any potions yet and it's like i'm 24+ hours into the game and feel as though i should be doing this stuff.

thanks for any pointers!

[Tannosuke]

For the time being, the cemetery, which is the Alghoul quests on, is closed.

The echinops are really difficult to deal with. You'll need 2-3 upgrades to deal with them.

The Dice games are done, if you talk with Zoltan Chivay(his best friend) in the inn. You'll then need to talk with the other dwarf in the same inn, where the fistfight occurs. Zoltan will suggest you to deal with other dice pokers before facing him or the other dwarf. Talk with the whore at the brothel's corner outside. She also plays poker and will ask you for a quest against the Salamandra.

The Lost Lamb is a story related quest. You'll find this kid later by chance.

The mysterious Tower can be done, if you follow Kalkstein's notes, but you'll do it in a while later.

The rest you need to talk with the detective Raymond to deal with it and some hints of how to deal with them. Start talking with many peeps to unlock some proofs to deal with them.

To progress the game MORE, you'll need to go to the Druid's Grove to talk with the elf leader, Yaevinn. Try talking with the dwarf lumberjack at the Lumberjack's post a bit south of where the Druid's Grove is.

you can also upgrade yourself, if you farm a lot of monsters, but it will take a while.

[Ward Dragon]

If you have not accused Thaler to his face, then you should be able to convince him to give you a pass to get into the cemetery. If you did accuse him then he gets upset at you and won't help you. Vincent Meis also can give you the pass if don't get him angry at you either. If you alienated both of them, then you'll have to wait until later to get into the cemetery.

As for alchemy, that's available since the first chapter. When you meditate near a fire, one of the tabs on the top right is for alchemy. You'll need to have a bottle of good quality alcohol to use as a base for your potion, and then you can put different alchemy ingredients into it for different effects. You are allowed to do trial and error but it's not really worth it. It's better to use the formulas that you have gathered so that you don't waste alcohol and ingredients on failed potions.

There's also an extra layer on the alchemy formulas. Each ingredient also has a secondary color of red, white or black. If you make a formula with ingredients that are all the same secondary color then you get an added bonus. You can click the formula and then replace individual ingredients in order to make sure that your potion has ingredients that all have the same secondary color.

A swallow potion with all red ingredients is extremely powerful and makes it very hard to die

[Corylea]

speakpkhq said:

i have gone to every quest that has a waypoint possibility

The waypoints are USUALLY helpful, but once in awhile, they steer you wrong. So you can use them as a guide most of the time, but if you get there and nothing's happening, then read your journal for clues about where to go. You know how you get a line printed on the screen every time a quest updates? Well, that line is the SHORT version of what you need to do next. The LONG version is printed in your journal, and it often includes additional information. The Witcher is a game where is pays to consult your journal very, very frequently.

The Witcher is a story-heavy game, so you need to talk to everyone and really listen to what they say. In Chapter 2, you need to consult with Raymond, Kalkstein, and Vaska frequently, and you'll also need to talk with Zoltan, Yaevinn, and all of the suspects. It won't be enough to talk to Raymond, Vaska, and Kalkstein once; you'll need to go back and see them several times each.

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i am super stuck.. i can't continue on any quest or beat any of the "contract" beasts, even on easy. i don't know what i'm doing wrong. i think i've ever specced horribly, or need to buy some armor or something?

also, when do i get to start alchemy? i have not made any potions yet and it's like i'm 24+ hours into the game and feel as though i should be doing this stuff. ›››

These two things are related, since alchemy is a BIG help. Alchemy enables you to make not just potions that will keep you alive but also oils that you can put on your sword that will enable to you do more damage and inflict more status effects. (You need to give oil-making a talent in the Intelligence tree before that becomes available.)

To make potions, you need strong alcohol (wine and beer won't work) and ingredients. You can get ingredients from herbs, once you have the Herbalism skill (give it a talent in the Intelligence tree), and you can get ingredients from monsters once you've read the book about that particular monster type. You can find some books just lying around, plus you can buy any of them that you need from the Antiquarian in the Temple Quarter of Vizima.

Just listing your quests doesn't really tell us where you're stuck, because each quest has many phases. So if you're still stuck after the advice that the three of us have given you, pick a quest or two and tell us where you are in that and what's preventing you from going on to the next phase.

Ward Dragon said:

You are allowed to do trial and error but it's not really worth it. It's better to use the formulas that you have gathered so that you don't waste alcohol and ingredients on failed potions.

BUT, the fact that you're allowed to use trial and error means that you can look up the formula for any potion in The Witcher Wiki and make it, even if you haven't found the recipe in the game yet.

Ward Dragon said:

A swallow potion with all red ingredients is extremely powerful and makes it very hard to die ›››

True. OR, a Swallow with all black ingredients both helps to keep you alive AND makes you do more damage to your enemies. And if you take more than one potion, you can have more than one effect. So if you're fighting in a crypt or cave, you can take a Cat with all red ingredients (Cat helps you see in the dark, and red makes you regenerate hit points faster) plus a Swallow with all black ingredients (Swallow makes you regenerate hit points faster, and black ingredients makes you deal more damage).


Have fun!

[speakpkhq]

Wow, thanks everyone for the great information! I feel really stupid now learning that alchemy has been available for me to use this whole time lol I have put points in to allow me to gather materials from enemies, and for oils too, I think, so I'll give alch a shot next time I play. Is there an alchemy guide anywhere I can read up on? For instance, I wouldn't have known that using 3 of the same colored items gave a bonus so I'd like to read about everything else I'm missing.

I also did not know that I actually had to read quests... I'll admit that I've conditioned myself in the many MMOs over the years that I didn't need the quest text in order to find what I need to do. Just gimme a blip on the map that I can go to and kill stuff I'll start reading the information and listening to NPCs from now on. I hope I haven't put myself too far behind at this point though.

Now for my next question. Is there a map anywhere that contains locations of everything/everyone? I haaaaaate running around the cities and woods aimlessly, just hoping to bump into the person I need

Thanks!

[Corylea]

speakpkhq said:

Is there an alchemy guide anywhere I can read up on? For instance, I wouldn't have known that using 3 of the same colored items gave a bonus so I'd like to read about everything else I'm missing.

Your journal is not just a quest log. It has a section about monsters, a section about NPC's, a section about locations ... and it has a tutorial section. You should find most of what you need to know about alchemy by reading the tutorial section of your journal. You can also find lots of information in the alchemy article in the Witcher Wiki. There are also books about alchemy in the game; you learn about additional substances when your Geralt reads the book Basic Alchemy.

Press "j" to bring up your journal, then click on the tab you want.

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I also did not know that I actually had to read quests... I'll admit that I've conditioned myself in the many MMOs over the years that I didn't need the quest text in order to find what I need to do.

The Witcher is very different from MMORPG's!

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Now for my next question. Is there a map anywhere that contains locations of everything/everyone? I haaaaaate running around the cities and woods aimlessly, just hoping to bump into the person I need ›››

Press "M" in-game to bring up the map. You can also find copies of all the maps in the map section of the Witcher Wiki. NPC's will often tell you where they'll be or where the person they're sending you to find will be. "If you need me, I'll be at Vivaldi's," or "Vincent is never available after dark."

Tannosuke said:

you can also upgrade yourself, if you farm a lot of monsters, but it will take a while. ›››

To clarify, you can if you want to, but one of the many things I love about The Witcher is that you don't HAVE to experience grind. Do all of the main quests and most of the side quests, and you'll have enough experience to handle anything you meet. Especially if you use those oils and potions.

[Guy N'wah]

For the Alghoul contract, you need knowledge of Alghouls, which is only in a book "Tome of Fear and Loathing, part II" that must be bought. The dwarf Antiquary at the Temple Quarter marketplace sells books. If you cannot get into the cemetery, you can find Alghouls in the swamp. Look for the corpses of a man and a woman, along the trail near the Scoia'tael camp and the Ruined Tower. Ghouls and Alghouls spawn there nightly. Lots of them. Be prepared.

For the Echinops contract, you need knowledge of Echinops. You may have gotten this by talking to old ladies in Act I. If you didn't, you need the book "Curses and the Cursed"; see the Antiquary. Echinopsae are fairly common around the Cave and the Ruined Tower.

These quests are not essential for anything, and if you resent having to buy a book that costs more than the quest reward, you are justified in skipping them.

Most necrophages and cursed plants are best dealt with by upgrading Igni and Strong Silver. Get Incineration for Igni and Patinado for Strong Silver. Then hit them with a fireball, charge while they are recoiling, and hit with a Strong Silver attack.

[Veleda]

OP you will have a difficult time without alchemy. You will need to buy/ read books in order to identify plants, and have quality alcohol for potion bases, grease for blade oils.

For The Mysterious Tower: If you are at the point where you're looking for sephiroth stones, read the glossary "Kalkstein's Notes" to get clues on where to go to find other stones.

Now, I am replaying and also at a bit of a puzzle, though further along than the OP. I'm at the point where I've talked to all the suspects in Vizima Confidential and identified Leuvaarden and talked to him. The only one I couldn't talk to is Coleman. I can't find him, and think the Scoia'tael might have killed him. At this point I am expecting Raymond to contact me again but he isn't doing so. I can't think what else to do to advance the quest.

[Corylea]

Veleda said:

Now, I am replaying and also at a bit of a puzzle, though further along than the OP. I'm at the point where I've talked to all the suspects in Vizima Confidential and identified Leuvaarden and talked to him. The only one I couldn't talk to is Coleman. I can't find him, and think the Scoia'tael might have killed him.

Whether or not they killed him depends on your actions in Chapter 1.

When you were killing the drowners for Haren Brogg, some Scoia'tael showed up to claim the crates. Did you let them have the crates, or did you kill them? If you killed them, then Coleman is alive. He's in the back room of the Hairy Bear on and off until you speak to him for the first time. After you speak to him for the first time, he's on the Dike.

If you let the Scoia'tael take the crates, then they kill Coleman the first time you walk into the Hairy Bear after talking to Raymond. You can do everything you want to do with Coleman by postponing taking to Raymond the first time (not in this game, obviously, but in later plays-through). If you did give the Scoia'tael the crates, and you did talk to Raymond, then it's pretty obvious when the Scoia'tael have killed Coleman; you shouldn't have to wonder whether they did or not.

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At this point I am expecting Raymond to contact me again but he isn't doing so. I can't think what else to do to advance the quest.

In addition to talking with the suspects, you also need to talk with Vaska and Kalkstein. What exactly does your journal say?

[Guy N'wah]

Veleda said:

OP you will have a difficult time without alchemy. You will need to buy/ read books in order to identify plants, and have quality alcohol for potion bases, grease for blade oils.

For The Mysterious Tower: If you are at the point where you're looking for sephiroth stones, read the glossary "Kalkstein's Notes" to get clues on where to go to find other stones.

Now, I am replaying and also at a bit of a puzzle, though further along than the OP. I'm at the point where I've talked to all the suspects in Vizima Confidential and identified Leuvaarden and talked to him. The only one I couldn't talk to is Coleman. I can't find him, and think the Scoia'tael might have killed him. At this point I am expecting Raymond to contact me again but he isn't doing so. I can't think what else to do to advance the quest. ›››

Coleman's elusive. Sometimes he's in the Hairy Bear back room; sometimes he's outside the gate to the Dike. That is, if he didn't get killed. (You get a flashback you'd remember, if he gets killed.)

Since talking to Coleman clears Vincent Meis, which gets you a pass into the cemetery, it is useful to persist in an effort to find him.

[Veleda]

Ok, I figured out my problem- I hadn't asked Jethro about the Salamandra prisoner. Thanks for your help.