Actually, that's the one part I still need a lot of info on is the talents.

"Here are a zillion choices to spend your talents on, but we're not going to give you any advice on which ones to pick for your first game. Prepare yourself for much trial and error."

Here's hoping there's help to be had online....

[Edit: just for the record, I describe my play style as "balanced versatility." As a firm believer in "less is more," I eschew pressing lots of different buttons for simply out-lasting my opponents.. Rather than fiddling with many different skills that offer massive bonuses against one type of enemy, I go for permanent bonuses that benefit me all the time. Instead of relying on countering various attacks, I up my resistance to all types of damage. Instead of many, specialized abilities, I just use a few abilities in every situation.]


-Khalaq

The talent that lets you see in the night without potions is awesomer.
...that's...half the fun in playing an RPG.

Because that is just how well-made RPG work, whatever you pick, it is going to work

Yes, provided your choices make some kind of sense you'll be fine. Basically, to take a stupid example, don't put all your points in fire magic, spend at least a few of them on a talent that will help you against opponents immune to fire.

Just a piece of advice that helped me through the game : keep a few talent points in reserve, just in case. You don't have to spend all of them as soon as you get them. As long as you feel that the combats are decently balanced, keep some of your points. When you get your ass spanked consistently, try to analyze why and spend your reserve points accordingly. For instance, if you find yourself dying after only a few hits, try to boost your parry skill a bit. If you fight an enemy that seems immune to all your attacks, except maybe that crappy fire spell that you didn't improve at all, maybe spend a few points in the spell just to see if it helps. Of course, when you're experimenting like that, keep a clean savegame before any experiment, so if you find out 10min later that your choice was not that wise, you can start again without having to replay 5 hours of the game.

And yes, keep a few well-chosen potions in your backpack. This way, you can build a very generic character (as I understand it is your play style), and use a few potions to temporarily change him into a very specialized 'insert enemy name here'-killer for a few minutes. For some tough fights, it will really help.

That's exactly what I've been doing. I've got a generally excellent Geralt with some backup potions and signs for special bosses. It's been working great, so far. The only thing that's killed me, thus far, are those annotying "surrounded by six guys after entering a doorway and I can't draw my sword" situations.

I'm currently at the beginning of Chapter 2, after exiting the sewers. It's been fun, so far.


-Khalaq

I really like how this game's talent system works. The bronze, silver, and gold tier system encourage you to have a general specialization in everything as you gradually work your way up to favor a melee or spells.

Also, Igni is exceptionally useful for dealing with large groups of guys, especially when you have access to silver talents. Highly recommended.