I'm having trouble figuring out how the combat works in Witcher Enhanced Edition. FYI I'm playing in Isometric mode. Basically the problem is I highlight an enemy (i.e. red circle) and left click. I hear the tell tale grunt of my character attacking, and on-screen his sword appears to make contact with the enemy, But sometimes damage is done, but most of the time not. I've experimented in Lo, Hi Isometric and OTS. But still the same problem. It took me almost 2 minutes to defeat the first guy at the beginning of the game, and after 3-4 minutes on the next two guys just up the ramp and still unable to defeat them, I gave up.

Obviously there's something I'm missing here. I know this a great game, and people love it. And I can't imagine people putting up with combat as bad as I'm experiencing. So what am I misunderstanding in regard to how combat works?

I've played many 3D third person games with combat including Morrowind, Oblivion, Rune, Diablo 1 & 2, Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, Torchlight 1 & 2, and others. So I have no trouble with 3rd person combat using a mouse and keyboard.

Somebody please explain how comabt works in Witcher.

Thanks

The combat is based on intervals of time: you clickon an enemy, Geralts attacks the enemy, you wait a certain time, and then you click again. If you click again too soon, you actually cancel the attack.

What difficulty level are you playing? In the Easy and Normal difficulty levels, the cursor changes accordingly so you know exactly when you can click again. In the Hard difficulty it does not, because the game assumes you have already played and are familiar with the intervals.

(Another option is that you are using the strong fight style against an agile enemy who is dodging your attacks and should be faced with the fast style, but since you are at the beginning of the game, I'm betting on the intervals).

I recommend you to read the combat section of the manual, as it explains all of this in detail.

Thanks for the response ConsulCaesar. :-)

After your tip on "intervals of time", I figured out how combat works. Not yet sure if I like it or not, but at least I think I understand.

Basically when you click an enemy Geralt has a pre-programmed set of moves that he executes (based on style, etc.) If you click before he's done with his pre-programmed moves, or if he gets hit by another enemy before he finishes, then his attack is interrupted.

In my opinion, this mechanic was not clearly explained in the game manual.

But now that I understand it I appreciate the potential.

I'm very early in the game, so it's too soon to render a verdict on "thumbs up" or "thumbs down". :-)

Strong and Group styles seem to work more easily for me. I'm having some trouble timing the Fast style. But I assume that will come with more practice.

Also learned to use the Spacebar to pause combat to (a) change styles and (b) reposition mouse cursor to next opponent.

Yes, that's how it's done. In my case the manual was descriptive enough, but some of us learn better by "doing". I am glad you figured it out and I hooe you enjoy the game. It was a memorable journey for me. :)

When you click you will note the icon has a sword with a line through it. If you click during this time you have a big problem. As soon as the icon goes red/yellow or black click again.