Hi, I'm looking to play Witcher 2 for the first time and I'm wondering which mods (if any) people would recommend? I played Witcher 1 a couple of years ago and loved it, so I am interested to play the second installment. It seems there are some threads about mods already, but most of them look a bit old.

I am guessing for a first-time run, I would mainly want QoL type stuff, perhaps some graphical enhancements. I have read a bit about some of the issues and changes that have been made since the first game and I have played through the tutorial. I know a lot of people have complained about the inventory being very clunky and a step backwards, so anything that can improve that would probably be welcome. The combat seems ... interesting. I'm not sure about having to press ALT to lock on to individual enemies and it seems like a shame they have gotten rid of the combat styles, which I thought was an interesting mechanic. I actually thought the combat in Witcher 1 seemed to flow fairly well and I didn't see it as a major problem (although a lot of people seemed to dislike it). This thing where you can only drink potions during meditation seems like a very odd design choice as well. I am not sure why on Earth they would do that and it seems like it will render the potions and alchemy system next to useless. But hey, I'm willing to give it a try and see how it works out. I can put up with a bit of jank, if the plot/characters are good.

Another question I have is that I am playing in Linux and I am wondering how I can import my save from Witcher 1? I played Witcher 1 using a version I bought from Steam many years ago (through Proton). I assume I would probably need to re-create the Witcher 1 save directory somewhere?

Also, one other thing - how long after the first game is Witcher 2 supposed to be set? I assume that is King Foltest getting killed in the intro video? If so, he looks at least 20 years older than he did in W1. However, I saw a review somewhere saying it is supposed to be a month after the end of the first game?

Thanks in advance!

Honnestly, you don't need any mod to enjoy it, for the gameplay i also prefer the first game, if they allowed us drinking potion in the witcher 2, the game would be too easy in my opinion, you have to learn who is your ennemy and use the right potion to defeat it before starting the fight, for the trash mob you don't need any potion at all.
The game is just after the ending of the first game, some days or weeks i don't remember and in the intro it's another king who is killed, not Foltest but you'll see it when you'll play.

Hi, thanks for your advice. I figured out how to import my save from Witcher 1 and I've been playing through the Prologue. The combat seems to take a bit of getting used to, but I'm getting the hang of it. I'm playing on hard and it seems quite a bit more unforgiving than the first game. Took me quite a few tries to beat the guys around the ballista, but so far it seems like a fun game.

Ah ok, that king looked a bit similar to Foltest but an older version. It makes sense now :-)

I haven't tried any mods but I thought I would share my impressions on The Witcher 2 combat. It's not really necessary to do that. You're supposed to roll and run away until you can face enemies one by one. Facing two or more enemies at the same time usually means insta-death because of the harsh penalty to attacks from the back, at least until you unlock some perks in the swordfighting tree (which you don't have access to at the beginning). I miss them too. Fast/heavy attacks are still there with left and right mouse buttons, but the group style was a very elegant mechanic. In The Witcher 2 you are not supposed to face several enemies at the same time (see above). There is a special ability that you can unlock at the end of the swordfighting talent tree, but you will only be able to use it at very selected times, if ever. This is by far the worst design decision, combat-wise. To the extreme that there is at least one boss fight mid-game where it is literally impossible to use potions (because of cinematics and minor fights, by the time you arrive to the boss any potions you took at the last safe point where meditation was possible have lost their effects). It took me a bit longer that I'd wished but I eventually became comfortable with combat. Just get used to the idea of rolling a lot.

Thanks for your comments!

Yes, I am figuring out that you don't need to use the lock and it seems Geralt can put in blows quite rapidly with the quick LMB attack, which can easily overwhelm weaker enemies. But yes, it seems getting into a situation where you're being attacked by multiple enemies at once is very dangerous. It seems like they have tried to bring in some 'dark-souls' like elements to the combat, where you spend a lot of time rolling around on the floor, putting in the occasional flurry of blows against an exposed enemy.

It seems like a bit of a shame that Geralt has gone from being able to handle himself when attacked on all sides by a group of weaker enemies to being completely unable to handle a group. It's a big change to the combat dynamics, even if just from a continuity standpoint.

The potions do seem very weird and I am not even sure at this point how/when I am going to use them. The thing is, there were potions in the first game that were obviously intended to be used during combat, e.g. the ones that instantaneously replenished vitality and MP (or whatever it's called). So, I assume those are gone in W2? Also, I thought part of the point of the Quen sign in W1 was to buy Geralt a few seconds during combat where he could safely chug a potion or two. I mean, make them difficult to use, leave Geralt exposed for a few seconds while he is drinking one, fine. But, preventing their use during combat entirely seems very bizarre.

Blade oils, ok those I can see it would make sense if he can't use those in combat, because they take more preparation time. But chugging a potion? I can't remember seeing an RPG where you can't drink a potion during combat. If you can only drink them during meditation, I would hope they have made the potions so they last a bit longer?

Another hard to understand change to potions is that you need to physically possess the formula in your inventory in order to mix them. The journal has no use: even if a potion is added to your journal, you still need to have the recipe in your inventory. The recipes don't add any weight, but it's annoying as it can clutter your inventory, or you might store/sell them by accident (especially before knowing this, as the game doesn't warn you). There are fewer potions and some of them have different effects. You can check them in the manual. White Raffard’s Decoction (replenish vitality) is still in The Witcher 2 but the listed effect is slightly different (increases vitality at the
expense of damage dealt). I don't remember using it to be honest. Quen is still very useful, considering how vulnerable they made Geralt, because it absorbs damage from enemy hits. I felt it was necessary to survive in the beginning of the game. But you can't use it to gain time to drink potions. It also prevents vigor to replenish while in effect. You can increase the duration and effect of potions with perks in the Alchemy tree.

I played W2 in linux using wine and made a directory under the W2 main directory for the W1 save. You only need to point to it. Actually you can skip it and answer a few questions which will give you most of what you get from the saved file.

Yes, it is hard to see why they changed that from the first game. Simply adding the recipes to your journal makes a lot of sense and worked fine in W1. It's still very early, as I am still in the Prologue, although so far the inventory seems ok. It seems easy enough to filter different types of items, although I'll have to see how it is later in the game, when things get more cluttered. Ok. I'll have to reserve judgment on the potions until I've played more of the game. One thing that seems a bit tricky is that, given I'm a bit skeptical about how they work, I'm not sure how worthwhile it will be to put talent points into the alchemy tree. It seems like in W2 it is useful to provide some protection against archers, to allow Geralt to close in on them without getting killed. I struggled quite a lot at first on the part in the Prologue where you have to attack and take over the Ballista position, because I was getting quickly cut down by their ranged attacks. But using Quen to get close and then throwing a bomb to stun them seemed to work fairly well.

So far, now I am getting the hang of the combat, I am really enjoying the Prologue and it is shaping up to be a very good game. It seems to be generally very well made and the characters and dialogue seem really well done, like the first game. Combat seems a bit more challenging, but also quite satisfying once you get into it and you pull off a good combo on someone :-) Thanks! Yes, I read some of the other threads about importing W1 games and figured out which folder they were supposed to go in to :-)

I think that I know what you are referring to. I was able to meditate and apply spectre oil and drink potions on the way up to that fight ... on the path just before talking with the dead hero and facing the boss' lieutenant. I crushed the lieutenant in no time and still had working potions/oil for the boss fight.

I've only just started Chapter 1 and reached Flotsam, but so far it seems the game is fairly permissive about where you can meditate. In the La Valette dungeon, it seemed I could meditate just about anywhere, as long as there weren't enemies actively attacking me. If it continues like that, it might not be as restrictive as I thought, but just take a bit more anticipation and planning ahead.

You could use those mods :
https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher2/mods/158
https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher2/mods/276
you can look on nexus mods for other mods

Yes you can meditate anywhere as long as there is no ennemy, you can't drink potions anythime, but their effect last long enough to let you finish the fight unless some bosses like the real boss of chapter 1 where you potion will expire before the fight because of the cutscenes. Except the wraith when there are a lot of them in a closed area, you will not need potion to kill basic monster and as said above, just watch your back never let them touch you there as the damage are huge but you can also take advantage of it as they are as weak as you from the back.

Another interesting observation is that, whilst potions are restricted to drinking during meditation, it seems you can apply blade oils at any time via the inventory, even during combat. Imo, they have gotten this the wrong way round, since I would expect applying an oil to coat a blade to be more time-consuming and require more preparation than drinking a potion.

I had a go at the Endrega Contract side quest in the forest. The regular engregas aren't too bad but, man, the queens seem to be insanely tough! They are built like tanks and seem to be able to kill Geralt if they so much as brush him twice. I retried the combat at least 10 times and could barely make a dent in one of those things. Guess I'll be trying a different quest then ...

The key to this fight is Yrden, Time4Tea; out of the box is sufficient:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC9NMKlxLok

You are right when you finish this quest late in chapter 1: Endregas deliver valuable crafting materials - and a lot of money.

Thanks for the tip. I was trying to use Yrden (as well as the snares) and it helped a bit, but it still seemed very hard to stay alive for more than about 15 seconds. One problem for me is that it doesn't seem very clear when the thing is attacking and why I am getting hit.

I'll try some other quests for now and maybe come back to it after getting another couple of levels.