The Witcher 3’s next-gen upgrade is best on Death March difficulty

If you’ve never played, Wild Hunt in The Witcher 3. before and have been tempted to do so by the new “next-gen” version — congratulations, I envy you — you’re in for a treat. This post is optional. You can ignore it and just enjoy the glorious, humane epic at any difficulty you choose (Story and Sword will do fine).

If you’ve played it before, however, and the new version of the game is encouraging you to consider a replay, then I have some advice: You should start your new game on the highest difficulty, Death March.

Allow me to make one thing clear. It isn’t about bragging rights or gaming masochism. This is not a test of your skill. Except for Diablo, where climbing the difficulty levels is a part of the core design principles, I’m usually the last to play higher-level games. It is simply because I amn’t very skilled and my life is limited.

Instead, I advocate Death March difficulty. The Witcher 3It is true that the setting enriches both the gameplay system and Witcher fiction. It leans into the game’s greatest strength and even corrects some of its flaws.

Image: CD Projekt Red

It’s also not That hard. The top difficulty level is, paradoxically, most difficult at the beginning of the game. This is before Geralt of Rivia has been upgraded and gained some skills and recipes which provide Geralt with crucial advantages in defense, healing and combat utility. The very first fight against a gaggle of level 1 ghouls is particularly tough and off-putting — especially since failure boots you back to the start of a long conversation. (This is one reason I wouldn’t recommend it to those unfamiliar with the game — new or rusty players might want to consider working their way up to it over the course of their playthrough.) Once you have assembled a rudimentary monster-hunting toolkit, however, Death March is less a test of great skill than it is a test of patience and your ability to keep a cool head — much like a FromSoftware game.

It’s also an encouragement to do a little light theorycrafting. This is one of The Witcher 3’s few weaknesses is its intriguing but rather unfocused role-playing system, which, combined with its less-than-razor-sharp combat, undersells the impact of its character builds and the way they interact with the powerful, status-altering decoctions. The Death March is a different story. With even regular enemies able to take huge chunks out of Geralt’s health bar, and no natural out-of-combat health regen besides food, finding ways to improve Geralt’s survivability and make the most of resources is paramount. It is now more desirable to build on potions and signs. However, decoctions can make all the difference. This makes the risk-reward tradeoff of getting rid of high levels toxicity seem very worthwhile. (Geralt’s bloodstream can only take so much toxicity, and a powerful decoction can take him so close to his limit that he can’t make much use of vital healing potions. Death March can be played in a variety of ways, including a high-toxicity build using alchemy.

In combat, you’ll need to hang back, slow your rhythm down, watch your prey’s tells carefully, use Geralt’s dodge, and strike deliberately and decisively. In the search for an edge — particularly when taking a contract to hunt a powerful monster — it becomes doubly important to read the bestiary, apply the proper oils to your weapons, and consider the right potions, signs, and decoction buffs to use in the fight ahead.

Image: CD Projekt Red

Death March does more than make the game easier and bring out the best of its systems. It is a fantastic way to live the dream of becoming a witcher.

It was one of the first. The Witcher 3’s strongest suits: its original, hyper-specific conception, derived from Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, of a mutant monster hunter, a skilled tracker and natural historian of the monster world who walks a poisonous tightrope as he alters his DNA for the hunt. The Witcher 3 The game excels at role-playing not just because it allows for great freedoms, but because the players are allowed to inhabit every part of this unique and intriguing role.

These corners are illuminated in all ways by Death March difficulty. It’s a thematic decoction, a potent shot that makes Geralt’s muddy, magnificent world more treacherous, and invites you to inhabit it more fully. This makes you more of an adept witcher.