===============================================
   The Witcher 2 - Assassins of Kings (Enhanced Edition)
  ===============================================
   MOD - Master Witcher Redux
  ==========================

  This project was inspired by the Full Combat Rebalance 2 (FCR2) mod by Flash of CD Projekt RED. Formerly based 
upon FCR2 during the initial portion of development, it has since branched off and come into its own with a slew 
of changes. The highlights revolve around combat. These include improved parrying, free-form targeting, focused 
attack, and combat-based experience points to name a few. Most of the new abilities are acquired through 
character ability development. The player level cap has been extended to 96. So it is possible to completely fill 
the entire skill tree. Leveling will also slow down towards the higher levels due to progressive XP requirements. 
While a lot of the changes were allegedly spurred by personal preference, game balance was still kept in mind. 
But on the surface, the mod does tip the scale in favour of Geralt being a master witcher.


    Manual Installation
  ==================

Extract file folder /master_witcher to ../Documents/Witcher 2/UserContent.
Note with game patch 3.4.1 the user content path can be changed.

IMPORTANT: Backup your existing saves to another folder.
An autosave from this mod will delete any existing autosave before it! 
This should be done anyway as old saves would be incompatible with the mod, and vice versa.

Run the launcher and select the mod from the Mods list.
Then launch the game as usual.


   FEATURES (refer to NOTES for details)
  ==================================

Update 1.5:
- Proper implementation of modified localization file (Polish language included)
- Revised battle formula (under-the-hood calculations)
- Quicker guarding recovery from defense breakers
- Vigor consumption on parrying and dodging
- Rebalanced critical hit chance
- Fixed group finishers to include monsters
- More accurate target marking
- Removed blood splatter from parrying arrows
- Minor bug fixes

Update 1.4:
- Added armor for Letho in final fight and restored his boss health status bar
- Added chance of critical hit with Enhanced Riposte, Violent Strength, and Precision
- Removed stun chance from Violent Strength ability
- Finishers unlocked by default
- Mod menus tweaked with some elements reorganized
- Raven's Armor choice made when starting a new game
- Clock system option: 12-hour, 24-hour, or OFF in MOD OPTIONS
- New difficulty level: MASTER WITCHER
- Dark mode items made available for all difficulty levels
- Configurable enemy combat speed from MOD OPTIONS
- Fast movement alternative (non-combat) by double-tapping movement keys

Update 1.3:
- Potions can be added to pockets for quick access in combat
- Potions of the same kind are cumulative in duration and toxicity
- Camera effects from increasing toxicity
- Bonus ability Honed Reflexes: ability to parry on the move

Update 1.2:
- Start a game with saved character stats
- Fast movement alternative (non-combat) by tapping Walk/Run key
- Timed guarding mod option (NOTES)

Update 1.1:
- Weapon degradation and walk mode default made optional from MOD OPTIONS
- Alternate between swords and fists by holding steel/silver key (default '1' or '2')
- Tutorial compatible with edited instructions
______________________________________________________________________________________________

- Important! Autosaving is limited to one (NOTES)
- Walking is the default movement mode
- Player character faces enemy when targeted (FCR2)
- Player starts with entry level training talents (FCR2)
- Pirouette dodging (FCR2) granted through the Footwork talent (NOTES)
- Some animation/behaviour files from FCR2
- Revamped parry system for player and NPCs (NOTES)
- Focused strong attack (NOTES)
- Enhanced riposte (NOTES)
- Free-form targeting mode (NOTES)
- Optional Raven's Armor start
- DLC Blue Stripes combat suit needs to be bought from Flotsam merchants
- Summer's Crown ability restored, active only during daylight hours (0600-2100)
- Winter Solstice ability restored
- Quen shield able to be canceled manually
- Cutscenes show Geralt's currently mounted weapons correctly
- Player level cap (NOTES)
- Combat experience (NOTES)
- Increasing XP requirement at subsequent player levels
- Character abilities GUI shows XP between the current level and the next level
- Character skill descriptions are visible for both ability levels labeled "Unlocked" and "Enhanced"
- Some skills and GUI items renamed
- Parry story ability changed to Riposte Vigor
- No-mashing attack combos (NOTES)
- Drastically reduced Geralt's natural healing recovery
- Geralt's death animation varied depending on hit type
- Removed rag-doll on NPC death because they were always keeling backwards unnaturally
- Enemies move 25% faster
- Slow motion on last-man-standing kill (adjustable as of v1.2)
- Enhanced witcher signs (NOTES)
- New adrenaline mechanic: Heliotrope, Combat Acumen and Whirlwind (NOTES)
- Dice poker wagers increased based on player level
- Modified QTE/dynamic fist fighting (NOTES)
- Junk dismantling for crafting ingredients (Thanks to the Junk Dismantling mod by Barrodin)
- Removed darkening effect from the 3 special dark mode armour sets
- Dead bodies linger for 10 minutes (if dead actors stay as of v1.2)
- Damage scaling rebalanced
- Weapon degradation (NOTES)
- Adjustable game world time rate (NOTES)
- Time of day shown digitally next to its HUD icon (NOTES)
- Robust Loot Satchel (NOTES)
- Restored food & drink (NOTES)
- Kalkstein's teleportation gemstone (NOTES)
- Main menu and music additions (NOTES)


  ========
    NOTES
  ========
1. Autosaves
2. Main Menu & Mod Options
3. Master Witcher
4. Critical Hits & Finishers
5. Enemy Turbo
6. Load Character
7. Timed Guarding
8. Dodging
9. Parrying
10. Strong & Focused Attacks
11. Riposte
12. Free-form Targeting
13. Level Cap
14. Combat Experience
15. Combos & Mashing
16. Aard/Igni Signs
17. Quen Sign
18. Yrden Sign
19. Heliotrope Sign
20. Adrenaline
21. Combat Acumen & Whirlwind
22. Quick Time Fist Fights
23. Dynamic Fist Fighting
24. Weapon Degradation
25. Time of Day
26. Robust Loot Satchel
27. Food & Drink
28. Kalkstein's Teleportation Gemstone
29. Music
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. AUTOSAVES

  AN IMPORTANT NOTE: Before you start, backup your existing saves to another folder. An autosave will delete any
existing autosave before it! This should be done anyway as old saves would be incompatible, and vice versa.


2. MAIN MENU & MOD OPTIONS

  The main menu has been tweaked with configurable settings specific to the mod. These are found in the MOD OPTIONS
sub-menu of the OPTIONS. Other additions include resuming the last saved game, a separate button to play the tutorial,
the choice to start with Raven's Armor on a new game, and Witcher 1 imports displayed only if they exist.


3. MASTER WITCHER

  For those who may not have been aware, 'Insane' actually fell between 'Hard' and 'Dark' in terms of
difficulty stats, the caveat being that the game ends if you die along with all associated saves being locked.
But the loophole to avoiding a permanent game over would be to load a previously saved game before the game over
screen shows up. It makes this little mechanic rather moot.
  The new 'Master Witcher' mode is a replacement for 'Insane.' It's a slight variation to the damage formula designed
for higher lethality. The damage multiplier is tripled against the player, while enemies receive a double dose.
  NB: You can now switch between all difficulties in-game. The restriction change from 'Dark' has been removed.


4. CRITICAL HITS & FINISHERS

  Critical hits provide opportunities for follow up finishers. They can only be performed with strong attacks.
Visually, an enemy will flash notify a critical hit by glowing coupled with the large instant kill blood splatter.
Executing a subsequent strong attack on a critically wounded enemy will finish him. Finishers can still be
performed normally on stuns or knockdowns. Casting a level III Aard/Igni sign will initiate the sign-specific
finisher.


5. ENEMY TURBO

  This is the enemy combat speed modifier. The default for the mod until now had been hard-coded at +25%.
There are 3 additional settings: +50%, +100%, or turning it off. However, you can experiment with custom values
by manually editing the ..\Documents\Witcher 2\Config\MasterWitcher.ini file.
e.g. EnemyTurbo=1.0 corresponds to +0% (normal); EnemyTurbo=2.0 means +100% (twice as fast).
Values should stay within 1.0 and 2.0, or they will be automatically adjusted.
The variable will appear under [Gameplay] once you modify the setting from the game menu for the first time.


6. LOAD CHARACTER

  When the game is saved (auto/quick/manual) or when loading the most recent saved game,
the current character stats are saved. These include the player level, the abilities from
training, sword, magic, and alchemy, and any unused talent points acquired. After that,
the option to LOAD CHARACTER from NEW GAME will be available. So this lets you start the
game from the beginning with a developed character.
  The stats are written to the file ../Documents/Witcher 2/Config/MasterWitcher.ini.


7. TIMED GUARDING

  Enabling this option lowers Geralt's guard if not under attack within 1.5 seconds. If
disabled, guard block can be held normally.


8. DODGING

  Geralt's dodge collision parameter can be reduced through the Footwork skill, thus improving evasion. When
enhanced, it enables Geralt to perform a pirouette, executed by holding guard block and then evading. This means
both evasive maneuvres are at the player's disposal. Pirouette dodging also parries sword attacks.
Dodging now incurs a 30% penalty of one vigor point.


9. PARRYING

  Sword parrying has been revamped in favour of vigor usage as a partial return to form. However, it only consumes
a fraction (25%) of a vigor point. And the percentage can further be reduced down to 15% with Guard Stamina.
  As you block attacks with your sword, the number of parried hits accumulates. When it goes beyond the threshold
(parry level), one bar of vigor is consumed. The parry count decreases each second when you're not under constant
threat. This applies to the enemy's parry calculations as well. Thus, vigor can be conserved when parrying is
applied efficiently.
  Parry and Guard Stamina are the two pertinent abilities that sustain health while parrying. When sufficiently
upgraded, health no longer suffers until vigor is completely drained. This all allows parrying to be used as a
more viable option.
  Players can also execute a reflex parry by fast attacking just before an incoming blow. This has the added perk
of not counting towards the parry threshold. This ability is granted by completing the Guard Stamina skill from
the swordsmanship tree.
  Something to keep in mind is that there is a chance calculation based on player and enemy parry levels at the
point of impact that determines whether the attack is reflected or the guard is broken. Reflected attacks and
broken guards leave combatants open for a couple of seconds. Against witchers, however, only strong attacks or
attacks from monsters have a chance of faltering them.
  The calculations performed when swords clash are dictated by a new formula. Suffice to say, this depends on your
swordsmanship level, an internal stamina parameter, and a bit of luck. Your swordsmanship level is the number of
talents dedicated to the swordsmanship ability tree. In this sense, the more swordsmanship skills you have, the
better the swordsman you will be.


10. STRONG & FOCUSED ATTACKS

  Holding down the strong attack key raises Geralt's guard for a second before he strikes. During this time,
guarding is active and enemy attacks can be parried as usual. The player can decidedly release the attack at any
point before the delay is up, so strong attacks can still be executed as normal.
  Strong attacks can be upgraded as to enable Geralt to knock his opponents down. Enhancing the Violent Strength
skill under the swordsmanship tree unlocks this ability.
  This attack, however, becomes focused with the Combat Acumen skill. When this happens, any incoming strikes are
absorbed should Geralt have enough adrenaline to absorb at least half the damage. In other words, adrenaline will
be lost equal to half the damage. In the case of insufficient adrenaline, the strike will be blocked normally.
Finally unleashing the focused attack will break through the enemy's defense.


11. RIPOSTE

  The enhanced level of Riposte affords Geralt to counter attacks when they are parried via holding down strong
attack a split-second before impact.
  More importantly, it is executed exclusively with strong attack. This was a balance issue made to punish ill-
timed counterattacks more severely since strong attacks are slower and leave the player more vulnerable.


12. FREE-FORM TARGETING

  This is the new default targeting mode in addition to the soft/hard target lock modes. Enemies are not marked
with the targeting reticle. Instead, the target enemy is determined by the closest enemy threat or an enemy in 
the general direction of movement.
  Consequently, ripostes can still be performed normally in this mode even without the marker cue.


13. LEVEL CAP

  Geralt can be leveled up to a maximum of 96. One talent point is granted at each level, as usual, with the
exception of starting off with a free talent point at Level 1.
 

14. COMBAT EXPERIENCE

  In contrast to the original game and FCR2, the main method of acquiring experience is through combat.
Successful strikes against enemies result in a cumulative sum of XP points taken as the damage dealt. On the
other hand, the penalty of receiving damage is a subtraction from the sum. Hits landed in a combo string and
enemy kills are also taken into account. The combat log is displayed as messages on the right side of the screen.
And the tallied XP at the end of a fight is added to the player's experience and displayed on the left.
  This is an option enabled by default. You could disable this under MOD OPTIONS of the OPTIONS menu. Disabling
combat experience reverts back to the original game's experience progression. Switching this during a game will
adjust the player's total experience points accordingly.


15. COMBOS & MASHING

  Attack combinations are rewarded as part of the XP accumulations of the combat log (combat experience). In
homage to the first witcher game, mashing attacks break combo flow and consequently result in Geralt's strike
being reflected. This has the added effect of punishing bad timing. There is a small window of opportunity near
the end of Geralt's fast and strong attacks where the next attack can land successfully in combination. Attacking
subsequently too early will have the next attack reflected on impact. Attacking too late will end the current
combo score. This penalty applies only for HARD, DARK, and MASTER WITCHER difficulties.


16. AARD/IGNI SIGNS

  The main update to the two offense signs will be noticed in their level III form. At this stage, Geralt can
perform an alternative ground smash (by holding down strong attack and casting the sign) that produces an area
effect affecting surrounding enemies in range.
  Sign attacks from mages and other witchers can now be blocked by Geralt's Aard or Igni signs.


17. QUEN SIGN

  Geralt can instantly throw up a quick Quen shield by holding strong attack and blocking. Releasing the guard
brings the shield down. This form absorbs all damage, yet it can only stay active for a single blow.
  For level III Quen, the shield can be manually directed as a lightning bolt by casting while holding down
strong attack. If the shield is already active, casting it again to cancel will also send it toward potential
targets.


18. YRDEN SIGN

  For level III Yrden, the trap can be instantly directed toward the current target by casting while holding down
strong attack.


19. HELIOTROPE SIGN

  The Heliotrope sign grants Geralt the ability to move faster than his opponents. But whereas the original
version marked an area where upon enemies slowed down, Geralt instead increases in speed for the duration of the
adrenaline meter. Time is dilated appropriately, so this is experienced in slo-mo. Geralt becomes virtually
unstoppable in this state.
  Enhancing this skill attaches the helio-sphere to Geralt so that he is no longer restricted by its area.


20. ADRENALINE

  Once adrenaline is full and released, Geralt is at his most powerful. The duration of this state can be seen
as the adrenaline meter is drained. The adrenaline-related talents in all three skill trees have been upgraded.
On the alchemy side, Mutant has boosted stats and Amplification amplifies Aard and Igni signs to devastating
effects. The magical Heliotrope remains similar, but instead of enemies slowing down, it is Geralt who speeds up.
Combat Acumen from swordsmanship along with Whirlwind are more versatile than ever before. Refer to the notes
below for an in-depth description. Each have their own visual FX to identify them.
  Adrenaline is enabled for boss battles, too. Beware however, the bosses have their own defense against this!


21. COMBAT ACUMEN & WHIRLWIND

  On full adrenaline, group finishers are performed by holding down the adrenaline key and targeting a group.
Targeting the group is the same as locking onto enemy targets, except you can select up to 3 enemies. Once
selected, release the adrenaline key to execute the finisher.
  Investing a talent point in Whirlwind grants the sustained focused state for the swordsmanship tree. On
adrenaline release, all of Geralt's attacks become focused strikes that cannot be blocked by ordinary means.


22. QUICK TIME FIST FIGHTS

  The QTE cue has been modified in the following ways:
1) Only one key appears randomly on the top, bottom, left or right of the screen.
2) The key could be one of the directional movement keys, fast/strong attacks, or jump key.
3) Reaction time is shorter on higher difficulty settings. (0.7 seconds on Master Witcher)
  Keep in mind that mashing keys will cause Geralt to fail the encounter. And, of course, pressing them too late
results in failure as well.


23. DYNAMIC FIST FIGHTING

  Dynamic fist fighting is a little more useful as Geralt can now guard against attacks in this state. Blocking
also automatically raises the Quen shield. Moreover, Geralt moves toward the target on fast punches, and dodges
attacks with a well-timed strong attack.
  You can quickly switch between swords and fists by holding down the steel/silver key (default '1' or '2').


24. WEAPON DEGRADATION

  All the swords and weapons that Geralt can outfit degrade with extensive use. The condition is displayed as
optimal, good, used, and poor along with the amount of damage subtracted from the optimal value. The damage value
will only go down as far as half the maximum damage. There are weapon repair kits that restore 3 damage points
when applied. Whetstones can also be applied to restore 5 damage points. These are available from blacksmiths as
single purchases or crafting diagrams.


25. TIME OF DAY

  The game time rate is 4 seconds per 1 game minute by default. But the ratio can be altered from 1:1 all the way
to 60:1 for a real-time experience. This setting is accessed from MOD OPTIONS.
  The precise local clock time is displayed next to the time of day icon. However, due to certain limitations, it
requires your screen resolution to match its associated aspect ratio. Otherwise, the display position will be
offset incorrectly.
  Game time also continues to pass in real time during dialogue and cutscenes.


26. ROBUST LOOT SATCHEL

  Geralt is now limited to the amount of stuff he can stuff into his sack. The default weight limit is still 250.
But items that exceed the limit won't be added to the inventory. However, this does not apply to items weighing
0.1 or under, nor to items that are given by NPCs through dialogue. So it is still possible to be encumbered from
carrying too much stuff.
  There is a new crafting diagram for a robust loot satchel that extends the limit by an extra 100. This can be
purchased from Fioravanti at the Flotsam market in Chapter 1.


27. FOOD & DRINK

  There are a number of food and drink items that didn't make into the final game. Not only have they been
restored, but have now a purpose as they can either be harvested for potion ingredients or used as drinking
potions themselves.


28. KALKSTEIN'S TELEPORTATION GEMSTONE

  You might remember Kalkstein from the first Witcher game. Regardless, this is a handheld teleportation device
that can be fitted into one of the pocket slots and used in the same way as the throwable daggers and bombs. The
difference is that instead of throwing it, Geralt is teleported to the position of the aiming target marker. It
is reusable indefinitely, but it drains vigor with every use and starts eating away at your health after that.
It is a rare item that is only sold by two merchants: the mysterious merchant and the relic peddler.


29. MUSIC

  The menu music has been changed to 4 other tracks that play according to the current chapter.


    Acknowledgements
  ===================

Thanks for the Polish translation go to ungvaar and Adk96.

Thanks again to the aforementioned mod author Barrodin (Junk Dismantling).

The robust loot satchel icon is courtesy of the Rio Negro Travel Bag by Aldwen of Detago Products.

Music Credits:
  Adam Skorupa & Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz
    "The Witcher 3 Main Theme"
  Adrian von Ziegler
    "Kingdom of Bards"
  Brunuh Ville
    "Hero's Journey"
  Brunuh Ville
    "Dragon Empress"

Special thanks go to Flash for some of the ideas and files from FCR2.
Without FCR2, I wouldn't have thought to look at the file structure to realize the potential for change.

And a very warm-hearted thanks to the CD Projekt RED team for an absolutely marvelous series.

STELLAR-7 presents... Master Witcher Redux.