---README---

for DALLs - Witcher2 EE

v2.5

26/07/2012

Witcher2 (Enhanced Edition) is complex game-play rebalance mod - complete and coordinated overhaul of almost all game-play aspects like PC gear (enchantments, arms n armor), shops and opponents (their abilities and damage bonuses) which will improve your overall game-play enjoyment. These changes (my files) are seamless override of game files and they definitely will not break your game installation, game saves or your ability to play game as you want it.

I love Witcher games but I don't agree with some game-play decisions CDProjekt Red has made - thus this game-play changing mod. If you don't like my lot and you want to mod it yourself - there is - full set of game (original / unedited) abilities n items .xml files (main game behaviour files as optional add-on - free to use/have - modders resource).

As my Witcher2, mod does quite a lot - full / detailed list of all changes made would be extremely long and as such probably of little interest to most - find here only the most notable ones.

game-play changes - tougher and stronger opponents which will provide longer and more realistic (sword) fights

arms n armor changes - tighter n more logical grading (stats adjustments) with more then in-game model variations, (e.g. book-belts - exchanged for bag ones, some Dark Difficulty items now in standard difficulty)

arms n armor changes - more rune / enhancement slots (number of slots graded n dependant on item quality / price)

arms n armor changes - DLC gear improvements

reduced item weight - all items

increased carry weight - (Geralt)

all grades of Mutagens can be bought

less demanding crafting requirements - schematics n recipes have requirements that are more realistic - but unfortunately, as crafting component prices are used in final item price calculation (complicated formula) some prices are now a bit too low to be really realistic / same applies to some items which are not on craft-items list at all

new reduced prices - items and their crafting now cost less - if you can be bothered to collect n sell (junk/crafting/ingredients) loot, you'll have all money you need to freely experiment with all (in-game) items n their stats effects

game-play fine-tuning - runes n armor add-ons now actually do something useful n positive - almost all good looking but otherwise lacklustre (low stats) items can be enchanted to become interesting and (game-play) style modifying alternatives

game shops remade - they now sell some higher level / hard to find items before their in-game time - all inn-keepers, waitresses sell some useful items beside their usual (junk-food) fares; mysterious merchant shop/s with much wider range of good quality (to actual PC level better suited) goods

unique Act Three Inn-keeper - he sells all (important/quest/Dark) in-game items

item lore tags - quality graduation / naming now more dependant on uniqueness

inventory item / quest item placement - somewhat more logical / some quest items now can be sold after completion

game levels / abilities - killing loads of enemies - will lead to faster levelling and timelier abilities improvements

game levels / abilities - PC levelling cap (max 35 levels) will be definitely reached (Act Three) - so ability upgrades can be distributed with more confidence

(numerous) other bug n discrepancies fixes

There is more but - to notice them all - you'll need to use this mod in game for "little" bit longer. ;)

All monsters n human / non-human enemies are now harder to kill with one notable exception - (Act One End-Boss) Kayran has been modded from - CDProjekt - silly hard (to kill) to more manageable - interesting game-play - hard.

Swords being Geralt's main offensive weapons are extremely important to quality / level of (cinematic) realism you'll receive. If you want to see best this (EE) game can offer (Geralt fight acrobatics) - use sword's top damage as reliable - cinematic eye-candy - index marker.

For Act One your swords max damage (with enchantments) should not go much over 32, for Act Two over 44 and for Act Three over 56. This is important as all other (enchantments) bonuses are calculated from this number. How much lower or higher, you want to go is primarily your choice dependant on your preferences / difficulty setting you use but regardless of anything else give it go as this - simple to observe method - works like charm. Top game bosses (Kayran n Act Three Dragon) use different calculation methods and with them - more (damage) is as always better. ;)

One small advice: if you chose to boost your character abilities (stats) with powerful enchantments like runes, arms, armor n armor add-ons (temporary calculation modifiers) - avoid (simultaneous) use of Greater Mutagens (permanent calculation modifiers / once applied they are recorded in saves and can not be changed or removed latter)! Lesser and Normal strength Mutagens work fine - but Greater ones can cause Geralt (PC) stats problems (damage/adrenaline calculation lock-ups). This is less-known game bug and not something, my mod produces.

In abilities folder there is somewhat changed geralt_basic.xml (Geralt abilities) file with improved carry-weight (1000) for those of you who like to carry around all their kit / (game-play tuning) arms n armor favourites - if you don't need it / already have it - remember to take it out!

My Witcher2 makes, game trainers and other game cheats redundant as you can - if you wish so - kit enhance Geralt to be (to particular stage realistic n very appropriate) Super Hero! Normally this doesn't apply to Dark Difficulty setting - if you use my mod or my abilities folder only - this extreme setting will become even harder! Try it in game and regardless of all preconceptions and doubts, you might have - in less then 5 minutes you will have your first-hand proof of all my claims. If interested in some - to you especially important detail - ask or PM and I'll try my best to answer / explain actual changes made.

These changes (mod files) are override only and not some silly / installation-breaking replacement of (original) game-core files thus they are safe for informative test-runs / permanent in-game use and they will work with all existing saves you might have regardless of being made specifically for Enchanted Edition. That said start of new game is still recommended as best way to go.

To install you need to navigate to your Witcher2 - Game folder and paste / drag n drop in it my CookedPC (mod) folder. Allow overwrite!

If you don't like these changes, simply replace / remove my files (find them in CookedPC/abilities n items folders) and original game settings will be restored to your game.

Bugs/conflicts: none known - but take care not to overwrite something by accident!


Use:
Free to use but if any files included (therein) are to be used for modding ask me for
permission!

Note on v2.0: Abilities folder added (monsters n all other game opponents), shops better organised and weeded of useless items, some other minor changes.

Note on v2.1: New shop items and slightly higher prices. Some other additions n minor changes.

Note on v2.2: Enemies tweaked for a bit longer / harder fights and some other minor fixes.

Note on v2.3: New Runes with somewhat weaker stats! These ones are closer (in form) to ones used in latest (EE) patches and better suited to more interesting game-play / replay. Script (form) has been changed from previous version/s to one EE now uses. If you don't like them or you want to use - now very unexciting - game rune stats remove my def_stats_item_runes.xml file from your (game files) CookedPC / items folder. Quite a few new fixes for game bugs (false quest items / wrong inventory placement n likes) were added to this update as well. Smaller adrenalin boosts (less chance for high-damage lock-ups > another game bug) and some other minor changes.

Note on v2.4: All EE Steel sword additions - added n seamlessly slotted-in with the rest. Some stats (weapons mostly) toned-down to be better match to my game-play modifications / weapon progression. More consistent (lore quality) tags for named arms n armor as well as (quality graded) rune/armor enchantment slot allocation. New sale-items additions to some shops. Mutagens taken out of crafting materials / can not be used as crafting material - any longer. (if you still want them to be that - remove from my items folder file def_item_mutagens.xml)

Note on v2.5: Slightly modified Mutagen/s stats added. Some minor (top-grade) weapon stats changes (further fine-tuning of game-play / fight cinematic animations).

Enjoy!

Thanks to CDProjekt for really great game.