Thor333: Blocking is also VASTLY inferior to the Quen sign. WIth a maxed out Quen blocking is completely superfluous.

Yes, there are boss or high level enemies who break your Quen with a few attacks - but against those blocking is completely useless.

hanns.g: As far as I know (and I will eventually test it), Riposte only works with humans and requires the use of block. Nonetheless, it is EXTREMELY powerful. In that respect, it seems like a fair trade in vigor, being such an offensively powerful ability. Even without Riposte, blocking causes staggering and an opportunity to attack. Dodging and rolling have no offensive aspect (well, if you get in position, you can backstab, but pretty rare).

So, it makes some sense to me. But, that argument falters a bit when you consider throwing takes no vigor. :(

cloud8521: thats why we said repertoire itself should take vigour

jklinders: I think maybe they just wanted to have blocking as a defensive option but not to turn the combat into some kind of clone of Assassins Creed. Is it an artificial mechanic? Yes. It it realistic? Not really. Does having your sword block energy pool come from spending point in the mage tree make sense? Not really.

My only conclusion is that they did this to make you use as many of your tools in battle as possible. To be well rounded and not just a brute or just a mage or just a potion junkie. Nothing else makes any sense.

hanns.g: I see your point. But blocking can set up a counterattack when the opponent is staggered, even without Riposte. So, it is an offensive move in-and-of itself. Extending vigor cost to Riposte, on the basis of offensive benefit would, being consistent, apply to Parry then too.

It is tricky to balance.
hanns.g: Yeah. It is far from broken, and keeps it interesting.

hanns.g: As far as I know (and I will eventually test it), Riposte only works with humans and requires the use of block. Nonetheless, it is EXTREMELY powerful. In that respect, it seems like a fair trade in vigor, being such an offensively powerful ability. Even without Riposte, blocking causes staggering and an opportunity to attack. Dodging and rolling have no offensive aspect (well, if you get in position, you can backstab, but pretty rare).

So, it makes some sense to me. But, that argument falters a bit when you consider throwing takes no vigor. :(

Edit: Yeah, I figured Riposte would only apply to sword-wielding opponents. Blocking doesn't work very well against beasts either, since they hit so hard and tend to have combos.

hanns.g: I see your point. But blocking can set up a counterattack when the opponent is staggered, even without Riposte. So, it is an offensive move in-and-of itself. Extending vigor cost to Riposte, on the basis of offensive benefit would, being consistent, apply to Parry then too.

It is tricky to balance.
hanns.g: Yeah. It is far from broken, and keeps it interesting.

Imryll: My guess is that roll doesn't require Vigor and block does because heavy sign users need to be able to roll (and might not have the resources if it required Vigor), but blocking was intended to be more a melee skill. The use of Vigor for block is balanced by the use of Vigor for signs. Any witcher out of Vigor can roll. Leaving folks without the option to do something something doesn't sound very fun. Also blocking leaves you in position to attack where rolling is more a tactical retreat.