9. Always Have Your Finger On Block, And Don't Underestimate Countering
As much as other action-heavy RPGs have taught you to wade on in blade-first, spells akimbo as you attempt to take on six enemies at once - doing so here only means a swift trip to the loading screen. Instead, think Dark Souls or Bloodborne and the approach to combat therein. The Souls series damn-near revolutionised the approach you take to enemies, focussing on watching for specific enemy 'tells' and animation gaps where you can get a hit in. It's very much stick and move, and Witcher ramps that up to a far higher degree. Although blocking doesn't soak up all your potential damage, it's far better than getting caught unawares. In addition, the counter system in Witcher 3 (at least on middle difficulty, Blood n' Bones) means you can tap L2/LT on almost any attack and open them up for a couple of counter-blows. There's a saying amongst the Souls community, "Don't get greedy", and for Witcher it's more of the same. Constantly block, hang back and watch your enemy's attack patterns, before making swift use of the O/B side-step to keep your enemies guessing, only striking when you've got the advantage. Their life bars will flash red when the time to hit a counter is nigh, but the window for this is very generous, so play defensively and let the enemy come to you.
