Combat tips for the Nekker cave in chapter 1

One of the first quests in Chapter 1 requires me to investigate a cave full of "Nekkers". The problem is, I can't even kill one of them before the creatures gang up on me and rip me to shreds. I have been at this literally for hours, without making much progress. I had no problems finishing the first game.

So either the combat system in TW2 is extremely hard, or I'm extremely incompetent, or I'm missing something. Please help!

I've written up some general combat tips, especially for fighting multiple enemies, on the Gaming.SE blog here.

For this specific fight you can also exploit the fact that the Nekkers won't go far to the entrance of the cave, they will always retreat at a certain point in the cave. This gives you a safe place to regenerate and prepare.

You should use some potions before the fight, use some Brown Oil for the increased chance to cause bleeding. Make some bombs before going into the cave and don't hesitate to use them.

And finally, always activate Quen before attacking with your sword, this will help a lot.

I remember the fight you're talking about.

As others have mentioned, retreat to a point in the cave where the Nekkers will no longer attack you. They will stay close by, however, giving you the chance to utilize your Quen sign. I suggest using it on the more powerful Nekker Warriors first. They have more hit points and deal more damage than their lesser counterparts.

Once you have gotten them out of the way you can start hacking and slashing with your silver sword. The Nekkers will go down a lot quicker once the Warriors are out of the way. Good luck!

You can lure them to the entrance of the cave, there is a point where they will come towards you but wont go for you and instead turn around and run away.

When they get to this point, use Quen and attack them one by one. Also place some snare traps to deal damage to them.

You will work out where this will happen it is just round the corner of where you last drop down. Just let them get your attention and chase you, then run to this point.

As well as using Quen Sign, remember to block and roll a lot to avoid been hit. If you take damage from behind this will hurt you much more. Rolling around is a quick effective way of dodging/escaping.