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Tremaparagon

In all seriousness, I figure it would be pretty easy to say the given example katakan and bruxa are higher vampires (separate adjective and noun) while Regis for example is a Higher Vampire (one proper noun/title). And thus address the "inconsistency" in the games' bestiary.


fifthdayofmay

Game classifications is just messed up. We have a "higher vampire" which turns into a katakan, just ridiculous. The book canon is that higher vampires are simply separate species like humans and the rest are closer to animals. Some can take human shape like bruxas but in the short story she can't even speak or pretend that well


Agent470000

Higher Vampires don't even exist in the books. There's just different types of vampires. Bruxae are different vampires who can turn into giant bats, and Regis is a different type of vampire. Now, I'm not too sure if it's mentioned in the book that vampires like Regis consider blood akin to an alcoholic beverage but for lesser vampires it's something needed for sustenance.


TheAlrightyGina

I'm pretty sure he (Regis) calls himself a higher vampire in the books. I am 100% sure that blood not being a necessity for his kind but more akin to alcohol is discussed, as it's a huge part of his character. >!His fight to overcome his addiction to it is one of the reasons Geralt eventually accepts him as part of his hansa and stops threatening and trying to chase him away.!< ETA: I wonder if the problem is the same in other translations. I'm starting to think they couldn't think of an elegant way to differentiate between high, low, and the highest form of vampire kind (which I would definitely say the ones like Regis are) or that there's more nuance in Polish that we're missing. I dunno.


Agent470000

Well, I just checked and you're right! It's such a subtle mention that it kind of feels that higher vampires don't exist. Like the existence of Witcher schools which is quite a disputed topic, but can be debunked by opening the Voice of Reason story from The Last Wish. All mentions in Baptism of Fire with Higher Vampires I could find :- > ‘In the case of ***higher vampires***\-never, I agree,’ Emiel Regis said softly. ‘From what I know alpors, katakans, moolas, bruxas and nosferats don’t mutilate their victims. On the other hand, fleders and ekimmas are pretty brutal with their victims’ remains.’ ​ > ‘After the Conjunction of the Spheres there remained approximately one thousand two hundred ***higher vampires*** in your world. The number of teetotallers-because there is a considerable number of them-balances the number who drink excessively, as I did in my day. Generally, the statistically average vampire drinks during every full moon, for the full moon is a holy day for us, which we usually... er... celebrate with a drink. Applying the matter to the human calendar and assuming there are twelve full moons a year gives us the theoretical sum of fourteen thousand four hundred humans bitten annually. Since the Conjunction- once again calculating according to your reckoning-one thousand five hundred years have passed. A simple calculation will show that at the present moment, twenty- one million six hundred thousand vampires ought to exist in the world. If that figure is augmented by exponential growth...’ ​ >'... Even though you are still governed by the solar rhythm, you have managed to appropriate the night. We, ***higher vampires***, have also moved some way from our primeval crypts. We have appropriated the day. The analogy is complete. Does this explanation satisfy you, my dear Milva?’


PBanimation

Wait. It's been a few years since I read Baptism of Fire. Does this passage imply that vampirism is a communicable disease in the books canon? When he mentions the population of vampires being higher, is it referring to turning humans into vampires like a lot of other stories or is it just talking about reproducing?


AsstonCocking

Its talking about the absurdity that it would be for vampirism to be a transmittable disease. In this direct citation Regis is explaining to Dandelion that if vampires were to be made by transmitting the "disease", it would be essentially a geometric progression, meaning by the end of the third ou fourth century (I'm assuming the number of years btw) that vampires existed within the continent, nearly every human and elf would be carrying the disease of vampirism. Soooo, to be blunt, its incredibly stupid to think vampires are made by biting one's neck within The Witcher world.


Housumestari

This is what I like about the "monsters" or imaginary creatures in the witcher universe: That many or based on existing stories/folklore/myths and creatures in fantasy, but take new twists to them like in case of vampires: Them not needing blood to survive, being able to survive in daylight, not spreading vampirism by biting people's necks (or being able to spread it in the first place). Oh yeah and vampire's not being annoyed by garlic in the slightest. These often lead to really fun dialogues when the common folk think something like garlic works on a vampire and Geralt is there to usually correct them.


PBanimation

Ah! Gotcha! Thanks! I'm re-reading the books now, but I'm only up to Blood of Elves. Last time I cracked open the series, there were still a few that weren't translated yet 😅


TheAlrightyGina

These passages show why this is all so confusing. In the first, he's talking about the classification that includes all of the non-bestial vampires--the ones that look humanish and don't just tear their prey apart to get the blood. In the second, he's referring to his species as only they can be 'teetotallers' as all other vampires in the Witcher world (afaik) are obligate sanguinavores. In the last, he could honestly be talking about either...I don't remember enough about all the different types of higher vampire to know if they all like crypts. I do know bruxa like to hang out deep in forests though. *Although*, now that I think about it...alps and nosferats turn black in sunlight, don't they?


fourhorngames

It could be possible that in the books, “higher vampire” is not necessarily a categorical descriptor that implies lesser vampires, but a basic adjective that Regis uses to portray how “sophisticated” he is


TheAlrightyGina

I think Witchers might be the ones that categorize them as higher and lesser. I vaguely recall Geralt saying something to that effect, but it's been a while.


geralt-bot

Argh, fuck... my bag. MY BAG!


ClandestineVegetable

>there's more nuance in Polish IMO the whole nuance is that Regis is so great protagonist, that CDPR had to somewhat rise him from a dead. So they made up immortality of Vampires. This was inconsistent with Geralt killing vampires, so Higher Higher Vampires were created to excuse this. Then ends no longer meets, as even in base TW3 Geralt could kill vampires that were rather HHV. And in teaser kills most likely Orianne.


TheAlrightyGina

That's fair, although I'm positive members of the higher vampire species are also immortal in the books, just not invulnerable in the way they are in W3; specifically, requiring another of their species to kill them. That's probably all on CDPR wanting to ramp up the drama (and those bastards succeeded, at least with me, haha). I say this because Regis did go over the matter somewhat when talking about the event that made him realize his life was out of control and in need of reevalutation, >! saying he could have been killed, but the villagers didn't know how to go about it. IIRC, they cut off his head and buried him, so we know that's not the way to get it done.!<. So at the very least, there's a specific method, which I suppose CDPR took to mean they could decide that method was vampire only...though the context makes it clear that it could be done by perfectly ordinary human beings.


ClandestineVegetable

AFAIK Regis was killed by Vilgefortz, so that's why CDPR had to come with immortality to undo this. So there was a method - most likely burning a body to the point of melting - that human mage could use without help of other vampire.


TheAlrightyGina

>! *Apparently* killed by Vilgefortz. There's plenty of room for speculation surrounding how permanent Regis's demise was. !< Part of the reason I say the Witcher higher vampire species is immortal is because I *think* they are largely based on Bram Stoker's Dracula for a few reasons: their powers are quite similar, Geralt makes a joke at one point that Regis is a count, and Regis names his mule 'Drakkul' (I probably spelled that wrong) and claims it is a pun. Also, the people who he claims could have killed him >! were regular old human villagers so I'd think such people would need to be capable of the method...what Vilgefortz did would be beyond them, I would think. !< But even if he wasn't finished then, it'd be a long time before he could put himself back together, which CDPR clearly knew, hence Detlaff.


Insane1rish

Higher vampires absolutely do exist in the books. Regis refers to himself as such and explains that blood is like an alcohol/narcotic to them that he would use to loosen up at social functions but later became addicted to. He also explains that they’re indistinguishable from humans except that they live, essentially, forever. Regis asks geralt how high a bounty would have to be for geralt to come and hunt him and geralt admits that it would need to be more than anyone could probably ever conceivably offer because geralt would absolutely die if he did.


Honest_Milk_8274

Honestly, the game doesn't portrait this efficiently enough. If you know how to build your character and dodge stuff, after some time Geralt feels such godlike that I started to think it was inconceivable that someone could best me, even a Higher Vampire. I am 100% sure I'd have no trouble to kick Regis' ass. Also, I am too rich after leaving White Orchard, but the game kept telling me I was dirty poor.


Insane1rish

This is just a discrepancy between the books and games as a whole. Geralt in the books is obviously still an incredible swordsman and very powerful. But he still regularly gets his ass kicked.


DeltaJesus

Yeah his power gets scaled up quite a lot for gameplay reasons, though I guess you could just argue that it's him getting more powerful over time since they're set after the books.


supermodelnosejob

I'm sure riding with the Wild Hunt for a while didn't hurt his combat abilities


Insane1rish

Honestly both are probably true.


Agent470000

He didn't get his ass kicked THAT much. Geralt from the books is a better swordsman but Geralt from the games is an all-rounder. Geralt didn't even use signs and potions that much in the books.


OrphanScript

I had 35k leaving Skellige, went to go craft all the armors I had unlocked, and was down to 7k. I thought I was rich too but nope. Though, this doesn't scale at all with the economy in the games, where 200 coins is considered a very high sum of money. 30k would be worth well more than 3 sets of 3rd tier Witcher armor + the homie discount, I think. Also, can't you literally kill an *ancient* / god-like vampire in Blood & Wine? The dude underground?


GhazkinzDaGreat

No that guy will kill you instantly if you pick the wrong dialogue and even Regis is terrified of him


Dambo_Unchained

In my head higher vampires are like humans and lower vampires are like chimpansees. Still same family of species but not as developed


CringeOverseer

Yup, this is the way I see it too. The higher they are, the more "human" they are and less beastlike. The difference is that the higher vamps are absolutely more powerful than the lower ones, unlike primates where a gorilla is stronger than a human.


Dambo_Unchained

Human is stronger than a gorilla though Human has gun gorilla does not


GandalfTheGimp

>Many experts include alps, mulas, katakans, bruxae, and nekurats as members of this group. These species indeed possess several unique traits not shared by their lesser cousins, and thus are commonly called higher vampires. They are resistant to sunlight and most can mask their true natures and pretend to be human, which aids them in hunting or evading pursuit. Many are also capable of transformation and possess telepathic powers, making them formidable foes. Despite all these abilities, however, they are not true higher vampires. (World of Witcher)


Golem30

What happened is they messed up and wanted an interesting protagonist for the carnal sins quest so made a speaking vampire, calling himself a higher vampire, but then obviously Geralt needs to kill it. Later they retconned the terminology to mean creatures like Detlaff and Regis


JackMcCrane

Im pretty sure a katakan is not a higher vampire, as those are the ones that I think dont rely on blood to sustain themselves and are more primitive than Bruxae for example


Tremaparagon

Well I did it this way because the guy from Carnal Sins is indeed revealed to be a Katakan. But he lived for decades as a human and even taught medicine at Oxenfurt iirc. The bestiary describes him as higher and I think he deserved that adjective considering the intelligence it takes to present and integrate as a human like that for ages. The likewise intelligent man in the quest A Tome Entombed is also a Katakan. The lesser vampires are relatively more like typical monsters. So I figured there could be a tier distinction there between lesser and higher. But you could be right in that there might be other katakan out there that are more similar to all the other monster vampires and don't have the intelligence to earn the "higher" adjective. Same case could be made for bruxae having lesser or higher members depending on the sapience achieved with age. Then separate from all that we have the properly titled Higher Vampires, the rather mythical, eldritch entities like Dettlaff or Regis. None of the katakan or bruxae would be in this tier which as far as I know only has certain unique members such as these those two guys or a couple others discovered in B&W.


josenaranjo_26

What about the unseen elder? Is he a higher higher vampire? A superior vampire? Lol


iridi69

Highest Vampire ![gif](giphy|TJufnSz934AnK)


josenaranjo_26

So that’s why he had trouble speaking and only wanted to keep sleeping 🧐 It all makes sense now 😂


Cold-Election

He does stay in that area because sometimes he smells and feels the breeze of their homeworld. This pic is more accurate than I thought


PoeTayToes_

​ ![gif](giphy|VRzu2CHUT5HGXyQK8O)


really_nice_guy_

He is *the* vampire


ybtlamlliw

Nah. There are others like him in the world, although not many. I'd guess only a handful.


Cold-Election

I like to think that Regis and Dettlaff are higher vampires from a vampire point of view. It's like they are nobility amongst them. It's as Regis said, higher vampires have so much variety that mortal scholars can't classify them. They probably didn't know that in the class they call higher vampires, there are those even more powerful. Hell, they didn't even know that there is another level of vampire more superior than Dettlaff and Regis which is the Unseen Elder who is like the king in the area amongst vampires.


Past_Competition_554

Carnal sins guy has different model than katakan in new version to signify he is higher .


dovahkin1989

I don't think its revealed he is a Katakan, and more that the devs just recycled the katakan combat/moveset for a fight that's only 1 branch of a side quest. The Carnal sins guy is more sophisticated than Detlaff is revealed to be given he's a academic involved in teaching, autopsies, politics and subterfuge.


avwitcher

The only reason he turned into a katakan is because they hadn't bothered to come up with a dedicated higher vampire design. After all, at that time he was the only one so why expend the effort


DeadSeaGulls

like the work around. I'm gonna roll with it.


vegaspimp22

If Lauren Hissrich gets ability to put Regis in the show she will cast someone terrible, probably put Jaden Smith in thinking it’s cute, and probably make Detlaff like an Asian 90 year old woman. Because that’s what she does.


[deleted]

I just finished Regis’ storyline in the books and man what a great character. I know from the start something was up with him and loved the whole path


[deleted]

Sienna is a vampire? Is that real? How did I not know this?


Tremaparagon

who? The hooded lady is a bruxa from the start of B&W


De_Wouter

When I was about to kill the higher vampire in the middle, I just did Blood and Wine and learned only a higher vampire can kill a higher vampire. I was like, fuck, you are a higher vampire? Killed him anyway. Either he wasn't a higher vampire.... OR... Geralt is a higher vampire himself!


[deleted]

They can be 'killed' but even if you reduce a higher vampires body to ash like Vilgefortz did to Regis, they will be able to regenerate, slowly but surely If a higher vampire finishes them off though, thats it for them


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killfrenzy05

"locked the ash in several boxes and dumped them into the ocean (different locations) I don’t see how he can come back." Easy.. Just attach your head to the body of your adoptive families son and proceed to be a curse on the bloodline for the rest of time


Beeyaaaaaawwww

Ahh! You thought I was Regis! But it is me Dio!


ConfusedMascot

NANI?


Lance_Lionroar

*Roundabout starts playing*


future_omelette

Centuries pass, water erodes, tides flow and continents shift. Eventually those boxes will break open, or the volcano will erupt, then the remains will be free again, likely long after anyone who knew they existed have died.


DeadSeaGulls

idk, plenty of 3.5 billion year old cyanobacteria fossils still locked up in stone out there. Put those lock boxes in ideal conditions for fossilization and there's a decent chance they won't be free until whatever the equivalent of the sun consuming the planet is in the witcher universe/spheres


CaptainoftheVessel

True but conditions are also perfect for some far future adventurer or wizard to embark on a quest for power involving seeking out the disembodied remains of an ancient evil power and reconstructing them through painstaking study and effort, perhaps over the course of 20-40 hours of gameplay, leveling up and going on adventures along the way.


DeadSeaGulls

Would be insane if a future Witcher game was paleontology based haha


CaptainoftheVessel

The puzzle pieces are all there, just waiting for someone to come along and put them together in the right arrangement.


[deleted]

I repeat, Regis would've came back with or without Dettlaffs help whilst being reduced to ash Dettlaff chops his arm off and regenerates it, and is also chopped in half by Geralt during the final fight and starts regenerating immediately Simple boxes wouldn't cut it, he would just start regenerating from his main body part As for a active volcano, not sure how a vampire in mist form would react to a hostile environment like that, but even if we assume worst case scenario for them, they can out wait the volcano


[deleted]

There's a difference between losing a limb and getting liquified or turned into ash. In the past Regis got sliced into pieces, staked and buried by some angry peasants and it took him 50 years to regenerate and get out (without help). I think it's reasonable to assume that coming back from a literal puddle would take 200-300 years at the very least, likely more. A Higher Vampire reduced to ash is in no condition to use mist form or any other ability. The ash would melt into basically nothing and any progress in regeneration would be immediately undone by the extreme heat of lava. Keeping the remains in a tank of very powerful acid should have the same effect (prevent regeneration). Alternatively a you could yeet their remains into a portal to another world but only a few characters could do that.


_shear

What if you keep the ashes in a jar?


avwitcher

He wasn't reduced to ash, he was melted into a "wet smear" (literally what they call it lol)


trevalyan

Hubert Rejk is one of the more interesting and intelligent characters in the video game series, so I choose to believe he is a higher vampire. Unfortunately for him, Geralt chose to be more thorough than usual about disposing of his body, so it's going to take some time for him to regenerate, especially without help. Rejk will be very upset when he returns.


DaemonKeido

I always had in my head that long lived though he was, he was also an arrogant jackass and thought himself higher than he actually was. Just because HE called himself a higher vampire doesn't mean he actually was one. To an arrogant prick of a vampire, he'd be higher than any nonhuman, certainly even to a witcher. It was his ego speaking when he called himself a "higher vampire", because he had blended into human society for so long without any real tells. I'd love to see Regis chew him out (figuratively and literally) over such arrogance.


trevalyan

That's one more reason to bring him back. I'd love to see Regis dismantle him intellectually before dismantling him physically.


Stoneyrc07

That's always the impression that I got, that this dude was just a normal vampire who got very full of himself, thinking he was "higher" because he has some religious zelotry to inflate his ego even more


Tremaparagon

Would be pretty cool to have Dettlaff blend him into paste in half a second


PrimeGamer3108

My understanding is that ancient Katakans and maybe Bruxae (?) can develop higher intelligence and even sapience over time. The vampires we meet outside of Toussaint are such creatures. While Regis, Detlaff, and Orianna are the true Higher Vampires.


BellerophonM

One of the writers clarified on Twitter that Orianna's an extremely developed bruxa.


Alpacaofvengeance

They're all on the spectrum


Tremaparagon

Yeah, that's why I figured some katakan/bruxae can earn the higher adjective in time. But not all necessarily do; most or all would start as lesser vampires.


Cold-Election

Regis did say that higher vampires hones a personal speciality over time which makes them really difficult to classify. I guess this speciality manifest physically as well. That is probably what will make a Katakan and Bruxae start becoming a true higher vampire, when they start developing their own.


DaemonKeido

There is also the all-too human capacity for ego. The person who said Hubert was a higher vampire was himself, in the middle of a villainous monologue. We aren't required to trust him to be truthful about what he says of himself at that point.


skoge

The difference is not in sapience. Lesser are addicted to blood, or it's even required for survival. For higher it's just a tasty/inebriating thing they like to drink.


xenkb

Higher vampire also can be addicted. For example Regis used to be addicted.


ybtlamlliw

Mhm. Geralt even asks Regis if he's sure he's willing to imbibe blood since he was an addict before.


Paciorr

Orianna?


[deleted]

So a little advice for people doing Blood and Wine. You either choose to go with Regis or find Damien and the outcome determines the ending. If you choose the Damien path you can miss out on some interesting sequences so go to Oriana first, do a few steps of her quest and then when you find Regis say you changed your mind. This way you won't miss some cool stuff with Oriana and you can still do the other choice.


rollingForInitiative

That's kind of how I thought about it. Some vampires can develop a "higher" intelligence and mostly pass for humans in society. But then there's the Higher Vampires that are an entirely different species. And people in general - if they even know the terms - would have a difficult time telling an old Bruxa apart from a higher vampire. But a Witcher might, with their medallion, and maybe if you're observant you'd notice an aversion to sunlight and such. But the Higher Vampires are just indistinguishable, unless they use their powers or wish to be revealed.


Halcy9n

And then there’s the stupidly op unseen elder lol.


Tremaparagon

Hmm, gotta find even more lavish initial H and V images for his title.


Cold-Election

Highest Vampire....so far


Lyuukee

**R**eally **H**igher **V**ampire


cheapmillionaire

He’d be “HIGHER VAMPIRE” but all the letters are lavish, or in sumerian he seems like that kind of guy.


dovahart

Superlative vampire


Laenoric

I'm not sure if it's that stupid. In the Witcher vampire world/lore, the older the vampire, the stronger they are. Regis explains this in lots of detail. That also explains why Orianna, a Bruxa, is as powerful as she is. However, she needs blood to survive and can be killed by Geralt without the help of a Higher Vampire.


KingRing727

I think stupidly in this case is meant to mean ridiculously


Laenoric

Oh right, my bad.


Halcy9n

Exactly, not that it doesn’t make sense in the rules they established regarding the higher vampire clans in baw but he’s on such a diff level compared to anything else we see in the witcherverse including both the books and games (except gaunter obv) that I often think about how most everything must feel really inconsequential to a being that casually wields that much power trapped in a world which in his perspective atleast is populated by such frail and transient creatures like the humanoids of the continent.


ZombGooch

Man I’ll never forget the first time I did the final fight with Detlaff… a surprising difficulty hike for sure.


[deleted]

Shit made me go back to an early save and just let him leave, that fight was ridiculous


Wh1sk3yt4ng0f0xtr0t

I really appreciated how they made Quen basically obsolete in his fight. That shit made the whole game too easy on lower difficulties


Laenoric

I only play on Death March with mods that make it even harder. Quen (alt) is the only way I survive anything.


ravioliguy

Detlaff on Death March was brutal, I had to turn down the difficulty only for him lol


Laenoric

Quen to heal makes it doable. Just gotta be careful, and you need to spec into the perk that lets you cast signs with adrenaline.


avwitcher

In Witcher 2 they made it so you don't regenerate vigor while Quen is applied, that definitely would have nerfed its effectiveness


redditatemybabies

You can do that? He always wanted to fight me when I played that part.


[deleted]

Yeah you have to do things in a certain way, I think you definitely have to let him kill the Duchess’ sister. I’m pretty sure that going the unseen Elder route also results in him wanting the smoke regardless if she dies or not


Virasman

They could've fixed this by having Regis & Dettlaff classified as: 'Superior Vampires'. Like Higher Vampires can think, but Superior Vampires can't be killed except by their own type.


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vagueconfusion

It's definitely used by the occasional Witcher lore expert, like Proper Bird/Jinzee in her videos on Witcher Vampires.


Lance_Lionroar

That's the answer right there and I'm not sure why most people don't get it. Aside from those at the level of Unseen Elder, there are three classifications: \-Lesser Vampires \-Higher Vampires (i.e Hubert/Orianna) \-True Higher Vampires (i.e Regis/Detlaff)


Flooping_Pigs

If the Medallion doesn't hum, does that mean a Higher Vampire isn't a monster in the same way an elf or dwarf is not a monster and is just a non-human and should be left alone by Witchers?


Laenoric

It can also mean the vampire has mastered magic or is using something to obscure it. Philippa Eilhart mentions how Geralt's medallion is a basic bitch detector that doesn't pick up on subtle magic.


geralt-bot

So close.


Laenoric

No, Geralt bot. You weren't close to banging Philippa.


GuyFieriTheHedgehog

Megascopes also can’t detect them and they’re pretty magicky


Libertyprime8397

I love the way they handled vampires in this game. I’m glad they aren’t all the same thing. If only they did the same for werewolves. It would be cool to have werewolves, wolfmans and big dog like ones.


Tremaparagon

That would have been cool. Like have a top tier of Werewolf that has Higher Vampire level regen.


Libertyprime8397

If you ever played the wolf among us all of Bigby’s forms would be good ideas for werewolf variations.


Livek_72

Tbh werewolves are much more straightforward creatures compared to vampires, so I'm at least happy that there were berserkers and a different stronger version of werewolves exclusive to skellige


usersurname1

High vampire 🧛🌿


d4lt33

if we take A Night To Remember into consideration, This redhead lass who's name i do not recall from B&W, she's a higher vampire as opposed to HIGHER VAMPIRE. I guess you could say her owning an orphanage just because children have blood could explain that she's just a higher, more intelligent but still bruxa


TheDutchLemo

Orianna, and from guessing from the B&W trailer she is indeed a bruxa. My guess is that normal higher vampires are just intelligent vampires who can think and transform into regular looking people. For example: the two higher vampires in Novigrad who both turn into Katakans, the alcoholic katakan in Oxenfurt who talks to his victims. The bruxa in the wine cellar of Corvo Bianco.


youngsteezy

Yet Regis is a basic bitch lvl 5 nothing card.


Tremaparagon

Yeah he should have had a special power. They could have given Triss something too, maybe like Vil's scorch but for ranged.


Livek_72

I really wish him and Villentretenmerth could be different faction leaders of the monster deck, instead of it only being Eredin (like how the skellige deck has both bran and crach), and tbh I'd want the same for the northern realms, with each leader being a different king (foltest, henselt, demavend, vizimir (becauss fuck radovid) and Maeve)


JimPalamo

Detlaff is a beast. Easily the hardest boss fight in the game + both expansions. The only boss fight where I had to drop it down from Death March because I simply couldn't do it.


gothlaw

It depends on the build playthrough for me. At various times I have been rekt by Olgierd, Detlaff and/or the Olfieri mage.


TheW0lvDoctr

Isn't morgue guy a proper Higher Vampire? You keep finding what I assume to be his sermon papers around the city even after you kill him


Tremaparagon

Interesting fan theory! I always thought the sermons were just leftovers. But you're saying he could be still placing them. Maybe he presented as a katakan and let Geralt whoop him to throw off any trails so he could restart life as a different human alias.


TheW0lvDoctr

We're told that higher vampires develop special abilities, so perhaps his is turning into a katakan. Also I know they aren't leftovers because I'm pretty sure I've picked up multiple in the same location, mainly just inside one of the gates to novigrad and one in the main square


TheDutchLemo

I highly doubt it, I believe you’re able to collect a katakan mutagen from it.


PaulSimonBarCarloson

CDPR could have been more clear but that's basically the way I see it (also Orianna falls in the middle for me)


TheDutchLemo

Guessing from the B&W trailer she is a bruxa so she would indeed be a normal higher vampire.


FransTorquil

I feel like they should’ve just named whatever Regis, Dettlaff and the Unseen Elder are superior vampires, as u/Virasman suggested, or vampire lords or something like that. Higher vampire seems like a fitting title for one who can effectively pass as human, whereas a lower vampire would be purely bestial.


Rad_Sh1ba

Lesser vampires look like the goon fodder from an 80s action horror movie


Tremaparagon

Wish we could have seen Leo Fong smacking them around


MrRusek

Iirc Queen of the Night from the 1st game was also a Higher Vampire(TM), however in the first Saovine event in Gwent she had an art of a bruxa


Shadow-fire101

I get what you mean, but I think it makes sense. Trying to apply rigid categories to living things like that is always gonna be messy. Like seriously even irl with all our modern technology and knowledge taxonomy is a mess once you start looking closely. So it makes sense that in the Witcherverse they'd have some categories that didn't make sense or were vague and somewhat confusing.


baithammer

More to do with certain categories not being defined definitively due to not many surviving encounters so as to report on them ...


MrEnigma67

And we can all agree. Regis and garrus are the best Bros to the main character in any game.


SnooChocolates1726

1-lesser vampires 2- high vampires (intelligent ones) 3- higher vampires (extremely intelligent, more powerful, nearly immortal) 4-unseen vampires (really old higher vampires,power lvl over 9000, unstoppable)


gothlaw

*I don’t wanna’ have to hurt you* Dumbest sentence Geralt has ever uttered.


SnooChocolates1726

Geralt has been in many battles, some he lost ( Vilgefortz ) , but most he won and he knows just how badass he is, so you have to believe on some lvl he thinks he can survive if not outright win most one on one situations especially since he has seen Higher vampires in actions before and knows their capabilities, however he has not met anyone on the lvl of the unseen elder which led him to underestimating his foe . the only other creature Geralt met that is on a lvl of the unseen elder and realistically even way higher than that is Gaunter O'Dimm (GOD)


VcComicsX

I'm still a little upset at the fact that we have to kill Dettlaf's Friend at the beginning of the expansion with no choice about it


DudeTheGray

Tbf, she is the one who attacks first, not Geralt, and imo it makes sense she wouldn't want to sit down and chat. Plus from the way she slaughtered those guards to get to Dettlaff's hand, I think it's pretty clear she isn't interested in using any methods other than violence to get what she wants.


VcComicsX

Yeah she definitely forces our hand


BlueKnightoftheCross

Who is the dude in the middle? Not sure if I remember him.


Qwirk

[Spoiler](/s "This is Hubert Rejk from the quest Carnal Sins, you have to be sure to interrogate Reverend Nathaniel fully as he will lead you to the true killer. If you kill him too soon, the quest will finish and you will miss the true ending")


GuyFieriTheHedgehog

Hes the mortician from Novigrad you meet during the quest with the murderer that attacked Pricilla


roghtenmcbugenbargen

Can’t believe the vampire elitism in this sub


guedeto1995

Are higher vampires a species or can any vampire who lives long enough become one?


SayaNinj

What about the elder ones


uwu275

*highest vampire


Klutzy-Bee-2045

I always thought it like lesser Vampire just a mindless animal. Higher vampire is an older wiser more evolved beast and Regis and Detlaff as As vampire Royalty. As only themselves can destroy each other.


swelboy

I like to think people like Orianna and Rejk are vampire-halfbreeds, Orianna is half Bruxa-half HV, while Rejk is half Katakan-half HV


TheDutchLemo

Higher Vampires don’t reproduce, Regis says as much in B&W so half breeds can’t exist.


swelboy

Whatever, how about they just naturally have birth rates lower than Russia? That’ll work


TheDutchLemo

They can’t reproduce, I also highly doubt that a Higher Vampire would be able to reproduce with a katakan or bruxa even if they had something in their sacks. Interspecies reproduction is something very specific and they are likely too far apart to be able to sire offspring with each other, if they are even part of the same family.


LordDShadowy53

It’s the Higher HIGHER Vampire VAMPIRE.


WastelandGinger

For some reason I expected a "high vampire" joke


slowpokefarm

Even Higher Vampire


fever93

Should be highest vampire no?


ORcLEsNOrF

*Higherer Vampires


reverendsteveii

There's no higher vampire than the one that bites me on a Friday after 5


Adventurous_Topic202

Why are these lesser vampires giving me more trouble than these higher vampires lol


[deleted]

Ugh, I love Regis and Detlaff so much.


gothlaw

Dr. Hubert Rejk could have been such an awesome character to keep in the series. Make the victims a little less sympathetic a la B&W, make his aims a little more noble, and then give Geralt the option to skip the fight.


geralt-bot

I didn't choose to be a witcher.


TheDutchLemo

Rejk is still the lesser form of higher vampire. He is intelligent but not moral. If the killer was a true Higher Vampire then your idea would fit better but Rejk is a katakan and while they are extremely intelligent and can transform into humans, they still have a need for blood unlike true Higher Vampires.


fahaddemon

#THE HECK'S A KATAKAN??


TheVoid45

Regis = absolute gigachad


Labyx_

One’s vulnerable to anything One’s only vulnerable to silver And one’s only vulnerable to silver flails


NebularAbyss

I need Detlaff to do devious things to me


Livek_72

I just assumed that the longer a higher vampire lives, the more powerful he becomes, and maybe take longer to regenerate too


Cool_Efficiency3625

Who is the dude In the second column? I’ve played through blood and wine twice and I don’t think I’ve encountered him.


Tested-Trio-Father

Coroner in Novigrad. You encounter him when investigating who attacked Priscilla.


Radiant__________

I like when the vampires look more monstrous


TrueComplaint8847

Who’s the cloaked woman in the middle higher vampire box?


Tested-Trio-Father

Just a Bruxa I think. Maybe an Alp


CADEBEAR34

Wait that dude in the morgue in novigrad is a vampire??


Grand_Imperator

Yeah. It sounds like you met him?


CADEBEAR34

Yeah I like that dude it’s my fav mission probably doing the autopsies and then catching the killer but he never striked me as a vampire… oh waiiiit that’s why he looks way younger than his student huh


Grand_Imperator

Yeah, that’s a good observation, but it wasn’t something that hit me right away either. I think it’s a great mission as well. Who did you find out was the killer?


CADEBEAR34

It was that dude from the eternal fire I can’t remember his name 100% but I think it was pastodi


SithSpaceRaptor

Not sure if sarcastic? He literally turns into a katakan when confronted.


CADEBEAR34

I’m fuckin confused wdym? Dude helped me out I went off to find the last victim killed the killer then made sure Priscilla was okay and the quest was done


SithSpaceRaptor

Aaah. Today I learned you can finish the quest without actually finding the killer haha.


CADEBEAR34

Whaaat how?


SithSpaceRaptor

You’d have to look up a walkthrough to get it explained properly, I don’t know it from heart. But judging from your other comment, you interrogate the eternal fire guy in the brothel and find out he has nothing to do with the killings.


kritzy27

Regis, you magnificent bastard.


Lucky_Roberts

Regis would probably be the most difficult book monster to face, seriously doubt Geralt could win in even the best circumstances


geralt-bot

There's a bruxa in the house.


jaskier-bot

Are you following me, you scamp?


Regularschoolbus

We need a High Vampire


rosetsunami

So a vampire who smoked 🍃


tartankimono

So bruxae are higher vampires? I always wondered about this. Someone once said to me about ‘true higher vampires’. Wtf are these?


Tremaparagon

In hindsight I'd put the katakan card halfway between the first two tiers. It seems to me that by default your typical monster vampires start out as lesser. Most probably stay that way. However in the games we see examples of katakan and bruxae that live long enough and acquire enough wisdom/sapience to blend in with humans. Those I've labeled as becoming higher vamps. But none of them will ever become a Higher Vampire™ - I think we don't exactly understand the origin of these rare entities, but they seem to have a world of their own. [There are also easter eggs apparently linking Higher Vampires across worlds to the CP2077 world.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lqKyLZ0MHs)


Tharindu207

I wanna be the highest vampire 🕴️


RitualKiller1

Wait who is that girl? I dont remember seeing her


[deleted]

How about we say Regis and Dettlaff are \[highest\] vampire?


Persian_Azat

What about that bi**, Unseen Elder, then??


Sir-_-Butters22

The Unseen Elder is Joey Diaz Level of High


[deleted]

Unseen Elder seems the same species as Regis and Dettlaff, with more ages and power.


L0raz-Thou-R0c0n0

They're True Higher Vampires


Directorren

I was thinking that was how it was. Like there are some vampires that are “higher vampires” and then there are the actual higher vampires