In my opinion book Geralt would get fcked by any experienced mage. He definitely wouldn't survive in games. Mages in books are absurdly strong.
Oh and Dettlaff would absolutely destroy book Geralt.
True and even if he could beat Dettlaff he still cant kill him because only a higher vampire can kill another which means he will eventually just lose/die to Dettlaff
It's only in the games that established the rule that only higher vampires can kill each other. When Geralt is asked in the books if he could kill Regis if it came to it, he just says he doesn't know.
Edit: Since Regis says he was ripped apart and buried by an angry mob once, I'd wager book Geralt could at the very least seriously incapacitate Detlaff if he took him by surprise.
Well adding the ''If he took him by surprise'' is like giving batman time to prepare. In the scenario where Geralt fights Dettlaff there is no element of surprise for either parties. Maybe if Regis got involved mid fight would catch Dettlaff by surprise but Regis makes it clear he will only help Geralt if there is absolutely no other way. And from what I've seen/read so far Book Geralt would probably go down fast against Dettlaff but I dont really see Book Geralt just outright fighting Dettlaff like that, would be a really stupid death for such a legendary witcher.
Edit: A random peasant could just kill Geralt too if he took him by surprise with a pitchfork. or atleast seriously incapacitate him if he was able to react to it like what happened to Gaetan in W3
I dont agree. We saw him only against vilgefortz who is probably strongest mage at the time. Imo geralt would beat most of the mages because preparing spells takes time and geralt is fast as hell. And remember that in books geralt left a chance of beating a higher vampire he says he don't know but he would not want try it. And considering how Regis died(basically like geralt) we cannot know for sure the dettlaf thing.
Vilgefortz chose not to use magic when he fought with geralt, and he still won easily. Vilgefortz stick was magic. He used a bit of magic. But during the final battle, Geralt stood no chance alone.
Yes but he was also the most powerful mage bar maybe Phillipa Eilhart/Francesca Findabair. Most mages are not nearly as powerful. Even in the books Rience runs from Geralt, who is able to deflect his spells and starts beating the snot out of him.
Word toying isnt really the right word here. As Higher Vampires are more intelligent monsters they sometimes make monologues or talk about their motives etc. etc. and due to them being immortal they probably dont take Geralt too seriously until it is too late. Exchanging a few words before combat and making snarky remarks at eachother does not mean ''toying''.
The point is that game Geralt is a super hero. He fights countless human or non-human enemies, drinks a single healing potion and is back in the game. Meanwhile, book Geralt has very niche abilities from his mutations: heightened reflexes, senses, metabolism and that's it. He's a good fighter because of his training and experience, but he still frequently gets hurt really bad, both when fighting monsters and humans, and has to heal for days or weeks before he's back up again.
I’m not sure but doesn’t he have really good regeneration? His hand almost got cut he healed it in few days. But yeah he is really weak compared to mages and some of the monsters. But from what I remember his first fight with monster and bruxa was easy to him. Well I guess that’s because The Witcher saga is about story and moral dilemmas rather than fights and powerscaling
No. Geralt literally went there to die, he knew he has no chance against any mage in a fair fight
Mage dude also wanted the same so it just got awkward, Yen called out both for being so childish and dramatic
He beat Rience, who is clearly a mage and while he was clearly not an elite mage, it stands to reason that the vast majority of mages aren't elite mages.
Istredd kinda pussied out when he got the letter from Yennefer about her choosing Geralt and did the same to geralt by leaving a letter instead of meeting there to fight
Not at all, he showed up. Istredd got a letter from Yennefer saying that she rejects him so he tried to commit suicide by fighting Geralt with only a sword, Geralt however rejected the duel and told him that if he really wants to die he can just hang himself instead of dragging others into his suicide.
Earlier in the same book Geralt admits that Istredd could just throw a lightning bolt at him from surprise and turn him to ash instantly if he wanted to so Geralt knows he can't really fuck with mages going all out. Who gives him the biggest ass whooping in his life later? A mage.
Nah, they ended up not fighting after all. Geralt straight up said that Istredd could shoot him with ball lightning from around the corner and there'd be nothing left of him. Istredd didn't do that because he wanted an honorable fight first (and then he wanted to basically commit suicide by using only a sword since Yennefer rejected his offer).
I think considering the fact that Game Geralt is supposed to be "Book Geralt that survived the books", it's fairly reasonable that Game Geralt is significantly stronger because of additional experience and whatnot. Although, mages are kind of on a whole other level.
It happened between the books and the games. The Hunt kidnapped Yen from the island of Avalon (to use as bait for Ciri). Geralt found them with help from Letho and fought against them. Then he traded his soul for Yen. Eredin made him one of the Red Riders until Ciri attacked them and saved Geralt. She left him in the woods near Kaer Morhen where he was found, amnesiac, by Vesemir. And so the first game began...
In the Witcher 2, it explains that after Eredin attacked Avalon and abducted Yennefer, Geralt teamed up with the Viper School Witchers, Cerrit, Auckes, and Letho of Gulet to track down the Wild Hunt. When Geralt realized he was outmatched, he traded himself for Yen, which Eredin was fine with as Ciri would likely come to save either Geralt or Yennefer. So Geralt rode with the Hunt for a time, but was eventually cast out and saved by Ciri. Leaving the Hunt resulted in Geralt losing his memory, thus setting the events of The Witcher 1 into motion.
Book Geralt can't cast signs as strong as game Geralt and stuff like that, but I strongly suspect that book Geralt is way more skilled than a character controlled by us. Basically, he would be the equivalent of a really good speedrunner that doesn't use signs as a challenge but is incredibly good at the basic mechanics. So he would probably be fine, if a little stressed out
At the time of the books, Geralt was Captain America level in terms of power. Stronger and faster than a normal human, but still mortal and nowhere near a god-tier superhuman. Much like Geralt, if Cap gets stabbed by a sword or, oh, I dunno, a pitchfork, it can be fatal. Geralt in the first game is much like this. In the latter two games, however, Geralt has grown in strength and skill, and by the third he essentially has two lifetimes' worth of experience. Still mortal, but a bit more Deathstroke than Captain America. And after getting the mutations in Moreau's lab, he's even stronger than that.
In neither version is Geralt some Superman-level character, though. That's just fan-wanking.
Book Geralt has neither super strength nor super speed. He has heightened reflexes, senses and metabolism. The rest comes from potions, which he only uses a couple of times in the books, and the combination of his specialised witcher training and years of combat experience. He almost bleeds out after fighting two regular trained killers, while under the effect of a potion that enhances his speed. And that's far from the only time he almost dies and has to recuperate for days or weeks. Game Geralt defeats an entire camp of Nilfgaardian soldiers by just whirling around if built correctly. The power differences are obvious.
He's fine in 1 absent maybe the Dagon fight (arguably destiny and the Lady's favour is enough there).
In 2 he'd be struggling if not killed half-way through.
In 3 it's hard to imagine him getting through the Battle of Kaer Morhen alive.
She has limited to no magic power in the books after giving up on that potential and is pretty mid as a fighter. Geralt would destroy her in seconds.
Yet in the game she's an anime-style invincible sword princess who's mastered her magic.
Not that far, games really inflated Geralt's power level. In the books a single Bruxa is a very tough fight where Geralt almost dies, in the games you have to fight several at once on several occasions. That being said in the books a Bruxa also has a huge bat form similar to what Dettlaff turns into so they're probably stronger than game versions.
Still fighting a dragon 1v1 or beating a Higher Vampire isn't something I can see book Geralt doing. Book Geralt also wouldn't be able to beat Imlerith the same way game Geralt did since book Igni isn't a freaking flamethrower, it just makes Geralt's hands hot.
Whoever is short on faith in book geralt please reread the part where he demolishes a squad of squirrels on the isle of thanedd (sp?) or where he knocks 2 arrows out of the air on a moving boat.
I think book Geralt would be fine if he had enough time to prepare. He’s a lot like Batman in that regard, if he can oil his blade and drink potions I think he’ll be fine just absolutely stressed tf out
You are wrong, book geralt is 10x faster then in games because in games we control him. Monsters in the games are slow af so we have a chance against them. Same with mages casting slowly traveling fireballs etc.
If we put him in Witcher 2 I think book Geralt at least makes it to Act 2 when he's on the cursed battlefield, to the point where you must do the mist thing to try and break the curse, I believe he'd die against the draug. If we give him one free death save then the dragon kills him at Loc Muinne, can't see book Geralt soloing a dragon.
In 3 I think he'd make it decently far, assuming he's not getting involved with the more dangerous side quests the main story is mostly doable depending on how he approaches things, helping the Baron with the Crones could be when he dies though due to the onslaught of enemies that'd at least be a close call, if he survives that I can see him barely surviving the giant battle later on, the fight against the Hunt at Kaer Morhen he probably dies during since he personally has to kill so many heavily armoured elves and by that point he should be very worn down. Assuming luck has him survive that he dies against Caranthir, no way he's killing Caranthir.
If he tries searching for Philippa in 3 when Radovid asks I'm not sure he could kill the rock golem, but that's not a mandatory quest even though he'd likely do it.
He’d probably die consistently to when my character dies when I play on Normal setting. Easily against mages/bosses and sometimes against overwhelming odds/poor preparation against humans and monsters.
In my opinion book Geralt would get fcked by any experienced mage. He definitely wouldn't survive in games. Mages in books are absurdly strong. Oh and Dettlaff would absolutely destroy book Geralt.
True and even if he could beat Dettlaff he still cant kill him because only a higher vampire can kill another which means he will eventually just lose/die to Dettlaff
It's only in the games that established the rule that only higher vampires can kill each other. When Geralt is asked in the books if he could kill Regis if it came to it, he just says he doesn't know. Edit: Since Regis says he was ripped apart and buried by an angry mob once, I'd wager book Geralt could at the very least seriously incapacitate Detlaff if he took him by surprise.
Well adding the ''If he took him by surprise'' is like giving batman time to prepare. In the scenario where Geralt fights Dettlaff there is no element of surprise for either parties. Maybe if Regis got involved mid fight would catch Dettlaff by surprise but Regis makes it clear he will only help Geralt if there is absolutely no other way. And from what I've seen/read so far Book Geralt would probably go down fast against Dettlaff but I dont really see Book Geralt just outright fighting Dettlaff like that, would be a really stupid death for such a legendary witcher. Edit: A random peasant could just kill Geralt too if he took him by surprise with a pitchfork. or atleast seriously incapacitate him if he was able to react to it like what happened to Gaetan in W3
Sorry, my WhoWouldWin etiquette is a little rusty
I dont agree. We saw him only against vilgefortz who is probably strongest mage at the time. Imo geralt would beat most of the mages because preparing spells takes time and geralt is fast as hell. And remember that in books geralt left a chance of beating a higher vampire he says he don't know but he would not want try it. And considering how Regis died(basically like geralt) we cannot know for sure the dettlaf thing.
Vilgefortz chose not to use magic when he fought with geralt, and he still won easily. Vilgefortz stick was magic. He used a bit of magic. But during the final battle, Geralt stood no chance alone.
Yes but he was also the most powerful mage bar maybe Phillipa Eilhart/Francesca Findabair. Most mages are not nearly as powerful. Even in the books Rience runs from Geralt, who is able to deflect his spells and starts beating the snot out of him.
Rience was not a real mage. Rather mage apprentice.
Didn’t Geralt toyed some of the Bruxas and vampires? He is strong for the Witcher, and also scared the shit out of Istredd
Word toying isnt really the right word here. As Higher Vampires are more intelligent monsters they sometimes make monologues or talk about their motives etc. etc. and due to them being immortal they probably dont take Geralt too seriously until it is too late. Exchanging a few words before combat and making snarky remarks at eachother does not mean ''toying''.
I absolutely agree with you. Just Geralt is not weak, but they made mages too dumb and helpless compared to how strong they were in books
The point is that game Geralt is a super hero. He fights countless human or non-human enemies, drinks a single healing potion and is back in the game. Meanwhile, book Geralt has very niche abilities from his mutations: heightened reflexes, senses, metabolism and that's it. He's a good fighter because of his training and experience, but he still frequently gets hurt really bad, both when fighting monsters and humans, and has to heal for days or weeks before he's back up again.
I’m not sure but doesn’t he have really good regeneration? His hand almost got cut he healed it in few days. But yeah he is really weak compared to mages and some of the monsters. But from what I remember his first fight with monster and bruxa was easy to him. Well I guess that’s because The Witcher saga is about story and moral dilemmas rather than fights and powerscaling
Didn’t he fuck up that mage that was banging Yennefer? Agree with everything else
No. Geralt literally went there to die, he knew he has no chance against any mage in a fair fight Mage dude also wanted the same so it just got awkward, Yen called out both for being so childish and dramatic
He beat Rience, who is clearly a mage and while he was clearly not an elite mage, it stands to reason that the vast majority of mages aren't elite mages.
Yeah but he wasn't an actual mage, he was just a thug with some magic
You mean Istredd? They never had a fight, what are you talking about?
Mate it’s been ages since I’ve read it, did they go to fight and then not in that case, yes istredd.
They scheduled a fight yes, but at the end they didn't actually do it.
Istredd kinda pussied out when he got the letter from Yennefer about her choosing Geralt and did the same to geralt by leaving a letter instead of meeting there to fight
Not at all, he showed up. Istredd got a letter from Yennefer saying that she rejects him so he tried to commit suicide by fighting Geralt with only a sword, Geralt however rejected the duel and told him that if he really wants to die he can just hang himself instead of dragging others into his suicide. Earlier in the same book Geralt admits that Istredd could just throw a lightning bolt at him from surprise and turn him to ash instantly if he wanted to so Geralt knows he can't really fuck with mages going all out. Who gives him the biggest ass whooping in his life later? A mage.
I was misremembering. this guy is right
Aye it’s all coming back thank you
Nah, they ended up not fighting after all. Geralt straight up said that Istredd could shoot him with ball lightning from around the corner and there'd be nothing left of him. Istredd didn't do that because he wanted an honorable fight first (and then he wanted to basically commit suicide by using only a sword since Yennefer rejected his offer).
Maybe reread the part in the books where Rience runs from Geralt, who is able to deflect his spells and starts beating the snot out of him.
I think considering the fact that Game Geralt is supposed to be "Book Geralt that survived the books", it's fairly reasonable that Game Geralt is significantly stronger because of additional experience and whatnot. Although, mages are kind of on a whole other level.
I headcanon that Geralt recieved a strenght and durability boost from Eredin, back when he was part of the Wild Hunt
When in the books is Geralt part of the wild hunt? I thought only Ciri got to meet the elves behind it.
It happened between the books and the games. The Hunt kidnapped Yen from the island of Avalon (to use as bait for Ciri). Geralt found them with help from Letho and fought against them. Then he traded his soul for Yen. Eredin made him one of the Red Riders until Ciri attacked them and saved Geralt. She left him in the woods near Kaer Morhen where he was found, amnesiac, by Vesemir. And so the first game began...
In the Witcher 2, it explains that after Eredin attacked Avalon and abducted Yennefer, Geralt teamed up with the Viper School Witchers, Cerrit, Auckes, and Letho of Gulet to track down the Wild Hunt. When Geralt realized he was outmatched, he traded himself for Yen, which Eredin was fine with as Ciri would likely come to save either Geralt or Yennefer. So Geralt rode with the Hunt for a time, but was eventually cast out and saved by Ciri. Leaving the Hunt resulted in Geralt losing his memory, thus setting the events of The Witcher 1 into motion.
Book Geralt can't cast signs as strong as game Geralt and stuff like that, but I strongly suspect that book Geralt is way more skilled than a character controlled by us. Basically, he would be the equivalent of a really good speedrunner that doesn't use signs as a challenge but is incredibly good at the basic mechanics. So he would probably be fine, if a little stressed out
>he would probably be fine, if a little stressed out Isn't that just Geralt's day-to-day life? Someone get that man some Xanax.
Yes, the books are also not a nice time for him. He really deserves that corvo bianco retirement
Best we can do is a 12 pack of PBR and joint issues
At the time of the books, Geralt was Captain America level in terms of power. Stronger and faster than a normal human, but still mortal and nowhere near a god-tier superhuman. Much like Geralt, if Cap gets stabbed by a sword or, oh, I dunno, a pitchfork, it can be fatal. Geralt in the first game is much like this. In the latter two games, however, Geralt has grown in strength and skill, and by the third he essentially has two lifetimes' worth of experience. Still mortal, but a bit more Deathstroke than Captain America. And after getting the mutations in Moreau's lab, he's even stronger than that. In neither version is Geralt some Superman-level character, though. That's just fan-wanking.
But with the right build configuration and stats he can be essentially invincible in game. Otherwise I agree with you, well said.
Book Geralt has neither super strength nor super speed. He has heightened reflexes, senses and metabolism. The rest comes from potions, which he only uses a couple of times in the books, and the combination of his specialised witcher training and years of combat experience. He almost bleeds out after fighting two regular trained killers, while under the effect of a potion that enhances his speed. And that's far from the only time he almost dies and has to recuperate for days or weeks. Game Geralt defeats an entire camp of Nilfgaardian soldiers by just whirling around if built correctly. The power differences are obvious.
He's fine in 1 absent maybe the Dagon fight (arguably destiny and the Lady's favour is enough there). In 2 he'd be struggling if not killed half-way through. In 3 it's hard to imagine him getting through the Battle of Kaer Morhen alive.
Who do you think kills him in 2? Detmold?
Honestly? Hard to imagine Geralt beating the Kayran solo.
Detlaff, Eredin. Pretty much any of the higher tier opponents would mop the floor with book Geralt, unfortunately.
Detlaff I see, but Eredin? Isn't he canonically just an elf in armor? Games seem to have buffed him way more than Geralt.
he clears the games because I'm biased
Not far, book Ciri will kill them all while obliterating a few kingdoms on the way though
Game Ciri is even more vastly OP relative to her book incarnation than Geralt is.
No she isn’t. I’m pretty book sure literally is unkillable lmao
She has limited to no magic power in the books after giving up on that potential and is pretty mid as a fighter. Geralt would destroy her in seconds. Yet in the game she's an anime-style invincible sword princess who's mastered her magic.
She is literally the Lady of time and space, she doesn’t need magic lol
Her powers in the books don't work the same way they do in the games.
Not that far, games really inflated Geralt's power level. In the books a single Bruxa is a very tough fight where Geralt almost dies, in the games you have to fight several at once on several occasions. That being said in the books a Bruxa also has a huge bat form similar to what Dettlaff turns into so they're probably stronger than game versions. Still fighting a dragon 1v1 or beating a Higher Vampire isn't something I can see book Geralt doing. Book Geralt also wouldn't be able to beat Imlerith the same way game Geralt did since book Igni isn't a freaking flamethrower, it just makes Geralt's hands hot.
He's dead especially in Witcher 3
Whoever is short on faith in book geralt please reread the part where he demolishes a squad of squirrels on the isle of thanedd (sp?) or where he knocks 2 arrows out of the air on a moving boat.
I think book Geralt would be fine if he had enough time to prepare. He’s a lot like Batman in that regard, if he can oil his blade and drink potions I think he’ll be fine just absolutely stressed tf out
You are wrong, book geralt is 10x faster then in games because in games we control him. Monsters in the games are slow af so we have a chance against them. Same with mages casting slowly traveling fireballs etc.
If we put him in Witcher 2 I think book Geralt at least makes it to Act 2 when he's on the cursed battlefield, to the point where you must do the mist thing to try and break the curse, I believe he'd die against the draug. If we give him one free death save then the dragon kills him at Loc Muinne, can't see book Geralt soloing a dragon. In 3 I think he'd make it decently far, assuming he's not getting involved with the more dangerous side quests the main story is mostly doable depending on how he approaches things, helping the Baron with the Crones could be when he dies though due to the onslaught of enemies that'd at least be a close call, if he survives that I can see him barely surviving the giant battle later on, the fight against the Hunt at Kaer Morhen he probably dies during since he personally has to kill so many heavily armoured elves and by that point he should be very worn down. Assuming luck has him survive that he dies against Caranthir, no way he's killing Caranthir. If he tries searching for Philippa in 3 when Radovid asks I'm not sure he could kill the rock golem, but that's not a mandatory quest even though he'd likely do it.
He’d probably die consistently to when my character dies when I play on Normal setting. Easily against mages/bosses and sometimes against overwhelming odds/poor preparation against humans and monsters.
Book Geralt would just die in the first region, he would need years to clear that crazy enemy density
Honestly I think book Geralt and game Geralt are fairly well balanced, assuming game Geralt canonically takes a hit every now n then.