Posted June 14, 2015
They always stay just out of range and whenever you are about to shoot one or attack it another hits you from behind. However my pet hate is when they circle up in the air, usually just the last one and you can't break out of combat.
Anyone have a strategy they have successfully used????
- Always coat your silver sword in hybrid oil.
- Activate quen as soon and as often as possible.
- Use Aard to knock them out of the sky when they're close enough, you have to time it just right. If being attacked from one direction quick-tap Aard, but if surrounded press and hold cast (once you've upgraded Aard to have the secondary cast). This will disorient them and cause them to crash and/or become stunned. If they land on the boat or ground and you're near them and quick enough you can do a one thrust plunge to kill them.
- Use Axii if they're coming close but not close enough for Aard to hit, or if they're flying away. Press and hold it if you have Axii powered up with puppetmaster, and they will attack each other. This does not work great with flying beasts but it's worth doing anyway if none are near enough to be fighting with other methods and sometimes they do take each other out or piss off for a while. Also, sometimes they fly close and don't attack you giving you the opportunity to attack them even though they're temporarily allied.
- Use Igni if you can cast it and dodge out of the way of an incoming attack. This two may temporarily incapacitate them onto the ground to run in for an instakill or a few quick thrusts, or to give them the Axii flamethrower followup.
- If they're flying around within crossbow range but not within close danger range, bring up the crossbow with tracking bolts loaded, or if you don't have them use split-shot to get a wider range of area coverage.
- If you fall in the water or decide to jump in, dive about 10 feet deep and constantly have the crossbow drawn, and circle around. If you have it drawn and are moving, they are watching and will mostly keep their distance, only occasionally one deciding to chance it to come in for a swipe at you. When you're underwater with the crossbow drawn in active combat it appears the game slows down your breath meter so it lasts much longer but keep an eye on it and come up when needed to breathe. Aim your bolts in FRONT of them as a leading shot at approximately the trajectory they are heading towards and the split second you release the mouse button, press it again quickly to draw the next shot. If you do this rapidly enough he will reload the crossbow very fast which both readies the next shot quickly but also keeps them more at a distance. If you let the bow down even momentarily they notice and one of them will most likely swoop in to take a pot shot. Do not keep aiming in a fixed location or at one of them for too long as they swarm around you. If you can't get a bead on one of them, spin around to look at the other side and try to find a closer target that looks easier. Don't be afraid to get hit a few times by them if you can take it, and stock your consumable slots with a ready supply of healing foods.
- If the battle is entirely on land, feel free to use Tawny/Swallow/etc. for additional powerups if you need an extra edge.
These flying beasts are annoying but they do have fabulous tits so there is that! :)
What I find more annoying is just how many places in the game they are on 80s arcade game infinite respawn. Talk about "break immersion" to have enemies magically appear out of thin air right before your eyes on a timer. Hey, I killed them they should be dead period. If they're going to respawn at all, it should be several days/weeks in game time later (as in Skyrim) and when I am far outside of range to see or notice. On the west coast of Hindersfjal there is an infinite respawn of them endlessly. Too bad they didn't give useful XP points or you could stay there and achieve level 200 in hours. :)
Anyhow, hope this helps.
Post edited June 14, 2015 by skeletonbow
