new to the witcher. some questions about game play

[BottomsUp]

Hi I am new to this game and have a few Qs.

in my HUD what does the white bar mean?
what does the skull mean?

My health gets low fast and i'm not finding much food to eat? does it regen?

What are the witcher senses exactly? They highlight some stuff in orange but someitmes i also get this swirly circle like you see in the middle of this pic?

thanks

 

[eloj]

White bar = XP progress.
Skull = Toxicity (gained by drinking potions)

Healing depends on difficulty, but you might want to take the Sun and stars perk which gives passive healing during daytime (can meditate to heal fully). There are also two main kind of healing potions, though out of combat just eat food in the early game (loot more, it's everywhere).

In the image you're sensing some living creature off in the distance, probably an animal.

 

[Ocellaris]

The white bar is experience, you gain a level when it fills up.
The skull represents Geralts toxicity when downing potions. Drink too many toxic potions and the skull fills up = bad.

Health doesn't regen, however you can rest to get full health back. You will find tons of food soon, and you can buy food from vendors. Health regen being limited is a gameplay mechanic, there are very few options for fast heals. However you can keeping eating slow regen items throughout fights to maintain HP. Also the Quen Sign (when you get it) has an option ability that heals you when you get hit, very useful.

Witcher Senses find things you can interact with (like items to loot) or clue to progress a quest (like foot prints on the ground).

Also trying reading the in game hints and information

 

[Drexion]

Early in the game it makes things easier if you loot the containers in the houses in the villages you come across. Press/hold the witcher sense button to see which containers have loot in them. This will get you a lot of food items which you can then use liberally to restore health, and also a lot of alcohol - which will restore all your potions and bombs to maximum when you meditate.

 

[madFive]

What are the witcher senses exactly? They highlight some stuff in orange but someitmes i also get this swirly circle like you see in the middle of this pic?

Took me a while to figure out what some of the shapes you see in witcher sense mean too. The circles you see in that screen-shot indicate sounds in the distance. Sometimes you'll see lots of those around indicating smaller critters or a flock of birds making noises and pin-pointing where they are, and sometimes you'll need to look for larger circles indicating larger enemies and beasts making big noises.

And when you see what looks like blood-splatters or mist in the air, that's a smell, indicating he's following his nose.

 

[BottomsUp]

Thx all

 

[Eshelmen]

I recommend scrolling through our TW3 thread. Plenty of information in there for you to sink in to.