Trial by Fire

They weren't lying about the dragon...

This is only a short quest in the introduction, but it amounted for the majority of my deaths in the first part of the game. Two principal bits of advice are:

1) Avoid the fires. No, really. Geralt will burn up over time otherwise. Some of the flame bursts are predictable, e.g. those travelling along the ramparts, but also watch out for gaps in the cover provided by the battlements. Dragons are feared for a reason.

2) Just because the fire is really scary, do not make the mistake of panicking and rushing the enemy. There are too many of them and Geralt will die if he does not make good use of blocking and the good old Ard sign. In all my (pathetic) early attempts the King never died, even when I advanced cautiously, so this is the way to go.