I can't think of anyone beating insane without the quen though. especially the boss fights.

I believe the only way to render this spell useless is if there was a way to have a healing spell, because sometimes it's impossible NOT to get hit...Wonder if someone could mod one in? *(Hint-Hint)

On third play as well.

I find that now that I am really comfortable with the mechanics of the game, I don't have Quen on all the time. It is much faster to use damage spells with hit-and-run, strike and roll.

Lots of folks are quicker learners than I, in terms of combat, equipment, etc. For them, Quen was probably too powerful from the get go. It has taken me this long to feel free to use other spells more heavily.

Still, there are situations where at least the basic spell is almost a must.

Yeah for bosses like Kayran and Letho I'll use Quen, but I won't upgrade it all the way. It's just not fun when you see enemies die from hitting you.

The mod I'd like for Quen is to just extend the amount of time but without the deflecting of damage to enemies.

There is a combat rebalance already up over at Nexus. I will probably give it a try on my next run. It's geared towards Magic and I need to redo that spec since I figured out the game now. :P