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I can say that grounded is one of my absolute favourite games of all time without a doubt, however, if you've played grounded for as much time in single-player as a player like myself the game can get pretty stale, so I have a new idea to breathe some fresh air into the backyard, I propose a new difficulty, a difficulty even tougher than Woah!, this difficulty should be an absolute challenge to even the best of players, in this difficulty almost every bug, from larva to wolf spiders, should be able to kill the player if they are unprepared, this difficulty should have a big emphasis on smoothies, weaknesses and resistances, perfect blocks and armour set abilities, I think that this difficulty would be excellent for experienced players who have been playing since the beginning 2 years ago. I hope you consider my idea any developers who may be reading this.

Combat against any of the larger creatures in this game is absurdly difficult. I enjoy a good fight, a hard one. I play Doom on Nightmare in my sleep and have beat Sekiro on more than one occasion. But the larger creatures here feel impossible. Poison arrows, smoothies, spike strips, armor, club II, parries...still it just feels like there isn't even a point to trying. Am I missing something? Is this how the game is supposed to feel?

Hi everyone, i hope you're doing ok during this difficult time, please stay safe and follow the WHO instructions. With that said i wanna talk about something that will really improve the game imo and i hope it'll be addressed in the near future. I think the features of the supernova difficulty should be free to choose. Hunger, thirst and sleep should be available no matter the difficulty you chose to play. Supernova combat is more difficult only because it makes enemies more bullet sponge and i really dislike that, not just in this game but in any t/fps really. For me Supernova should be different, it should be a more "realistic" mode where the player and the ai both deal way more damage. This is just an idea, i'm fully aware that could cause problems with companions dying too easily. Still I think and hope that this will be changed in the future, i was looking forward to play on supernova after my first playthrough but i ended up reverting to normal mode wishing to have those features available.

Here’s the thing, whenever I see these hardcore game modes, I really like some aspects of them and am annoyed by others. I think many people feel that way. Problem is, we probably don’t agree which parts we like and which we don’t. For me, I like the no manual saves outside the ship part, I like companion permadeath, I like the fast travel restriction and the only heal injuries by sleeping in a bed thing. I could do without only sleep on your ship, being forced to take flaws, and I loathe the eating and drinking bit. I just don’t see how that’s adding anything interesting to my game or even makes it harder. It just means I have to pointlessly open my inventory at random intervals and click on certain items. I always think, if this is done at all (and I feel it only fits in a primarily survival focused game), it should be that as long as you’re carrying rations you’re just consuming them automatically and not have to constantly monitor a meter and tell your character to eat. I mean, why not have me go take a dump while we’re at it, for “realism.” Who enjoys role-playing their character’s bodily functions? Anyway. I’m sure others disagree with me, which brings me to this. Instead of taking out some options or making certain aspects of it easier, which really defeats the purpose, why not let us pick and choose which parts we want and which we don’t. We could customize exactly how difficult or “realistic” we want our game to be and nobody would have to complain that this or that part is too annoying or frustrating. There could still be the supernova game mode which switches all options on and which you could play for bragging rights and an achievement, perhaps.

Hi I like the game but it would be even better if these survival restrictions (like food drink sleep) could be available for lower difficulties as well. Survival has got nothing to do with difficulty, imo there's no reason to lock it behind the highest difficulty. - Spacehamster

Any chance to add a way to active level scalling and change up difficulty in middle of playthrough??? Both seems to be locked for now, only startting new game is possible to change.

Since Patch 1.1, I'm having those problems. When I enable level scaling on the difficulty menu (only upwards), the difficulty indicators on quests and enemies stops showing. The other bug is that every time a close the game via "Quit to desktop" option, the game crashes.

https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/43/ Hello guys, I released the first version of my mod, aiming to increase the challenge on POTD. I would love it if you could give me feedback on whether things work the way they are supposed to. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEADLY DEADFIRE v1.8 New optional weapon balance tweaks! New HARDCORE version of the mod has been added! New modular mods have been added for maximum customization! Changelog: NORMAL VERSION: v1.8 - Adjusted XP reduction to -28%. I finally found the perfect value. v1.7 - Increased XP reduction from -20% to -30%. v1.6 - Fixed duplicate files in download directory. v1.5 - Fixed Player Character Health getting buffed by the mod. v1.0 - Release HARCORE VERSION: v1.0 - Release WEAPON TWEAKS: v1.2 - Fixed uniquely named weapons not being afffected. v1.1 - Fixed spears and sabers not being affected. v1.0 - Release This mod is for all those that want to be challenged more by the combat encounters in this game. The devs have already said that the game is not difficult enough when played on Veteran or Path of the Damned, and this mod wants to fix those issues without breaking the feel of the game. *** THIS MOD IS MADE FOR POTD / VETERAN DIFFICULTY WITH LEVEL SCALING (UPWARDS ONLY) *** WHAT DOES IT DO: 1. Level Scaling - In vanilla enemies only scale upwards a maximum of 4 levels. If you are level 15 and find a level 5 enemy, he would be scaled up to level 9 but not any further. - This mod increases the scaling limit to 9. That enemy would now scale up to 14. (not quite this simple with location levels etc but you get the idea) 2. Named Enemies - Important Named Enemies will now scale an additional 2 levels higher than a normal enemy. If you find a level 8 named boss at level 10, he will now scale up to level 12, in an effort to keep even previously-missed lower level boss fights challenging. (again location levels matter too but this is the idea) 3. Increased HP - Enemy health has been increased by around 30% across the board. This is an attempt to stop a single empowered spell from halving the opponents right at the start of combat. 4. Reduced XP - Experience from quests and combat has been reduced by around 25% and 20% respectively. This is not really noticeable at the start but it will help with the over-levelling issue in the lategame. HARDCORE VERSION: I recommend starting with the normal mod, which already makes the game quite challenging. Then, if you feel like the game is still too unforgiving, or if you feel like the difficulty drops off during the latter part of the game, you can switch to the hardcore version. This hardcore version is very punishing, especially in the early game when you are lacking accuracy. Therefore I don't recommend it for a new game. WHAT DOES THE HARDCORE VERSION DO: - Further increases the scaling bonus levels and scaling range, for both normal enemies and even more for bosses. - Further reduces the experience gains up to a total of 35% and 30%. You can switch from normal version to hardcore version without problems. But keep in mind that enemies are generated when entering a new zone, so if you upgrade to the hardcore version, only areas you haven't visited yet will get the increased stats. WEAPON TWEAKS (OPTIONAL MOD) I have added a new optional mod called "Weapons Tweaks". - It reduces the penetration of all one-handed weapons by 1. Many have asked for this and I agree it makes sense. Now two-handed weapons have a purpose. In addition to dealing more damage, they now have more penetration compared to 1H weapons. HOW TO INSTALL: 1. Go to the Pillars of Eternity 2 folder (Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\) 2. Look for or create an "override" folder in Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\ 3. Unzip the mod inside the "override" folder. 4. The path to the mod files should look like this: /PillarsOfEternity2_Data/override/DeadlyDeadfireModX.X/gamedata/ 5. Launch the game. 6. The mod should work on existing savefiles, but only for areas not yet visited. 7. A new game is recommended. COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER MODS: This mod changes these files: characters.gamedatabundle 'MaxLevelAdjustment' property changed; characters.gamedatabundle 'MaxHealth' and 'HealthPerLevel' values changed; progressiontable.gamedatabundle 'ExpectedCharacterLevelAdjustment' arrays expanded and 'AdjustedLevelAmount' values changed; global.gamedatabundle 'QuestXPMultiplier' and 'CombatXPMultiplier' values changed.

Hi there! So I started up Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition on PS4, I created an elf character, selected Expert Mode, and was playing as her for a bit when I noticed some unpleasant differences compared to my other character, and checked out the options to see exactly what was different. Upon realizing that Expert Mode disables the ability to see what reputation changes happen depending on dialogue choice, I wanted to disable it! The problem, is that I can find aaaaabsolutely no way to do so. I cannot press the 'Expert Mode' button, pressing any button while over the 'Expert Mode' button does zilch, restarting the game does not help, trying to tick the different "helper" features does nothing, changing the difficulty does nothing, etc. Can anybody PLEASE help? I was under the impression you could DISable it, but could not ENable it! Am I just being stupid?

For those who are interested on increase the difficulty during Solo Mode. Here are small variants might keep you on the edge of your table trying to survive and earn reputation in Eora. I recommend only try this new mode after you played at least 1-2 times the solitaire mode (so you are familiar with the mechanics and rules of the game) I created these variants due to I noticed while I played couple of times in solo mode, achieve highest score was not hard, since the player can send all the army cards to attack even highest dungeon and there are no risk for been attacked later on. With this mode player may be attacked by monsters during the event die phase. Here is the link for the new mode I created in the past days. Solo Mode -> Path of the Damned If you achieve a astounding victory (either by killing 3 bosses or getting minimum VP for that level) let me know because maximum I have reach in this new mode is 35 so far. Beside I am working/thinking to create a 2nd part for those player that want to continue using a 2nd city deck after the first one is depleted. I will keep inform for any further new ideas.

Hey there. I am a 27 years old Baldur's Gate and old school RPG veteran. I also play Dota 2 actively, so I have good sense for game mechanics and rules. I like to be challenged, so I went for Hard mode, Expert mode and rolled a tank warrior. I took everyone I met into my party and after leaving Gilded Vale, in the forest maps there already were some encounters that simply wiped me in seconds. I try to use all the active abilities of my mage and priest, I pause, I send my tank forward and try to fight smart. So why am I getting my ass kicked? Is this normal or did I do something wrong? I have now arrived at Caed Nua, recruited the chanter, and as I enter the keep there is an encounter of like 6 ghosts that TEAR through my warrior in 3 seconds and then proceed to wipe the rest of the party. I really want to enjoy this game but these encounters are making me not want to play it anymore. Should I just grind levels or something? Any help would be appreciated.

I've literally just started up this game for the first time and have installed the latest beta, 2.0, and just want to know if it's intentional that there is no Easy, Normal, Hard, and Path of the Damned modes in the Difficulty settings, as I've been led to believe there should be. Maybe it's a bug? Being brand new to the game, I've no idea if this is by design or not and would appreciate if someone would let me know. I've looked over the last couple patch notes and didn't see any mention of such a change. Thank you

Hi all, I sincerely believe one of the most important and critical points of game design is the difficulty setting. Unfortunately today many games have simply lowered the bar so much that you literally have no fun playing them and you just experience them without having any feeling of achievement. On the other hand one of the reason the market is going that way is that people actually approve of this by purchasing these games. But it is pretty obvious that what really gives a feeling of achievement is when the difficulty is such that you can only achieve victory, not thanks to the "skill points" that you have grinded for hours (in which case anyone can do) but rather thanks to the actual skills that you have learned and that differentiates you, a veteran, from someone using the same characters but without the experience necessary to use them effectively. A higher difficulty setting must also be more rewarding (xp bonus, special item rewards, recognition badges etc) to the player using it but it must also be a commitment and must therefore contain some elements that prevent the player from switching back to an easier difficulty when faced with a challenge too hard. This takes away all the point of having a higher difficulty. One last thing I would like to talk about here is that there is also an element of "immersion" brought by the difficulty level: if you have unrealistic things that can happen just because you've upped the difficulty level it prevents you from feeling involved in the game. Hard doesn't necessarily mean unfair, but rather unforgiving. So the little goblin is still a one hit kill and can't really hurt you, but if you let your mage get hit by it or get surrounded by them then you're going to get punished more hardly for it. Great examples of perfect applications of difficulty level design would include: - demon/dark souls series for fair yet unforgiving difficulty (you die, your fault, and yet game can be beaten by lvl 1 char by very skilled players) - diablo 2 for the difficulty escalation (always challenging, even more after completion) - metal gear series for difficulty selection options (moves from "enjoyable but easy" to "very realistic and very hard" in european extreme) Personally that's what I enjoy: realistic and difficult, fair but unforgiving, and ironman (when I have the time) What are your preferences?

The suggestion is pretty straightforward. In a level based game, the player has to be provided level information on the adversaries he faces. First, levels are a total abstraction. There is simply no real world skill that links to what Obsidian's designers decide a mob's strength to be. Sure, I can sorta guess a bear is going to wtfpwn my newbie self, but how soon can I come back? And what exactly is the difficulty level of a shadow which has no real world counterpart at all? And what about humans? How am I supposed to know how strong that sellsword is compared to my sellsword self? Now you can argue it adds difficulty and rewards learning and experimentation. And I'll counter that all it adds is save-reload when you guess wrong. And worse, it is a guess. I like being strategic in my fights and decisions. I hate save-reload. And yet, here I am, playing massive amounts of save-reload because I took on 3 high priests that could heal each other faster than the 6 members of my party could bring them down or because I took on what I thought was a group of ordinary bandits who turned out to be anything but. And don't even think about trying to guess when you can do your bounties. Just go straight to the web to get their levels. I also have this crazy dream where I'll finish this game on Path of the Damned. Except that changes all the levels and makes save reload impossible. So how exactly, short of constantly alt-tabbing to guides, am I supposed to know what I can and cannot fight at my current level? (as a side note, I like the game. This isn't bitching. This is wanting the game to be better.)

I'm confused about Trial of Iron in the new update. It says that "loading a game causes a save to happen." Previously, we couldn't load a savegame in Trial of Iron while ingame at all. We had to quit and then load the save game. Should it have been worded _leaving_ a game now causes a save to happen? In other words, if we quit to main screen or Alt + F4, it now saves the game (even during combat)? Or is it simply a booby trap replacing the non-functional Load button?

Difficulty: I'm sure that some of these suggestions will be fairly contentious, however, I beat the game on PotD using only story NPCs, didn't use figurines/potions/scrolls/traps, had expert mode on, and found it to be more of a 'hard' mode (hard mode was much too easy) than a ridiculous, unfair challenge. I even ended up using Cheat Engine to drastically reduce my party's experience on multiple occasions. If they're too much for expert mode/PotD, maybe they could be implemented, with others, into an even higher difficulty mode for the expansion/sequel, 'Way of the Grognard'? -Only one figurine should be capable of being used at a time (maybe even only one total per battle), not one per character. When every PC can use a figurine simultaneously and some figurines summon multiple creatures, it's equivalent to an instant win button (to a game-breakingly absurd extent in the early/mid game) that completely trivializes any fight in the game. -Characters should be granted a brief period where they have an increased resistance to whatever hostile effect just ended. When currently afflicted with a hostile effect, characters should also have an increased resistance—perhaps even total immunity—to that same effect. The capability to effortlessly resolve a significant percentage of the combat in the game by simply stun-locking enemies indefinitely at a choke point using mental binding (a 2nd level spell!), and with only one cipher in the party to boot, is ridiculous. -The total absence of immunities leads to numerous preposterous in-game scenarios. For example, blights (elementals) take damage from their respective elements; they shouldn't just have a total immunity, they should actually be healed by attacks featuring their respective elements. Oozes can be knocked prone. How do you knock a gelatinous mass on its back... where is its back for that matter? Spectral enemies that hover above the ground can slip on a 'slick, oil-like substance' that 'coats the ground'. Flying enemies are also vulnerable to being knocked down by an oily, ground-based attack. Enemies without eyes can be blinded... clearly wizards are some sort of inverse-Jesus. This a wide-ranging problem that contributes to the bland uniformity that defines much of the combat and is in no way limited to the handful of examples listed above. -Figurines should be single use items, not one use per rest. A few more figurines could be introduced into the world to compensate for this. It would be even more interesting if some figurines summoned hostile creatures or ones that turned on the summoner once the enemies were slain. Hell, there could even be one that summoned a creature/person that gave a quest to slay the person who imprisoned them in the figurine. -Enemy humanoids should use potions/scrolls/figurines and intelligent (sentient beings) ranged/spell casting enemies should ruthlessly target the player's casters/squishies, forcing the player to disable them or immediately burst them down. -If PCs can have, at a minimum, two weapon sets, why can't other humanoids? If enemies were given alternative methods to attack—be it ranged or melee with extended reach—the common indoor tactic of blocking a doorway with your tank becomes a lot less OP and makes for far more interesting and dynamic encounters. The engagement tanking cluster**** that most fights occurring in the open devolve into would also be mitigated to a large extent by such a change. Of course, this is contingent upon a semi-decent AI being implemented into the game. -Failing a scripted interaction's option should always have some contextual punishment, on many occasions actions were attempted and failed, yet no ill effects resulted from those failures. For example, if a character attempts to climb up to a window via vines—instead of immediately using a grappling hook—and fails, falling to the ground in the process, they should have a twisted ankle debuff (or something similar) until they rest. If a character attempts to push some rocks out of the way—instead of immediately using a hammer and chisel—but isn't strong enough, they should get a sprained back debuff or something similar. -Bounty experience should be 1/5 of what it currently is... if not less. Side quests in general seem to grant too much experience. This seems to be a problem inherent in the amount of experience required to level up... the curve is much too gentle from around level 3 onward. It honestly feels like there is enough experience in this game to level two full parties. -Bestiary grants too much experience, as the player is over leveled quite quickly after reaching the first major city without even doing a certain keep or exploring a certain multilevel dungeon. It really seems like the side quest exp wasn't reduced once the bestiary exp was tacked on at the end of development. At the very least, expert mode and/or PotD should reduce—if not remove—bestiary experience. Another possible solution is to offer bestiary experience only for enemy archetypes instead of every individual variant of said archetype. -Chests/traps shouldn't grant experience. The reward for opening a chest is whatever is inside of it; the reward for disarming a trap is the removal of a dangerous obstacle. Reclaiming traps should be a 50% chance at the same level of mechanics and +/-10% per level above or below. -The endurance regenerated after a battle should be taken from the health of that character, with the caveat that the total health couldn't go below 1hp. This would make the 2 camping supply limit on PotD actually impactful. It would also make potion/scroll use important, if not necessary, in certain sections of the game. -Swapping weapons shouldn't be instant; it's too easy when you can equip a caster with a hatchet and a large shield then just immediately switch to that set when anything gets within striking distance, gaining an immediate and significant bonus to deflection. When wizards have multiple spells that buff deflection and are not instantaneous, like switching weapon-sets is, it seems like weapon switching isn't working as intended. By making weapon switching take some time it also allows a talent to be introduced, making it faster, or even instantaneous, further diversifying meaningful build options. *Mild Early Game Spoilers* -An enemy should only be capable of being charmed once per encounter and should go hostile immediately upon taking damage from the player. -Enemies shouldn't immediately attack their charmed allies if they have other available targets. Currently enemies will frequently immediately target—and even chase (eliciting engagement attacks in the process!)—a charmed ally of theirs, completely ignoring what or whomever they were just fighting. -Resting bonuses should only last until the next rest, not until they are replaced by another bonus. I suspect this to be a bug since it occurs sporadically. -Great sword needs to be buffed as choosing the estoc is currently a no-brainer. -Enemies 'leashing' leads to some very exploitative scenarios and thus should be removed. -Dunryd Psion hireling is garbage: 100cp per day and -2/+2... why would anyone hire it? Brutish Warrior is +3/+2 and 50cp per day for comparison. *Mild Act 2 Spoiler* -The 'Overbearing' enchantment should have its prone duration halved... a buffed (or even unbuffed) carnage barbarian with high intelligence is currently too powerful when using weapons with it. -Pale Elf's Burn and Freeze DR should be reduced to +5 from +10.

This problem is not unique to Pillars of Eternity. However, it is still interesting from design perspective and overall enjoyment of the game. Casual players usually stick to the main quest, don't feel compelled to check every corner of the game, look behind every rock. They don't do every single side quest and therefore they have lower level and worse equipment. It's funny because they would prefer the game to be easier but their play style make it harder. Hardcore gamers on the other hand don't want to miss anything. They will walk into every house, look for every hidden stash and usually complete every single side quest before moving the story forward. This result in them having much better equipment and more experience than the former players. For the people looking for a challenge the game becomes less challenging. System of additional quests and rewards seems broken as it does exactly the opposite. People who should get more challenge get more smooth experience while people looking for an easy game get it on hard mode... It would be boring to remove side quests, having quests without rewards would also be rather bad. How to fix this?

Easy difficulty is fine 90% of the time. But there are certain encounters where the difficulty ramps up considerably (usually boss fights) and makes it almost impossible for a casual player to succeed. Pillars is a spiritual successor to the isometric RPGs of my childhood, and I respect the deeply strategic combat that has been inherited from these ancestors. Unfortunately, I am now suffering from a condition which makes computer use difficult and I would appreciate an easier 'easy' mode, so that I can enjoy this game. Is anyone else in the same position? As I say, for the most part easy is fine, but there are some critical encounters which have been frustratingly difficult, and in some cases I have had to abandon them.

I'm considering pre-ordering the game. I know I'm a bit late to the party but I'd like to get the pre-order bonuses. The only thing stopping me from pre-ordering right now is concerns about the difficulty of the game. I've played a little bit of Baldur's Gate and enjoyed it. However, I found combat a bit of a challange. Is Pillars of Eternity easier or harder than Baldur's Gate? I do have a few additional questions. First off, Have any off the backers been able to use the pre-order bonuses? The Pledge of Gaun ring sounds useful but the Space Piglet sounds more like a gimmick. I'm also curious, How do spells work in this game? Are they dependant on available energy points or can they only be used once per day? Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

This would be more a question for developers, but due to time constrains I've not been reading everything they've said and I have missed something others haven't and can actually shed some light on. I just saw the post about different stages in the life of a dragon in PoE from wurm to adult dragon, and had to ask if Pillars of Eternity will have high challenge-high reward optional areas/encounters. Normally very large, dangerous encounters/enemies that really have no major impact on the storyline but those who seek to test their party to the limits can try to tackle for the thrill of challenge and achievement. We used to see those a lot in the Final Fantasy games, and even Baldur's Gate saga toyed with the idea (who didn't love/hate Firkraag in BG2?). More recently, Dragon Age has also offered the opportunity to tackle optional high challenge-high reward encounters, though it's fair to say that most if not all of those encounters could be beaten within the main game's context (meaning that it didn't require extra investment beyond the main storyline as in some Final Fantasy games, where beating the toughest challenges was almost a game of its own and definitely much more difficult than beating the actual end boss of the game). So that's the idea, and the kind of thing I'm asking and very interested on. Can we expect to find some really -really- tough challenges off the beaten path in PoE? While answering keep in mind we're in the spoiler-free forums.

Hello everyone! New player here, willing to buy the game as soon as possible from GOG. I've been following the development of the game during the last few years, but without putting too much attention on it, because I really hate to wait and I already knew that the anticipation would have killed me. So, now that we are really close to release, I'm just starting to catch up with the game, and I've got some questions for the backers/beta/knowledgeable players; I'd really appreciate your help! 1) How difficult is "normal"? I'm not an RPG expert by any means. I'm fascinated by this world, but sometimes I lack the patience to focus on every aspect of a battle, and in general I'm more the APS guy than the strategic one (e.g. I'm skilled at Dota, while I'm pretty bad at D:OS). I've played and enjoyed BG2 years ago, but I think I was switching between normal and easy modes during the whole game, and for sure I remember frustrating moments/battles there. Do you think I can finally face the challenge of an old-style RPG at normal difficulty? Or would it just ruin my gaming experience? And what about "easy"? Is it a viable setting for inexperienced players like me or is it just "trivial", made for people without a brain (or without enough time to focus on the "nerdy" aspects of the game)? 2) About adventurers: I'm planning my party ahead, and I'd really like to fill a gap in my team by using a custom character made by me as my 6th companion. I already know that he won't interact with me or other NPCs, but will "the world" notice his presence in my team? Or will he just be non-existent in roleplaying terms? Example: if my 6th character is a godlike adventurer, will a village hostile to godlike people react to him being in my party? Or will the people just totally ignore him as if my party was made of 5 characters only? 3) Language: The game will be translated in my mother language (italian), but in general I prefer to play any game in its original form. How hard will it be for me to understand everything? Will characters speak in strange/unclear/dialect ways? My official "english level" is B2, will it be enough to understand everything, without missing a comma of this amazing experience? And if I decide to play it in italian, will there be voice dubs or just subtitles? Thank you for reading this wall of text, I hope someone will shed a light over all this!

I'd like to ask the backer beta players, based on their exp with the different beta builds, and their intution on how the classes will end up in the final build, to make a top 3 list of the most valuable classes, explaining the reasons they find them most valuable. Of course the top 3 will be subjective to one's playstyle (for example someone may manage without fighter's sticky methods, while someone else cannot picture playing without it) and to play difficulty (some classes may shine on hard-PotD, while others may become obsolete and hamper the player), but in general the feedback will be tons of useful to us non-beta players who didn't have the opportunity to play the game. Thank you in advance for your feedback

With the beta coming up soon, it'd be nice to start listing possible difficulty options they could include for players who want an easier or harder game. I've gone through several threads on difficulty to compile this list, but I probably haven't put everything down. List all things you'd like to be optional in game settings/configuration. Not everything will make it in, but we can still make a list! Enemies Enemy hitpoints (and/or stamina points?) - half value - normal value - double value Enemy damage - half value - normal value - double value Enemy critical hit chance - half value - normal value - double value Enemy dodging ability - half value - normal value - double value Enemy number in each encounter - fewer enemies - normal number - more enemies Enemy focus fire - enemies seldom focus fire on a player character (multiple foes attacking 1 player character) - enemies often focus fire on a player character (multiple foes attacking 1 player character) Enemy distracted* - enemies will be easily distracted from attacking a player character - enemies won't be easily distracted from attacking a player character *For example: stopping to attack a [mostly] non-threatening melee character instead of continuing to attack a more dangerous ranged caster. Enemy drawing - enemies can be drawn one by one without alerting other enemies in the group - enemies can't be drawn one by one without alerting other enemies in the group. Enemy respawning - enemies never respawn in an area - enemies sometimes respawn - enemies always respawn in certain areas Enemy stats - the player can view to-hit chances or hitpoints when attacking an enemy, as well as view damage type weaknesses (eg. fire) - the player can view to-hit chances or hitpoints when attacking an enemy - the player can't view to-hit chances or hitpoints when attacking an enemy Non-attack options in battle Switching weapons in combat - time - switching weapons has no penalty on character action (ie. it doesn't affect a character's actions per round bar/gauge) - switching weapons has a mild penalty on character action - switching weapons has a major penalty on character action Drinking potions or applying salves in combat - time - drinking potions or applying salves has no penalty on character action (ie. it doesn't affect a character's actions per round bar/gauge) - drinking potions or applying salves has a mild penalty on character action - drinking potions or applying salves has a major penalty on character action Drinking potions or applying salves in combat - number - you can drink an unlimited number of potions and apply an unlimited number of salves during combat - you can drink a limited number of potions and apply a limited number of salves during combat - you can't drink potions or apply salves during combat Friendly Fire Physical Weapons* - physical weapons will not harm other party members - physical weapons will harm other party members *For example, your arrows will or won't shoot right through your other party member; your whirlwind blade attack does or doesn't hit adjacent party members. Explosive Weapons and Magic (explosive potions/gunpowder, fireballs, stinking clouds) - explosive weapons and area effect magic will not harm other players - explosive weapons and area effect magic will harm other players Items Item Damage - explosive (or corrosive or ice-ifying) attacks have no chance of destroying an enemy's or chest's equipment - explosive (or corrosive or ice-ifying) attacks have a chance of destroying an enemy's or chest's equipment - explosive (or corrosive or ice-ifying) attacks always destroy an enemy's or chest's equipment Environment Light Modifications - darker areas will never effect a character's to-hit values - darker areas will lower to-hit values of characters who can't see well in the dark Rain/Storm Modifications - stormy weather will never effect a character's to-hit values - stormy weather will lower to-hit values of characters who can't see well in the dark Injury Death - when hitpoints reach 0, a character is maimed or knocked out and can be revived later - when hitpoints reach 0, a character is permanently dead Instant Death - no attacks will cause instant death - certain attacks will cause instant death Wounds (eg. bruised ribs, twisted ankle) - wounds are healed after few rests - wounds are healed after many rests Stamina Regeneration - stamina regenerates during combat for all classes - stamina regenerates during combat for some classes - stamina regenerates only after combat -- immediately or almost immediately after combat - stamina regenerates only after combat -- slowly after combat (eg. 10-30 in-game minutes; maybe 5 minutes real-time) Resting Resting locations - there are many resting locations - there are few resting locations Ambush - there are no ambushes during resting - there are sometimes ambushes during resting - every time you rest you will be attacked by demogorgon, who will take his time Conversations Viewable conversation choices* - unselectable conversation choices will be viewable - unselectable conversation choices won't be viewable *Conversation options won't be shown unless the player character has the required skills or attribute values to select those options. Selectable party members - any party member can be chosen to speak no matter how far they are to a non-player character - party members can only be chosen to speak if they are within a certain distance to a non-player character Convincing non-player characters - npcs are easily convinced to do as you would like - npcs are not so easily convinced to do as you would like - no matter what you choose, the npc will always insult your mother Convincing recruitable-player characters - rpcs are easily convinced to tell you about their lives and hardships, even risking their lives to help you in situations - rpcs are convinced with moderate difficulty to tell you about their lives and hardships, possibly even risking their lives to help you - rpcs are seldom convinced to tell you about their lives and hardships, and will rarely risk their lives to help you + as above, yet some rpcs will never trust you if your race, culture, or gender is not one they like Reputation Reputation - outside of party - your reputation level is written down for all factions and individuals you've encountered - your reputation level is written down for all factions you've encountered - your reputation level is never written down - in your log book, you only ever record the names of those who have insulted your mother Reputation - inside of party - if you can influence a character's behaviour or thoughts towards you, a gauge displays your level of influence - if you can influence a character's behaviour or thoughts towards you, no gauge displays your level of influence Hired player characters* - once hired, hpcs will never again ask you for more money - once hired, hpcs will occasionally ask you for more money - once hired, hpcs will often ask you for more money *This is assuming they're all hired from a mercenary guild rather than, say, recruited at an adventuring hall or tavern. Inventory Inventory space - unlimited space not restricted by party member's individual inventory grid/spots - limited space not restricted by party member's individual inventory grid/spots - limited space restricted by party member's individual inventory grid/spots Inventory weight - unlimited weight (no weight restriction) - limited weight based on the group's combined strength/vitality values - limited weight based on party member's individual strength/vitality values (strong characters can carry more than weak characters) Economy Merchant Money - selling to merchants - merchants have unlimited money to buy the party's sold items - merchants have limited money to buy the party's sold items Merchant Picky-ness - selling to merchants - merchants of any type will buy any type of items from the party - merchants of a given type will not buy any type of items from the party (eg. blacksmith won't buy your lovely lovely flowers you picked) Merchant Offers - selling to merchants - party items will be sold for higher value - party items will be sold for normal value - party items will be sold for lower value Hardcore mode - if selected when the game is made, the save file will be automatically deleted upon total party wipeout + there is only one save file; multiple save files are not allowed (game autosaves when you quit) Ultra Hardcore mode - if selected, Jon Irenicus will appear and spend hours explaining why you are so immensely stupid and insignificant and unworthy. Meanwhile Sarevok will grab your arms and hit you with them while laughing 'why are you hitting yourself?' He never gets tired of it. Hug Button - if pressed, Minsc will appear to hug the player then proceed to beat up the evil. - if pressed, Oswald Fiddlebender will appear to offer commiserations and offer you a ride to the nearest inn. - if pressed, Fall-From-Grace will appear to kiss the player in an embrace. You die. - if pressed, the tarrasque appears and farts in your general direction. Everybody dies. - if pressed, Ravel appears and, after you complain of taking several trips to haul dungeon loot to your stronghold, she casts a spell which backfires and changes you into a chest (now everyone brings loot to you!). Jan Jansen then sets up a turnip stand nearby, regaling you with tales of turnips. He invites all his relatives. Eventually you become a latrine.

So, I'm guessing that most people have noticed that combat seems really swingy: you often either take massive damage or just completely steamroll the enemy. Well, I think I figured out why. When you reload an area, the Damage Threshold of the enemies in it drops to 0. Steps to reproduce: 1) Start a new game 2) Head to Dyrford Crossing 3) Quicksave 4) Attack the first group of beetles you see. Look at the damage you're doing to them and hover over a damage line to get the attack breakdown. You should see something like "33.6 - 30.0 = 3.4 Slash Damage". 5) Quickload 6) Attack the same group of beetles and look at your damage again. This time you should be getting something along the lines of "33.6 - 0.0 = 33.6 Slash Damage" Expected behavior: The beetles should still have their 30 DT after you load your save! As you can see, this can change the difficulty of an encounter massively, especially against heavily armored enemies like the beetles. The bug seems to occur when the game reloads an area you have previously visited. In other words, the first time you enter an area with a character, enemy DT works correctly, but if you either save and reload afterwards or leave and re-enter the area, enemy DT drops to zero.

Is it possible to hotfix a harder difficulty ? i did the game on hardcore but it still wasn't much of a challenge. Like just scale enemy damage/health in a hotfix or something? BUT i'd just like to say i loved the game thought it was amazing, could not stop playing it, brilliant job trey&matt and everyone involved.