On Hard, enemies do way too much damage? And there's still another difficulty beyond this?

[Locane]

First - I'm not terrible at video games.  Please don't try to make your e-peen larger by putting me down and spewing some bile about "git gud nub".

What I am looking for is suggestions on what I'm doing wrong - usually on harder difficulties in games there's some careful planning, or equipment, or blend of skills and perks that make higher difficulties possible.  What I'm getting is feeling like I've tried everything and I'm out of options, and I'm genuinely unsure of how a player is meant to do the game on these harder difficulties - like, what was Obsidian intending for us to do?

I've had this experience a lot for the past 10 or so hours of the game - my weapons do pretty good damage, but enemies just absolutely shred me if I get hit at all.  My companions fall over like wet paper, and if I'm not cheesing the AI's pathing, or shooting from 10 miles away on top of a rock that they can't get me on, I'm dead in 3-5 hits that come so fast I can't even mash the F key enough to out-heal it or dodge to get some breathing room.

I'm near the end of the game.  I'm doing the Eridanos content, and I'm

Spoiler

in the caves in the Wildlife Preserve with the parasite infected canids

(I don't think that's too much of a spoiler).

I'm level 36, and I'm wearing the absolute best armor I can possibly find - 108 chest / 84 head.  I have all the defensive perks that seem relevant, and Dodge at 60.  I dodge, I use the slow-time ability to stun / do headshots, and I have Dialogue skills up really high.

Imgur link to perks screenshot

I'm frustrated because I feel like I'm doing all the things I'm supposed to be doing to be able to survive fights better, but none of it is working.  What am I doing wrong?

 

 

[BHarger]

The workbench is your best friend. Mods and tinkering will greatly improve your odds of survival. Tinkering costs a ton of bits so bring your wallet but by running your weapon damage and armor rating up for yourself as well as your crew you should be able to take on those purple slugs and anything else with ease. I've soloed the game multiple times without crew on hard difficulty and iirc, i only died once. Usually that just means I wasn't paying attention.  Max out the tinkering if possible. Use n-ray mags and n-ray protection. Stealth is helpful also. Play style is less important than preparation. Have fun.