Is PoE2 too easy?

[Ocelot]

Playing Poe2 for the first time, and it is way, way easier than PoE 1 on Normal difficulty + turn based mode. Has anyone else had this experience? Is it because of turn based battles being easier to manage?

I was thinking of doing a second run on veteran or higher afterwards with more multiclasses, but I'm not so sure now. Should I opt for real time combat + scaling enemies on my second playthrough? What's the recommended setup for a challenging run?

Edited August 17 by Ocelot

[Chaospread]

I have never played turn based mode but i can say yes, normal difficulty with a full party is quite easy.
Try veteran (and maybe scaled), but the real challenge is PotD + Scaled + SOLO (viable but very difficult with low playing experience) OR, if you wanna a full party, try PotD + scaled + some Magran's challenges.

[thelee]

late to the party, but just wanted to add that IME in general normal difficulty deadfire strikes me as easier than poe1, and in fact original potd deadfire was easier than poe1. even outside turn-based mode, combat runs slower so you have more time to think about stuff or notice stuff. the earlier encounters are also balanced better (i remember getting wrecked in the temple or in a violent approach to raedric).

that being said, like chaospread says, PotD + scaled + magran challenges is a whole other animal. def harder than poe1.

[Boeroer]

I played PoE recently again after playing Deadfire for a long time.

I just think Deadfire has more ups and downs. This also has a lot to do with how you progress. Imo it happens more frequently that you run into encounters which you are either under- or overleveled for. For example if you do Hanging Sepulchers too early (which can happen if you follow the Benweth/Furrante quest line too rigorously) it will wreck you. And if you don't go to the Vallian Ambassy early and get to Poko Kohara late - it's a cakewalk.

This can also happen in PoE - but it's not as open and therefore the risk of that happening is lower overall.

I also think that PoE's begining isn't very hard compared to Gorecci Street etc. IF you really know what to do. The enemies are more "playable", meaning their AI seems to be a lot more limited than Deadfire's. Imo

Edited Thursday at 04:54 PM by Boeroer

[JaimeJoopii]

I would say that Deadfire lends the player a lot of leeway. My first playthrough I just came off the heels of the first game where I didn't fully understand the mechanics, and in the second game I understood them even less but just kinda brute forced it? I didn't understand how accuracy and defenses worked, I only really understood penetration. Even on my current play through, I'm trying to fully understand the mechanics and I've been wanting a hard wall, like the Adra Dragon in POE1, so I can learn how to properly buff my party and manage their skills and AI but the game just keeps giving me victories and it's strange.

[Ocelot]

On 8/21/2025 at 9:36 AM, Boeroer said:

I played PoE recently again after playing Deadfire for a long time.

I just think Deadfire has more ups and downs. This also has a lot to do with how you progress. Imo it happens more frequently that you run into encounters which you are either under- or overleveled for. For example if you do Hanging Sepulchers too early (which can happen if you follow the Benweth/Furrante quest line too rigorously) it will wreck you. And if you don't go to the Vallian Ambassy early and get to Poko Kohara late - it's a cakewalk.

This can also happen in PoE - but it's not as open and therefore the risk of that happening is lower overall.

I also think that PoE's begining isn't very hard compared to Gorecci Street etc. IF you really know what to do. The enemies are more "playable", meaning their AI seems to be a lot more limited than Deadfire's. Imo

About 80% of the quests I've done were under-leveled. Therefore trivial to beat. Even the ones with 1 or 2 levels higher were easy to beat. The only fight I struggled was with

Spoiler

some lich guy with a funny head

Who was 3+ levels higher than my team and I was still able to beat on the second attempt.

I generally avoid level scaling RPGs but I think my first PoE2 run would have been much better if I had it enabled.

PoE1's beginning felt harder to me, specifically because of Raedric's Castle questline and deciding to face him instead of helping him.

[Boeroer]

That's what I meant with "if you really know what to do".

Who thinks Raedric's Castle is difficult to clear out doesn't really know (yet) what to do imo. To me it's a fairly easy (but lengthy) step in the early game - and the reward is very high (bc. of masses of loot). That makes the following encounters even easier.

Imo PoE encouters can be cracked open more easily with the right tools while Deadfire's might be generally easier to manage for somebody without much (meta) knowledge, but imo they are also less prone "to get played" as much as the PoE ones. 

I guess also because PoE has some weird, obscure mechanics (besides obscure stacking) which can make a big difference but is hard to discover.

One exception on Deadfire are naval battles. Those can get tricked very easily (if you know how) and can get you superb and unique loot along with gold and XP extremely early (which makes the rest of the game easier, too).

But in Deadfire, if you follow Benweth directly after meeting Furrante, then immediately go to Dunnage afterwards and think "ah okay, off to the Hanging Sepulchers" right away, you will get wrecked so substantially you might want to abandon the game.

This can even happen if you meet Eamund the Fox on Dunnage right after solving Benweth and doing some "running around" quests on Dunnage. Eamund's party will be very hard to beat and it will feel very unfair because there's no indication that Dunnage might have such difficult battles beforehand.

But if you level up in Nekataka with some non-violent quests before, mayne do a few easy ship bounties etc. and then go to Dunnage, suddenly Eamund is a joke and the Hanging Sepulchers aren't that bad afterwards.

If you solve Arkemyr's Manor peacefully very early and then sail to Berkana's Observatory right away, the Torn Bannermen will crush you. If you manage to beatvm them with tons of resting and resources anyway, Concelhaut and his friends will finally bring you down. And imo he cannot really be tricked unless you are willing to pull out Lover's Embrace, Gouging Strike/Brand Enemy and are willing to exploit a pair of Bounding Boots.

If you are lucky on your first run you won't even notice all that and think that Deadfore is easier than PoE. And I would say on average it is.

But I've also read many rants from unlucky new players who complained about those perceived unfair difficulty spikes. And they had not many problems with PoE before. 

It can happen in PoE, too (cannot count the amount of rants about Crägholt Bluffs) but to a lesser extend because the game is less open.

TL;dr: it depends.

Edited 7 hours ago by Boeroer