Hard Mode?

[chestersmurf]

I am just starting my hard playthrough with a vet (I know its a little cheap but I dont care) and I was curious how this compares to ME2 insanity? What I have have heard there shouldn't be any problem because of chain shot but just wanted some input.

[Tigranes]

Didn't bother with ME2 so no idea, but it is significantly harder than normal. If you are exposed to an alert enemy they can take you down in a couple of seconds, especially if it's, say, a well trained agent around the corner with a shotgun. Minigames also become harder, so even if you didn't have problems with them in Normal you should put a couple points in sabotage.

 

Obviously, chain shot makes it easier, but it's still significantly more challenging than Normal.

[Alpha]

Hard/recruit is very challenging

hard /Vet not.

[Hassat Hunter]

IMO it's harder than ME2's Insanity (well, Hard/Recruit. Vet maybe not).

 

Which isn't a bad thing if you like a challenge.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Hassat Hunter

[player1]

Something I picked up from APGame.ini:

HardModePawnDamageIncrease=0.25;

HardModeBossDamageIncrease=0.10;

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Finished my first playthrough on Hard as a stealth/pistol/sabotage agent. It went... well? I died constantly under fire after two or three shots, but pistol critical strikes from cover and chain shot make it much easier.

[dan107]

I love a good challenge in games and AP on hard mode was certainly more challenging than any game I've played in years. Unfortunately it wasn't always challenging for the right reasons though.

 

The traditional way to make a game difficult is by setting up a tough encounter with clever enemies, and giving the player elegant tools to deal with it. AP opted for a more original approach, with most of the challenge came from the clumsy combat system. Shooting the same enemy in the same spot with the assault rifle can result anywhere from an instant kill to doing absolutely no damage, so in situations where you had to take down several people in a row very quickly, luck was a bigger factor than skill. However, that was countered by the pathetic AI, with the enemies every bit as likely to run around in circles as they were to kill you with one burst, so oddly it balanced out. It sure ain't pretty, but AP's hard mode is refreshingly challenging compared to most games these days.

Edited June 8, 2010 by dan107

[Oblarg]

I love a good challenge in games and AP on hard mode was certainly more challenging than any game I've played in years. Unfortunately it wasn't always challenging for the right reasons though.

 

The traditional way to make a game difficult is by setting up a tough encounter with clever enemies, and giving the player elegant tools to deal with it. AP opted for a more original approach, with most of the challenge came from the clumsy combat system. Shooting the same enemy in the same spot with the assault rifle can result anywhere from an instant kill to doing absolutely no damage, so in situations where you had to take down several people in a row very quickly, luck was a bigger factor than skill. However, that was countered by the pathetic AI, with the enemies every bit as likely to run around in circles as they were to kill you with one burst, so oddly it balanced out. It sure ain't pretty, but AP's hard mode is refreshingly challenging compared to most games these days.

 

Max your weapon skill and the damage is about as consistent as in any other shooter out there.

[chestersmurf]

I plan on doing a stealth/sabatoge based character with chainshot so I am not so much worried about the average guys in the level, shadow op will easily take care of them. The only thing that should even be an issue would be the bosses but having chainshot with brilliance i am thinking will make those fairly routine as well

[Hassat Hunter]

Shooting the same enemy in the same spot with the assault rifle can result anywhere from an instant kill to doing absolutely no damage, so in situations where you had to take down several people in a row very quickly, luck was a bigger factor than skill.

Ehm, if you shoot immediately after pressing the right mouse button, sure. Then it's somewhere in the reticle (notice how large it is?). Give it time and it will be 100% guaranteed hit where you aim, with a critical hit. Headshot usually means dead. Except for the really tough guys (Deus Vult usually took 2 headshots).

 

It never depended on "luck" for me. Hitting wasn't the hard part at all, not getting hit is the challenge...

[Fallen Ghost]

Shooting the same enemy in the same spot with the assault rifle can result anywhere from an instant kill to doing absolutely no damage, so in situations where you had to take down several people in a row very quickly, luck was a bigger factor than skill.

Ehm, if you shoot immediately after pressing the right mouse button, sure. Then it's somewhere in the reticle (notice how large it is?). Give it time and it will be 100% guaranteed hit where you aim, with a critical hit. Headshot usually means dead. Except for the really tough guys (Deus Vult usually took 2 headshots).

 

It never depended on "luck" for me. Hitting wasn't the hard part at all, not getting hit is the challenge...

 

Nah I noticed this with perfectly aimed pistol critical hits.....about 1 in 10 times it hits the unaware enemy dead in the back of the head and does little to no damage for no reason whatsoever....and I'm talking completely unaware enemies not yeallow alerted or red aware with perfectly line up criticals.

[Oblarg]

Shooting the same enemy in the same spot with the assault rifle can result anywhere from an instant kill to doing absolutely no damage, so in situations where you had to take down several people in a row very quickly, luck was a bigger factor than skill.

Ehm, if you shoot immediately after pressing the right mouse button, sure. Then it's somewhere in the reticle (notice how large it is?). Give it time and it will be 100% guaranteed hit where you aim, with a critical hit. Headshot usually means dead. Except for the really tough guys (Deus Vult usually took 2 headshots).

 

It never depended on "luck" for me. Hitting wasn't the hard part at all, not getting hit is the challenge...

 

Nah I noticed this with perfectly aimed pistol critical hits.....about 1 in 10 times it hits the unaware enemy dead in the back of the head and does little to no damage for no reason whatsoever....and I'm talking completely unaware enemies not yeallow alerted or red aware with perfectly line up criticals.

 

I had maxed pistol skill, and well-aimed pistol crits took out the enemy 100% of the time for me.

[Hassat Hunter]

Nah I noticed this with perfectly aimed pistol critical hits.....about 1 in 10 times it hits the unaware enemy dead in the back of the head and does little to no damage for no reason whatsoever....and I'm talking completely unaware enemies not yeallow alerted or red aware with perfectly line up criticals.

You're using a console version right?

 

Cause I've never seen that at all on the PC

[Tigranes]

Get higher pistol skills.

 

I started the game with 5 pistol skill (Hard/Veteran) and I could headshot critical the guards in the very first area in one go, consisently.

[Spydude]

Some guards don't die with 1 chain shot or criticals. I end up having to shoot them a couple more times. Is there a difference to chain shot with targeting early or waiting for the critical before shooting? Maybe that is what I am doing wrong. I usually just do 2 quick headshots and that is 100% effective.

[zazei]

I found hard mode without chain shot or the assault rifle to be great fun but very frustrating at times. I don't think I want to think of the amount of times I got 1-2 shotted by some random guard I didn't notice until it killed me from behind or the times I did spot the guards but still got killed by them when I was forced into a fight. The most challanging thing for sure is either fighting in small areas or fights where hiding and taking everything out one by one really isn't a option and I had to try to go up face to face with the enemy even though they could kill me with 1-3 hits.

 

Far harder then any other RPG I played in years to be sure.

[Tigranes]

I think there is a difference, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

Some guards have more health, and sometimes your dossier info gives you bonuses against certaine nemies.

 

With perks introducing damage +/- as well, it's hard to keep up with exact calculations.

[Encair]

My first playthrough was on hard without any stealth and it was awesome . Some fights were let's say rewarding , like shooutout with the old Halbech guy and his guards in Rome , or our favourite Russian junkie when you are not very powerful . Then I wanted to finish the game very fast on normal difficulty with recruit to unlock veteran but found it too easy and simply boring so I switched to hard anyway . I think every game is much more enjoyable on higher difficulty , especially the first playthrough.

[dan107]

Max your weapon skill and the damage is about as consistent as in any other shooter out there.

 

So if you're not min-maxing and are trying to build a balanced character you get accurate shooting in what, the last 25% of the game or so? Not good enough IMO.

 

Shooting the same enemy in the same spot with the assault rifle can result anywhere from an instant kill to doing absolutely no damage, so in situations where you had to take down several people in a row very quickly, luck was a bigger factor than skill.

Ehm, if you shoot immediately after pressing the right mouse button, sure. Then it's somewhere in the reticle (notice how large it is?). Give it time and it will be 100% guaranteed hit where you aim, with a critical hit. Headshot usually means dead. Except for the really tough guys (Deus Vult usually took 2 headshots).

 

It never depended on "luck" for me. Hitting wasn't the hard part at all, not getting hit is the challenge...

 

If the enemies are far away from you, that works since for some reason they can never hit you from long distance. However if they're at close range or charging towards you, you don't have time to wait for a crit. At best you can wait for the targeting reticle to narrow a bit, and then fire. If the game decides that you hit, they're dead; if it decides you missed, you're dead. That's the frustrating part to me. If you do everything right as the player, aim right at the guys head, and shoot him before he shoots you, you shouldn't lose simply because of behind the scenes random rolls.

[hithomas]

...<snip>...If you do everything right as the player, aim right at the guys head, and shoot him before he shoots you, you shouldn't lose simply because of behind the scenes random rolls.

But what your forgetting is this is a Role Playing Game with shooter elements. If you haven't levelled up your skill with the weapon your using then you aren't doing everything right as the player. Just as not levelling up sabotage means that the mini games get a whole lot harder, not levelling up weapons means your ability to deal damage is hampered accordingly.

 

Another thing you could try is aiming at the body rather than the head when the recital is huge.

 

 

 

As for my experience with hard I ran through with Iron will, Room Sweep and brilliance(with an assault rifle earlier in the game) which seemed to work on the whole although I did miss having a pistol some of the time.

[dan107]

But what your forgetting is this is a Role Playing Game with shooter elements. If you haven't levelled up your skill with the weapon your using then you aren't doing everything right as the player. Just as not levelling up sabotage means that the mini games get a whole lot harder, not levelling up weapons means your ability to deal damage is hampered accordingly.

 

Oh, I'm not forgetting that, I just don't like it. And for the life of me I don't see what adding stats to a shooter mechanic brings to the table, other than making the shooting clumsy and ineffective when the stats are low. What's the upside here really?

[player1]

Well, some people like stats and leveling.

 

For example, in early game, SMG have rubbish accuracy and recoil, and could barely hit anything farther away from close range.

 

But, if you add some skill in them, and buy proper upgrades, they can become completely viable at both short and medium range.

[Hassat Hunter]

Never EVER shoot a gun while moving.

 

If you stand still, crouch, an incoming enemy should easily be intercepted with the assault rifle, since the reticle is smaller than the guy in it (and that's with 0 Assault rifle skill).

[player1]

Never EVER shoot a gun while moving.

 

Especially if it's assault rifle: bad stability -> big drop in accuracy when moving.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Never EVER shoot a gun while moving.

 

If you stand still, crouch, an incoming enemy should easily be intercepted with the assault rifle, since the reticle is smaller than the guy in it (and that's with 0 Assault rifle skill).

Except shotguns. No need to aim with shotguns. <3