Think Pillars is too easy? Stop resting so much.

[Sword Coast Strategist]

Because people are still adding their 2¢ to the too easy / too hard debate, I thought it was worth pointing out that, as with the Infinity Engine games, the level of challenge in Pillars of Eternity is largely dependent on how much resting you allow yourself to do. So if you find yourself wishing hard mode was harder, try going through entire dungeons (or in the case of Od Nua, dungeon floors) without resting.

 

You might be surprised at how tense run-of-the-mill battles can be. Also, how much more rewarding victory can be.

 

Think of it from a roleplaying standpoint. Is that mob of xaurips in the other room really not going to notice the sound of you slaughtering their companions down the hall, and just stand there doing nothing for eight hours? Would charname and co. really just roll out the sleeping bags right then and there?

 

I respect your right to rest-spam. Really, I do! Nothing wrong with deciding that resting in dungeons doesn't bother you, and allotting a little bit more of your adventuring budget to camping supplies. But pllllleeeeaaase don't call this game a cakewalk if you're camping every 3-5 encounters.

[Cantousent]

I think folks are well within their rights to use anything available in the game. If folks can rest, rest away! However, the 'too easy' and 'too hard' crowds will be there no matter what. It's just going to happen and unless there's a huge flood of complaints on the issue, which there hasn't been, I wouldn't worry about either one.

[Emerwyn]

By my experience so far, as long as you are not travelling to different areas to use "free rests" because you're running out of camping supplies, you're playing it right. If you can beat levels using only the resources within that level + camping supplies, then you're doing well. If you find that's a bit too easy, you need to up the difficulty up to the point where you find that levels are challenging enough to require you to exhaust most or all of your resources and almost force you to leave the area to return in a better condition.

 

The Path of the Damned difficulty is hard enough to force everyone into thinking cleverly about how to use every tool at their disposal, so the game will never get "too easy" for those who are looking for a challenge, at least as far as I've played myself. Just need to adjust the difficulty level appropriately to suit your own level which should be given by the sum of party synergy power+playstyle+skill level+IE prowess. 

Edited March 30, 2015 by Emerwyn

[Syraxis]

I respect your right to rest-spam. Really, I do! Nothing wrong with deciding that resting in dungeons doesn't bother you, and allotting a little bit more of your adventuring budget to camping supplies. But pllllleeeeaaase don't call this game a cakewalk if you're camping every 3-5 encounters.

 

Well how else would you do it? If you're like me and you have three casters in your party (druid, wizard, priest), not resting when needed leaves you with party members (specifically the wizard and druid) that can't perform their group roles to their full capability.

[Prime-Mover]

Because people are still adding their 2¢ to the too easy / too hard debate, I thought it was worth pointing out that, as with the Infinity Engine games, the level of challenge in Pillars of Eternity is largely dependent on how much resting you allow yourself to do. So if you find yourself wishing hard mode was harder, try going through entire dungeons (or in the case of Od Nua, dungeon floors) without resting.

 

You might be surprised at how tense run-of-the-mill battles can be. Also, how much more rewarding victory can be.

 

Think of it from a roleplaying standpoint. Is that mob of xaurips in the other room really not going to notice the sound of you slaughtering their companions down the hall, and just stand there doing nothing for eight hours? Would charname and co. really just roll out the sleeping bags right then and there?

 

I respect your right to rest-spam. Really, I do! Nothing wrong with deciding that resting in dungeons doesn't bother you, and allotting a little bit more of your adventuring budget to camping supplies. But pllllleeeeaaase don't call this game a cakewalk if you're camping every 3-5 encounters.

It's perhaps a matter of personality, but insofar as a game will reward you not to roleplay, I think many people will be turned off from the idea of skipping rest just to make it more challenging. It's kind of like handicapping yourself when playing a game with children, to amuse them. Sure, it's fun the first couple of games, but then you start looking for a non-fake challenge. And if you like me, are not a roleplayer at heart, you prefer to let other people create the fantasy and reactivity for you.