If you're getting bored of the game, here's why.

[luzarius]

................... You need to up the difficulty, simple as that.

 

The best way to experience the story of the game is with the following difficulty and game mode, TRUST ME.

 

Difficulty: Path of the Damned

Mode: Trial of Iron

 

The game is too easy unless you play on path of the damned in trial of iron mode. After playing in the above mode for about an hour, I have to admit, the game is ten times better. I find myself far more engrossed in every part of the games story now. Every decision you make in the game is life or death.  But, I don't recommend playing this way lightly, it's HARD, but highly rewarding.

 

Example:

 

In the beginning of the game you have a chance to save Heodan or leave him behind.  On Path of the Damned difficulty, the decision to save him actually made sense.  I sat there and thought to myself, if I let Heodan die, then my chances for survival shoot way down.  I need Heodan. But the only option I had was to throw my weapon and lose that weapon. I love my spear, for POTD difficulty the spear provided me with accuracy so I can actually land hits on my enemies.   I had to choose between my spear and Heodan since I didn't have high enough dexterity.

 

Guess what I did?

 

I threw the spear and saved Heodan knowing that his extra damage would help me in the long run.  But now instead of a spear I'm using a dagger since it gives me that accuracy I need to land hits.

 

Conclusion

 

I now feel what these characters are going through.  When Heodan talks about how difficult it is to move forward, I understand completely. Path of the Damned difficulty matches the same intensity of the story.

 

SUMMARY: If the intensity of the story does not match the difficulty of the game, then you won't feel challenged, therefore you will become bored.

 

The only problem is POTD is difficult and Trial of Iron is unforgiving. But now I find myself highly interested in every single part of the game, hanging upon every word muttered (almost every word).

 

Update...

 

I DIED TO A THRONG OF BOARS AT MAGRANS AREA. POTD TRIAL OF IRON.

 

 

I learned what I did wrong though.  Basically when there are too many enemies, I need to lay down that healing circle that Durance has, then buff the parties damage reduction with his other spell.  This base tactic will ensure that I have enough time to deal damage.

Edited April 16, 2015 by luzarius

[View619]

Trial of Iron does not increase difficulty, it just forces you to play more conservatively. And POTD suffers from the same issues that you'll find in Hard, ensuring that a handful of tactics make battles easy every time.

 

Unfortunately, POTD is the only mode with any sort of difficulty at all but that doesn't make it as challenging as the description suggests.

Edited April 16, 2015 by View619

[luzarius]

Trial of Iron does not increase difficulty,

 

IMO Trial of Iron does increase difficulty, because if you lose a single battle, you're dead. It forces you to accept the difficult challenge presented in front of you in its entiriety.  You must understand the fight or die.

 

 

it just forces you to play more conservatively. And POTD suffers from the same issues that you'll find in Hard, ensuring that a handful of tactics make battles easy every time.

 

Unfortunately, POTD is the only mode with any sort of difficulty at all but that doesn't make it as challenging as the description suggests.

 

Crap, I was hoping POTD would be a challenge all the way to the end of the game.

Edited April 16, 2015 by luzarius

[InfiniteEternity]

Trial of Iron does not increase difficulty, it just forces you to play more conservatively. And POTD suffers from the same issues that you'll find in Hard, ensuring that a handful of tactics make battles easy every time.

 

Unfortunately, POTD is the only mode with any sort of difficulty at all but that doesn't make it as challenging as the description suggests.

potd isnt the main culprit here. PoE's general lack of strategy/game mechanics are.

[luzarius]

 

Trial of Iron does not increase difficulty, it just forces you to play more conservatively. And POTD suffers from the same issues that you'll find in Hard, ensuring that a handful of tactics make battles easy every time.

 

Unfortunately, POTD is the only mode with any sort of difficulty at all but that doesn't make it as challenging as the description suggests.

potd isnt the main culprit here. PoE's general lack of strategy/game mechanics are.

 

Maybe I haven't played the game enough, but I think the game does offer a lot of strategy.  The fact that positioning plays such a huge role is a vital part of any combat mechanic.

[G2Revelation]

You will always have those in a crowd that complain that it is too hard.

You will always have those in a crowd that complain that it is too easy.

 

You have the group that maximizes attributes and talents, calculates every advantage and builds accordingly. Subsequently, these same individuals often find the game too easy because they've already maximized their character and party to the point that everything else is made substantially easier. 

 

You have the group that doesn't maximize attributes and talents (either intentionally or not) and so they often have "sub-optimal" builds that make the game more challenging. Members of this group sometimes complain the game is too hard. 

 

You have the group that emphasizes RP and builds characters for flavor and feel rather than power and advantage. This group often faces a more challenging game experience than the min/max group but rarely complains about the difficulty of the game because it's self-imposed and they know and accept that. 

 

Point being, disregard the opinions of others and play the game the way you want to play it; that's the beauty of a single player game. 

 

To the OP;

 

You offer an interesting perspective and something to consider. Perhaps an increase in the game's difficulty would increase immersion. 

[Monte Carlo]

I get bored when after an epic battle with an army of tough, wizard chasing enemies, I get nothing back except some trash items and crafting material. My team are battered and bruised, abilities used up, consumables taken.

 

Not even any XP after I've 'discovered' everything about that enemy.

 

[Concordance]

I found the game to be made more difficult and enjoyable (on Hard no less) with two self-imposed rules that tie in nicely together:

 

1) No knockouts. If anyone in the party is knocked out, reload (aiming for the No Knockouts achievement)

 

2) Rest only when the party physically cannot continue, such as Critical Fatigue, Health < Max Endurance before a large fight, etc.

 

The game is quite exciting with this approach. I actively utilize consumables, craft food and potions and even pull out scrolls to get an extra fight in before my tanks can't carry on any further. It feels like all of the game mechanics fall into place - I naturally ration spells and use food/potions/traps/scrolls to maximize number of fights between rests. Squeezing one more fight of a Moderately Fatigued party with nearly dead skirmishers and exhausted spellcasters is incredibly satisfying. As an added bonus, I don't need to think about resting supplies since I replenish them faster than I use them up.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Concordance

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Use the IE mod's tactics component and the game gets a bit more challenging. Still will steamroll stuff if you are a good level though, with the exception of the Dank Spores, which are the only difficult enemy I've ran into so far.

[luzarius]

You will always have those in a crowd that complain that it is too hard.

You will always have those in a crowd that complain that it is too easy.

 

You have the group that maximizes attributes and talents, calculates every advantage and builds accordingly. Subsequently, these same individuals often find the game too easy because they've already maximized their character and party to the point that everything else is made substantially easier. 

 

You have the group that doesn't maximize attributes and talents (either intentionally or not) and so they often have "sub-optimal" builds that make the game more challenging. Members of this group sometimes complain the game is too hard. 

 

You have the group that emphasizes RP and builds characters for flavor and feel rather than power and advantage. This group often faces a more challenging game experience than the min/max group but rarely complains about the difficulty of the game because it's self-imposed and they know and accept that. 

 

Point being, disregard the opinions of others and play the game the way you want to play it; that's the beauty of a single player game. 

 

To the OP;

 

You offer an interesting perspective and something to consider. Perhaps an increase in the game's difficulty would increase immersion. 

 

When I first started playing I was horrible at the game and could barley survive Normal, but then I figured it out.  Then I tried hard difficulty, after a while I figured that difficulty out as well.  Now that I'm playing on POTD, I believe this is the true POE experience especially with Trial of Iron turned on. I've always been about immersion and IMO difficulty and immersion go hand in hand. If you don't feel the danger that is presented in the story of the game, then you're not immersed fully.

 

Trust me, give it a try you won't regret it.

 

You do have a point however.  I am min/maxing to a certain degree. I'm playing as a fighter with constant recovery.  One thing I've learned about POTD difficulty, it's all about survival first then the amount of damage you can dish (trial of iron gave me this perspective).

 

I will not make my own companions though, I"m looking forward to the companions given to me in the game with their RP skillsets.

 

Trial of Iron is only fun until you die (which will happen, since you can't disengage from a battle even if you see that you are going to lose it)

 

A good RPG is one that you can keep playing over & over again, re-rolling new characters and experiencing the game in a different way.  POE is definitely one of these games, like Dragon Age Origins for example. If you die, you should look to the positive that you can try a new character and re-experience the games interesting story.

Edited April 16, 2015 by luzarius

[Rumpelstilskin]

Trial of Iron is only fun until you die (which will happen, since you can't disengage from a battle even if you see that you are going to lose it)

[Ardan Reddy]

Best way to balance the difficulty in this game to one's own skill in it is party size and/or composition. Even easy mode can be challenging at times if playing a solo character.

Playing on Hard with a Pally, Ranger, and Priest is about the perfect difficulty level for me. Come close to being wiped a few times, which is how it should be.

[sim-h]

You certainly don't need Heoden at the start on PotD as any weaponless Monk who doesn't conicidentally equip a weaopn just in case he needs to throw it (!) will attest. In fact you get more XP without him

 

I was using PotD and Trial of Iron but it is too easy to cheat Trial of Iron, rendering it pointless. Are you going to start again 30 hours in? I don't think so. Maybe it makes sense on subsequent 'full' playthroughs. And PotD just gets boring as the difficulty just means more of everything in combat, *yawn* 3 bears and 6 boars instead of 2 bears and 4 boars.

 

I found 'Expert Mode' more interesting, and now play on Hard, Expert Mode.

[Jimmious]

You guys are too good at gaming or have too much time to spend on it , so you get to learn everything. For me Hard Difficulty is actually Hard most of the time. I've been wiped quite some times actually. I would never play this game in Iron Mode simply due to its size. If Im like 60 hours in and I die its game over...That would hurt.

I guess I could min max and find all the best tactics if I had the time but...I don't.
 

[luzarius]

You guys are too good at gaming or have too much time to spend on it , so you get to learn everything. For me Hard Difficulty is actually Hard most of the time. I've been wiped quite some times actually. I would never play this game in Iron Mode simply due to its size. If Im like 60 hours in and I die its game over...That would hurt.

 

I guess I could min max and find all the best tactics if I had the time but...I don't.

 

 

Nothing wrong with that, there are many games I've played Trial Of Iron/No Death on normal/hard difficulty.  You're also right about the time.  If you don't have a lot of time then lower difficulty will match how much experience you have with the game.

 

On a side note.

 

I DIED TO A THRONG OF BOARS AT MAGRANS AREA. POTD TRIAL OF IRON.

 

Edited April 16, 2015 by luzarius

[LadyCrimson]

Potentially dying more often does not always = less boring. Sometimes, but not always. It depends on why one is getting bored, I would think.

[Tigranes]

Trial of Iron is only fun until you die (which will happen, since you can't disengage from a battle even if you see that you are going to lose it)

 

Take a disengagement hit, run. If you took Fast Runner or had some other means of increased movement speed (e.g. items), you'll eventually shake most/all of them. 

 

If you're engaged by many enemies or are 1 hit away from death, well, your fault for getting to that. 

[Rumpelstilskin]

 

Trial of Iron is only fun until you die (which will happen, since you can't disengage from a battle even if you see that you are going to lose it)

 

Take a disengagement hit, run. If you took Fast Runner or had some other means of increased movement speed (e.g. items), you'll eventually shake most/all of them. 

 

If you're engaged by many enemies or are 1 hit away from death, well, your fault for getting to that. 

 

Hmm is it actually possible to have the combat end before all aggroed monsters are killed? I definitely recall cases where one guy somewhere was still aggroed, and while he couldn't see me and didn't attack, the combat wouldn't end until I kill him.

[RedSocialKnight]

Hmm is it actually possible to have the combat end before all aggroed monsters are killed? I definitely recall cases where one guy somewhere was still aggroed, and while he couldn't see me and didn't attack, the combat wouldn't end until I kill him.

 

Yeah, and you can't leave the area til combat ends either. I had one case where my last survivor was running in circles hoping the mobs would give up the chase, but they never did and I just had to reload.

[Tigranes]

You can't leave the area, but when you get far enough away from enemies, combat ends. (Sometimes enemies can be very persistent, though, and the area where you can safely run around might be too small.)

 

Combat actually ends a bit too easily. If you lure forest trolls to fight the bandits who stole the smith's shipment in Black Meadow, for example, then run away, kill the one guy that follows you, you might find that combat ends. You wander back to where they're smacking each other, and combat doesn't begin for you again until one of them decides to engage you instead of each other. 

[Rumpelstilskin]

It probably depends on the encounter setup. I think I remember some guys returning to their original positions when I ran far enough, even though they could clearly still see me, but I'm also pretty sure the Adra Dragon won't let you end the combat even if run to the other side of the map. Also, you'd need spells, potions, or skills to be able to outrun most enemies.