Trying To Make The Game Harder

[Baron Bawookles]

 So I'm at 8th level playing on "Hard" difficulty and the game is too damn easy. I don't feel like starting over and doing a PoTD run-through, but I do feel like changing things around to try to make the game more challenging.

 

 My current party consists of 6 custom characters: monk, paladin, druid, wizard, cypher, priest.

 

 I refuse to use any of the guns or rifles because they are OP and they just don't belong in a fantasy setting imo. I'm also considering dropping the cypher as she is just too OP and makes combat way too easy.

 

 Besides dropping the cypher, what else would you recommend for making the game harder on myself?

[gkathellar]

All melee, all the time.

 

Hard mode gogogo

 

 

they just don't belong in a fantasy setting imo

 

This is like saying that plate mail doesn't belong in a fantasy setting.

 

Because the two were always contemporaneous in actual history.

 

heyooooooooo

[mazeltov]

1. Drop the Cipher
2. Only rest upon looting a Camping Supplies
3. No figurines
4. No summons
5. No consumables
6. No Petrify, Paralyze, Confuse, Charm, Dominate, Stuck, or Prone (single target Prone is okay; Charm can be used in response to being Charmed)
7. No "Prone on Crit" weapons
8. No Retaliate gear
9. No use of bugged talents or abilities (requires significant metagame knowledge)

No fun allowed. Final destination.

[Luckmann]

 

1. Drop the Cipher
2. Only rest upon looting a Camping Supplies
3. No figurines
4. No summons
5. No consumables
6. No Petrify, Paralyze, Confuse, Charm, Dominate, Stuck, or Prone (single target Prone is okay; Charm can be used in response to being Charmed)
7. No "Prone on Crit" weapons
8. No Retaliate gear
9. No use of bugged talents or abilities (requires significant metagame knowledge)

No fun allowed. Final destination.

 

 

You have mastered the Sawyeran School of Game Mechanics. There is nothing more this forum can teach you. Go forth and and ruin fun everywhere, Mazeltov-San.

[luzarius]

Start over and play on POTD Trial of Iron, it's the best way to experience the game.

 

Save scumming ruins gaming.

[mazeltov]

Bonus level:

1. No pathing abuse
2. No kiting abuse a.k.a. line-of-sight abuse
3. No doorway abuse
4. No dropping combat
5. No "invulnerability" abuse e.g. Withdrawal
6. No Moonlikes
7. No Blunderbusses
8. No Stun

Among other things, the rest restriction makes Field Triage and Wound Binding useful picks. Also makes Athletics over 3 useful.

 

 

Protip: Wound Binding/Field Triage scales with Might.

Edited April 18, 2015 by mazeltov

[Crucis]

 So I'm at 8th level playing on "Hard" difficulty and the game is too damn easy. I don't feel like starting over and doing a PoTD run-through, but I do feel like changing things around to try to make the game more challenging.

 

 My current party consists of 6 custom characters: monk, paladin, druid, wizard, cypher, priest.

 

 I refuse to use any of the guns or rifles because they are OP and they just don't belong in a fantasy setting imo. I'm also considering dropping the cypher as she is just too OP and makes combat way too easy.

 

 Besides dropping the cypher, what else would you recommend for making the game harder on myself?

 

I'm not  sure that the guns are OP.  Pistols and Arquebus seem on par with the damage you get from Arbalests.  That said, I have no problem whatsoever with the stance that guns don't belong in a fantasy setting.  If that floats your boat, more power to you.

 

As for the game's difficulty, I'd say that one of the roots of your problem is that you're using custom NPC's rather than the pre-made NPC's.  The pre-mades aren't optimized for maximum potential and efficiency, and usually custom NPCs are.

 

In my current party, I'm using a cipher PC, 4 pre-mades, and a custom (but only mildly optimized) Hearth Orlan Rogue.  I really wanted a rogue for traditional rogue jobs, i.e. dealing with traps and locks, but really wanted to try out a cipher PC. 

 

[Baron Bawookles]

 

1. Drop the Cipher
2. Only rest upon looting a Camping Supplies
3. No figurines
4. No summons
5. No consumables
6. No Petrify, Paralyze, Confuse, Charm, Dominate, Stuck, or Prone (single target Prone is okay; Charm can be used in response to being Charmed)
7. No "Prone on Crit" weapons
8. No Retaliate gear
9. No use of bugged talents or abilities (requires significant metagame knowledge)

No fun allowed. Final destination.

 

 

 This is a good list. And I think it will make things quite a bit more fun, actually. Thanks.

[Tigranes]

6 custom characters is the most powerful party you can possibly have, making things way easier. 

 

Try 3-4, taking premade NPCs if you want. 

 

mazeltov's rules would make things much harder too. I wouldn't take 5,6,7,8 as they are too restrictive, though. I think POTD on ~3 characters can be fun enough.

[Luckmann]

[...]

 

Protip: Wound Binding/Field Triage scales with Might.

 

I don't actually mind the Might thing as a concept, if the Attributes were balanced better (which they're not), but I must say that now I have the image in my head of the angriest man-nurse slapping bandages on SO HARD.

[Baron Bawookles]

 

[...]

 

Protip: Wound Binding/Field Triage scales with Might.

 

I don't actually mind the Might thing as a concept, if the Attributes were balanced better (which they're not), but I must say that now I have the image in my head of the angriest man-nurse slapping bandages on SO HARD.

 

 

 If it's a female nurse slapping bandages on SO HARD, i'll take it.

[gkathellar]

 

 

[...]

 

Protip: Wound Binding/Field Triage scales with Might.

 

I don't actually mind the Might thing as a concept, if the Attributes were balanced better (which they're not), but I must say that now I have the image in my head of the angriest man-nurse slapping bandages on SO HARD.

 

 

 If it's a female nurse slapping bandages on SO HARD, i'll take it.

 

 

Too much information, man! Nobody on the internet wants to know about your kinks!

 

... uh.

 

Nobody on this forum wants to know about your ... okay, look, save that for PMs or whatever. I'm too chaste and innocent for that crap.

[mazeltov]

For anyone trying the rest restriction from post #3, another way to do it would be to keep a tally of Camping Supplies looted/found as "rest tokens." These could be spent like a currency to rest anywhere. This allows the player to make use of inn rest bonuses, for example. The overall goal of limiting total rests to the number of Camping Supplies spawned in world containers is maintained.

 

Besides making Athletics, Field Triage, and Wound Binding valuable, this challenge would also make things like Goldrot Chew valuable, as a way to stave off Fatigue between rests.

[Climhazzard]

Try not using a full party of custom companions.  Rather than giving yourself limitations that eliminate tactical options, which would make combat simpler and possibly just as boring, you might be better off switching to PotD if hard is too easy.

 

If you really don't want to switch though, try limiting the gear you equip, like nothing better than fine or nothing with enchantments at all.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Climhazzard

[KDubya]

For anyone trying the rest restriction from post #3, another way to do it would be to keep a tally of Camping Supplies looted/found as "rest tokens." These could be spent like a currency to rest anywhere. This allows the player to make use of inn rest bonuses, for example. The overall goal of limiting total rests to the number of Camping Supplies spawned in world containers is maintained.

 

Besides making Athletics, Field Triage, and Wound Binding valuable, this challenge would also make things like Goldrot Chew valuable, as a way to stave off Fatigue between rests.

 

 

How are the goldrot chews supposed to work? When my fatigued guy takes them it does not seem to do anything.

 

Do you have to take them before you get fatigued?

 

 

 

The house rules I use are:

 

1.) No godmode races. - the AoE heal 3 times per fight would be an awesome high level ability. As a free racial ability it is just crazy. The level scaling fire shield is another "I win" ability.

 

2.) No retaliation gear - too passive aggressive and to me is un-fun.

 

3.) No exploit/bug abuse/cheese - This is rather subjective but I like to go with the paraphrased "Cheese, I can't define it but I know it when I see it" Setting a trap in stealth along the route that a monster will take and then shooting with a bow to get them to run over the trap is a good tactic. Running in and out of LoS to get a bunch of monsters strung out until there is only one or a few left to attack you - this is cheese.

 

4.) Don't reload a save to do an encounter again. If your party gets wiped then you can reload, but no reload until everything works perfectly.

 

5.) Turn off the AoE display for your spells. No more does your wizard have a GPS linked to a rangefinder to allow for placement of fireballs to within millimeters of your own crew. You need to estimate the distance and sometimes you miss a few enemies and sometimes your melee gets a little singed.

[DracoSpirit86]

Funny fact 74: Gun's and platemail spent plenty of time with each other on the battlefield historically.

 

I can't remember the exact dates, but gunpowder weapons in a medieval setting is more realist than most people like to think... even if early guns basically sucked!

Edited April 20, 2015 by DracoSpirit86

[mazeltov]

How are the goldrot chews supposed to work? When my fatigued guy takes them it does not seem to do anything.

 

Do you have to take them before you get fatigued?

 

-----

 

5.) Turn off the AoE display for your spells. No more does your wizard have a GPS linked to a rangefinder to allow for placement of fireballs to within millimeters of your own crew. You need to estimate the distance and sometimes you miss a few enemies and sometimes your melee gets a little singed.

 

 

Good question. Tried them earlier and Fatigue level didn't seem to drop (or if it did, the debuff symbol was still there). Another one for the bug pile, probably.

 

Re: Expert Mode, no spell radius. Woof. That's a tough one. I actually have a character currently using Expert Mode, but I'm so afraid of friendly fire that I only use Foe AoE spells. 

[KDubya]

The no spell radius shown and calling in AoE attacks is like giving your own coordinates to the jets on close air support. Sometimes it is better to go in a blaze of glory if it stops the horde and saves the team.

 

With a high intellect you still have the huge area of foe only so there is plenty of wiggle room there. I think a character circle is one meter in diameter so you can gauge the distance by that.

 

This one change has made combat more exciting, at least in my opinion.

[MadDemiurg]

Tbh you can easily learn all spell aoe in standard scale (I did), so its more annoying than challenging really.

[Baron Bawookles]

Funny fact 74: Gun's and platemail spent plenty of time with each other on the battlefield historically.

 

I can't remember the exact dates, but gunpowder weapons in a medieval setting is more realist than most people like to think... even if early guns basically sucked!

 

 I can see how that would be historically true, but PoE, like a D&D world, is a fantasy world, not history. And like a fantasy world in D&D, I don't want to see guns.

[DracoSpirit86]

It's ok!

 

I just think it's funny people never want to see guns in medieval style fantasy, yet are fine with full-plate, dispute historically both seeing each other plenty.

[Baron Bawookles]

It's ok!

 

I just think it's funny people never want to see guns in medieval style fantasy, yet are fine with full-plate, dispute historically both seeing each other plenty.

 

 I see your point but for me D&D was a fantasy world that had full plate and no guns so that's what I want to see from a game trying to evoke games like Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale.

[iKrivetko]

Play a TCS paladin with no summoning items, traps and consumables. Oh, and don't put points in skills either.