And given exactly how difficulty scales in BG, it would be just as easy, as the tactics revolve around never being hit and kiting stuff.
If another difficulty meant every character switched to a ranged weapon after being unable to melee you for 10 seconds, the game would be flat out impossible. If they still chase you sword in hand, it doesn't matter if they deal 10 times the normal damage.
BGEE difficulty slider primarily affects mob DAMAGE, so drop the fighter class. Then the gear restrictions, lower HP, crits (no helmet), lower THAC0, poor AC, proficiency caps... all help give the kobolds a sporting chance.
I concur that self control also helps a great deal - stats and exploits. I personally enjoy the stealth game but play a swashee so I can't backstab.
I'm running a solo thief dual mage, and I'm challenged by most encounter battles and even some trash mobs. Challenge yields satisfaction, so make your own challenges.
You guys need SCS. It will instantly turn the game at least twice as hard. The enemies start to run around instead of standing still while you hack them away and they'll actually try to target your mages first etc.
That said, the game is still extremely poorly balanced. Far worse than BG1 was. For example Find Familiar? Quadruple your mages hit points on level 1. Some of the kits are far too good for low levels and some are nearly useless such as monk Rasaad.
DO a Streaker run wearing/using only Algernon's cloak on insane..... (you can beat the core game like that, but obviously the X-pack areas will be a no go..well.. at least Furry Isle is.)
Welcome to Baldur's Gate. It's D&D; if you understand the game you shouldn't struggle to beat any encounter, ever. BG's difficulty stems entirely from knowledge. You either get it or you don't.
This thread has inspired me to try a no reroll, no stat-shuffling, no reload (I won't even quick-save) gnome wizard slayer solo run on insane difficulty. He's got 11str, 12dex, 10con, 15int, 14wis, 18cha (I know, he's OP with an 18). I will give him profs in war hammer and sword & shield to add a cheesy zest.
His name is Raelph.
Candlekeep awaits!
EDIT: The hardest part has been avoiding the quick-save reflex I have. Caught myself quick-saving at the site of the ambush. Deleted. A wolf has brought my supply of healing potions (I introduced another rule with Immy—no trading with NPCs that have joined despite objections; they are immediately dismissed so only the meager gold they give me changes hands) down to three (I purchased three at the temple in Candlekeep, using my ill-gotten funds from pestering Firebead).
Moving to the next map, I have been waylaid by enemies. Six gibberlings surround our hapless hero.
I have a bad feeling about this.
EDIT 2: He got one gibberling (after downing one healing potion) before another chunked him. I was down four hit points and hesitated on the healing potion, gambling that I could take one more hit.
I couldn't take the one more hit, apparently. Must've been a crit!
So, yeah, if you make insane choices on insane difficulty…
As for HoF mode (in IWD2 at least) doen't that pretty much turn into a summon-fest?
I can just imagine a guy standing there in the forest, in one hand a healing potion, while a salivating gibbering gnaws away at his leg...slowly biting deeper, until it hits bone and major arteries...armor splinters with a crack, blood splatters over freshly blossomed wild flowers... but the character sucks down the pain between screams of agony and waits it out, he only has ONE POTION!
Well, one of the first thing to raise the difficulty is to play the game without exploits : no reload on leveling up if your Hp are too low, no reload when you failed to scribe your spells, no pre buffs before the battle nor placing your character adequately because you know where the ennemies are or where the traps are. Using the first stats rolls on character creation also helps.
I tried with different characters to solo the game on insane, sure it can be easy with some kits and when maxing out your stats and hp, but if you don't use any exploit, it's much more challenging. Playing with no reload is for me very hard, because a single archer ennemy can one shot a 5 level thief (considering an average hp roll).
- No pre-buffing (for most battles) - No casting outside of your enemies LoS - No multiple thief traps - No opening a door, casting cloudkill, closing door (BG2)
I don't know, that last one sounds pretty hilarious.
I just finished BGEE with a solo Fighter/Mage/Thief on Insane difficulty and although I really love this game I was dissapointed by the lack of challenge, even with a lone character (so with 6...). The only fight I found somewhat difficult was the last one against Sarevok (I got him by running around from him for about 10 mn, killing him slowly with magic arrows). I did not use any cheat nor XP cap remover (so my levels were 6/6/7 at the end). Is there a way that Overhaul could possibly add a level of difficulty in a later patch? Thanks!
SWORD COAST STRATAGEMS
It'll be out soonish, and believe me you will rue the fucking day you called Baldur's Gate easy
Great, can't wait for SCS then! I understand what many of you guys are saying, but I must say I prefer to play a very hard game and trying to make the best character I can to beat it (and still struggle), than to have to strip my character and go out naked just in order to challenge myself...
@Quineloe I am personnally not using these exploits, and have been playing BG for 15 years. I just think BGEE should have been an opportunity to at least adding a level of difficulty (such as HOF), which I don't think was that complicated to do...
Welcome to Baldur's Gate. It's D&D; if you understand the game you shouldn't struggle to beat any encounter, ever. BG's difficulty stems entirely from knowledge. You either get it or you don't.
This basically, I just went through BG for the second time in a 12 year period, I found it difficult especially while low level basically because of having to learn as I went. Getting further in the game I started having less and less problems as I was becoming more experienced in battles and overall game knowledge. For those of us who have not overplayed BG its a challenging game.
Too much challenge is frustrating, too little challenge is boring. The sweet spot is in the middle, and everyone's middle is different - It's not the fault of game companies or designers if they missed your middle.
"Accessible" games prolly bore most of us hard core guys, but it generally maximizes sales. Try Demon Souls or Grimrock, and a few other kickstarter efforts. Targeting hardcore gamers is proving a successful business plan, so maybe we will see more of it.
Thankx for the SCS tip. I dream of the day when the difficulty slider varies the opponent AI. Varying mob damage just makes your HP matter too much, so the BGEE slider is kinda useless.
It'll be out soonish, and believe me you will rue the fucking day you called Baldur's Gate easy
SCS is great, but I hope I can turn off the feature that makes mages run away endlessly. It's very dull trying to chase mages down when the BG engine makes it impossible to hit a moving target because they have moved out of range before the blow lands.
Great, can't wait for SCS then! I understand what many of you guys are saying, but I must say I prefer to play a very hard game and trying to make the best character I can to beat it (and still struggle), than to have to strip my character and go out naked just in order to challenge myself...
I actually had to cheat past the final boss on BG1 Tutu SCS because it was so hard, just masses of really tough enemies and particularly spellcasters. Admittedly I was using a crappy dual-class fighter->mage that hadn't hit his stride at all.
How To Make Baldur's Gate Difficulty More Interesting (for me)
1) Solo a 50 point (or less) wild mage drunk (and you are drunk too) 2) Disable auto-pause, rest only in the wilderness. 3) Turn off your monitor at each battle. 4) Call the police at the start of each ambush, tell them you're under attack. 5) Bacon.
I don't know if Overhaul did this (or was allowed to do this), but one thing that would be nice is if kits were added to some of the enemies, especially the end of chapter bosses.
I'd have to agree that the game is too easy. The number of enemies has been reduced and the black pits are WAY too easy. Granted, I've only seen Youtube let's plays and complaints on the forums, but I am aware that this is a problem. I believe that in trying to appeal to a wider audience Overhaul reduced the challenge of the original; one of it's most charming traits.
It's a reasonable move from a business perspective, but I imagine that a "Hardcore Patch" is in order; many of us old grognards have mixed feelings about some of the changes, the difficulty drop being high on our list of pet peeves.
Comments
If another difficulty meant every character switched to a ranged weapon after being unable to melee you for 10 seconds, the game would be flat out impossible. If they still chase you sword in hand, it doesn't matter if they deal 10 times the normal damage.
I concur that self control also helps a great deal - stats and exploits. I personally enjoy the stealth game but play a swashee so I can't backstab.
I'm running a solo thief dual mage, and I'm challenged by most encounter battles and even some trash mobs. Challenge yields satisfaction, so make your own challenges.
That said, the game is still extremely poorly balanced. Far worse than BG1 was. For example Find Familiar? Quadruple your mages hit points on level 1. Some of the kits are far too good for low levels and some are nearly useless such as monk Rasaad.
No levelling.
Enjoy your easiness.
His name is Raelph.
Candlekeep awaits!
EDIT: The hardest part has been avoiding the quick-save reflex I have. Caught myself quick-saving at the site of the ambush. Deleted. A wolf has brought my supply of healing potions (I introduced another rule with Immy—no trading with NPCs that have joined despite objections; they are immediately dismissed so only the meager gold they give me changes hands) down to three (I purchased three at the temple in Candlekeep, using my ill-gotten funds from pestering Firebead).
Moving to the next map, I have been waylaid by enemies. Six gibberlings surround our hapless hero.
I have a bad feeling about this.
EDIT 2: He got one gibberling (after downing one healing potion) before another chunked him. I was down four hit points and hesitated on the healing potion, gambling that I could take one more hit.
I couldn't take the one more hit, apparently. Must've been a crit!
So, yeah, if you make insane choices on insane difficulty…
As for HoF mode (in IWD2 at least) doen't that pretty much turn into a summon-fest?
I tried with different characters to solo the game on insane, sure it can be easy with some kits and when maxing out your stats and hp, but if you don't use any exploit, it's much more challenging. Playing with no reload is for me very hard, because a single archer ennemy can one shot a 5 level thief (considering an average hp roll).
It'll be out soonish, and believe me you will rue the fucking day you called Baldur's Gate easy
"Accessible" games prolly bore most of us hard core guys, but it generally maximizes sales. Try Demon Souls or Grimrock, and a few other kickstarter efforts. Targeting hardcore gamers is proving a successful business plan, so maybe we will see more of it.
Thankx for the SCS tip. I dream of the day when the difficulty slider varies the opponent AI. Varying mob damage just makes your HP matter too much, so the BGEE slider is kinda useless.
Ah nvm guess it's pending
1) Solo a 50 point (or less) wild mage drunk (and you are drunk too)
2) Disable auto-pause, rest only in the wilderness.
3) Turn off your monitor at each battle.
4) Call the police at the start of each ambush, tell them you're under attack.
5) Bacon.
3) Turn off your monitor at each battle.
This really made me laugh out loud... may I suggest to turn off the audio as well for a really challenging battle?
It's a reasonable move from a business perspective, but I imagine that a "Hardcore Patch" is in order; many of us old grognards have mixed feelings about some of the changes, the difficulty drop being high on our list of pet peeves.