Elex Ultra difficulty - Ouch

Wisdom

Wisdom

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So....
I'm a sucker for tactical punishment as most of you know.
I usually play games on the hardest possible mode.
(Except hardcore delete save types, screw that nonsense.)

Open admission that Ultra Elex is kicking my ass and I think I'm going to play one step down. Ultra mode here seems to turn every monster into a mini-boss that hits like a brick. Literally you can be one shot by a rat.

I openly admit I'm not the godlike FPS twitch player but this mode is seriously difficult for me. This is coming from someone that played all the Gothics and Risens on max difficulty. Ultra is just something else here. 55 hits to kill a bird is a bit much.

I feel this mode doesn't add any tactical changes, just HP & STR bloat off the charts.
 
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dafuq Wisdom? Only people here who insist on playing every game "nightmare" are dart and JDR.
Don't follow their steps, there's an abyss waiting.
 
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Wimp. :p
 
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I played on Ultra from the start. It's not a hard game, you just have to understand how it's designed. You're not meant to fight anything beyond a clumsy rotboar or runt whatever for awhile, at least until you either get a companion (Duras) or level up from doing other quests. Once you start getting decent gear, skills and a companion you can venture into starting to kill stuff slightly stronger than runts territory, and then the combat in the game starts progressing from there.

You can also buy grenades to help but it's an expensive playstyle. Alb spells are very powerful at early level, too. Force Push, Drone Control and those spells will help you take out stronger enemies at lower level than you normally would be able to, especially if you have a companion.

I've only died a few times in the whole game probably after just treating it as a survival RPG more than a kill all monsters RPG. And once you get powerful later in the game you can start slaughtering mostly everything that moves (and reaping much higher XP rewards.)
 
Wisdom said:
So….
I'm a sucker for tactical punishment as most of you know.
I usually play games on the hardest possible mode.
(Except hardcore delete save types, screw that nonsense.)

Open admission that Ultra Elex is kicking my ass and I think I'm going to play one step down. Ultra mode here seems to turn every monster into a mini-boss that hits like a brick. Literally you can be one shot by a rat.

I openly admit I'm not the godlike FPS twitch player but this mode is seriously difficult for me. This is coming from someone that played all the Gothics and Risens on max difficulty. Ultra is just something else here. 55 hits to kill a bird is a bit much.

I feel this mode doesn't add any tactical changes, just HP & STR bloat off the charts.
Click to expand...

The way the difficulty works in this game is really not about how "hard" it is - but about how long you're going to have to wait until it becomes doable to fight stuff.

For some reason, PB decided to make the first many hours about doing quests with little or no combat.

That's how you're supposed to progress for a long time.

Then, at a point that will depend on the difficulty setting - you will reach a stage where things can be killed without you dying.

Being a PB game, I'm sure it will eventually become trivial no matter what difficulty - it will just take longer.

So, you have to ask yourself how meaningful it is to put it on "Ultra". I think the psychology is supposed to be that it's more satisfying to finally become powerful the longer you wait for it.

It doesn't really work for me, though, because I don't feel powerful based on linear number progression. I tend to feel powerful based on smart development choices and skillful execution of combat moves.

Those don't really seem to be a factor in Elex - at least not so far. Meaning, anyone can be powerful as long as they're willing to wait for it.
 
I should add that I play on Difficult - but that's really an irrational choice on my part.

I can "feel" that Normal would be the better choice in the beginning stages - and it seems PB designed the game around it.

That said, I think Normal would be an awful choice in the latter stages - because the game is almost certain to become a complete pushover as soon as you break the power-curve.

I'm conditioned against Normal - because, in the vast majority of games, Normal means extremely easy.

In Elex, Normal seems to mean waiting the appropriate amount of time before getting a return on your progression investment :)

I will have to see if I'm right about the game becoming too easy too soon. I hope I'm not.

But my gut tells me they've screwed up the power balance yet again.
 
Thrasher said:
That said there are some weapons that make all enemies a pushover, whose attribute requirements aren't hard to achieve no matter the difficulty level.
Click to expand...

Didn't they fix that in the latest patch?

Along with GLASSES giving 30 armor :)

I mean, seriously.
 
JDR13 said:
Iirc, glasses give 10 armor, but yeah…it's stupid.

They did nerf flamethrowers in the latest patch.
Click to expand...

According to that reddit site it gives 30% - which would be even worse:

The sunglasses grant a hidden 30% damage reduction, making them straight up the best early game headgear. This bonus does not show up in the menus, but it is there.

No idea if it's true though, and - anyway - it's fixed.

Obviously not intentional - but one has to wonder who tested the game :)
 
I've never heard of any armor in Elex being based on a percentage, so I don't think that person knew what they were talking about.

I couldn't bring myself to use sunglasses anyways because the idea of my character wearing them instead of a helmet seemed ridiculous. :)
 
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I'm certainly pleased that I managed to wait for this patch :)

The game is growing on me.....
 
NewDArt said:
I'm certainly pleased that I managed to wait for this patch :)

The game is growing on me…..
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I think you'll find the exploration is exceptional, and some of the areas are quite interesting.

The atmosphere really is superb in some places.
 
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The flamethrower still knocks back fast enough to be op.

And yes the 30% damage reduction sunglasses are no more. Still wear them since the helmets are a paltry 3 armor.
 
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Thrasher said:
The flamethrower still knocks back fast enough to be op.

And yes the 30% damage reduction sunglasses are no more. Still wear them since the helmets are a paltry 3 armor.
Click to expand...

I hate flamethrowers in games, usually - so at least I'm not tempted :)

Actually, I think I will focus on the bow this time. It's just that Clerics appeal to me the most - but I have a feeling the tech weapons are less satisfying than the bow.

Hehe, choices choices.
 
Hmm, it seems the lighting has been screwed up by the patch. Night is bright as daylight - and many areas that used to be relatively bright before are now very dark.

I can't imagine it's intentional, but I feel like it's not a good experience as is.

Oh well.
 
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