15 réponses à ce sujet

[lead341]

Hi everyone,

 

I am planning to start DA:I soon, quite looking forward to it, but I just can´t decide whether I should select hard or nightmare difficulty. I like a game quite challenging, but also not necessarily frustrating. How are these difficulties in Inquisition, also in comparison to the previous DA and Mass Effect games?

I should add that I am a completionist player, that is I absolutely do everything, every quest, explore every corner etc. I never rush, which as a common rule implies that I usually arrive well prepared, and if there is such a thing in DA:I, over-leveled.

 

I know that difficulties can be changed at any time ingame, but I kinda really want to stick to a difficulty level after I selected it.

 

I´d be happy to receive any advice. Thanks in advance.

[mesmerizedish]

It's pretty commonly accepted that difficulty peaks at the end of the first act and just gets easier from there.

I did my first playthrough on hard, my second on normal, and I'm finishing up my third on nightmare. At the endgame, level 20+, it's not too hard even on nightmare.

The real challenge is the early game, before you unlock your specialization and start drowning in crafting materials. For me, hard struck the balance between fun and frustration.

That said, if you care about achievements, you'll have to do nightmare eventually.

[sinosleep]

There's a difference between hard and tedious, game developers need to understand that. I prefer to play on hard cause nightmare isn't actually any harder, it doesn't really force you to change your tactics, it just takes longer to kill things. Insanity was a far superior design than nightmare has ever been in any DA game. Insanity "technically" buffed enemy health, but through tactics you could one shot defenses making it so that the game was played differently without becoming tedious. Enemies didn't magically go from taking 1 head shot to taking 15, cause that would have been stupid. Don't know how one faction of Bioware was able to figure it out but no one else has.

[Elhanan]

Have played all my games on NM, and have not encountered a lvl of frustration except for the Berserker effect on some weapons. I also choose to skip Friendly Fire for now, as everything from spells to daggers to 2H seemingly has some possible AoE attached to it.

[Exalus]

If you are doing every quest then even NM will be too easy. The game hands out key equipment pieces during certain quests in the hinterlands that mostly negate difficulty from a tanking stance.

[arkngt]

The game is rather easy, at least with good builds and gear. And it gets progressively easier. Also, the difference between hard and nightmare is rather slight, so I'd recommend playing on nightmare.

[Alan Drifter13]

I recommend going straight to NM. It will take you some time to kill the first boss (simply because you'll only be lvl2 and your companions lvl1, so you'll be doing very little damage with each hit), and you might have a hard time during the trebuchet fight at the end of the first act, but that's about it. In general, this isn't a very hard game.

[Wulfram]

Unless you really care about an achievement, it'd make more sense to start on Hard and move up if you want.

[Gigamantis]

I always go straight to Nightmare; but if you want to do multiple playthroughs you may as well start on hard then move up and add a little more spice to your next playthrough. 

[Molohk]

There's a difference between hard and tedious, game developers need to understand that. I prefer to play on hard cause nightmare isn't actually any harder, it doesn't really force you to change your tactics, it just takes longer to kill things. Insanity was a far superior design than nightmare has ever been in any DA game. Insanity "technically" buffed enemy health, but through tactics you could one shot defenses making it so that the game was played differently without becoming tedious. Enemies didn't magically go from taking 1 head shot to taking 15, cause that would have been stupid. Don't know how one faction of Bioware was able to figure it out but no one else has.

 

^This

 

I only recommend Nightmare if you're an achievement junky. At least in my opinion, nightmare only makes encounters last longer, only a challenge to your patience.

[Gaz83]

I usually stick to normal for the early levels, then turn the difficulty up a notch after I get my specialization. However, I've just beat the game for the first time playing on hard all the way through, and I can't see myself going back to normal now.

 

It feels like the game was designed to be played on hard. It's much more balanced than normal. You start off pretty weak and get progressively stronger as you find/craft better gear and level up. As your character becomes more accustomed to the adventuring lifestyle, your increasing prowess is reflected on the battlefield.

 

Normal difficulty, on the other hand, pretty much hits the same notes all the way through the campaign. You begin your journey one step ahead of your enemies, and you remain that way until you reach the climax. In other words, it's just not as organic an experience. 

 

I've tried turning it up to Nightmare a few times, but it really isn't for me. It feels less like a test of tactics and skill, more like a test of patience. As others have said, it adds little to the game bar making the enemies take an age to kill. If that appeals, go for it. To each his/her own. 

 

Side note: Is it just me, or does increasing the difficulty actually decrease the intelligence of your companions? 

[teks]

I don't get it.

Nightmare. If you change your tactics then fights aren't long and tedious. Its totally right to say you don't have to change tactics, but doing so does make encounters on nightmare trivial, so...change your tactics for nightmare.

 

I'll list some examples even.

 

liberal use of potions, like mighty potion.

Stronger synergy with companions, like increasing everyone's crit chance while using varric.

Making better use of special skills, like using dispel on barriers rather then trying to bull through them.

Making better use of combos to eat through enemy health faster.

Making better use of the crafting system to make better gear.

Using fade-touched gear with skills that proc multiple hits.

Skipping most the fights early in the hinterlands to quickly grab the forces agents necessary to get advanced schematics.

 

There are many many things in this game that just chew through enemies so fast that unse you know of them nightmare becomes a requirement just to have a meaningful game, and even with it some things must be turned down or ignored, or fights end before they begin.

 

@op

Its impossible to give any meaningful answer. The difficulty your comfortable with depends on how well you know the game. Do you know where to find good schematics, where to find good materials, do you know what skills work well, do you know what to expect during encounters. Do you know where to find the good potions, where to spend your inquisition perks, what team compositions work well together, where to quickly grab agents, and so on.

Very little of the difficulty is dependent on how you play, its much more to do with how you prepared before the fight.

 

Finally, as a completionist, your not going to enjoy this game. There is a ton of fluff in this game, and enemies only partially scale. Most the quests suck, and bring the game down. You'll be over-leveled, and never leave the hinterlands, and you'll be complaining about how terrible all the quests are. Most the loot is crap. Its so much more enjoyable to play through the content that the staff actually put effort towards rather then playing through every crappy fetch quest you run across. I ca't stop you from playing how you want, but I don't recommend it.

[Arvaarad]

There's a difference between hard and tedious, game developers need to understand that. I prefer to play on hard cause nightmare isn't actually any harder, it doesn't really force you to change your tactics, it just takes longer to kill things. Insanity was a far superior design than nightmare has ever been in any DA game. Insanity "technically" buffed enemy health, but through tactics you could one shot defenses making it so that the game was played differently without becoming tedious. Enemies didn't magically go from taking 1 head shot to taking 15, cause that would have been stupid. Don't know how one faction of Bioware was able to figure it out but no one else has.

That's kind of what Nightmare is, though. Through clever builds and party combinations, fights need not last a long time. If the party is very sub-optimal, then the game punishes the player with long fights.

Enemy health is only buffed by a small amount, anyway. I have a coworker who plays on Normal, and it sounded like the Fereldan Frostback only had ~20k less health for him (which is a couple seconds of dagger attacks - and a fraction of that time for a full party). The gap between Hard and Nightmare must be even smaller.

I think there are subtle differences beyond buffing enemy health and damage. Shorter telegraphs maybe?

[Rizilliant]

Nightmare.. The game is really too easy, even on Nightmare.. The 1st few lvls you may have a problem, but very soon itll be steamrolled.. Sad really.. enemies dont scale, so the more you lvl, the weaker everything gets.. Even main bosses are a joke!  Im regretting starting on Hard...

[Arvaarad]

Nightmare.. The game is really too easy, even on Nightmare.. The 1st few lvls you may have a problem, but very soon itll be steamrolled.. Sad really.. enemies dont scale, so the more you lvl, the weaker everything gets.. Even main bosses are a joke! Im regretting starting on Hard...

If you're looking for more challenge, do everything in grey armor and weapons. Crafting is really the thing that blows power levels sky-high, more than the lack of level scaling.

[matcjur]

Nightmare is only reccomended once you know the game a bit. Hard is good to familiarize yourself with the enemies without being too frustrating. Getting mugged by 2 terror demons on nightmare without knowing what to do is not fun.