New combat difficulty fells MUCH better, thank you - but I still don't understand why lock them behind clearing the game

[Ellye]

I ended up downloading a cleared data file to start my game directly on Charismatic, but even that had proven to not really be well balanced.

As soon as I started doing quality 300 recipes, at the first quality cap, the combat kinda broke down as enemies dealt irrelevant amounts of damage.

Now with Legendary they get a decent stat boost, plus their resistance often becomes an immunity. Feels much better.

I just don't understand the mentality behind locking difficulty choices. Let people play at the difficulty they want to, without having to use CheatEngine or downloading files from others.

[Apex Jaggi]

My main problem with the whole new game + system of this game is having to re-watch the tutorials... I just wanted to enjoy the story and combat the second time through. Also just started new game + on the Legendary difficulty and it's surprising that the starting Puni's take three hits to kill, despite all of my overpowered quality 999 gear.

[Etheral]

This has been my biggest frustration with the game (and many past Atelier games too). It's far too easy and ruins the first playthrough and I don't feel like starting a second playthrough unless a long time has passed. At least I managed to use cheat engine to fix it. It's kind of ridiculous that this game is supposed to be about crafting and yet the only difficulties where crafting gear actually matters are locked behind clearing the game.

[Monterossa]

Still feel like Hard isn't hard enough. Enemies die too soon (mostly just after one Ryza's skill and two follow ups from the other two members). And I'm not even a level grinder type of gamer. Just level 20 and upgraded first weapons are enough to destroy the entertainment.

[D's Journal]

At least I can't just use only skills all day I guess. In Ryza 1, I barely used alchemy because they relied on skill arts too much lmao.

[LuckyToShoot]

Yeah new difficulty felt so much better, just finished last sentinel with it, i am satisfied.

[Tiasmoon]

I prefer using skills because Gust always put a lot of work in to make them look pretty awesome. Item spam has always bored me. Not a fan of the high rate of item spam Ryza 2 has.

For anyone that still needs the new adress: Atelier_Ryza_2.exe+1416BC8CC

[Cat]

How do you unlock the difficulty mode with Cheat Engine? Playing on hard and even with sub optimal tier3 gear, the enemies die before I can even get to tactics level 4. Only mini bosses with insanely high resistances last long enough to maybe hit level 5, so having access to the other difficulty modes would probably help. I don't even want to imagine what happens if I make gear closer to my current alchemy potential, 999 quality tier 5 gear will just kill anything on hard.

[Ellye]

Originally posted by Sunricer:

How do you unlock the difficulty mode with Cheat Engine? Playing on hard and even with sub optimal tier3 gear, the enemies die before I can even get to tactics level 4. Only mini bosses with insanely high resistances last long enough to maybe hit level 5, so having access to the other difficulty modes would probably help. I don't even want to imagine what happens if I make gear closer to my current alchemy potential, 999 quality tier 5 gear will just kill anything on hard.

The problem with using Cheat Engine is that the memory address for the difficulty setting seems to change whenever the game is patched, so you'd have to find the new one now.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1257290/discussions/0/3115896179323854433/

The memory address in that thread is probably outdated after the new patch, so you'd need to scan the memory and monitor it to see what addresses changes as you change the memory in the menu, so you can find the correct address.

---

I just got a clear save data from here instead:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Atelier/comments/l6v545/my_main_issue_with_ryza_2_is_an_old_issue_why_do/gl2w6ks/

[Cat]

Clear save might be better if it permanently unlocks the difficulties instead. Thanks

[2D神]

Kinda glad they improve the use of CC in 2. Was not a fan of 1 where you need to convert item to charge it.

[CLG]

Items in this game are still super busted, but atleast they make you sacrifice low cc usage vs super abilities now. playing solely with buffs and skills is the most fun in my opinion though.

[Fyk0]

Is legendary balanced for NG+ only or does it make sense on a new playthrough?

[Tiasmoon]

NG+. Its still doable on a new playthrough if you do a lot of alchemy.

[Ellye]

Originally posted by Fyk0:

Is legendary balanced for NG+ only or does it make sense on a new playthrough?

The very start will probably be too hard for a new playthrough - but as soon as you're able to craft your own equipment it should be fine.

[Tiasmoon]

Also, you can change difficulty at any time.