Stick with Normal or restart on Challenging?

[Ghost]

So far I’m really loving the game, but once I got used to the systems a bit now the game feels a bit too easy and I’m trying to figure out if the difficulty is going to hard ramp soon or not. I’m around 4 campaigns deep and right now I *might* lose 1-2 squaddies on a mission out of my 25-35 on a mission but that’s it and without any save scumming the missions. I don’t want to get beat over the head every mission but right now I just roll up on both the pirates and bugs every mission. I read the forum a bit but there’s two distinct camps so far of “normal is so easy” and “normal is challenging in most games” so no clear consensus.

If it gets a lot tougher later on then I’ll stick with normal, but if not then I’m thinking about restarting on challenging. Any insight from those farther into the game?

[Balki]

Normal will never feel tough if you already feel it to be easy in the early game.

Challenging is not unfair.
Normal gives you 40% more supply while taking 20% supply away from the enemy.

Challenging has no modifiers for either side.

Expert gives the enemy more supplies while you still have the default.

You won’t be able to bruteforce through challenging like you did on normal, but the lessons learned will help you navigate the early game.

[Balki]

Maybe keep playing until you encounter the rogue army. If you still don’t feel challenged enough, then restart on a higher one.

[OtherKharon]

The problem with challenging right now, imho, is the barebones start. You lack any tools and often run into overwhelming odds or things you cannot reliably harm.

So basically your 3 SL hide behind your one vehicle and try not to die for the first few operations.
If you had anything from smoke grenades or body armour it might be different. But right now your light troop carrier is doing all the work. While your troops in fatigues (shirts) have to stay behind in order not to be killed en masse.

And looted gear only helps a bit. You just cannot close the distance reliably to use things like flamethrowers or bundle grenades.

[Vasya2423]

And then, on challenging, you'll start having doubts whether you should start on expert...
Continue playing on normal or restart on expert (it's not that hard, just stay away from defense missions during the first operation).

[Berestow]

Originally posted by OtherKharon:

And looted gear only helps a bit. You just cannot close the distance reliably to use things like flamethrowers or bundle grenades.

Don't really help.
Fatigues have only 1 slot.
You can't just replace additional ammo = there are too many enemies.
And you can't replace fatigues = too many points required.
Sure, you can lower amount of squad members, but it won't help = now you are outnumbered in squad and soldiers. You can't do enough damage or take hits without members.
What's the point of closing distance with 1 squad, when there are 3 more enemies behind your target.

[g7mcluvn]

so far on the hardest difficulty the main difference is i have to play slower because the ratio of enemies is higher, and any secondary objectives that are time based i have to give up on, so the progression is slower.

but the actual strategy isn't so different. you still basically find cover and flank while trying not to aggro too many

[Imperialus]

Originally posted by OtherKharon:

The problem with challenging right now, imho, is the barebones start. You lack any tools and often run into overwhelming odds or things you cannot reliably harm.

Agreed. I suggested in another thread that they create a new difficulty level that is 'challenging', but with 'normal' starting resources to make for a more forgiving early game.

Of course ideal would be a granular difficulty that you can adjust as you see fit even during a campaign. Cyberknights is a good example where I will generally start a campaign somewhere between hard and brutal before finishing it on what amounts to Chrome+.

[OakenWall]

challenging feels pretty good so faar. Maybe they could have allowed us buying supply a little earlier but thats about it.

[Maizel]

I'm having a really hard time on challenging. But Normal seems a bit too easy

[OakenWall]

I suspect people pick to many expensive squad leaders at the start. I did, but after I bought a new one (1 star) I had a better time.

[iFrame]

Originally posted by OakenWall:

I suspect people pick to many expensive squad leaders at the start. I did, but after I bought a new one (1 star) I had a better time.

Yea, the expensive squad leaders are a trap, they eat up so much supply points in the early game where you don't have alot. I had a much easier time running with lower quality squad leaders. Carda is my favourite pick, shes so cheap it's great for early game and with high growth, she gets strong pretty quick. A great SL for an all rounder riflesquad.

[ARFett]

Depends.

I would go with normal on the first run.

There is plenty needs to get a feel how the tactical side is like.

Also normal is pretty tough at least for me as the promotion points and scavenge at least on the first ops are not that high.

So if you get unlucky and some downed squad members or god forbid your vehicle is downed it pretty much can mean a hard crash at the beginning of the game.

Remember it is with RNG elements having percent chance to hit.

So that is my personal input but of course others might see it different.

[Ghost]

Very helpful info from everyone! I think I’m gonna try out challenging. I don’t mind a pretty tough start if it balances out once I start finding some gear, I really just want to keep from getting deeply invested in a run only to wind up on eternal easy street or alternatively dead ended because it’s too hard. Thanks for the input everybody!

PS I agree that a lot of people are falling into the trap of promoting squad leaders too much and burning up all their supplies. Sometimes it’s absolutely worth it to promote a squad leader a lot but sometimes it just doesn’t seem like a good bargain. Unlike some I do actually like the supply system at its core, but I’m not sure it makes a lot of sense for squad leaders’ supply costs to increase with perks, and I think it can feel at times like being punished for what would seem to me like the natural progression path.

[Ghost]

UPDATE: Definitely glad I upped it to Challenging. Around 7 campaigns into it (faced rogues once) and it’s a much better fit. “Challenging” but not frustrating at least for me.

[Drifter]

I found it easy on challenging except for a finale defense mission on the third or fourth round, which is impossible to beat. I scraped through the last defense mission, but I've got no hope against the swarm of enemies plus two laser trucks plus mortar truck.

I had to sell every last thing to get a main gun on the vic, I just don't see how the power creep matches up.