Ranking each first level On Veteran Difficulty

[TheLegendBDT]

After playing through and 100%ing each episode on Skilled difficulty, I decided to see just how hard Veteran was on the first levels alone to 100% (obviously pistol starting).

A few key notes:
- Enemies have higher health, a lot more.
- The enemy count per level is considerably higher. This is most evident in E1M1.
- Not every Map 1 is balanced. A couple border on unbeatable (E4M1 is the worst offender).
- Plasma Aliens go from being a minor nuisance that can be easily dispatched with the RAW (rapid assault weapon) to downright terrifying where not even the DND (dual neutron disrupter) is enough. This becomes notably awful on levels where they respawn.
- Speaking of DND, don't bother with it except against swarms of sector patrols and biotechs. Despite having the highest DPS you can wield, enemies are so much more tanky and do not flinch when shot. This obviously means the RAW and below are almost useless though the RAW is fine when dealing with a handful of low-tier enemies and turrets.
- The PDU (plasma discharge unit) is a must. I cannot stress this enough. Its high damage and splash is invaluable on Veteran difficulty. Watch your aim around informants if you're trying for 100%, in fact, it's better to just alert enemies and wait for them to come to you. I once shot an enemy with it and it didn't splash on the enemy next to him yet I did it again later and it splashed on the informant that was like 15 feet behind me.
- Star Troopers on Veteran Difficulty just might be the worst enemy in all FPS games, it's not even close. Not even heavy weapon dudes on DOOMs Nightmare difficulty can compare to these aimhax health melters. The amount of damage they do per shot is stupid high even at long range. Hope you have a PDU.
- RNG plays a huge role. I once started E5M1 a few times, killing a biotech in one shot sometimes, and other times they shoot me and do 67% in one hit. Veteran is playing on the edge of your seat knowing a single hit can end you.
- Both barrier types that can be toggled can be used to kill enemies if you turn them on with an enemy standing on it. This is essential for survival on certain maps, particularly E3M1.

ACP = Auto Charge Pistol (the "silent" one)
SFP = Slow Fire Protector
RAW = Rapid Assault Weapon
DND = Dual Neutron Disrupter
PDU = Plasma Discharge Unit

With all that out of the way, here are the first levels of every episode (of AoG) on Veteran difficulty, ranked from easiest to hardest. Bearing in mind, all of these are ACP start with no saves and getting 100%.

#1 E6M1
This was a surprise to me. For being the opener of the final episode it was ludicrously easy. You have 2 secret rooms right at the start with no enemies and only explosive containers, with one of the rooms holding a RAW. Not to mention another secret in the long hallway that has a PDU. The cherry on top? You only encounter patrols, biotechs, sentinels, turrets, and mutant security enemies, all of which are never encountered in large numbers and easily dispatched.

#2 E2M1
At first I thought I'd be ranking this one higher considering the number of times I would get swarmed by the enemies alerted in the big room to the right of the start. But then I started using the ACP for the first couple rooms and it became a breeze. An early RAW in a secret in the south of the big room to left of the start trivializes most of the map. The only difficult area is in the north, beyond two one-way doors. Take care not to take too much damage here as there's no health power-ups with no way to go back (unless you somehow block both doors with corpses) and the red key room has sentinels and mutant security in it.

#3 E1M1
The very first map of the game! And oh boy does it ramp up in difficulty. Right off the bat you got sector patrols coming at you and a couple biotechs once alerted. It's not terribly hard but you do get swarmed quickly. Try to stay at long range. Kill the aliens trapped in the box with the ACP to save ammo, they can't hit you. This level has 4 distinct "fights"; the beginning, the NW room with a couple plasma aliens and robots, the route to and including the secret PDU room with numerous patrols, biotechs, and mutant security, as well as FOUR star troopers in the PDU secret, and the red key room with 6 patrols 6 robots and probably biotechs depending on RNG. A single sentinel around the SE area should be taken out early for a much needed RAW. Save yourself trouble grabbing the PDU and go from NE room west wall secret, then push a wall on the west side of the first room down that hall, then one on the south side of the next room, and nab the PDU from behind a trooper.

#4 E5M1
Probably the most RNG dependent map. You will either have an informant or a biotech immediately to the right from the elevator plus two patrols and a sentinel. Wonderful start! There are two secret rooms in here too, one north and one south. The north has a few sentinels and ammo, the south has a DND, ammo, treasure, and a star trooper. Bottlenecking enemies in doorways is key to survival here. Be conservative with the health pickups. Caution pushing the southern secret wall, if the wandering sector patrol happens to be in front of the wall when you push it, it will not open all the way, locking you out of the room completely. This applies to all secret rooms with wandering enemies in them.

#5 E3M1
I loathe this map. You're immediately under attack from a turret right at the start and there's no means to deal with it until you reach the central hallway, where more turrets wait for you. Immediately open the secret on the north wall at the start for a SFP and some ammo. Use the ACP to deal with the numerous patrols. This level is very tight on ammo with several tough enemies, and the best gun you can find is the RAW. A star trooper in the SE room, another in a secret room to the west from there, and a few more in the western-most secret. An absolute UNIT of a map, super RNG based, and heavily reliant on ammo/health conservation. I actually haven't beaten this one yet! Having to run past the turrets at the start is just dumb IMO (turrets can only be killed with the RAW or DND), and the numerous robots behind the gold door is just mean.

#6 E4M1
This map is absolute trash on Veteran difficulty. In fact, this level is impossible to 100% in the first run due to a barrier in the eastern secret requiring a switch on another level! You start facing 2 patrols walking away from you. Kill one, take his SFP, kill the 2nd with the ACP. That's it, that's all the ammo you can get from this room. Open the door to find FOUR robots down the hall. You really can't run by them as they'll gun you down quickly and the rooms on the left have more enemies, plus Goldfire appears in another room. Add in TWO rooms with re-spawning plasma aliens and plenty of star troopers. I'm going to be completely honest, this level is impossible on Veteran. It's bad enough that the entirety of Episode 4 is full of cheapness (I think they went overboard with the plasma alien spawners) but Map 1 is horribly imbalanced for this difficulty level. You simply don't have enough ammo to deal with all of the enemies at the start without taking enormous damage. If anyone can figure this one out, by all means share. Personally I've given up on this one, it's way too cheap.

So far I've been able to 100% E6M1, E2M1, and E1M1 without saves. E3M1 I've gotten close but ammo gets super tight toward the end. E5M1 I just need the RNG to go in my favor, those early Star Troopers HURT even with the DND. Feel free to share your experiences!

[tim.doherty]

GG! Last year I did all the maps on 100% Veteran including keeping all informants alive. I think apart from E6M1 its possible to die on any first level. Some of it depends on your route, skill and luck.

[TheLegendBDT]

Originally posted by tim.doherty:

GG! Last year I did all the maps on 100% Veteran including keeping all informants alive. I think apart from E6M1 its possible to die on any first level. Some of it depends on your route, skill and luck.

Managed to pull off E5M1 finally. I decided to go straight for the PDU in the northern room first after clearing the elevator room. Got really lucky with every informant being in the big main area. That last pushwall in the plasma alien room was a bit scary but lucked out with them being a bit more passive than I was used to.

I've made some progress with E3M1 but it's still kicking me. I started opting for the big secret area on the west side for more ammo/health before tackling the northern area with the robots. The biggest issue is the lack of anything better than a RAW combined with loads of high HP enemies. It's doable but that last hallway with the zombies is torture with low ammo.

As far as E4M1, a bit of progress but horrible RNG ended my most recent run when a random mutant security sniped me as I was passing by the elevator. The informants deciding to walk into my line of fire while a biotech shoots me from behind them is probably the most irritating part of this level. That or they happen to open a door while I'm shooting the PDU and they get blown up. *sighs*

[tim.doherty]

I feel your pain! Here is how I tackled E5M1 https://youtu.be/l7objaTveo4?si=XTINpajsRG3h1WR3 I've got a playlist of all if you want some inspiration.

I'm also working to upload all my bloopers so you can see where things didn't work out for me :)

[LuckyDude]

In E4M1 seems crazy until you relize that you simply skip a Plasma Discharge Unit. It's near where you start level. Open a door where you meet four robots and open the first left door.