Has anyone actually beaten Hardcore?

[Ghin]

Is it even possible to beat Hardcore? What build did you use to do so?

[KuWanTum]

http://steamcommunity.com/stats/394310/achievements

0% apparently... I am not sure it is even possible without grinding for an insane amount of time to be honest :-/

[Nyrrho]

I beat Hardcore. It's not that difficult with the right build.

[Ghin]

Originally posted by Nyrrho:

I beat Hardcore. It's not that difficult with the right build.

What build did you use to do so?

[Nyrrho]

I used an AGI build (1 / 20 / 8)

Skills:
Wind Flow Dodge
Unstoppable
Flip Kick
Penetrating Strike
Cobra Strike

If the enemy had more than 7 or 8 strength I switched out Penetrating Strike for Mimic Techniques. If I ran low on energy I switched out Cobra Strikes for Skip Attacks.

[KuWanTum]

Originally posted by Nyrrho:

I used an AGI build (1 / 20 / 8)

Skills:
Wind Flow Dodge
Unstoppable
Flip Kick
Penetrating Strike
Cobra Strike

If the enemy had more than 7 or 8 strength I switched out Penetrating Strike for Mimic Techniques. If I ran low on energy I switched out Cobra Strikes for Skip Attacks.

Nice, I will try a new run aiming for that build!

[Waschbär42]

I did, too. But the achievement doesn't seem to register.. maybe b/c I did a reload?

Anyway, hc seems just to influence the randomly generated opponents like the ufc guys and street fights, as far as I experienced it. Had 4-20-9 and day 71 when I finished

[Dreamer]

I did and I got the achievemen with str build endint in like 14/10/11. It was actually too easy :D

[Prepackaged Cat]

10 / 21 / 12 everything was ez

[Mephisto-Luzifer]

Originally posted by Ghin:

Is it even possible to beat Hardcore? What build did you use to do so?

Beated it around 7 h after release. Not that hard to be honest. Only thing that changed was that i dont was able to almost beat every dude after a half round with strength build. Had 19/10/12 i think..

[Tutifus]

13-11-9 STR with Ruthless Aggression in 97 days, could be done faster, made a lot of bad decisions and my stats degraded a little (had 13-12-12 in Russia)

Not sure if harder with STR build, was pretty similar when doing non HC run

[Dreamer]

You can beat it as fast as you can beat the original game on normal :D. So the guys that were able to do it in 50 days will be able again :)

[Tutifus]

Yea, I think when you understand how to survive early game, HC doesn't change too much for you.

[MuKen]

I'm not sure, but I think hardcore mode only seems to ramp up enemies if you take a long time to beat the game? I dunno it doesn't seem to be making much difference to speedruns.

[KuWanTum]

Originally posted by Nyrrho:

I used an AGI build (1 / 20 / 8)

Skills:
Wind Flow Dodge
Unstoppable
Flip Kick
Penetrating Strike
Cobra Strike

If the enemy had more than 7 or 8 strength I switched out Penetrating Strike for Mimic Techniques. If I ran low on energy I switched out Cobra Strikes for Skip Attacks.

Worked brilliantly, thank you! Finished on day 93 as I still lost a few fights, but it was a lot smoother than when I tried before!

[madcapbeatitude]

I have beaten Hardcore with a Bear, Tiger and Turtle, and when I don't restart at all I usually win around 93% of fights doing things honorably. I also usually take around 150-170 days. The main slowdowns are things like gathering fame/infamy to pursue the world championship or advance your gang. I have made it to Russia/Jail by day 60 or so, but I don't see how not to pick up 10+ days after either getting my professional card or getting arrested.

I have been trying to go straight to the island without going to Russia or jail, and neither seems viable, so I guess I need to shorten my timeline on GETTING there. Winning the amatuer league quickly seems like part of the picture, and this doesn't take MANY fights, but it can take only 2-3 good fast wins to get from Song Mo to Mr Kekuse. The faster you get to him, the less prepared you'll be when the professional tryouts start if you make Rank 1. By contrast, if I engage the ultimate league I spend long enough waiting between fights to train for each phase during the previous one while progressing through barfighting, turtle fighting, Bobo and the Dark Mask arc.

I currently think the fastest map involves immediately fighting Song Mo for more early skill points, then engaging in frequent early fights in the amateur leagues, at the bar, with Silver and in the lower underground leagues. Early stat degrading is pretty substantial, so what you get done in the first 10 days can really impact the first 30. Skill planning is also pretty essential since you'll be in fewer fights total on a shorter run.

The important thing is this: Hardcore doesn't feel HARDER to me but you can't overwhelm opponents with power. They will balance for however much you've trained so winning is about becoming more skilled I lose more fights on Hardcore early on because out-training everybody isn't as rewarding, but as I fill out my skill tree the protagonist still becomes too OP for anybody in the game's world.