Is hardcore mode a big step up in difficulty?

[Mazin]

Currently going through all the campaign mission on normal, including the dlc missions.

Curious to hear opinions on hardcore mode.

[Ale82]

There are some big differences. Some are, the enemy gets more health/receives less damage, you get the total opposite of that - less health/possible insta kill, in some cases the enemy will have more resources depending on script etc - call in more heavy/better units, one detail (not sure if there has been a change to that since its been a good while that I have played below Hardcore - might as well if I want those three stars LOL) is that on easy/rookie level - the AT units will have the type of weapon icon above their heads also (red bar with AT rifle or bazooka for example) - Grenade rifles soldiers as well (yellow bar with Grenade launcher rifle on to). Not sure why that changes in difficulty levels but it does ... those are some of the details I noticed and have read that change based on difficulty.

[Kleine Koninck]

I played through a lot of campaign missions on hardcore and it's really not that hard, but some of the missions are very finnicky and grindy.

[Ale82]

Originally posted by Kleine Koninck:

I played through a lot of campaign missions on hardcore and it's really not that hard, but some of the missions are very finnicky and grindy.

I agree. It's actually more fun and more rewarding in hardcore IMO. Feels way too easy in anything less TBH. I hate losing any unit, even if it's one Soldier - It pisses me off and I feel like blowing a gasket LOL the stress is good for the heart :) No Bs, I will rage re-load last save due to that and it happens a lot in hardcore difficulty LOL

[~Piru Piru~]

The AI will snap shoot you a lot, I mean they will get lots of shots in when they normally wouldn't otherwise. They also become pincushions that can take entire boxes of ammo to take down. Therefore you will have lots of more losses to cheap kills, its not hard just annoying but the AI is dumb as ever so anyone with a brain can still dominate the AI.

[Saxhorn]

On lower difficulty levels your soldiers get buffs and the enemy gets nerfs to health, stamina, accuracy.

As you increase the difficulty settings those buffs and nerfs get reduced.
So the gap between the enemy and you gets less.

On Hardcore (and I assume heroic)
The health of enemy units is almost the same as your units.
Accuracy and all other stats are the same as your units.

Create a new Conquest and read the hints that pop up over the different difficulty level buttons.

Tactics and behaviour don't change. So if you are looking for a "smarter" enemy you will be disappointed.

For the scripted campaign missions expect extra enemies to be on the map when you play hardcore. If you played on normal you might find a few surprises if you play the same mission on hardcore but you shouldn't have too many problems. Just a few surprises....