What's with the difficulty spike?

[Ron]

I thought I'd read that the intent was to smooth out the difficulty curve in this patch?

I generally run on 1BC because 0 is too easy and unrewarding, and 2BC was too hard, even though I'd unlocked it. I might have unlocked 3BC, but I can't remember, since I never would play on such hard difficulty. The game starts feeling unfair at that point.

Anyway, since the new patch, even 1BC feels unfairly difficult. I used to be able to regularly clear 1BC and now I can't make it much past the first boss. The money change is good, feels better to get secret stashes, etc, but the spike in difficulty overall is punishing and I'm probably going to give up soon.

Save your "git gud" because I don't care.

[Dino]

I made a mod that can help you (at least it helped me). Search for "potions for all difficulties" in the workshop.

[Monsoon]

if you had unlocked the legendary forge upgrade to make all of your weapons ++ tier, then that might explain why you feel like there's a difficulty spike. no more scrolls on weapons means less damage and HP overall

[bobhome2]

Originally posted by TRAVESTI COM DOWN:

I made a mod that can help you (at least it helped me). Search for "potions for all difficulties" in the workshop.

Alternatively, you could just turn on health fountains in custom mode.

More on topic: this is another in a long line of difficulty changes. When I started playing, it took me 60 hours to beat the first time (in Early Access). After that, it only got easier. This is the first time they've made the game harder, in some way.

The general thought process, it seems, is that the devs want you to get better at 0BC before taking on 1BC, and then get used to that before moving on. It's not a bad approach, since the difficulty transitions have been pretty extreme. It'll still take time to get there.

The update's still a major mixed bag of good and bad, in my opinion. But I do kind of like the slightly upped difficulty. Still, that's only me.

Your best bets right now (again, imo) are to find a difficulty you can play fairly well (but not easily), and work on that to improve your play.

Or just wait. The devs will probably make it easier again. That's what they usually do. LOL.

[Ron]

Originally posted by bobhome2:

The general thought process, it seems, is that the devs want you to get better at 0BC before taking on 1BC, and then get used to that before moving on. It's not a bad approach, since the difficulty transitions have been pretty extreme. It'll still take time to get there.

...

Your best bets right now (again, imo) are to find a difficulty you can play fairly well (but not easily), and work on that to improve your play.

Yes, this is what I HAD done. I could faceroll 0BC, the 2BC that I had unlocked was just too frustratingly hard, and 1BC was my "just right" setting, maybe a tad too easy.

Now, 1BC feels worse than 2BC did before. Tactics I had been using just don't seem to work anymore, and I'm taking damage (and WAY MORE of it) in places where I just wouldn't have before.

I don't want to go back to 0BC because it's just too unrewarding. I need to feel like I'm making progress, but this update has been a HUGE setback.

Or just wait. The devs will probably make it easier again. That's what they usually do. LOL.

I hope so, because otherwise I'm probably done with this game.

[JHarlequin]

While they said they smoothed the difficulty spike between cells, they did also say that they upped the basic challenge just a little bit.

Add on the slight changes they have made and it is just surprising you too much with the new standard.

[bobhome2]

Originally posted by Ron:

Yes, this is what I HAD done. I could faceroll 0BC, the 2BC that I had unlocked was just too frustratingly hard, and 1BC was my "just right" setting, maybe a tad too easy.

Now, 1BC feels worse than 2BC did before. Tactics I had been using just don't seem to work anymore, and I'm taking damage (and WAY MORE of it) in places where I just wouldn't have before.

I don't want to go back to 0BC because it's just too unrewarding. I need to feel like I'm making progress, but this update has been a HUGE setback.

...

I hope so, because otherwise I'm probably done with this game.

Yeah, this patch ended up reducing the damage you do, which is really why it feels harder. You could have really buttoned up your skills such that you could ambush a group, destroy them, and move on. That's no longer the case, honestly.

I play on 5BC, and there are times when the fight just goes against me, since I'm taking on more than I can handle - and I can't judge that as easily as I used to. Heck, the "secret" last area is tougher, just because I can't one-shot most things. I'm not fully against it, but it'll take time for a LOT of players to get used to.

Will it end up feeling easier in the long run? I'm really not sure. Only time will tell, honestly.

[runemaster]

Soooooo... yeah, it's been a while since I played DC, but I can agree that this feels harder without a doubt. 0 BC used to be "Oh I don't care, let's run through and 1-shot everything", but now even 0 BC feels somewhat challenging even with all the stuff I have unlocked...
Don't even want to try 1 or 2 BC tbh, lol

[bobhome2]

Yeah, back in Early Access days, the castle was terrifying - and the Hand was pretty hard, on top of that. I kind of like that this brings a little of that tension back, since there is some additional it's just a bit tougher. But it's a jarring change, at the same time. The posts here definitely back that up.

[Monsoon]

Originally posted by bobhome2:

Yeah, back in Early Access days, the castle was terrifying - and the Hand was pretty hard, on top of that. I kind of like that this brings a little of that tension back, since there is some additional it's just a bit tougher. But it's a jarring change, at the same time. The posts here definitely back that up.

Beating the Hand in early access was really satisfying, my heart was racing when I killed him for the first time

[Squishyah]

Another thing from playing this patch is the difficulty curve per run. The game feels much harder at the start and by the end feels just a tad easier. Not saying I like it, but this seems to be how the general flow is as of this patch.

[Ron]

Not digging it at all, over here. I'm not saying I expect them to change it back, but I know they're responsive to feedback, so I can always hope.

Normally, the way to go when adding difficulty to a game is to just tack on a newer, harder setting, rather than make all settings harder. I.e., give us another Boss Cell level, rather than bumping all BCs up a level, for example, in my case, making BC1 feel as bad or worse than BC2 did before.

[iwansquall]

I dunno if it is about my playing skill, but i feel like the game is quite difficult than many other similar title? Despite having the enemy attack notification, i still get caught off caught multiple games.

The reason are:
1. This game is faster pace, enemy faster, you have to react faster.
2. Seem like mistake is very punishing, i feel like having hundred of health is worthless since enemy can hit 1/5 or 1/6 of my health
3. Unclear scaling choices. Aside from reading DPS and getting %health from upgrade, i dunno what should i prioritize. My mutation always been playing safe (and necro for some regen)
4. Not sure the balance between speed vs exploration. Game seem like rewarding people to go fast, but if you missed several key upgrade, then you will be very weak in later level.


I finished many other difficult platformer and i feel this game is super difficult. I couldnt even clear default difficulty to a point i dont feel enjoyment at all. Probably i need to play much slower pace, but the game feel seem want player to go fast.

Atm although I know the game is good, but I feel something wrong. I dont have issue in grinding with other rogue-lite. Probably i need to read guide or something.

[bobhome2]

Originally posted by iwansquall:

I dunno if it is about my playing skill, but i feel like the game is quite difficult than many other similar title? Despite having the enemy attack notification, i still get caught off caught multiple games.

The reason are:
1. This game is faster pace, enemy faster, you have to react faster.
2. Seem like mistake is very punishing, i feel like having hundred of health is worthless since enemy can hit 1/5 or 1/6 of my health
3. Unclear scaling choices. Aside from reading DPS and getting %health from upgrade, i dunno what should i prioritize. My mutation always been playing safe (and necro for some regen)
4. Not sure the balance between speed vs exploration. Game seem like rewarding people to go fast, but if you missed several key upgrade, then you will be very weak in later level.


I finished many other difficult platformer and i feel this game is super difficult. I couldnt even clear default difficulty to a point i dont feel enjoyment at all. Probably i need to play much slower pace, but the game feel seem want player to go fast.

Atm although I know the game is good, but I feel something wrong. I dont have issue in grinding with other rogue-lite. Probably i need to read guide or something.

I can't say it's harder than most others (I don't play enough of them), but its built-in rules are pretty specific. You'll want to prioritize one color to build off of per run, and take the best HP option from scrolls that don't offer that color.

You may want to throw out necromancy entirely now, and instead focus on finding food in the levels. There's usually 2 guaranteed, in my experience.

And while going fast in this game is really, really nice, this patch has slowed me down a whole lot. So it might be better to take it slow until you really get used to your character (build, damage, etc.) and the enemy reactions to you.

Definitely prioritize getting all the scrolls, and aim for the "kill x number of enemies without taking a hit" doors.

[FlintX]

I'm sorry but the "git gud" is inevitable in this post dude.

Every single patch changes the ways the game is played, if you can't adapt to it and grows with the changes than you are failing to see the point or even have fun in a game like Dead Cells. As you said yourself there are multiple difficult settings, so you can always simple just stick to one of them if you do believe that hard that you don't have any more space to growth, and then be whining with the other rest in the forums about how this or that sucks. Or you can try to climb the chaos ladder to learn new things and improve. The choice is up to you.

Sighs* I would be playing the game if I wasn't stuck here with 2 joysticks that apparently started to malfunction after playing Nioh besides people there saying the contrary about that. But... If you have some joysticks there to spare please sent them to me, I will be glad to accept them. I promise I will make good use of them. So feel free to send me some at any time.

[bobhome2]

It's only inevitable because that's the only thing you can say to people, Flint. It only took 10 days - and you rolling in here - to make it inevitable. Funny how that works. It's also not a particularly meaningful statement, so it adds nothing to the conversation.

The thing is, people will get used to a game in one particular state. Dead Cells is kind of unique in that the devs are STILL fine tuning it, even after all these years. I started in Early Access, when winning in normal mode was a massive accomplishment. Then 0BC got EASY. Now it's a bit tougher, it seems.

While I do agree that it just takes a bunch of playing to get the "skills" down, it's going to make people upset when it gets harder for them. Especially when dying repeatedly when you didn't in the past makes one question their skill level. If you've climbed the BC ladder, you know what it's like to hit a wall and question your abilities.

All I can say is this: keep at it. So long as the game's fun, you have the time to improve.