"Thriving in Hardcore Challenges"

[Twinkies]

I've immersed myself in hardcore gaming, clocking around 5,000 hours in this particular game. I've cranked up all the sliders to the highest difficulty, set raids to the maximum, and kept resources at the minimum. This challenging approach defines my ideal way of playing. Up until now, I've only reached the plains, facing demise due to foolish errors like attempting to escape by jumping onto a rock. A word of advice: despite their appearance of safety, rocks can be deceiving. If the ground isn't level, mobs can run on them too, so avoid making that mistake!

Is anyone currently engaged in hardcore gameplay, and if so, how far have you made it?

[RagnCharran]

I do a lot of hardcore at default settings. I still play risky since that's more fun, so usually die before getting too far into.

If I do make it far in, I usually then just give up and restart anyway once the map RNG gets too annoying and I can't find something - maybe a decent cluster of swamp crypts, maybe Moder or Yagluth vegvesir. I don't mind the resource grind, but aimlessly wandering hoping to find needles in haystacks is where I draw the line. (Edit to address the inevitable comments - yes, I know about the external resources and map reveal website. I choose not to use them. I'd rather start a new game than use it. That's my choice, and I'm not attacking the game, the devs, or your personal preference by making that choice. Thank you.)

My current playthrough wasn't hardcore, because I actually found sunken crypt clusters and the vegvesir on my current map in a reasonable amount of time.

[Twinkies]

Originally posted by RagnCharran:

I do a lot of hardcore at default settings. I still play risky since that's more fun, so usually die before getting too far into.

If I do make it far in, I usually then just give up and restart anyway once the map RNG gets too annoying and I can't find something - maybe a decent cluster of swamp crypts, maybe Moder or Yagluth vegvesir. I don't mind the resource grind, but aimlessly wandeing hoping to find needles in haystacks is where I draw the line.

My current playthrough wasn't hardcore, because I actually found sunken crypt clusters and the vegvesir on my current map in a reasonable amount of time.

It's encouraging to know that others also find it challenging. As I expected, it's indeed quite difficult. I've witnessed only a handful of individuals successfully completing the game in Hardcore mode. I watched someone make an attempt, but the video spans a lengthy 11 hours, and I couldn't even make it to the end.

[Veseljko]

I do have a lot of hours invested in the game but i just don't find it fun to play hardcore. I do like challenges, but losing all my gear and skill points isn’t my cup of tea.
The most difficult run I had was pre mistlands when i had completely defenseless base. And it wasn’t difficult at all since i had just 5 raids on the base (I don’t count flying rats as a raid).
I did try higher difficulty on several occasions with mods, but that also included mods which made me more powerful, so I cannot count that as a hardcore run.

Anyway, that is impressive run.
What do you do now? Start a new world or continue in this one?
Also, how do you plan to fight Yagluth and the Queen? They are very difficult even on normal settings. Is it even possible to kill them without cheesing on hardcore settings?

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by Veseljko:

I do have a lot of hours invested in the game but i just don't find it fun to play hardcore. I do like challenges, but losing all my gear and skill points isn’t my cup of tea.
The most difficult run I had was pre mistlands when i had completely defenseless base. And it wasn’t difficult at all since i had just 5 raids on the base (I don’t count flying rats as a raid).
I did try higher difficulty on several occasions with mods, but that also included mods which made me more powerful, so I cannot count that as a hardcore run.

Anyway, that is impressive run.
What do you do now? Start a new world or continue in this one?
Also, how do you plan to fight Yagluth and the Queen? They are very difficult even on normal settings. Is it even possible to kill them without cheesing on hardcore settings?

Yagluth is not too hard doing with 0 dmg in if you got the timing with baiting the fire aoe just towards the end of the meteor or simply with frost arrows if you are a main bow user. Queen can also be done with 0 dmg in because she frankly does not have any hard-to-dodge attacks or persistent AOEs, but is a lot more tedious without cheesing on higher difficulties, due to the semi-randomness of her digging and spamming add skills combined with the higher HP and reg from the difficulty. I frankly gave up on killing her with my main spear user and lowered the difficulty after I got her to like 60% and then the fight turned into a marsh marathon with more time used than I enjoyed (especially since my bile bombs ran out).

I've had some very different timeframes on kills with different characters due to that. Sometimes she digs and comes out in melee range again, sometimes she is at the other side of the arena and spawns more adds before even being close to melee to you.. and then digs again before you can do a single hit. She feels very random to fight. It is more a test of patience at that point due to the health reg, even with ranged capabilities imo. The fight frankly does not feel very well adjusted for solo and can take anywhere from under 10 minutes to close to 30 minutes even on normal difficulty, depending on the distance and add spawn. On normal difficulty it is at least trivial to stagger kill the adds from damage from basically any non-elemental weapon (if you take care to dodge their bugged attack), but that is less true on higher difficulties due to increased max HP/stagger bar.

[Twinkies]

Originally posted by Veseljko:

I do have a lot of hours invested in the game but i just don't find it fun to play hardcore. I do like challenges, but losing all my gear and skill points isn’t my cup of tea.
The most difficult run I had was pre mistlands when i had completely defenseless base. And it wasn’t difficult at all since i had just 5 raids on the base (I don’t count flying rats as a raid).
I did try higher difficulty on several occasions with mods, but that also included mods which made me more powerful, so I cannot count that as a hardcore run.

Anyway, that is impressive run.
What do you do now? Start a new world or continue in this one?
Also, how do you plan to fight Yagluth and the Queen? They are very difficult even on normal settings. Is it even possible to kill them without cheesing on hardcore settings?

If I don't have spare tools and weapons, I usually start a new world when I die. Since the game is still in development, I tend to do this whenever a new update is released.

[Twinkies]

Originally posted by glass zebra:

Originally posted by Veseljko:

I do have a lot of hours invested in the game but i just don't find it fun to play hardcore. I do like challenges, but losing all my gear and skill points isn’t my cup of tea.
The most difficult run I had was pre mistlands when i had completely defenseless base. And it wasn’t difficult at all since i had just 5 raids on the base (I don’t count flying rats as a raid).
I did try higher difficulty on several occasions with mods, but that also included mods which made me more powerful, so I cannot count that as a hardcore run.

Anyway, that is impressive run.
What do you do now? Start a new world or continue in this one?
Also, how do you plan to fight Yagluth and the Queen? They are very difficult even on normal settings. Is it even possible to kill them without cheesing on hardcore settings?

Yagluth is not too hard doing with 0 dmg in if you got the timing with baiting the fire aoe just towards the end of the meteor or simply with frost arrows if you are a main bow user. Queen can also be done with 0 dmg in because she frankly does not have any hard-to-dodge attacks or persistent AOEs, but is a lot more tedious without cheesing on higher difficulties, due to the semi-randomness of her digging and spamming add skills combined with the higher HP and reg from the difficulty. I frankly gave up on killing her with my main spear user and lowered the difficulty after I got her to like 60% and then the fight turned into a marsh marathon with more time used than I enjoyed (especially since my bile bombs ran out).

I've had some very different timeframes on kills with different characters due to that. Sometimes she digs and comes out in melee range again, sometimes she is at the other side of the arena and spawns more adds before even being close to melee to you.. and then digs again before you can do a single hit. She feels very random to fight. It is more a test of patience at that point due to the health reg, even with ranged capabilities imo. The fight frankly does not feel very well adjusted for solo and can take anywhere from under 10 minutes to close to 30 minutes even on normal difficulty, depending on the distance and add spawn. On normal difficulty it is at least trivial to stagger kill the adds from damage from basically any non-elemental weapon (if you take care to dodge their bugged attack), but that is less true on higher difficulties due to increased max HP/stagger bar.

I've never heard of anyone successfully defeating the queen in hardcore mode, so it might be close to impossible. In other games, defeating the final boss can be incredibly challenging, often requiring numerous attempts and a stroke of luck after countless tries. However, in Valheim, reaching the queen takes days of preparation, and by the time you get there, you need to execute a flawless fight. It's the ultimate challenge.

Currently, I'm stranded in the swamp with no respite and limited food. I'm genuinely scared, crouching behind a tree for safety. This level of emotional intensity is unique to Valheim; I've never experienced it in any other game. It's what keeps me coming back—the genuine fear of death is rare in gaming. Just being stuck in the dark swamp, desperately trying to find your way home after getting lost, is oddly satisfying, despite the tedious gameplay.

[Twinkies]

Expanding on my thoughts regarding hardcore gaming, I'd like to highlight the success of World of Warcraft's Classic Hardcore mode. This revitalized the game, cementing its status as one of the finest RPGs to date. If you ask anyone about their favorite online role-playing game, chances are they'll mention World of Warcraft. Initially, WoW was a casual game, accessible to all. However, its success was inevitable, given its novelty and Blizzard's resources to ensure smooth operation. Despite nearly two decades of dominance, WoW experienced a decline in recent years, until the introduction of Classic Hardcore mode rejuvenated it.

This resurgence serves as compelling evidence that hardcore gaming is the future. Consider this: in traditional board games or non-video games like Dungeons & Dragons, the fear of losing everything upon death is inherent. In college D&D sessions, players didn't lament restarting with a new character; they embraced it as part of the survival gaming experience and carried on.

[Kackstift]

hardcore is a great way to create your own "seasons".
ban certain weapons, food ect. and try to stay alive aslong as possible AND finish the game

[RagnCharran]

I've started a new one and it's going well so far. Have a full set of tier 3 troll armour, and have managed to find turnip seeds and hunt oozers (for two iron for a stonecutter), four wraiths (for chains to make bellows), and an abomination...without defeating Eikthyr or building anything bronze aside from the axe, pick, and adze. No cauldron, no carrots/turnips,no buckler, and still flint weaponry.

Had a couple close calls but no deaths yet. Had a scary situation where a one star troll had me cornered in a burial chamber entrance, so I had to hide inside thirty seconds, pop out and shoot a single arrow, then duck back inside. Took a long time to kill, but without a bronze buckler I couldn't risk taking a hit. (I probably just could have stayed in the burial chamber a few minutes until it wandered off, but I needed three more troll skins to finish my cape upgrade, so...)

I also had to make use of the poison damage pause while teleporting twice to survive an oozer managing to poison me...then getting me again when I came back because it camped the portal.

Now I'm wandering looking for a good base location before I start seriously bronze mining.

[Tomiro]

I didn't find hardcore at the default settings (before the difficulty sliders) that difficult, and succeeded on my second try. I only came close to dying when letting my guard down when farming mats in "easier" biomes, and one near drowning incident when I decided to build a bridge to my island base. I did cheese the queen with the hammer, that might have been patched now.

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by Tomiro:

I did cheese the queen with the hammer, that might have been patched now.

It's not and kinda endorsed by the devs as not-glitching, since the first 3 places in the hardcore speedrun competition did that. In the last Queen fight it seemed like the seekers don't really go into the "safe room" at the start anymore though, so some pathfinding seems different. The Queen however still hugged that wall and you could hit her with all kinds of stuff (hammer is not the only weapon that can hit her).