Difficulty levels.

[Jorenm]

I would like there to be difficulty levels that you can change at-will. I'm playing through titan quest right now and it's ridiculously easy. I haven't felt threatened by a boss since level 8 or so.

I know that there are harder difficulties later, but I don't want to have to play the game multiple times on the same character to get a challenge.

[eisprinzessin]

Is it your first play-through? That was the greatest challenge for me, as I had to use the items I found with that character. It will become more difficult in act 3 after the Great Wall. Maybe you haven't encountered the boss yet, who will fight your weak point.

Originally Posted by medierra

I think the difficulty in Normal was good. Epic was almost easier than Normal though, which is pretty pathetic.

Originally Posted by medierra

TQ is designed so that casual players moving ahead at a normal pace can progress through the game without too much difficulty. However, hardcore players can rush ahead into more challenging areas of the game at lower level and compensate for lower character level and gear through human skill.

Originally Posted by medierra

I think normal difficulty will be fairly easy, similar to TQ. However, unlike TQ, if you are a skilled player and push ahead it will be faster to get to Epic. I expect Epic and Legendary will be significantly more difficult than TQ. I imagine Epic will be about what Legendary was in TQ. I'm also interested in adding some sort of option similar to /players 8 so that people can scale difficulty and the potential reward. That and we'll have hardcore mode this time.

Additionally, even in normal difficulty, there will be areas off the beaten path where players can find an added challenge.

[Jorenm]

I don't know if that model makes sense. Why not just a difficulty slider? I don't want to ignore side quests to keep my level low in order to get a challenge.

[eisprinzessin]

If that's your concern, then you might appreciate this:

Originally Posted by medierra
Due to the way enemies were configured and the spawning system was set up in Titan Quest, we had to create spawners with a limited level range of possible enemies. On the road from Helios to Sparta, in TQ, Satyrs can only range from level 1-4 in the first half and 3-8 in the latter half.

For Grim Dawn we've created a much more powerful spawning system that allows us to spawn enemies in as large a range as we desire for any given area. [...]

The overall idea here is to give people much more flexibility in terms of how they progress through the game, pace enemies better for players who reach different areas at different levels and to provide a lot of replayability.

But a difficulty slider as requested by you has not been confirmed. The Lilith mod includes a Difficulty Changer.

[mamba]

Originally Posted by Jorenm

I would like there to be difficulty levels that you can change at-will. I'm playing through titan quest right now and it's ridiculously easy. I haven't felt threatened by a boss since level 8 or so.

I know that there are harder difficulties later, but I don't want to have to play the game multiple times on the same character to get a challenge.

Actually, the first difficulty level will be the most difficult one, as your character is still weak

The first two regions are easy, the third slowly raises the difficulty and the fourth is the most difficult. Whether you still consider it too easy will imo be a personal thing, how good you are at this type of game and how difficult you want them to be.

[Jorenm]

Whether you still consider it too easy will imo be a personal thing, how good you are at this type of game and how difficult you want them to be.

Exactly my point! This is why you have dynamic difficulty.

[Kluga]

A difficulty slider will really throw the "normal, epic, legendary" dynamic of the game, I feel.

For example:
-On normal, you find it easy, slide it up to max difficulty.
-Then say, you struggle on epic difficulty and slide it back to make it easier.

This essentially makes normal and epic the same level of difficulty and makes having separate, unlockable levels pointless. You may as well just have infinite playthroughs on a character and just change the difficulty depending on how you feel.

And as Mamba said, it will get harder. Most people find the 1st two acts of normal rather easy going. Once you hit acts 3 and 4 you will find out how robust your character build and play style is. And as quoted by eisprinzessin, GD will be far more difficult overall.

And last but not least, I'm sure it will only be a matter of time until people will create mods that can increase game difficulty through enemy spawn, hp, resists and so forth if you're STILL after more of a challenge

[Jorenm]

For example:
-On normal, you find it easy, slide it up to max difficulty.

Ok, so you have a challenge, hence fun.

-Then say, you struggle on epic difficulty and slide it back to make it easier.

Ok, so you have a challenge, hence fun.

What's the problem?

This essentially makes normal and epic the same level of difficulty and makes having separate, unlockable levels pointless. You may as well just have infinite playthroughs on a character and just change the difficulty depending on how you feel.

Presumably the range of difficulty would vary between the levels. Maybe they overlap some, but a terrible build wouldn't be able to win even on easy-setting epic.

[Kluga]

Originally Posted by Jorenm

Ok, so you have a challenge, hence fun.

What's the problem?

Because then there is no sense of progression, it'll be like playing on the same difficulty over and over again. It may be fun for some, don't get me wrong. But I fail to see the point to be honest because a lot of people play these games to see progression.

Presumably the range of difficulty would vary between the levels. Maybe they overlap some, but a terrible build wouldn't be able to win even on easy-setting epic.

If there is overlap, then a poor build could probably continue to survive. You could simply keep sliding it further back as you get further in, allowing a very extended life. Even without overlap they may be able to hang on for dear life.

It would also be quite difficult to balance the game between three difficulties with a slider added in. It would be really hard to show a progression in difficulty while allowing players to alter the difficulty to their own taste to any significant degree.

[ASYLUM101]

There was a reason why Diablo started it that way, why Diablo 2 had the same mechanic of advancing in difficulties... actually, it's why EVERY ARPG has 3 difficulties. Nubs suck their way through the game, up until they beat and say "To hell with this game, it's too freaking hard". Others, keep going and try every possible class. A slider serves no additional fun value, because it's the player/character who is lacking, not the game who is overly hard.