I had a blast playing Kingdom Come Deliverance 1, especially the Hardcore mode where the challenge felt just right. Now that the second game is out, I’m curious about how its Hardcore mode stacks up. I’m debating whether to start with a full negative perk run again like in the first game or save some difficulty for later playthroughs and DLC. But I’m worried that without those negative perks, I might feel overpowered halfway through and get bored. Does Hardcore in KCD2 feel easier, harder, or about the same compared to KCD1? Any insights would help!
5 Answers
I was nervous combat would be brutal at first without directional cues, but it actually feels smoother and easier if you pay attention to your opponent’s moves. However, everything else in Hardcore is pretty frustrating—figuring out your location without any markers and managing all the debuffs can be a nightmare. I’ve died more from getting lost or not managing debuffs than from fights!
The biggest Hardcore differences from the first game are the lack of fast travel and no position marker on the map, which really makes exploring a challenge again. Once you get used to losing the GUI aids, the gameplay feels pretty close to normal difficulty. Combat surprisingly doesn’t feel much harder since you learn enemy patterns better on a second run. Honestly, the hardest part is just not getting lost, but that also makes you appreciate the game’s beautiful world more.
Hardcore mode in KCD2 definitely feels easier than in the first game mainly because they added autosaves, so you don’t have to stress about constantly saving manually. Plus, alchemy is still just as powerful, letting you get rich and craft helpful potions early on. That can actually make things less challenging if you rely on it a lot.
I’ve always wondered how people get rich with alchemy so quickly—it seems like a huge time investment compared to just hunting bandits.
One annoying thing is how quickly your boots degrade in Hardcore mode. They get wrecked after barely any travel, which adds a bit of tension as you have to keep an eye on your gear’s condition more than usual.
Totally agree! Even on normal difficulty they degrade fast, so I can’t imagine dealing with that plus the rest of Hardcore’s challenges. Definitely skipping that perk!
Honestly, it feels pretty similar to KCD1’s Hardcore mode. The main change that throws me off is the autosave—they removed the manual save challenge that made the first game’s Hardcore so intense. Other than that, it’s still tough running without fast travel and managing all the resource stuff. I get that they want the mode to be accessible, but I miss the high risk feel.
Getting lost is actually part of the fun for me too—I’m terrible with directions IRL and in games, so it’s a good challenge. Plus it makes you stop and notice all the little environmental details you’d otherwise miss.