I've did a fresh start on hard, cleared all of Watson before getting Flathead. On normal I had the netrunner build, while for hard I wanted to go shotguns and LMG.
So for normal after clearing Watson:
* Level 12
* 100K+ cash (after paying Victor, getting legendary cyberdeck, double jump and alike)
Hard:
* Level 13 (may be due to few extra random Maelstrom boys killed and alike, but the multiplier is supposed to be bit higher)
* Similar cash level
On hard nearly any hit takes most of your HP if not more... So most of early game is making a Nekomata and shooting through concrete. Shotguns do come in handy as they CC enemies that want to rush you or shoot you. LMG needs a scope but still being theoretically a bigger caliber - lack of penetration is dumb on this weapon. Buzzsaw is just superior in that regard plus tech weapons - enemies through cover is common.
So for hard you throw lots of grenades, use sniper riffle, run away to gain distance (enemies with pistols and shotguns usually will not try to close the distance after first attempt). You can't get hit pretty much and you use a lot of healing items. The problems start with game systems like:
* Civilians: if you have one near a pack you can't throw a grenade (only flash ones), the tend to stay where they are etc. Even if you aim somewhere where they are you can get a star and have to reload
* Police: this is becoming not just dumb but annoying as they hit harder than usual mob. If you get them for a weird reason, like aiming near a civilian it's pretty much a reload.
The difficulty is harder - you have to plan, use more abilities (like you want that protocol breach weakness daemon, grenades, even flash grenades into shotgun rush), yet it's not really fun if you get axed by game weirdness
Enemy scaling: random mobs do take more to kill but it's quite inconsistent. You pick a "medium" threat level marker and you get red enemies there that hit super hard and need few clips to kill, while another time yellow mobs can get one-shotted from a shotgun or require multiple hits.
Cyberpsycho/boss scaling: they seems to not scale. Valentino cyberpsycho died to few LMG shots, Militech one requires more just like on normal (the AI is so dumb) but IMHO generic mobs are way bigger problem than such bosses.
Picking Watson legendaries, dumping armadillos on them: on low levels epic ones won't proc, but even with blues ~1000 armor on equal/bit higher leve mobs (Pacifica beach) is only slightly better - you pretty much can't get hit multiple times nor hit by a melee weapon. You need a build that scales armor and resistances higher (cold blood etc.).
~~~~~~
IMHO harder difficulties should alter how healing items work (limit healing wastly, affect periodic effects and boost reactivenes), how quick hacks work (less direct damage, more utility ?) and how enemies behave (more grenades, more hacks than overheat, more strategies. Dumping few clips into random mobs is not really appealing gameplay (and just forces very specific meta builds).
So for normal after clearing Watson:
* Level 12
* 100K+ cash (after paying Victor, getting legendary cyberdeck, double jump and alike)
Hard:
* Level 13 (may be due to few extra random Maelstrom boys killed and alike, but the multiplier is supposed to be bit higher)
* Similar cash level
On hard nearly any hit takes most of your HP if not more... So most of early game is making a Nekomata and shooting through concrete. Shotguns do come in handy as they CC enemies that want to rush you or shoot you. LMG needs a scope but still being theoretically a bigger caliber - lack of penetration is dumb on this weapon. Buzzsaw is just superior in that regard plus tech weapons - enemies through cover is common.
So for hard you throw lots of grenades, use sniper riffle, run away to gain distance (enemies with pistols and shotguns usually will not try to close the distance after first attempt). You can't get hit pretty much and you use a lot of healing items. The problems start with game systems like:
* Civilians: if you have one near a pack you can't throw a grenade (only flash ones), the tend to stay where they are etc. Even if you aim somewhere where they are you can get a star and have to reload
* Police: this is becoming not just dumb but annoying as they hit harder than usual mob. If you get them for a weird reason, like aiming near a civilian it's pretty much a reload.
The difficulty is harder - you have to plan, use more abilities (like you want that protocol breach weakness daemon, grenades, even flash grenades into shotgun rush), yet it's not really fun if you get axed by game weirdness
Enemy scaling: random mobs do take more to kill but it's quite inconsistent. You pick a "medium" threat level marker and you get red enemies there that hit super hard and need few clips to kill, while another time yellow mobs can get one-shotted from a shotgun or require multiple hits.
Cyberpsycho/boss scaling: they seems to not scale. Valentino cyberpsycho died to few LMG shots, Militech one requires more just like on normal (the AI is so dumb) but IMHO generic mobs are way bigger problem than such bosses.
Picking Watson legendaries, dumping armadillos on them: on low levels epic ones won't proc, but even with blues ~1000 armor on equal/bit higher leve mobs (Pacifica beach) is only slightly better - you pretty much can't get hit multiple times nor hit by a melee weapon. You need a build that scales armor and resistances higher (cold blood etc.).
~~~~~~
IMHO harder difficulties should alter how healing items work (limit healing wastly, affect periodic effects and boost reactivenes), how quick hacks work (less direct damage, more utility ?) and how enemies behave (more grenades, more hacks than overheat, more strategies. Dumping few clips into random mobs is not really appealing gameplay (and just forces very specific meta builds).
