Insane should be harder and more heart pounding because you're actually trying not to invalidate all your saves. Speaking of that, I will start an Insane playthrough since I've seen Costin do it and it seems very interesting. I just hope I don't do anything stupid and get one shotted in combat.
Ive played through dark mode twice now. The hardest part of the game is at the beginning of chapter 1 because you dont have the dark items yet. Once you've crafted the first set of dark armour and weapons, the game feels like playing on normal. The only real difference is when you screw up you die fast. I play on the xbox so I dont have insane but i am going to play on hard thinking it might be more of a challenge due to thelack of uber items.
When i start a new game i can choose between easy, normal, hard or dark. In game i only have easy, normal or hard. I don't have insane on the 360.
Yeah, pretty much this. I played the game (twice) when it was released on Normal, just... cus I didn't know how hard it was and seemed like a good starting point, and i was mainly interested in the story anyway. I haven't played since then, until the Enhanced Edition came out. Now I am playing on Dark, I've just reached Act 2, and I am not really finding it much harder than before, I've adapted. Sure, I've died, and sometimes I do notice that the enemis really do a lot more damage than they did on those first 2 playthroughs, and I am pumping more talents into survivability skills. (going sword tree with a dash of magic, I think, but it's early yet) But I think even if i was starting the game with no prior playthroughs I'd still be doing ok. Some things seem easier, actually... first playthrough, the Endrega Queens kicked my ass, and I used traps and knives and stuff to beat them, but I handled them on Dark fairly easily with no traps or anything...(all my money had gone into the armor! I couldn't afford them, had sold the snares I'd picked up, and didn't feel like grinding for money. heh) same with the Wraiths in the asylum... though the wraiths in the clearing during the Melitele's Heart quest kicked my ass without bombs. Apparently i can handle 2 at once, but 3 is too much.yayodeanno said:Dark can't be harder than Insane, at least on pc, it has quicksavesJoking aside, I just started the second chapter on Dark (my first playthrough was on Hard), I'm an old guy (48) and don't consider myself hardcore, still the game isn't really difficult. My theory is that if a game doesn't completely exceed one's psychomotoric abilities the gamer will quickly adapt to whatever the difficulty level is, one just needs to get the hang of combat tactics
Anyway. I think it's really hard for someone to compare difficulties, because in addition to simply adapting to what the game is throwing at them, they will learn tactics from their first playthroughs that will make their second and beyond seem easier. If the Devs say Dark is the hardest aside from the fact that you can die, I guess I'll take their word for it, since it's probably built into the raw numbers of damage dealt/taken etc.
Insane is in my opinion, the hardest game mode because there's a penalty for messing up. On Dark you can repeatedly screw up and die. I completed my Insane run, and I'm really happy that I finally beat it. Ironically I died the most to those archers on Eternal Battle.
My advice to anyone trying to do an Insane run is just to abuse Alchemy to its full potential. It's by far the most powerful tree. Get double damage bombs and Catalysis 2/2, which makes potions batshit OP. I drank a ton of Lapwings, which only have a paltry -8% vitality with Catalysis 2/2, and Swallows, which give you +2 Vitality regen in combat with the aforementioned skill.
You can pwn large groups of enemies and even strong single enemies like Endrega Queens and Letho by rolling behind enemies that block, and hitting them in the back. This is by far the most efficient way to beat these enemies. Otherwise, just spam bombs. Grapeshots with the Alchemist skill deal 60-80 damage.
My advice to anyone trying to do an Insane run is just to abuse Alchemy to its full potential. It's by far the most powerful tree. Get double damage bombs and Catalysis 2/2, which makes potions batshit OP. I drank a ton of Lapwings, which only have a paltry -8% vitality with Catalysis 2/2, and Swallows, which give you +2 Vitality regen in combat with the aforementioned skill.
You can pwn large groups of enemies and even strong single enemies like Endrega Queens and Letho by rolling behind enemies that block, and hitting them in the back. This is by far the most efficient way to beat these enemies. Otherwise, just spam bombs. Grapeshots with the Alchemist skill deal 60-80 damage.
I've completed the game twice on dark and once on insane and Dark mode is the hardest without question. To be honest, insane was kinda boring. It was easy. After playing on dark, insane felt like a step back. Yes, it is nerve racking to know that if you die, you're dead and no matter how much you cry, all that progress is gone. Forever. So in that aspect, it was a lot tougher on you mentally. But if you're decently skilled, like me, and concentrate, like I do, and use potions and signs effectively, which you should, insane should be a breeze.
The biggest obstacles in insane mode are the quick time events and maybe the last boss. For example: fuck up on the kayrans QTEs and you're fucked. Kinda annoying but eh. What are you gonna do.
The biggest obstacles in insane mode are the quick time events and maybe the last boss. For example: fuck up on the kayrans QTEs and you're fucked. Kinda annoying but eh. What are you gonna do.
Insane was far more interesting to me. Dark really isn't hard considering you can just reload if something goes very wrong. I did a run on Dark without using Quen, without getting Dark sets, and without using alchemy/bombs. It was rather easy... vast majority die quite quickly to rolling behind their back and hitting with strong attacks. Not using quen makes the game a heck of a lot more fun.
Insane on the other hand kept me at the edge of my seat in quite a few battles. Now... trying to do an Insane run without Quen would be quite a challenge but I'm not sure I'm up for that just yet =)
Insane on the other hand kept me at the edge of my seat in quite a few battles. Now... trying to do an Insane run without Quen would be quite a challenge but I'm not sure I'm up for that just yet =)
Or you could fall down the stairs on your way up to fight the dragon. Why did I use Quen? WHY?!
Insane is just, well, insane for me - it'd be waaaay to frustrating to die somewhere in the middle of the game and to have to start all over again... I mean there are some fights where dying is absolutely possible, like
Nah, I guess it's not for me
the executioner in LaValette castle, the first encounter with Letho, the Draug... wraiths... a huge crowd of nekkers...
Don´t ask me, I only played on dark after mastering the combat in the prologue.
I'd say Dark is the toughest of them without a doubt. Insanity was surprisingly easy, the only real danger was the constant tension surrounding you due to the fact that if you die, you're dead. No more continues. I've played through the game twice on Dark and once on Insanity and I definitely think Dark is the harder difficulty.
That's where I died my first time.
Stupid fool in his clumsy plate armor
I would have to agree with those saying Insane is more difficult. I've completed Dark several times. Eventually I'll have an insane under my belt (hopefully before the third game arrives).
Insane enemies seem to die a bit faster, but the fear of dieing really amps the difficulty. Fear is the mind killer.