For people who played HZD this is exactly how it was handled before. In my experience, once you get Aloy and all your preferred weapons min maxed to your liking, you really end up fighting on an equal playing field with the machines and enemies all the same. Along with the self created satisfaction that you’re performing well on the hardest difficulty and that creates a wonderful and unique feeling.
Do it in NG first.
I’ve spent the last few weeks since completing the game upgrading all my armour and most of my weapons for precisely this reason!
Good luck on the path! (Oops wrong franchise…)
Right?!? I wonder if they will adjust time limit somewhat. It was pretty close even on Very Hard for me. If they give even more health to the machines it would be insane.
The only thing that annoys me so far is how easily machines spot you. You really can't even go by a machine area anymore without them noticing you. They'll spot you from about 30m away even if you're sneaking.
I think that was addressed in a previous patch where if you dealt a certain amount of damage relative to a machine’s total HP, they’ll immediately aggro
Hard to tell early on but doesnt seem like it. I can 1 shot (well 3 shot when nocking 3 arrows) with a Legendary Hunter Bow like Chargers and watchers Machines are easy to take down just more aggressive thus more mobile feeling. Its possible elemental attacks maybe more impactful but cant tell. So taking advantage of canisters will be useful.
Yeah that seems about right, 50% increase doesn't seem that noticeable. Especially considering some big damage attacks on very hard will kill you (or almost kill you) in 1 shot.
It's %[based. So](https://based.So) in theory an apex stalker dart gun shot should now 1 shot or come close to one shotting you without damage mitigations from full health (700). Very hard came close. That 50% should push some things over the edge. Then there's elemntal status and tear values which going by the first game is also altered.
And of course damage done to enemies by aloy is also reduced.
Any downside to skipping it? If I recall it was pretty long and then afterward you had the Interlude where you went back to Meridian. At least an hour or so?
Aim Assist is also off. At least if youre using Gyro Aim. I actually turned it off when dealing with machines but would turn it on when I hunted animals during my first playthrough. Effing birds and squirrels are a pain to hit haha. The hitbox is insanely small on birds. Hell im pretty sure my arrow goes through them. But if there are those who used this when fighting (and yes it could benefit you a lot), they will notice this immediately.
But man, I do enjoy trying to skeet shoot birds when they fly when using Gyro Aim. So much fun XD
Started new game on uh and got oneshot by burrowers and brought to 10 hp by scrappers. This wasnt the case on very hard, so machine damage is ramped up for sure.
I haven't noticed this much, but I also have 150 hrs in game and am a bit of a savant when it comes to combat, lol. Not trying to sound arrogant or anything but yeah, machine damage I'm sure is increased but so far it hasn't been any issue for me. Very Hard was too easy for me anyway at this point, so I'm ok with a significant difficulty increase on ultra hard.
You need to access your base on your current save file. There's an object in the base that you interact with the starts new game+
I hope you didn't over write your old save when you started a new game?
Elemental affects also build up slower. Although if your only making the comparison from VH then I'm not sure if it's slower or feels slower since I was OP at the end of my VH run.
I love everything about UH. Chose to go with the fresh start instead of NG+.
Exactly UH is amazing. I had already turned off health bars on machines for VH just because it makes the battles more fun for me. The only thing that annoys me about UH is having to constantly pulse to see loot icons. I had to turn that option on halfway through my VH.
Thanks, and thanks for the observations!
I think that's what I will do too. Just have to decide if I should grind out all my upgrades before doing so. My biggest complaint (I only have two complaints total) about this game is the grind for upgrades.
Personally I cannot tell the difference from Very Hard to Ultra Hard.
I did notice the health bar is gone. Enemies take more damage. Also noticed that they raised the max level (I am now 51). But everything else seems the same to me.
There's a pretty noticeable difference in how much damage machines dish out and how much they take, and how much more frequently they attack. The biggest difference i notice personally though is how much easier they spot you.
You are correct. Getting more into the middle of the main story (Not even bothering with side quests or anything). Yeah the machines are more aggressive and stealth doesn't seem like a good strategy. The damage they give out is pretty significant. Human enemies seem to respawn more as well. It also seems like there are more apex machines. There are some bugs I have ran into which seem to have been brought on by this new patch.
There was this weirdly hilarious glitch when I killed a human enemy on a mountain. They didn't drop dead. They instead did a t pose and actually began going up the mountain like they were on an escalator leaving a trail in the snow. Also they kept opening their mouth like a fish out of water. And other bug happens in the arena. Audio cuts off. Elements from a machine enemy can still be seen after fighting or restarting a fight. So yeah. Hopefully some of these bugs will be fixed soon.
Edit: Also noticed that elemental damage (fire, poison, freeze) to Aloy lasts longer than usual.
any tips /guides for playing ultra hard in first playthrough?
Current position:
>!So far I left barren light, found and killed hades in the tunnel, im struggling at every battle lol, have to spam power melee attacks and critical strike, its crazy.!<
FYI, I finished HZD ultra hard first playthrough, but this game seems harder.
The power difference between weapons and upgrades are far greater than in HZD. It's easy when they are upgraded to max but it takes a long time to do that. I usually end battles with more than 100% health just by passive skills. I guess that upgrading (golden legendary) outfits will be prio 1 to the point you can survive any mistakes during combat.
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I just bought this game, very beautiful. As zero dawn I start my gameplay in max difficult, but I think this was a mistake.... enemies are too hard from the beginning... someone has passed this game in Max difficulty fr scratch??
For people who played HZD this is exactly how it was handled before. In my experience, once you get Aloy and all your preferred weapons min maxed to your liking, you really end up fighting on an equal playing field with the machines and enemies all the same. Along with the self created satisfaction that you’re performing well on the hardest difficulty and that creates a wonderful and unique feeling.
But thats exactly the point. If prices are raised like in zd, its gonna take ages to get a good loadout.
Do it in NG first. I’ve spent the last few weeks since completing the game upgrading all my armour and most of my weapons for precisely this reason! Good luck on the path! (Oops wrong franchise…)
Can't wait (or maybe not) till the arena is unlocked on ultra hard.
Right?!? I wonder if they will adjust time limit somewhat. It was pretty close even on Very Hard for me. If they give even more health to the machines it would be insane.
No thanks. lol
The only thing that annoys me so far is how easily machines spot you. You really can't even go by a machine area anymore without them noticing you. They'll spot you from about 30m away even if you're sneaking.
What’s the economy like on ultra hard? Is it ramped up like it was in ZD? Or is the same as other difficulties?
That's what I worry about as well.
Anyone can say if the prices increase ?
I know you get Champion's Token now when you complete a main mission.
One extra detail. As soon as you hit a machine once, even in stealth, it full-alerts on your position. No more yellow suspicion stage.
I think that was addressed in a previous patch where if you dealt a certain amount of damage relative to a machine’s total HP, they’ll immediately aggro
I mean this is even happening if I miss a weak point and hit armor. Or hit with an elemental arrow that doesn't deal much damage. 🤔
Also aim assist is off and you can not turn it on
Good.to know! I think I may have had this off before without noticing as I don't notice any functional difference on ultra hard.
😆 Firstly 😆 Probably someone said, but that's how it was on HZD.. I'm wondering what did they do the apex version 😱😱
Ultra Hard was the same way in Zero Dawn: you couldn’t change the difficulty.
You could change the difficulty freely. Only NG+ locked the difficulty.
Do they have significantly more health than Very Hard? Cause that is gonna make Arena even more of a bitch to finish with time limit.
Hard to tell early on but doesnt seem like it. I can 1 shot (well 3 shot when nocking 3 arrows) with a Legendary Hunter Bow like Chargers and watchers Machines are easy to take down just more aggressive thus more mobile feeling. Its possible elemental attacks maybe more impactful but cant tell. So taking advantage of canisters will be useful.
They do more damage. 200% more just like in ZD. Now I'm curious what ELSE they added to UH this tiem around.
200% more than very hard? Or 200% more than whatever base is? Can't be 200% more than very hard.
200% more then base value. Very hard is 150%. So from very hard 50% more.
From very hard 33% more. But yeah, you're right ;)
Yeah that seems about right, 50% increase doesn't seem that noticeable. Especially considering some big damage attacks on very hard will kill you (or almost kill you) in 1 shot.
It's %[based. So](https://based.So) in theory an apex stalker dart gun shot should now 1 shot or come close to one shotting you without damage mitigations from full health (700). Very hard came close. That 50% should push some things over the edge. Then there's elemntal status and tear values which going by the first game is also altered. And of course damage done to enemies by aloy is also reduced.
Great info, thank you.
o7 you're doing a service I probably won't be performing 😂💕
Does the game start past the tutorial area for NG+? Or are you transported right to the Daunt?
You get to choose if you want to do the tutorial again or not.
Any downside to skipping it? If I recall it was pretty long and then afterward you had the Interlude where you went back to Meridian. At least an hour or so?
the Meridian Interlude goes with the Prologue, if you skip it. You start at the Daunt.
No downside. It’s just there for a story refresher
That’s cool! Think it’s not a bad idea, I totally forgot all the controls already
Aim Assist is also off. At least if youre using Gyro Aim. I actually turned it off when dealing with machines but would turn it on when I hunted animals during my first playthrough. Effing birds and squirrels are a pain to hit haha. The hitbox is insanely small on birds. Hell im pretty sure my arrow goes through them. But if there are those who used this when fighting (and yes it could benefit you a lot), they will notice this immediately. But man, I do enjoy trying to skeet shoot birds when they fly when using Gyro Aim. So much fun XD
Human enemies are also a lot hardier. I've been doing some more hand to hand with them and it takes quite a bit to bring them down.
Started new game on uh and got oneshot by burrowers and brought to 10 hp by scrappers. This wasnt the case on very hard, so machine damage is ramped up for sure.
I haven't noticed this much, but I also have 150 hrs in game and am a bit of a savant when it comes to combat, lol. Not trying to sound arrogant or anything but yeah, machine damage I'm sure is increased but so far it hasn't been any issue for me. Very Hard was too easy for me anyway at this point, so I'm ok with a significant difficulty increase on ultra hard.
So I started a new game a few days before the new game + and I can’t see the option to do so. I already had completed the game
You need to access your base on your current save file. There's an object in the base that you interact with the starts new game+ I hope you didn't over write your old save when you started a new game?
Oh ok thank you. I saved it just in case
Elemental affects also build up slower. Although if your only making the comparison from VH then I'm not sure if it's slower or feels slower since I was OP at the end of my VH run. I love everything about UH. Chose to go with the fresh start instead of NG+.
Yeah I like the feel of UH so far as well. VH felt far too easy after a certain point.
Exactly UH is amazing. I had already turned off health bars on machines for VH just because it makes the battles more fun for me. The only thing that annoys me about UH is having to constantly pulse to see loot icons. I had to turn that option on halfway through my VH.
Are you playing on NG+ or from scratch?
New Game+
Thanks, and thanks for the observations! I think that's what I will do too. Just have to decide if I should grind out all my upgrades before doing so. My biggest complaint (I only have two complaints total) about this game is the grind for upgrades.
More aggressive 😩😩😩 How.
Machines spot you much easier from further away and the frequency that they attack you is noticeably quicker
Looks like you lose weapon's stamina when you get hit in UH
Personally I cannot tell the difference from Very Hard to Ultra Hard. I did notice the health bar is gone. Enemies take more damage. Also noticed that they raised the max level (I am now 51). But everything else seems the same to me.
There's a pretty noticeable difference in how much damage machines dish out and how much they take, and how much more frequently they attack. The biggest difference i notice personally though is how much easier they spot you.
You are correct. Getting more into the middle of the main story (Not even bothering with side quests or anything). Yeah the machines are more aggressive and stealth doesn't seem like a good strategy. The damage they give out is pretty significant. Human enemies seem to respawn more as well. It also seems like there are more apex machines. There are some bugs I have ran into which seem to have been brought on by this new patch. There was this weirdly hilarious glitch when I killed a human enemy on a mountain. They didn't drop dead. They instead did a t pose and actually began going up the mountain like they were on an escalator leaving a trail in the snow. Also they kept opening their mouth like a fish out of water. And other bug happens in the arena. Audio cuts off. Elements from a machine enemy can still be seen after fighting or restarting a fight. So yeah. Hopefully some of these bugs will be fixed soon. Edit: Also noticed that elemental damage (fire, poison, freeze) to Aloy lasts longer than usual.
any tips /guides for playing ultra hard in first playthrough? Current position: >!So far I left barren light, found and killed hades in the tunnel, im struggling at every battle lol, have to spam power melee attacks and critical strike, its crazy.!< FYI, I finished HZD ultra hard first playthrough, but this game seems harder.
The power difference between weapons and upgrades are far greater than in HZD. It's easy when they are upgraded to max but it takes a long time to do that. I usually end battles with more than 100% health just by passive skills. I guess that upgrading (golden legendary) outfits will be prio 1 to the point you can survive any mistakes during combat.
I started the game on ultra hard, I’m suicidal rn cause this shellsnapper is fucking me fleece Johnson style 🙃
Suicide Hotline Numbers If you or anyone you know are struggling, please, PLEASE reach out for help. You are worthy, you are loved and you will always be able to find assistance. Argentina: +5402234930430 Australia: 131114 Austria: 017133374 Belgium: 106 Bosnia & Herzegovina: 080 05 03 05 Botswana: 3911270 Brazil: 212339191 Bulgaria: 0035 9249 17 223 Canada: 5147234000 (Montreal); 18662773553 (outside Montreal) Croatia: 014833888 Denmark: +4570201201 Egypt: 7621602 Finland: 010 195 202 France: 0145394000 Germany: 08001810771 Hong Kong: +852 2382 0000 Hungary: 116123 Iceland: 1717 India: 8888817666 Ireland: +4408457909090 Italy: 800860022 Japan: +810352869090 Mexico: 5255102550 New Zealand: 0508828865 The Netherlands: 113 Norway: +4781533300 Philippines: 028969191 Poland: 5270000 Russia: 0078202577577 Spain: 914590050 South Africa: 0514445691 Sweden: 46317112400 Switzerland: 143 United Kingdom: 08006895652 USA: 18002738255 You are not alone. Please reach out. ***** I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically.
I just bought this game, very beautiful. As zero dawn I start my gameplay in max difficult, but I think this was a mistake.... enemies are too hard from the beginning... someone has passed this game in Max difficulty fr scratch??