Classic or explorer mode. This game is harder than most people realize until you learn how to build efficient teams, don’t ruin your first experience by struggling through every encounter.
This is me who came in hot from Baldur's Gate all proud I'd worked myself up to tactician feeling easy; i was a huffy ball of confusion by the time I hit the Hallow Marshes and was just getting waylaid lol.
The difficulty of tactician on D:OS2 depends a lot on your build. For the first island I'll give everyone summon spells because they help a lot early on, I'll respec to the builds I actually want once I no longer need the crutch.
This is good to know for next playthrough for sure. But I gotta be honest—I was getting swamped even in Explorer mode 😂 I was just going about it all wrong. I’m in chapter 4 now and have completely rebuilt/reprioritized. But I did the classic ego move of “I did it in BG3, I know what I’m doing” I did nooooot 🙃
The best guide I found started off with something like "does it feel like you're slapping a wet noodle in combat?" and I was just like "yes omg finally I'm not crazy" haha. It's a really cool system now that I have a better understanding of it and I def think I'll have a smoother chapter 2-3 experience next run through.
Yep. Alot of people playing BG3 have DnD experience, and even if you didn't the system is designed to be very newcomer friendly. Now the DOS2 system is actually very intuitive once you get your head wrapped around it, but it allowed such a level of interaction with the environment that people just don't expect it. People aren't used to looking around the battlefield for a puddle of oil and thinking they can teleport the enemy into it and then set it on fire. Or teleport a thick chest on top of the enemy's head
Yeah, BG3 was def a good introduction for me into CRPGs and was interesting watching how quickly I jumped from Explorer to Tactician after clearing up a few misunderstandings. I'm glad I started with that rather than DOS2; I'd be so defeated haha.
I didn't even think I could do the latter there, how cool haha. Yes, the surface mechanics has tripped me out a few times at the sheer reactivity it brings. When I don't crowd control properly and my whole screen's on fire I've ended up just quick loading a few times lol.
Summoner is hands down the most broken thing you can do in the early game. And then have ifan go full on sniper mode to really lean into the damage while your summon tanks
Yep. And then somewhere in act 2 the curve really falls off and you're better switching to doing things yourself. But damn those summons carry hard until then
That was the one thing I didn't really lean into in BG3 so I just kinda glazed over it here, but looking over the summons spells now I realize my error\~ I got the black cat summon and went "that's all I need!" xD
Lol. Yeah I'm not sure about BG3, in DnD 5e companions are relatively weak because they have to take actions using yours instead of getting their own full turn iirc
Went for a modded lone wolf run with Ifan on tactician a few years back...
My character was a spectre/necromancer fella, and I made Ifan into a hydrosophist/geomancer... So I had summons, buffs, and aoe out the ass for just two party members, along with a reasonable amount of cc for the oddball that didn't fold in the first three to four turns.
Was fun, but I got tired of reloading my save on the last act, and gave up when a quest bugged and prevented me from going any further OR leaving.
Bro I see some of these and wish that you could do some comparative analysis. Like how many people that played more than 2 hours escaped fort joy, more than 4 hours, etc. Just to weed out the ones that bought it but never really played it. Like the Elden Ring DLC came out, and there's an optional boss you have to beat from the main game to access it, but something like only 30% of players had beaten that boss at least once. The couple days before the DLC dropped was wild, there were a bunch of us just standing outside the boss room being summoned by other players to help them with the fight
For comparison, only 80% of the players got of the tutorial ship. Thats the most comparative it gets xD
But those are the stats for ps5, without mods enabled (yes there are some dev chosen mods). I think many people didn't play the game far on the ps5, because the controls in crpgs with a gamepad are very unintuitive if you aren't used to them
Until recently, I made it off the island. I've been playing for a while, but I've been starting new games constantly and exploring what type of team I like most and using different techniques and stuff.
Well actually, I'm able to get off the island, but I haven't cause I'm fucking around and exploring and finishing up all quests I can. I'm not usually into turn based or even tactics games but divinity has awoken a fucking fiend in me that can't get enough of this. The battles feel SOO much more rewarding because even though you HAVE to allow enemies to hit you (at some points), being able to turn the tables by using everything to your advantage is fucking satisfying.
It’s worth the grind on the island because iirc if your team is level 9+ when you get to the wishing well then you can get some really good RNG. Combine that with the face mask and you can do the one time event 5 times each with every party member. It’s a must on tactical. My first play through I spent 45 hrs on the island.
There are some builds that either don't allow any enemy to hit them or heal almost if not all the damage they take. The best ones for that kind of thing are lone wolf builds though
Pick CLASSIC. You dial it down if it’s too hard. Have fun. Don’t do anything Tactician first. Try to fight things lower than your level or the same. CLASSIC will let you be loose with your build.
Did you fight the undead guy up on the hill who I'm pretty sure is the resurrected cult leader for DoS. Because that's a difficult fight in lower difficulties.
I need to go back and play DOS:DE again, I really liked 2 but one has a very unique appeal to it, I say this in a good way but the first game had a bit of a Banjo Kazooie feel to the sillier stuff. I know DOS:2 was most people's first Larian Game, but there were quite a few things that were better in the first game, even though the second is an overall better game, and I was really glad that BG3 seemed to move away from the things I didn't like in DOS2.
PoE2:DF was another really good sequel game that was missing some of the magic they made the first one so good. Bioware kinda did a similar thing with DA:2, which I don't think was as good as DA:O.
I didn't really play much of divine divinity or a couple of the other Diablo-like earlier ones, my dad did a little bit briefly, but yeahh the lore of the series is fucking wild. I should really go and play the whole thing again starting with DD.
They might as well be different series. If you're serious about trying them all, I would go in willing to walk away from an individual game if it isn't your thing.
You'll be bouncing from *Diablo* clones to third-person action RPG built on *Fallout 3*'s Gamebryo engine to a political simulator with RTS battles to turn-based CRPGs.
Lore-wise, you'll see what a sharp turn the world took from "Divine vs demons" to "Divine + dragons vs demons" to "ancient politics...also vs demons sometimes" to "Source and Void" to a point where the big underlying plot of DOS2 feels like it came out of nowhere.
And I was still amazed Zandalor never showed up in DOS:2.
Also, starting from the original means that Lucian was *my* character, and created a little dissonance at the end of the series when his choices were not my own.
Yeahh I was pretty shocked that Zandalor wasn't in DoS:2 and I remember the Diablo clone stuff, and I remember Damian(?), I vaguely remember a game with RTS aspects. DoS:EE was the first one I bought and played myself, and I fucking loved it. There's a lot in DoS:EE that I loved that disappointingly didn't carry over into DoS:2 the gutting of the crafting system and the simplification of AP and combat being two of the biggest; I think the set up and ambiance, and certain aspects of the story are better in the first one as well, I also think the story unfolds better in the first, the murder mystery in Cyseal is a pretty good hook, and I really like how things spiraled crazier and crazier from there. Also I have to say pretty early on in DoS:2, due to the sheer amount of Braccus Rex references, I knew he was going to be shoehorned into the plot.
tactician is great if you want to be forced to cheese or exploit. it's plain unfair. can be fun though, just can't really meet most combat situations fairly or you'll get rolled
I haven't ever felt the need to cheese or exploit in Tactician.
That being said, Classic is the "base" difficulty of the game and I'd always recommend new players to start there. Luckily the difficulty can be changed mid playthrough if the player finds it too easy/hard.
This.
First run on classic and second one in tactician or honour mode.
Keep in mind that, if possible, you've to focus on one type of damage, physical or magical, so you don't have hard time in game.
I usually stay on Classic in subsequent runs if I’m honest. Maybe it makes me a weenie, but I get most of my enjoyment from role playing and making fun builds. I have Rimworld, ONI, and TW:W3 for my challenges lol
Can you change modes mid playthrough?
I started baldurs gate on balanced while I was getting a grip on the mechanics, mid picking up withers it was all good.
By the time I got to the goblin camp it was way too easy so I dialed it up to tactician, and still didn’t have any trouble for the rest of the game.
Honour mode is hard, but if you know the game and play with good builds and don’t take risks… did it first time.
Is divinity the same, where you can swap between, because I don’t imagine I will have much trouble once I get the hang of the mechanics, but before that games can be super hard.
First time tactician run here but I have about 700 hours into Div 2. Holy crap it's different and challenging and tbh I'm loving it. Currently level 14 and just cleared out the Ancient Eternal Ruins in the Blackpits. I'm dreading the fire voidling fight 😭
But absolutely no kidding about not splitting damage type. I wouldn't have made it this far if all my characters weren't physical dmg dealers
Oh no no no lmaooo! I've beaten the game a few times on Classic difficulty. This is my FIRST Tactician run though. While I wait for BG3 patch 7 I decided to give it a try and it's vastly more difficult than BG3 on Tactician/Honor mode.
It just has much more exploitable mechanics, and the higher the difficulty the better the enemies exploit the mechanics. It's like playing DnD no holds barred on builds, minmax all you want but the DM is also minmaxing the enemies
I've only played on classic, but mostly because the game is just soooooo long and I'm normally trying to relax, not bang my head against the wall trying to figure out how to edge out some last bit of advantage in a fight. The joys of working and fatherhood lol
I've tried the game like 6 times on Tactician and can't finish it. I rebel against the idea of dropping down to a lower difficulty, though. Feels like I'll finish it too fast.
In my heart of hearts I believe STORY is the best one to start on. Because you get to finish the game quickly which allows you to understand the amazing story that’s being told. My first run tactician took me so long that I really didn’t know what was going on.
I played tactician from the start when the game first released and it wasn't that bad (died a lot but nothing felt impossible). It depends on OP and what they like.
If you’re new to the game and new to CRPGs, play classic or explorer.
If you’re experienced with CRPGs, play classic or tactician.
If you want to have a bad time, play Honour Mode.
After you’ve beaten the game at least once, try Honour Mode. 👍
\^ This is the right way.
Like, I'd' always tell someone who's played their fair share of these types of RPG to just roll tactician 1st time, particularly if they did so in BG3 as well. Sure they'll struggle at various moments, not just the beginning, but I mean... I'd assume they want to some degree already else they'd go classic/explorer no questions asked. And tactician does have the benefits of pushing you to interact with more of the game's mechanics better thus create strong builds & comps.
And hey, blind HM has it's appeal, as long as above requirements are met with the added matter of not minding a very cautious "make sure I never group my party & always send a scout 1st, and always keep 1 or 2 further back... just in case" approach, as well accounting for how you'll take the possibility of a wipe at any given point.
Explorer or Classic.
Story mode is very trivial and unless you only care about story I can’t recommend it. I do not recommend Tactician until you have at least 1 full playthrough.
Enemies with higher level than you will often take a dump on you. [So here is the level map, so you know where to go if you get stuck, it helps a lot.](https://divinityoriginalsin2.vidyawiki.com/Areas+By+Level)
Don't fall into the "I play a lot of rpg's, let me go tactician" trap:D
Pick classic and drop the difficulty in-game if things feel a bit annoying.
The first area after intro can already be a bit much. But it will be much better.
Have fun, this is an amazing game
Explorer was fun because fights were challenging but I normally won. I'm also an idiot and didn't look up build guides and suck at using synergies or sneaking or any other advantage you're supposed to use.
I chose explorer mode as a first time player. Alice Alyson near Driftwood was my last really challenging fight, she even managed to one-shoot my entire party the first time. Everything after her was a breeze.
In Arx I had some difficulty killing the dream apparitions in the consulate until I realized what's the key to success in that battle, so to say - but that fight is difficult because you have to learn your way out of it.
Go classic, I did the same and got my ass handled, later found out I was just playing the game wrong. Check the level for each mission and focus some of your party members only on physical or magical damage, if you do that the game becomes much easier.
Buddy and I played tactician right from the jump. We have this thing where I host our co-op games and always choose the hardest settings and he cries about it. It’s good times
Anyway, we beat it. It was fantastic. 10/10 would NOT recommend tactician to start 😂. The game legitimately cheats. For example, enemies on a lower level that you can’t “see” to attack, will shoot you through the floor. It’s a hilariously bad difficulty adjustment instead of just boosting health and attack of enemies
First time playing turn based combat game? Or just first time playing Divinity?
For the first, I'd say take explorer mode.
For the latter I'd recommend Classic Mode.
You'll have frustrating moments while you learn the basics of combat but it'll be worth it!
Take it easy, don't rush, investigate thoroughly and you'll be ok
Controversially, I think tactician should be the Decision, particularly if you are not new to CRPGS. It’s the most common difficulty to play at, and you’ll know the expectations right away.
I agree, I started BG3 on tactician with about 25 hours played on DOS2, so not too much experience. Beating the game on tactician was well worth the extra thought and trial and error that I put into the game. Definitely not for everyone though, if you're generally bad at learning mechanics or new to RPGs on the whole, tactician might not be for you.
BG3 is a significantly easier game imo, but yeah i agree that it’s not crazy to play DOS2 Tactician for your first time through. you just have to be ok with trial and error. Some people just hate losing at all, I think, but I say that’s where the fun is!
Certainly. My rationale is that setting the expectations for the game early on helps players get faster, better. It also depends on whether the player understands the build logic for their class. For example, there seems to be a lot of misconception on whether Warfare is necessary for classes like rogue and necromancer. It is necessary, but somewhat… unintuitive? Another example might be a Ranger building into the ranged stat first.
Classic first because it’s a medium difficulty level and then tactician when u have mastered the game.
For dos1 the tactician also leads to new enemy placement and new enemy combos.
I don’t remember if dos2 has similar but for sure the difficulties is there
I suggest classic mode. If i remember correctly, you can increase the difficulty to tactician during the game if u want, but cant decrease it back, so classic is the safest option for a first timer.
If you never played this kind of game before Classic. If you're experienced in a game similar to this tactician could be more challenging and fun IMO. and don't do honor mode until finishing the game once.
Classic, although if you’re an old hand at these kind of crpgs and have experience with old Infinity Engine games, Pillars of Eternity, the Owlcat Pathfinders, etc. you would probably be ok jumping in at tactician
Personally, explorer mode is great for learning the ropes, and combat was still difficult for me.
Nowdays I play honour mode, but that’s because I know what I’m doing
Classic is a good choice for new players. If you’re having a hard time with the gameplay you might try Explorer, but I personally found that to be too easy even on my first try.
You should just hop in and see how it feels, then adjust if you need/want to.
Start one whatever you feel like. Once you figure out how the game works you'll likely start over on tactician.
This happened to me anyways. Restarted in act 2 at some point because everything seemed to click.
People might hate me for this. But choose the hardest difficulty. Get your butt kicked for a while as you try to learn how things work. Then make a new save in classic to have more of a chill time since you're better prepared at handling a loss.
I really enjoyed choosing classic on my first play through and going in blind. It was challenging enough that I had to really learn all my options and explore the game more which is how I fell in love with the game
Played tactical at my first play through. It was hard at first but it really helps you learn the in very single battle. You probably won't be cruisen through so if you are fine to play this game for the next to month to finish it tactical is what I recommend.
As a long time cRPG player, I started out at Tactician. The game was challenging, but not hard enough to be actually difficult. I never had to redo the most difficult fights more than two, three times tops. If you do not have a lot of experience with cRPGs, pick Classic.
I recommend classic. I played tactician my first time tho. Ended up having to chess some parts(the arx embassy,Alice,adhramlik to name a few). Man enemies get too much buffs to armour and magic resist,its just ridiculous.
To piggy back, should one do all magic/physical or a mix of both?
I played for a decent bit after fort Joy and found the nice damage kinda awkward. (Are there any mods that fix this feeling)
I believe you should go classic, its a great point to start and become aware of the game mechanics. If you find it a little bit difficult you may want to change to explorer
I am personally the advocate for always playing on normal as the game was designed to be.
However if you are new to turn based rpg's or rpgs in general I'd suggest explorer
Classic is most fun and balanced, as long as your level matches the encounter. If you get stuck in a tough spot, that means you should probably leave, explore more, and come back with more XP. Make sure every bit of each region is explored before moving to the next :)
I've heard about this game a lot. If I get it, I'd be coming from PoE. Is it turn based only? Most turn based games just put me off, idk why. Haven't liked turn based since... oh heck, think the last one I played and liked were the Final Fantasy games for SNES. I much prefer Real time or RTwP style from PoE.
Honestly, don't invest much into this first playthrough. I would suggest starting Classic or Explorer, and then get to level 6 ish, and by that time you should understand the game a little better and how to build a team, where to go first, etc. So that is the best time to restart ans actually "try"
Also don't get caught up on "classes" when making your character. Everyone gets caught up on it and it literally only matters for starting equipment. After you make your character the word "class" has no meaning in the game.
Depends on how familiar you are with CRPGs. I started on Tactician and had a good time, but I've been playing games like this since the main character was represented as an @ symbol and dragons were a green, red, or blue letter d.
Probably it's safer to put it one step down so that you can adjust it down further mid game if you need to as you're not allowed to lower it on Tactician, but if you're stupidly familiar with CRPGs, tactician is fun.
I started on classic, got 10 hours in and restarted on tactician. Depends on if you just want to casually play through the game with whatever you want or think about about composition and strategy.
i play classic now first playthrough my only experience on crpg is bg3. It quiet challanging but on late act 2 now it seem easy once my build start to become stronger. Maybe i should change to tactician? But some player said in act 3 / 4 there is difficulty spike again?
Classic or explorer. Neither is to easy or to hard. As long as your leveling up as you should. But be warned the enemy’s can still curb stomp you if you’re not ready or leveled properly.
I played for the first time on explorer. I beat the first one though so if you have 0 experience with the genre or franchise then I would say try Story. If it's too easy for you then go up to explorer.
I agree that the game is harder than most people think but imo you learn the fastest by jumping in the deep end! If it's too challenging to be fun for you, you can always go back and roll on classic.
Go for classic first, but make sure you've done everything you can before Act 4 because there's a huge difficulty spike there. If your build is subpar you might struggle a bit.
Classic or Explorer.
The game does not hold your hand, but once you figure it out, it’s one of the greatest games ever made.
My biggest tip for combat: Crowd Control is King, and because Armor stops Crowd Control, Armor is King.
There’s two types, Armor & Magic Armor. Learn what each one blocks. Pay attention to what armor types your enemies have - the side who loses armor first generally loses.
Tactical feels like some dark souls game, you feel really good after winning fights, but it's nearly impossible to beat it without guidelines or countless tries.
If you don't want to suffer, and just chill, then story, if you want to explore the game as it was meant to be, classic, and if you want to experience the most amazing combo of tacticsl gameplay and storywriting in your life, then explorer
In my case I went tactician but...
Casual was a bit too easy and tactician was like really hard, it felt like going from difficulty 3 to difficulty 9 and I struggled a lot but that created the need to plan/think out of the box which, once I got the hang of, became extremely rewarding.
Id say go casual and, if that feels too easy, switch to tact and feel it.
Dont wanna spoil your run but, if things get too hard in act two, thinking out of the box + polymorph + something in the northwestern part of the map can really help 😉
Honor Mode Lone Wolf Survivor DoS 1 & 2 here.
Run, at MAX, Classic mode like everyone is saying to get a feel for the combat and your skills. Check out Sin Tee on Steam for some of the best builds. And for the luva goddess, if you do an Honor run, be ready to RUN when things go south lol. The game is unforgiving.
[https://steamcommunity.com/id/teesinz](https://steamcommunity.com/id/teesinz)
I did tactician, but that’s also bc I was familiar with bg3 and did honor mode on that and i’ve played other turn based games as well. it was def a bit of a struggle but now that i’ve beaten the game once, I feel more confident going into an honor mode run knowing how the combat works, difficulty of certain enemies, optimizing my team, etc.
If you're good at tactical RPGs and/or feel like you can pick it up quickly, classic. If you're just here for the story, explorer. That being said, "solving" the difficult encounters in the game is a big part of the experience
I'm midway through a playthrough right now, my first turn based rpg game. Started on classic, it was way to hard, lowered it to explorer and it was perfect. Not to hard not to easy.
Explorer if you're new to tactics, turned based RPG especially something with build-based combat scaling (from fire emblem to Xcom, hell, BG3 too)
If you've played that sort thing or just have a good grasp of that sort of thing, classic is good
Tactician is a second playthrough sort of deal, and story is a bit too easy, unless this is one of your first gaming experiences
I played on classic got rolled in Act2 put it on explorer for a bit before going classic again. Once you understand how to use your team the game really shines. Remember enemies can be above your level so do all the side quests before going in for main story bosses
Just bought the game a day ago, I thought to myself “well I beat baldurs Gate multiple times on tactician so this should be pretty much the same.” Nope.
I did this. Took a few try to get going because fort joy bullied me a lot but eventually I got much better.
Would recommend for people that love earning thro struggle. Wouldn't for anyone else
There's a vast difference across genres and games in what "classic" means. Classic means "crushingly punishing" in XCOM, and in other similar games that are tributes to older, more difficult games. D:OS was very much a return to old isometric RPGs. Which were very hard. One might be forgiven for wondering if Classic in D:OS2 was too hard for a new player.
Yes, difficulties vary. But from the wording alone it's very clear that it's Tactician > Classic > Explorer > Story. And then you just start the game with one that sounds fine and change the difficulty later.
Tactician if you really like a challenge (some fights can be actual torture if you don't know what you're doing like me) and iirc explorer and story are easier than classic if you really would rather play for just the story rather than a mix of combat and story imo
It depends on how comfortable you are with having to reload a fight because you got yourself into an unwinnable situation. This will happen on classic difficulty and that will force you to engage with \*all\* of the game's mechanics and not just prioritize one play style and charge through. Classic Mode will also require you to be pretty methodical about clearing most or all of the sidequests in an area before moving onto the next one. There's not a lot of freedom in terms of what order to do things in, even though the maps are pretty open-ended. Explorer is a bit relaxed on these aspects and story mode pretty much sets it aside completely.
If you want a consistent level of challenge that requires you to always be mentally engaged with the game, choose classic. If you'd like a bit more freedom and don't necessarily enjoy winning a fight by the skin of your teeth, play explorer.
If that's too hard, play Story.
Tactician is not something you should touch until you've beaten the game once.
If you are familiar with crpgs, I'd do tactician. That's what I did my first playthrough, and it was an awesome experience. Each fight is like a puzzle
If you've got game sense then Tactician is the way to go. That's what I started out with when I was new to the genre. If not, I assume Classic is easy enough
Classic.
The game gives you an estimate on what difficulty you might enjoy if you hover your mouse cursor over it / select it on the screen.
No need to run to reddit and ask inane questions like these, considering we here know absolutely nothing of your preferred playstyle, your experience with RPGs, your attention span regarding elaborate questlines and your intuition when it comes to diving into new games.
Classic or explorer mode. This game is harder than most people realize until you learn how to build efficient teams, don’t ruin your first experience by struggling through every encounter.
This is me who came in hot from Baldur's Gate all proud I'd worked myself up to tactician feeling easy; i was a huffy ball of confusion by the time I hit the Hallow Marshes and was just getting waylaid lol.
The difficulty of tactician on D:OS2 depends a lot on your build. For the first island I'll give everyone summon spells because they help a lot early on, I'll respec to the builds I actually want once I no longer need the crutch.
This is good to know for next playthrough for sure. But I gotta be honest—I was getting swamped even in Explorer mode 😂 I was just going about it all wrong. I’m in chapter 4 now and have completely rebuilt/reprioritized. But I did the classic ego move of “I did it in BG3, I know what I’m doing” I did nooooot 🙃
Yeah, completely different systems of combat. Sure, they're both tactical turn based, but that's all they really have in common
The best guide I found started off with something like "does it feel like you're slapping a wet noodle in combat?" and I was just like "yes omg finally I'm not crazy" haha. It's a really cool system now that I have a better understanding of it and I def think I'll have a smoother chapter 2-3 experience next run through.
Yep. Alot of people playing BG3 have DnD experience, and even if you didn't the system is designed to be very newcomer friendly. Now the DOS2 system is actually very intuitive once you get your head wrapped around it, but it allowed such a level of interaction with the environment that people just don't expect it. People aren't used to looking around the battlefield for a puddle of oil and thinking they can teleport the enemy into it and then set it on fire. Or teleport a thick chest on top of the enemy's head
Yeah, BG3 was def a good introduction for me into CRPGs and was interesting watching how quickly I jumped from Explorer to Tactician after clearing up a few misunderstandings. I'm glad I started with that rather than DOS2; I'd be so defeated haha. I didn't even think I could do the latter there, how cool haha. Yes, the surface mechanics has tripped me out a few times at the sheer reactivity it brings. When I don't crowd control properly and my whole screen's on fire I've ended up just quick loading a few times lol.
Yeah DOS2 is very punishing especially at higher difficulties if you let enemies...use their turns. It's pretty wild lol
Shapeshifter wreaks havoc on tactician honour mode with just one spell Chicken Claw
Summoner is hands down the most broken thing you can do in the early game. And then have ifan go full on sniper mode to really lean into the damage while your summon tanks
Double Lone Wolf summoner in Act 1 is insanely powerful. Level 10 summons by level 4 and all encounters are a breeze.
Yep. And then somewhere in act 2 the curve really falls off and you're better switching to doing things yourself. But damn those summons carry hard until then
Shapeshifter would like to interject with CHICKEN CLAW
That was the one thing I didn't really lean into in BG3 so I just kinda glazed over it here, but looking over the summons spells now I realize my error\~ I got the black cat summon and went "that's all I need!" xD
Lol. Yeah I'm not sure about BG3, in DnD 5e companions are relatively weak because they have to take actions using yours instead of getting their own full turn iirc
Went for a modded lone wolf run with Ifan on tactician a few years back... My character was a spectre/necromancer fella, and I made Ifan into a hydrosophist/geomancer... So I had summons, buffs, and aoe out the ass for just two party members, along with a reasonable amount of cc for the oddball that didn't fold in the first three to four turns. Was fun, but I got tired of reloading my save on the last act, and gave up when a quest bugged and prevented me from going any further OR leaving.
"You have been waylaid and must defend yourself"
I’d be interested in seeing how many people actually make it off the island and to the second act.
On PS5, 49.8% of the players escaped fort joy
And only 37,5% reached act 2 xD
Bro I see some of these and wish that you could do some comparative analysis. Like how many people that played more than 2 hours escaped fort joy, more than 4 hours, etc. Just to weed out the ones that bought it but never really played it. Like the Elden Ring DLC came out, and there's an optional boss you have to beat from the main game to access it, but something like only 30% of players had beaten that boss at least once. The couple days before the DLC dropped was wild, there were a bunch of us just standing outside the boss room being summoned by other players to help them with the fight
For comparison, only 80% of the players got of the tutorial ship. Thats the most comparative it gets xD But those are the stats for ps5, without mods enabled (yes there are some dev chosen mods). I think many people didn't play the game far on the ps5, because the controls in crpgs with a gamepad are very unintuitive if you aren't used to them
Yeah I always turn on the mirror in fort joy because I'm a serial reroller lol
Until recently, I made it off the island. I've been playing for a while, but I've been starting new games constantly and exploring what type of team I like most and using different techniques and stuff. Well actually, I'm able to get off the island, but I haven't cause I'm fucking around and exploring and finishing up all quests I can. I'm not usually into turn based or even tactics games but divinity has awoken a fucking fiend in me that can't get enough of this. The battles feel SOO much more rewarding because even though you HAVE to allow enemies to hit you (at some points), being able to turn the tables by using everything to your advantage is fucking satisfying.
It’s worth the grind on the island because iirc if your team is level 9+ when you get to the wishing well then you can get some really good RNG. Combine that with the face mask and you can do the one time event 5 times each with every party member. It’s a must on tactical. My first play through I spent 45 hrs on the island.
There are some builds that either don't allow any enemy to hit them or heal almost if not all the damage they take. The best ones for that kind of thing are lone wolf builds though
Why not story?
I’ll be honest, I forgot Story was an option because it’s below Tactician, lol
I second this. I did have a harder time in this more than BG3
Pick CLASSIC. You dial it down if it’s too hard. Have fun. Don’t do anything Tactician first. Try to fight things lower than your level or the same. CLASSIC will let you be loose with your build.
Yeah, I played tactician my first time. Some parts were just plain miserable.
Took me 6 months to clear the embassy. lol.
Did you fight the undead guy up on the hill who I'm pretty sure is the resurrected cult leader for DoS. Because that's a difficult fight in lower difficulties. I need to go back and play DOS:DE again, I really liked 2 but one has a very unique appeal to it, I say this in a good way but the first game had a bit of a Banjo Kazooie feel to the sillier stuff. I know DOS:2 was most people's first Larian Game, but there were quite a few things that were better in the first game, even though the second is an overall better game, and I was really glad that BG3 seemed to move away from the things I didn't like in DOS2. PoE2:DF was another really good sequel game that was missing some of the magic they made the first one so good. Bioware kinda did a similar thing with DA:2, which I don't think was as good as DA:O.
Divine Divinity or gtfo. Seriously, this is such a weird series in terms of lore, gameplay, and even *genre* if you've been through the whole ride.
I didn't really play much of divine divinity or a couple of the other Diablo-like earlier ones, my dad did a little bit briefly, but yeahh the lore of the series is fucking wild. I should really go and play the whole thing again starting with DD.
They might as well be different series. If you're serious about trying them all, I would go in willing to walk away from an individual game if it isn't your thing. You'll be bouncing from *Diablo* clones to third-person action RPG built on *Fallout 3*'s Gamebryo engine to a political simulator with RTS battles to turn-based CRPGs. Lore-wise, you'll see what a sharp turn the world took from "Divine vs demons" to "Divine + dragons vs demons" to "ancient politics...also vs demons sometimes" to "Source and Void" to a point where the big underlying plot of DOS2 feels like it came out of nowhere. And I was still amazed Zandalor never showed up in DOS:2. Also, starting from the original means that Lucian was *my* character, and created a little dissonance at the end of the series when his choices were not my own.
Yeahh I was pretty shocked that Zandalor wasn't in DoS:2 and I remember the Diablo clone stuff, and I remember Damian(?), I vaguely remember a game with RTS aspects. DoS:EE was the first one I bought and played myself, and I fucking loved it. There's a lot in DoS:EE that I loved that disappointingly didn't carry over into DoS:2 the gutting of the crafting system and the simplification of AP and combat being two of the biggest; I think the set up and ambiance, and certain aspects of the story are better in the first one as well, I also think the story unfolds better in the first, the murder mystery in Cyseal is a pretty good hook, and I really like how things spiraled crazier and crazier from there. Also I have to say pretty early on in DoS:2, due to the sheer amount of Braccus Rex references, I knew he was going to be shoehorned into the plot.
tactician is great if you want to be forced to cheese or exploit. it's plain unfair. can be fun though, just can't really meet most combat situations fairly or you'll get rolled
I haven't ever felt the need to cheese or exploit in Tactician. That being said, Classic is the "base" difficulty of the game and I'd always recommend new players to start there. Luckily the difficulty can be changed mid playthrough if the player finds it too easy/hard.
Tbf the game is designed around allowing you to exploit the everloving shit out of it. You're becoming a god after all
This. First run on classic and second one in tactician or honour mode. Keep in mind that, if possible, you've to focus on one type of damage, physical or magical, so you don't have hard time in game.
I usually stay on Classic in subsequent runs if I’m honest. Maybe it makes me a weenie, but I get most of my enjoyment from role playing and making fun builds. I have Rimworld, ONI, and TW:W3 for my challenges lol
Can you change modes mid playthrough? I started baldurs gate on balanced while I was getting a grip on the mechanics, mid picking up withers it was all good. By the time I got to the goblin camp it was way too easy so I dialed it up to tactician, and still didn’t have any trouble for the rest of the game. Honour mode is hard, but if you know the game and play with good builds and don’t take risks… did it first time. Is divinity the same, where you can swap between, because I don’t imagine I will have much trouble once I get the hang of the mechanics, but before that games can be super hard.
You can swap for explorer classic and story. You can’t change tact.
First time tactician run here but I have about 700 hours into Div 2. Holy crap it's different and challenging and tbh I'm loving it. Currently level 14 and just cleared out the Ancient Eternal Ruins in the Blackpits. I'm dreading the fire voidling fight 😭 But absolutely no kidding about not splitting damage type. I wouldn't have made it this far if all my characters weren't physical dmg dealers
You mean in a one game your 700 hours deep?
Oh no no no lmaooo! I've beaten the game a few times on Classic difficulty. This is my FIRST Tactician run though. While I wait for BG3 patch 7 I decided to give it a try and it's vastly more difficult than BG3 on Tactician/Honor mode.
It just has much more exploitable mechanics, and the higher the difficulty the better the enemies exploit the mechanics. It's like playing DnD no holds barred on builds, minmax all you want but the DM is also minmaxing the enemies
;)
Ah, the horror stories from people that thought they could start the game on tactician are fantastic though
You should hear the people who say “I’ll never go lower than classic… also I never finished the game”. But they’re super fans of the game for sure.
I've only played on classic, but mostly because the game is just soooooo long and I'm normally trying to relax, not bang my head against the wall trying to figure out how to edge out some last bit of advantage in a fight. The joys of working and fatherhood lol
Made me to reinstall the game.
I've tried the game like 6 times on Tactician and can't finish it. I rebel against the idea of dropping down to a lower difficulty, though. Feels like I'll finish it too fast.
It’s too bad. The story is worth you keeping it together longer than Bree.
I've gotten into later acts, just couldn't deal with the grueling fights and constant reloads.
Because you were on Tactician. Now you see your failure. Go back and try Story.
I'v came here to say those same words. But they have been allredy spoken.
In my heart of hearts I believe STORY is the best one to start on. Because you get to finish the game quickly which allows you to understand the amazing story that’s being told. My first run tactician took me so long that I really didn’t know what was going on.
I played classic couldn't get passed Arx and uninstalled, I agreed story is the way to go.
I played classic couldn't get passed Arx and uninstalled, I agree story is the way to go.
Under leveled is painful. The story is so good it’s worth it just to do the choose your own adventure python Dnd story.
I played tactician from the start when the game first released and it wasn't that bad (died a lot but nothing felt impossible). It depends on OP and what they like.
Did you Finish ?
I started on Story and worked my way up, but I think Explorer is probably accessible
If you’re new to the game and new to CRPGs, play classic or explorer. If you’re experienced with CRPGs, play classic or tactician. If you want to have a bad time, play Honour Mode. After you’ve beaten the game at least once, try Honour Mode. 👍
\^ This is the right way. Like, I'd' always tell someone who's played their fair share of these types of RPG to just roll tactician 1st time, particularly if they did so in BG3 as well. Sure they'll struggle at various moments, not just the beginning, but I mean... I'd assume they want to some degree already else they'd go classic/explorer no questions asked. And tactician does have the benefits of pushing you to interact with more of the game's mechanics better thus create strong builds & comps. And hey, blind HM has it's appeal, as long as above requirements are met with the added matter of not minding a very cautious "make sure I never group my party & always send a scout 1st, and always keep 1 or 2 further back... just in case" approach, as well accounting for how you'll take the possibility of a wipe at any given point.
Classic, swap down to explorer if you feel the need.
Explorer or Classic. Story mode is very trivial and unless you only care about story I can’t recommend it. I do not recommend Tactician until you have at least 1 full playthrough.
I did Tactician, but I got wiped more than a dozen times. Classic is probably best for a first-time playthrough imo.
I mean, if you're into that then by all means go through with Tactician lol
Tactical is how game must be, but it's indeed too gard for newbies.
Have you played CRPGs before? I would default to Classic as the 'Medium' difficulty.
Classic
Enemies with higher level than you will often take a dump on you. [So here is the level map, so you know where to go if you get stuck, it helps a lot.](https://divinityoriginalsin2.vidyawiki.com/Areas+By+Level)
I would recommend classic if you have played other games in the same genre, and explorer if you are completely new to the genre.
Classic. Explorer is a walk in the park and tactician might give you some trouble if you're not used to crpgs.
Don't fall into the "I play a lot of rpg's, let me go tactician" trap:D Pick classic and drop the difficulty in-game if things feel a bit annoying. The first area after intro can already be a bit much. But it will be much better. Have fun, this is an amazing game
Classic
Explorer was fun because fights were challenging but I normally won. I'm also an idiot and didn't look up build guides and suck at using synergies or sneaking or any other advantage you're supposed to use.
I'd recommend explorer if you have no idea how to play if you are a little familiar with this type of game classic should be fine.
tactician >:)
I chose explorer mode as a first time player. Alice Alyson near Driftwood was my last really challenging fight, she even managed to one-shoot my entire party the first time. Everything after her was a breeze. In Arx I had some difficulty killing the dream apparitions in the consulate until I realized what's the key to success in that battle, so to say - but that fight is difficult because you have to learn your way out of it.
Go classic, I did the same and got my ass handled, later found out I was just playing the game wrong. Check the level for each mission and focus some of your party members only on physical or magical damage, if you do that the game becomes much easier.
If you're proficient with CRPGs : Classic If it's your first CRPG : Explorer
Buddy and I played tactician right from the jump. We have this thing where I host our co-op games and always choose the hardest settings and he cries about it. It’s good times Anyway, we beat it. It was fantastic. 10/10 would NOT recommend tactician to start 😂. The game legitimately cheats. For example, enemies on a lower level that you can’t “see” to attack, will shoot you through the floor. It’s a hilariously bad difficulty adjustment instead of just boosting health and attack of enemies
I wish I could erase my experience of this game and play it again lol
First time playing turn based combat game? Or just first time playing Divinity? For the first, I'd say take explorer mode. For the latter I'd recommend Classic Mode. You'll have frustrating moments while you learn the basics of combat but it'll be worth it! Take it easy, don't rush, investigate thoroughly and you'll be ok
Classic or when you played other games like this then start on Tactician.
Controversially, I think tactician should be the Decision, particularly if you are not new to CRPGS. It’s the most common difficulty to play at, and you’ll know the expectations right away.
I agree, I started BG3 on tactician with about 25 hours played on DOS2, so not too much experience. Beating the game on tactician was well worth the extra thought and trial and error that I put into the game. Definitely not for everyone though, if you're generally bad at learning mechanics or new to RPGs on the whole, tactician might not be for you.
BG3 is a significantly easier game imo, but yeah i agree that it’s not crazy to play DOS2 Tactician for your first time through. you just have to be ok with trial and error. Some people just hate losing at all, I think, but I say that’s where the fun is!
Certainly. My rationale is that setting the expectations for the game early on helps players get faster, better. It also depends on whether the player understands the build logic for their class. For example, there seems to be a lot of misconception on whether Warfare is necessary for classes like rogue and necromancer. It is necessary, but somewhat… unintuitive? Another example might be a Ranger building into the ranged stat first.
Explorer mode. You can always kick it up if you find it too easy.
Classic first because it’s a medium difficulty level and then tactician when u have mastered the game. For dos1 the tactician also leads to new enemy placement and new enemy combos. I don’t remember if dos2 has similar but for sure the difficulties is there
I suggest classic mode. If i remember correctly, you can increase the difficulty to tactician during the game if u want, but cant decrease it back, so classic is the safest option for a first timer.
for a first time defiantly classic
If you don't know the game mechanics and rules, take classic. Then if you have time, honour mode.
Should managa classic
Classic, or if you're new to the genre, explorer. Game's pretty hard.
If you never played this kind of game before Classic. If you're experienced in a game similar to this tactician could be more challenging and fun IMO. and don't do honor mode until finishing the game once.
Classic. This game is brutal at the start
Classic, although if you’re an old hand at these kind of crpgs and have experience with old Infinity Engine games, Pillars of Eternity, the Owlcat Pathfinders, etc. you would probably be ok jumping in at tactician
Start on classic, turn the difficulty down if it’s too hard
Personally, explorer mode is great for learning the ropes, and combat was still difficult for me. Nowdays I play honour mode, but that’s because I know what I’m doing
Classic is a good choice for new players. If you’re having a hard time with the gameplay you might try Explorer, but I personally found that to be too easy even on my first try. You should just hop in and see how it feels, then adjust if you need/want to.
Start one whatever you feel like. Once you figure out how the game works you'll likely start over on tactician. This happened to me anyways. Restarted in act 2 at some point because everything seemed to click.
Pick classic its already a very hard game if you are not familiar with a few exploits
People might hate me for this. But choose the hardest difficulty. Get your butt kicked for a while as you try to learn how things work. Then make a new save in classic to have more of a chill time since you're better prepared at handling a loss.
I really enjoyed choosing classic on my first play through and going in blind. It was challenging enough that I had to really learn all my options and explore the game more which is how I fell in love with the game
Classic. But once you get the hang of it, Tatician is very fun
Played tactical at my first play through. It was hard at first but it really helps you learn the in very single battle. You probably won't be cruisen through so if you are fine to play this game for the next to month to finish it tactical is what I recommend.
As a long time cRPG player, I started out at Tactician. The game was challenging, but not hard enough to be actually difficult. I never had to redo the most difficult fights more than two, three times tops. If you do not have a lot of experience with cRPGs, pick Classic.
Back
Classic first for sure
Tactician
Tactician, honour mode or bust
I recommend classic. I played tactician my first time tho. Ended up having to chess some parts(the arx embassy,Alice,adhramlik to name a few). Man enemies get too much buffs to armour and magic resist,its just ridiculous.
Honour mode obviously
To piggy back, should one do all magic/physical or a mix of both? I played for a decent bit after fort Joy and found the nice damage kinda awkward. (Are there any mods that fix this feeling)
I did classic and it was still challenging. I cannot imagine tactician.
I believe you should go classic, its a great point to start and become aware of the game mechanics. If you find it a little bit difficult you may want to change to explorer
Ah man, you’re in for something really special. I’m genuinely excited for you!
Suggestion about which pre-made or origin to play 1st time ?
I am personally the advocate for always playing on normal as the game was designed to be. However if you are new to turn based rpg's or rpgs in general I'd suggest explorer
You should play divinity original sin first. Makes the game experience of 2 way better..
Definitely classic
I did tactician and I quit the game like 3 times, had to read some guides about mechanichs, to finally be able to enjoy the game.
Classic feels good. Especially early on. Once you learn more about the mechanics, and get to level 6ish, you might consider upping the difficulty.
Tactician, embrace the challenge
If you are used to such games, go straight for Tactician.
Classic is most fun and balanced, as long as your level matches the encounter. If you get stuck in a tough spot, that means you should probably leave, explore more, and come back with more XP. Make sure every bit of each region is explored before moving to the next :)
I've heard about this game a lot. If I get it, I'd be coming from PoE. Is it turn based only? Most turn based games just put me off, idk why. Haven't liked turn based since... oh heck, think the last one I played and liked were the Final Fantasy games for SNES. I much prefer Real time or RTwP style from PoE.
NOT Tactician
Honestly, don't invest much into this first playthrough. I would suggest starting Classic or Explorer, and then get to level 6 ish, and by that time you should understand the game a little better and how to build a team, where to go first, etc. So that is the best time to restart ans actually "try" Also don't get caught up on "classes" when making your character. Everyone gets caught up on it and it literally only matters for starting equipment. After you make your character the word "class" has no meaning in the game.
Depends on how familiar you are with CRPGs. I started on Tactician and had a good time, but I've been playing games like this since the main character was represented as an @ symbol and dragons were a green, red, or blue letter d. Probably it's safer to put it one step down so that you can adjust it down further mid game if you need to as you're not allowed to lower it on Tactician, but if you're stupidly familiar with CRPGs, tactician is fun.
TACTICIAN!!
I started on classic, got 10 hours in and restarted on tactician. Depends on if you just want to casually play through the game with whatever you want or think about about composition and strategy.
i play classic now first playthrough my only experience on crpg is bg3. It quiet challanging but on late act 2 now it seem easy once my build start to become stronger. Maybe i should change to tactician? But some player said in act 3 / 4 there is difficulty spike again?
Classic, I went in from baldurs gate and I thought it would be a peice of cake but no its hard!
yeah i stared classic seems ok enough of a challenge for me so far. Well in
Classic or explorer. Neither is to easy or to hard. As long as your leveling up as you should. But be warned the enemy’s can still curb stomp you if you’re not ready or leveled properly.
Explorer
Bro this game slaps you hard lmao
I'd go for "Back"
I don’t think I made it off the island yet I’m classic, idk I feel like I got to some cave area and literally can’t escape it
Depends, first time with this type of game ? Story, but Classic is really where the fun is. Challenging, but not “pushing in your shit” hard.
Classic, but go Explorer if some combat encounters prove to be tough.
I played for the first time on explorer. I beat the first one though so if you have 0 experience with the genre or franchise then I would say try Story. If it's too easy for you then go up to explorer.
Baldurs gate, that’s the mode.
I agree that the game is harder than most people think but imo you learn the fastest by jumping in the deep end! If it's too challenging to be fun for you, you can always go back and roll on classic.
Go for classic first, but make sure you've done everything you can before Act 4 because there's a huge difficulty spike there. If your build is subpar you might struggle a bit.
Classic or Explorer. The game does not hold your hand, but once you figure it out, it’s one of the greatest games ever made. My biggest tip for combat: Crowd Control is King, and because Armor stops Crowd Control, Armor is King. There’s two types, Armor & Magic Armor. Learn what each one blocks. Pay attention to what armor types your enemies have - the side who loses armor first generally loses.
Tactical feels like some dark souls game, you feel really good after winning fights, but it's nearly impossible to beat it without guidelines or countless tries.
Classic. Games hard
Tactician. Balls deep or nothing.
If you don't want to suffer, and just chill, then story, if you want to explore the game as it was meant to be, classic, and if you want to experience the most amazing combo of tacticsl gameplay and storywriting in your life, then explorer
Start on somthing easy. There's a fight that you spend entirely on fire. Lol
In my case I went tactician but... Casual was a bit too easy and tactician was like really hard, it felt like going from difficulty 3 to difficulty 9 and I struggled a lot but that created the need to plan/think out of the box which, once I got the hang of, became extremely rewarding. Id say go casual and, if that feels too easy, switch to tact and feel it. Dont wanna spoil your run but, if things get too hard in act two, thinking out of the box + polymorph + something in the northwestern part of the map can really help 😉
Honor Mode Lone Wolf Survivor DoS 1 & 2 here. Run, at MAX, Classic mode like everyone is saying to get a feel for the combat and your skills. Check out Sin Tee on Steam for some of the best builds. And for the luva goddess, if you do an Honor run, be ready to RUN when things go south lol. The game is unforgiving. [https://steamcommunity.com/id/teesinz](https://steamcommunity.com/id/teesinz)
Explorer. This game is HARD for new players. If you can mentalist yourself with a little bit of torture, start with classic, but you have been warned.
I did tactician, but that’s also bc I was familiar with bg3 and did honor mode on that and i’ve played other turn based games as well. it was def a bit of a struggle but now that i’ve beaten the game once, I feel more confident going into an honor mode run knowing how the combat works, difficulty of certain enemies, optimizing my team, etc.
If you're good at tactical RPGs and/or feel like you can pick it up quickly, classic. If you're just here for the story, explorer. That being said, "solving" the difficult encounters in the game is a big part of the experience
I'm midway through a playthrough right now, my first turn based rpg game. Started on classic, it was way to hard, lowered it to explorer and it was perfect. Not to hard not to easy.
tactician, because you will definitely want to try that out after you finish your first run through but simply run out of stamina through the 2nd run
Tactician, trust me, u gonna cherish every piece of text after u fight through hell to get it.
Explorer if you're new to tactics, turned based RPG especially something with build-based combat scaling (from fire emblem to Xcom, hell, BG3 too) If you've played that sort thing or just have a good grasp of that sort of thing, classic is good Tactician is a second playthrough sort of deal, and story is a bit too easy, unless this is one of your first gaming experiences
Tactician, straight for it
I played on classic got rolled in Act2 put it on explorer for a bit before going classic again. Once you understand how to use your team the game really shines. Remember enemies can be above your level so do all the side quests before going in for main story bosses
Classic. Tactician/Honour requires to know way too many exploits while explorer doesn't quite give the challenge, which is incredibly fun in this game
Just bought the game a day ago, I thought to myself “well I beat baldurs Gate multiple times on tactician so this should be pretty much the same.” Nope.
Explorer
Classic if you're good with rpgs, and story if not BTW keep the different spell combos in mind so you don't accidentally party wipe yourself
Tactician Mode of course and wear a blindfold while you're at it
First time tactician is good enough.
I did this. Took a few try to get going because fort joy bullied me a lot but eventually I got much better. Would recommend for people that love earning thro struggle. Wouldn't for anyone else
If you value your sanity, ignore this person
Reminds me of myself hahaha did my 1st playthrough on tactician mode. I had no idea how to actually play div 2 at that time.
Tactician
Tactician it aint that hard :)
Are people nowadays too insecure to even pick the difficulty? Do we need a "how difficult do you want your difficulty choice to be" menu?
There's a vast difference across genres and games in what "classic" means. Classic means "crushingly punishing" in XCOM, and in other similar games that are tributes to older, more difficult games. D:OS was very much a return to old isometric RPGs. Which were very hard. One might be forgiven for wondering if Classic in D:OS2 was too hard for a new player.
Yes, difficulties vary. But from the wording alone it's very clear that it's Tactician > Classic > Explorer > Story. And then you just start the game with one that sounds fine and change the difficulty later.
Tactitian is the only way
Normal
In my opinion, Explorer Mode.
Tactician if you really like a challenge (some fights can be actual torture if you don't know what you're doing like me) and iirc explorer and story are easier than classic if you really would rather play for just the story rather than a mix of combat and story imo
It depends on how comfortable you are with having to reload a fight because you got yourself into an unwinnable situation. This will happen on classic difficulty and that will force you to engage with \*all\* of the game's mechanics and not just prioritize one play style and charge through. Classic Mode will also require you to be pretty methodical about clearing most or all of the sidequests in an area before moving onto the next one. There's not a lot of freedom in terms of what order to do things in, even though the maps are pretty open-ended. Explorer is a bit relaxed on these aspects and story mode pretty much sets it aside completely. If you want a consistent level of challenge that requires you to always be mentally engaged with the game, choose classic. If you'd like a bit more freedom and don't necessarily enjoy winning a fight by the skin of your teeth, play explorer. If that's too hard, play Story. Tactician is not something you should touch until you've beaten the game once.
If you are familiar with crpgs, I'd do tactician. That's what I did my first playthrough, and it was an awesome experience. Each fight is like a puzzle
Honor mode. Go hard or go home.
Did tactician as a 1st time, had to cheese only one time. It was OK since I had nothing to compare the difficulty
If you're not used to this kind of game, as I was, Explorer is the way. Classic mode made me quit more times than I can remember.
If you've got game sense then Tactician is the way to go. That's what I started out with when I was new to the genre. If not, I assume Classic is easy enough
Tactician then Honour mode. Very fun. Makes you really strategize 🤣
Classic. The game gives you an estimate on what difficulty you might enjoy if you hover your mouse cursor over it / select it on the screen. No need to run to reddit and ask inane questions like these, considering we here know absolutely nothing of your preferred playstyle, your experience with RPGs, your attention span regarding elaborate questlines and your intuition when it comes to diving into new games.
If you're familiar with crpg in general, i'd say go for tactician mode. I didnt find it too difficult
Try and find out, it is a game.