Regale your hardcore efforts

[Gryfer]

why not use a youtube guide vid to help guide you?

 

i am still going through my very first run on normal. two parts which i know will be hard is meeting the brute for the first time and going back to the same room and getting chased by running babies and necros. but for the latter i am told that if you keep running, after a set time the door will open. i am now at chapter 9.

 

after completing normal, i might do a newgame+ on normal to hoover up remaining trophies. then start my 'training' for hardcore - working through survivalist first, then zealot, both on a fresh run, then hardcore. hopefully by then i will be more efficient and confident.

 

I am using one. That doesn't necessarily make it a walk in the park. There are still random spawns and other things that make the game difficult.

[rockstarjazz]

do you know if spawn points are the same for survivalist/zealot? i plan to 'train' in these modes for the hardcore

[Gryfer]

do you know if spawn points are the same for survivalist/zealot? i plan to 'train' in these modes for the hardcore

 

The HC spawns are exactly the same as other difficulties, but many spots have random spawns (in all difficulties). The laundry room, a lot of the open rooms, etc.

[Gryfer]

ROUND III

 

Starting from my first save at the beginning of chapter 5. As always, I'll include the chapter of death, how I died, and a "lesson learned" (LL) from my failure.

 

Started: 8:00 PM.

Ended: 10:30 PM.

Session Time: 2.5 hours.

Total HC Time: 11 hours.

 

Next target save locations: Start of chapter 9 (right after meeting up with Ellie & Stross), chapter 13 (immediately after the drill ride).

 

(1/8) Chp. 5 - Missed a bunch of shots on the Tormentor with my Line Gun, so I let him kill me -- didn't want to waste too much ammo. LL: None. I've always had trouble hitting his tongue (or whatever) in that scene. Something about the angles makes it so that you have to aim slightly low or something. Either way, I can never seem to hit him just right.

(2/9) Chp. 6 - Stalkers. Dunno why I can't seem to handle Stalkers in this mode. I literally had never been hit by one except for the very first time I encountered them, yet I've struggled with both Stalker areas I've faced in Hard Core. LL: Honestly, no idea. Maybe abuse stasis a bit? My TKs should have hit them in my opinion and they chose to run directly through my upgraded Ripper blades. This one seemed a bit cheap.

 

That's it for today. I really hate wasting my time playing this mode, so I am absolutely not going to let it have all of my free time after work.

[rockstarjazz]

so far the only opponent that might cause me problems with the game on harder modes is the brute. whats the quickest way of killing him? i keep shooting the orange bit by his shoulders and his arms dont seem to break off.

 

also i see those darned wall monsters are back (those that spit out tentacle creatures). they used up alot of my ammo when doing 'impossible' on DS1!

Edited February 23, 2016 by rockstarjazz

[Gryfer]

so far the only opponent that might cause me problems with the game on harder modes is the brute. whats the quickest way of killing him? i keep shooting the orange bit by his shoulders and his arms dont seem to break off.

 

also i see those darned wall monsters are back (those that spit out tentacle creatures). they used up alot of my ammo when doing 'impossible' on DS1!

 

Some people use the Ripper. A single blade can take down a Brute. I have a problem hitting the joints just right though. My stress-free method is an upgraded Line Gun Alt attack. I think 4 DMG upgrades (which you get fairly easily) kill every Brute instantly. Statis + Line Gun Alt makes Brutes literally the easiest enemies in the game.

[Gryfer]

ROUND IV

 

Starting from my first save at the beginning of chapter 5. As always, I'll include the chapter of death, how I died, and a "lesson learned" (LL) from my failure.

 

Started: 7:00 PM.

Ended: 7:30 PM.

Session Time: .5 hours.

Total HC Time: 11.5 hours.

 

Next target save locations: Start of chapter 9 (right after meeting up with Ellie & Stross), chapter 13 (immediately after the drill ride).

 

(1/10) Chp. 6 - Open room near the beginning of the chapter. LL: Things went wonky.

 

Don't have the energy to try again. Thankfully, chapter 5 only takes like 10-15 minutes. Chp. 6 has some difficult spots (open room, Stalkers) but really isn't that bad overall. Chp. 7's only difficult spots are the tripods and the one room immediately before you go to the Solar Array. Chapter 8 is also really short and there really aren't many ways to screw it up. All in all, I don't think I'll have much trouble with this section once I actually focus on it and get to it. I'll get it done this weekend.

 

EDIT: Got a second burst and decided to give it another go. Turns out, that was a good idea.

 

Started: 10:00 PM.

Ended: 1:15 AM

Session Time: 3.25 hours.

Total HC Time: 14.75 hours.

 

(2/11) Chp. 8 - Made it to my second save point! ....kinda. I actually saved at the save point immediately before the one I planned on saving at (i.e. I actually saved when Ellie & Stross are on the other side of the jammed door instead of my planned saved where the three amigos finally all meet at the start of chapter 9). We had inclement weather in the area and I was hearing thunder outside. I had an awesome run, so I would have lost my mind if the power went out. Plus, it's 1:30 AM and I gotta get up for work tomorrow. All's well -- the next room can *occasionally* be hairy, so if it doesn't go perfectly, I can restart. Chapter 8 is a cakewalk IMO, so I'm not annoyed if I have to redo it a time or two if/when I die in later chapters. There don't seem to be too many upcoming hairy areas (I kinda hate chapter 9 though), so I don't expect to have too much difficulty going forward. The beginning of the game is *definitely* the hardest part.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Gryfer

[Gryfer]

ROUND V

 

Starting from my second save in the middle of chapter 8. As always, I'll include the chapter of death, how I died, and a "lesson learned" (LL) from my failure.

 

Started: 10:00 PM (resumed at 5:30 PM).

Ended: 12:00 AM (ended at 5:45 PM).

Session Time: 2.25 hours.

Total HC Time: 17 hours.

 

Next target save location: Chapter 13 (immediately after the drill ride).

 

(1/11) Chp. 10 - I died in the decontamination room. I accidentally killed all of The Pack and spawned the other necros. I place my Detonator mines just like Wolf does in his videos. The mine that he deactivates accidentally killed the last one for me because I ran forward to grab an item. The last Pack member changed his angle of pursuit, ran into my mine, and boom, everyone else started spawning in. I was having a damn good run, too. Disappointing. LL: Don't put the first mine down that Wolf does. I didn't need it on Zealot and it caused me to die on HC. By not having it, at worst, one Pack member gets through and you get hit once before you deal with it (plenty of Med Packs by then anyways). On the other hand, having it caused me to restart back to the middle of chapter 8.

 

EDIT: I initially posted that I hadn't died yet and just left my system running until I was able to get back to it. I updated it with my eventual death.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Gryfer

[rockstarjazz]

do you have a set deadline as to when you want to get it done by?

Edited February 25, 2016 by rockstarjazz

[Gryfer]

do you have a set deadline as to when you want to get it done by?

 

Not specifically, no, but I'd like to be done by this weekend, just so I can move on with my life. My backlog is *immense* and has some great games in it that I'm dying to get to, but I don't want to get to them until I'm done with DS2.

[Gryfer]

ROUND VI

 

I updated my prior post with my eventual death. Starting from my second save in the middle of chapter 8. As always, I'll include the chapter of death, how I died, and a "lesson learned" (LL) from my failure.

 

Started: 9:00 PM.

Ended: 10:30 AM.

Session Time: 1.5 hours.

Total HC Time: 18.5 hours.

 

Next target save location: Chapter 13 (immediately after the drill ride).

 

(1/12) Chp. 10 - The area where the tram is on the way to the Medical Deck immediately after the Decontamination room. This death was absolute BS. The Elite Slasher came from above and, despite being hit constantly by my upgraded Ripper blade, he hit me and killed me in one shot. LL: Upgrade my health. This death was ridiculous.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Gryfer

[Gryfer]

ROUND VII

 

Starting from my second save in the middle of chapter 8. As always, I'll include the chapter of death, how I died, and a "lesson learned" (LL) from my failure.

 

Started: 3:30 PM.

Ended: 7:00 PM.

Session Time: 3.5 hours.

Total HC Time: 22 hours.

 

(1/13) Chp. 13 - Made it to my target save point at the beginning of chapter 13, right before the big room. Run went very well except for the Drill Ride. Everyone always says "stand still, the Lurkers will always miss if you do." I think literally maybe two missed the whole time. I went through 3 medium health packs. Ugh. Oh well, that's why I had a stockpile.

 

Time was a little misleading. I kept stopping for miscellaneous things. That said, I was very slow and deliberate. Probably took me about 2.5 hours of actual effort. I'm looking forward to finishing this game off. Maybe tonight, but probably tomorrow.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Gryfer

[Gryfer]

  ROUND VIII 

 

Starting from my third save at the beginning of chapter 13.

 

Started: 11:00 PM.

Ended: 1:30 AM.

Session Time: 2.5 hours.

Total HC Time: 24.5 hours.

 

(1/13) End - Done! Beat it! Sweet, sweet satisfaction! I saved at the beginning of chapter 13, so by the time I got to the eye poke machine at the very end of 13, I was a bit nervous. Chapter 14 was an absolute breeze. Fully loaded on ammo saved from earlier chapters and just gunslinging my way through the enemies. Chapter 15 had me a bit tense because I swore an enemy that was supposed to show up never did (one of the leapers right at the beginning) and I was convinced they were going to come up behind me as soon as I turned my back. I sold everything I had, turned all my cash into power nodes, fully upgraded almost everything, loaded up with about 15 med packs (2 large and the rest medium) and started gunning my way through the baddies. I actually got trapped in the hallway area before the elevator up -- the Ubermorph popped out of a vent (for the first time out of all of my playthroughs) and an Elite Slasher came with him. I couldn't get through, so I stasised the hell out of them and let them enjoy half a dozen Line Racks before sprinting towards the finish, only to have a second Elite Slasher jump out (the one I've always seen) and get introduced to the Line Gun as well. Man, I was hella nervous during the zero-G scene after the final boss.

 

IT'S DONE THOUGH. YAYYYY.

 

12 total deaths. That's not terrible, especially considering I died 7 times before my first save. I died 3 times trying to get to my second, and twice trying to get to my third -- no deaths between my third save and the end!

 

Final time on save file: 8:48:32

 

I'd wager at least an hour and a half of that is me (1) watching a video guide without the game paused and (2) waiting on Stasis to recharge. 15 "wasted" hours (total time spent playing HC minus the total time that actually counted towards my progress) -- but I never once repeated a death. I learned something almost every single time, so they weren't terribly wasted. On top of that, a lot of the time I included in the "wasted" hours included going to the bathroom, etc

 

Anyways, I'm rambling. Ecstatic to finally be done with this. Gonna go Handcannon some bitches for entertainment/stress relief/payback.

 

Cheers, everyone!

 

Edited February 28, 2016 by Gryfer

[Nano1124]

Ahh, I remember when I did this all those years ago. Can't believe it's been 5 years.

 

I died on the QTE on the last boss. That was my only death too. I guess you can tell how angry I was. I didn't play for the rest of the day. Got it the next day though. 

 

Space your saves! Every 5 chapters is what I did. Without a guide too. Man I love this game. 

 

I would love it if EA made a "HD" collection with the Dead Space trilogy.

 

Dead Space 3 wasn't as bad everyone says it is. It gets more flak because of the time it came out which was the height of hate of microtransactions and DS3 did have that but they were totally unnecessary.

[afc-razor-84]

On 9 October 2016 at 9:33 AM, Nano1124 said:

Ahh, I remember when I did this all those years ago. Can't believe it's been 5 years.

 

I died on the QTE on the last boss. That was my only death too. I guess you can tell how angry I was. I didn't play for the rest of the day. Got it the next day though. 

 

Space your saves! Every 5 chapters is what I did. Without a guide too. Man I love this game. 

 

I would love it if EA made a "HD" collection with the Dead Space trilogy.

 

Dead Space 3 wasn't as bad everyone says it is. It gets more flak because of the time it came out which was the height of hate of microtransactions and DS3 did have that but they were totally unnecessary.

Playing dead space 2 now but a quick question, on HC mode are the enemies set to normal or hard, or are they just on normal up till chapter 10 then it switches up the enemies to survival mode, Info would be great.

[Gommes_]

8 minutes ago, afc-razor-84 said:

Playing dead space 2 now but a quick question, on HC mode are the enemies set to normal or hard, or are they just on normal up till chapter 10 then it switches up the enemies to survival mode, Info would be great.

 

I don't know if I really understood your question but the enemies' level is on hard and stays that way. Besides some enemies it is also hard to answer, since in chapter 10 you don't encounter the same type as in level 1. As far as I know the level on the enemies doesn't change over the course of the game if you decide to play on hardcore or any other difficulty setting. 

[afc-razor-84]

Just now, Gommes_ said:

 

I don't know if I really understood your question but the enemies' level is on hard and stays that way. Besides some enemies it is also hard to answer, since in chapter 10 you don't encounter the same type as in level 1. As far as I know the level on the enemies doesn't change over the course of the game if you decide to play on hardcore or any other difficulty setting. 

It's says on 1 guide that the AI on hardcore mode is set to normal but u only get 3 saves, but then it says from chapter 10 onwards the enemies are harder to kill in other words the AI go's up to survivalist mode, that's the next setting from normal, but another guide just says all enemies are set to survivalist mode from the minute you start, one guide is on this site the other is ps.org. Never mind guess I'll find out the hard way, also do u no if dead space 3 is full co op or only certain missions, and if the servers are still up, also thanks for your quick replie bud.????

[Gommes_]

On 12.8.2017 at 0:47 AM, afc-razor-84 said:

It's says on 1 guide that the AI on hardcore mode is set to normal but u only get 3 saves, but then it says from chapter 10 onwards the enemies are harder to kill in other words the AI go's up to survivalist mode, that's the next setting from normal, but another guide just says all enemies are set to survivalist mode from the minute you start, one guide is on this site the other is ps.org. Never mind guess I'll find out the hard way, also do u no if dead space 3 is full co op or only certain missions, and if the servers are still up, also thanks for your quick replie bud.

 

This made me curious so I was trying to find stuff about it.   I've read that zealot is actually the hardest setting combat wise (enemy hit the hardest) but hardcore is still above normal. But let me assure you that zealot is a piece of cake compared to the hardcore mode. One single mistake and it takes you hours back. Knowing that and that you can only save 3 times makes this game incredibly intense. I have platinums which are rarer according to the statistics but this trophy was the hardest I have ever achieved! I aged like 10 years playing that mode.

 

As far as I know the servers for 3 are still up and it's possible to play the majority of the game in co op. For the platinum you actually need to do that anyways, cause there are some areas where you need 2 players. 

[liam-peel]

My story so far.

Attempted this back in 2015 (now 2017) made it to chapter 2 got blown up by an exploded that was too close when I shot it. Insta death. Decided to give it a go later.

 

Didn't play the game untill almost 2 full years later.

Done really well on my first 're run, died chapter 5 when I didn't stasis a door (just beyond the fan that moves) but the thing coming out of it, Insta death.

Try 2 killed by the big tripod in chapter 1 I think it is.

Try 3 again killed by big tripod.

Try 4 made it to chapter 5 and saved but died in chapter 7 after I got sucked out of a window I was standing next to.

Try 5 exact same, sucked out of window at exact same spot.

Try 6 got Insta killed by door in chapter 5.

Try 7 once again sucked out a window in 7.

Try 8, chapter 6 a slasher got up on me when I wasn't paying attention.

Try 9 made it to my save in chapter 9 died shortly after by those little things on walls.

Try 10 got killed by a runner during chapter 9.

Try 11 killed chapter 10 by a slasher whilst ibwas covered in things I had to shake off.

 

That's my story so far, I'm hoping to make it to chapter 13 and save then and then I only have 3 chapters to complete and platinum.

[MeteorHawk]

Lack of a personal life, plenty of coke, a lot of luck and plenty of prior practise on XBox 360 got me through without a single death. Stopped playing for months after that then got my Zealot trophy (and Platinum) with the awarded Foam Hand gun.

Edited May 30, 2018 by MeteorHawk

[AJ_Radio]

On 5/30/2018 at 0:08 PM, MeteorHawk said:

Lack of a personal life, plenty of coke, a lot of luck and plenty of prior practise on XBox 360 got me through without a single death. Stopped playing for months after that then got my Zealot trophy (and Platinum) with the awarded Foam Hand gun.

 

A Youtuber I watched did Hardcore difficulty first then used the Foam Hand gun. 

 

Apparently cuts through most of anything with no problems.

 

Coke DOES help. Gets you the caffeine, sugar and adrenaline you need to push through on some games. 

Edited August 4, 2018 by Spaz

[OrioleByrd]

This trophy always intimidated me, but I decided to finally give it a go. I hadn't played the game for about two years, and I still needed the trophy for zealot difficulty as well, so I did that first on a clean save (not NG+) as a refresher. I made it through zealot with much less difficulty than I expected ... I'd completed Dead Space: Ignition a long time ago, so having access to the conduit doors helps. But hard core difficulty is a whole different level of brutal. I made it up to my first save this evening. Here are my attempts so far:

 

2 January 2019

 

Attempt #1: Died in chapter 2. In the long hallway before the tram platform, I shot an exploder (the fourth and final spawn) too close to me.

 

3 January 2019

 

Attempt #2: Died in chapter 2 again. I ran out of ammo during the upside-down hanging sequence after the tram crash, I think dying by an exploder again.

 

Attempt #3: I had a bad run on chapter 1, wasting too much ammo and taking too many hits, so I let the tripod boss kill me. Holy crap was that a gruesome death scene. 

 

Attempt #4: I learned that the pack is going to be my biggest headache on this mode. Wasted a lot of ammo and health during the two pack encounters in chapter 3, but actually survived both, dying instead from a single slasher that I had forgotten that jumps out from a vent right before the node door in the room where the battery power is out.

 

4 January 2019

 

Attempt #5: Died during the first encounter with the pack in chapter 3.

 

Attempt #6: This was a really bad run. I was playing really twitchy and missing a lot of shots, and most of the loot was bad. I was low on resources, even though my inventory slots were full. The enemies kept dropping low amounts of credits and useless ammo for weapons I wasn't carrying, like seeker, rivet, detonator, ripper, etc. I died via an exploder while hanging upside-down from the tram in chapter 2 again.

 

Attempt #7: Decided to change my strategy a bit this time, and it paid off. Rather than spend all my credits on nodes, I decided to buy some more PC ammo a couple of times. I also decided to get a couple of the HP upgrades and not spend all my nodes on PC damage and stasis. It made me a lot less anxious during encounters. The pack is still an issue, though. I ended up using the line gun alt fire a couple of times to take out several of them at once. Made it through the end of chapter 3 for the first time even though I was nervous about the last room, and chapter 4 was a breeze. I saved at the beginning of chapter 5, which was earlier than I wanted. I planned to make it to at least chapter 6 or ideally 7 before the tripod elevator, but the upcoming pack encounter in chapter 5 had me nervous and I was just so tired of sitting through the game intro and other chapter 1 stuff.

 

At my first save, I have:

• 5200 credits
• 65 PC ammo
• 15 line racks (maybe another 6 in the safe, can't remember)
• 3 stasis packs
• 2 medium med packs
• a bunch of small med packs (some in the safe)
• RIG upgraded to 2 HP nodes
• stasis upgraded to max energy for 4 shots
• PC upgraded to special attack, with one DMG node to go to max out that stat

My planned strategy going forward is:

• save #2 at the beginning of chapter 10, #3 at the beginning of 13
• continue with the PC and line gun (alt fire, mostly), and add the contact beam to my arsenal when available
• finish upgrading PC damage, then max my HP, then contact beam alt fire, then line gun alt fire
• use contact beam for its alt fire during the mine elevator and drill ride sequences, as well as a panic button if surrounded (especially by the pack), and its primary fire for the final fight
• in chapter 13, possibly earlier, swap out and respec the line gun for the force gun

A few observations:

• Knowing that a death can set you back hours really messes with your head. It made me super twitchy and trigger-happy on some of my runs, and I died on places I breezed through easily on zealot. 
• I'm really surprised I never died from the slasher who can one-shot you in the room where you first get stasis in chapter 1.
• Stasis + line gun alt fire is my go-to method for dealing with clusters of enemies, like the final room in chapter 3 with the infectors, slashers, and pukers, as well as the one room in chapter 4 with about four infectors and a bunch of slashers.
• The insta-death parts haven't been much of a problem for me (not that there have been many so far). I've been shooting out the decompression windows and using them to my advantage. I never had much of a problem with them -- I just stand as far back as I can, shoot the window, and move my PC crosshairs along the horizontal axis until it's above the triangle. Then I just wait until the suction lines me up vertically.
• I keep wondering if I'm spending too many credits on nodes.

Whew. I'll make another post when/if I ever make it to my second save. 

Edited January 9, 2019 by IrishGuyJay
typos

[OrioleByrd]

A continuation of my above post:

 

5 January 2019

 

Attempt #7 (cont'd): To my surprise, I made it to my second save without any deaths. There were only two kind of dodgy parts on this run: the pregnant/leaper room at the beginning of chapter 6, and the decompression room in chapter 7. I got pinned to the end of the hallway in the chapter 6 room and finished the encounter with a red RIG, so I almost gave up because I didn't want to spend a ton of med packs on a single encounter. But then I remembered there was a bench coming up and I was due for an HP upgrade, so I held on and got my free health refill that way. In the chapter 7 decompression room, a crawler hit the mine trigger and blew out the window before I was ready, and so I almost got sucked out. 

 

The parts that I expected to be trouble actually went really well. I made it through most encounters with no damage, including the encounters with the pack in chapter 5 (church), 6 (school gymnasium), and 7 (transport hub). I took a few hits during the tripod elevator sequence, but that was nothing compared to what I expected. 

 

I've now got maxed out HP, maxed out PC damage with special effect, maxed out contact beam alt fire with stasis effect, stasis upgraded to max energy (4 shots), and a line gun capacity upgrade (starting the alt fire branch). I regularly have to leave loot behind because my inventory is full, which is getting really frustrating (and also really weird because I have had terrible luck with node door loot on this playthrough; they've rarely been worth spending a node). I always want to carry a full row of med packs, two stacks of stasis, one stack of contact energy, two stacks of line racks, and two stacks of plasma energy. With 15 slots, it's getting crowded now that semiconductors, etc., are showing up more regularly. The advanced suit cannot come soon enough. 

 

I was running out of time before I had to quit playing, so I saved at the beginning of chapter 9 in the room with Ellie and Stross. This was one chapter earlier than I wanted. I'm okay with it, but I won't be changing my plan to make save number 3 at the beginning of chapter 13.

[OrioleByrd]

7 January 2019

 

Attempt #7 (cont'd): Not long after sitting down to play today, I forgot about an exploder in the compression window room in chapter 9 and died when the window blew out. Good thing I made my second save where I did.

 

Attempt #8: Made it to my planned save point in chapter 13 this time, right after sending Ellie off in her ship. I struggled through most of the expected places: the stalker area in chapter 9, the long hallway with two brutes on the Ishimura (I used up my stasis packs during the tripod nest and forgot to take more out of the safe before entering here), the Ishimura bridge, and the drill ride. My maxed out contact beam alt fire made the chapter 11 elevator ride a cinch, but for some reason I struggled with the drill ride, using 5 or 6 medium med packs. It was a good thing I bought the advanced suit as soon as it was available, so that I could carry more into chapter 12 with me. I kept getting hit by the lurker barbs.

 

I've now maxed out the line gun alt fire as well as the stasis (I was missing recharge and duration), and I also bought the force gun and started to upgrade its damage. I used that on the pack while I was waiting for Ellie to turn the drill around. My plan is to use the force gun to get me through the big, crowded rooms in chapter 13 (the large atrium, the three red rooms, and the ... lab? office?) and use the line gun alt fire to take out the enhanced brute in one shot. After that, I'll respec my line gun and sell it off along with all the ammo I've stocked up in my safe, and put that into the force gun first and anything leftover into the contact beam. Run and gun through chapter 14 with the force gun, then take out the marker with the contact beam. The eye poke machine has never been a problem for me, although trying to catch Ellie's ship at the very very end has been. I don't have much left, so I'm hoping to finish this tomorrow. 

Edited January 8, 2019 by IrishGuyJay
fixed date

[OrioleByrd]

8 January 2019

 

Attempt #8 (cont'd): I got cornered and overwhelmed in the office/lab room in chapter 13. Killed by an enhanced slasher.

 

Attempt #9: Killed by a puker on the top floor of the red rooms in chapter 13. I made the mistake of trying to kill everything before heading to the door. I forgot how fast those enhanced pukers are.

 

Attempt #10: Success!  I decided to use stasis/force gun and run through the red rooms, but still took several hits. The enhanced brute went down in one shot from my line gun alt fire. I decided not to sell off the line gun and used it instead as an efficient way of blowing off all the ubermorph's limbs in chapter 14. I muted my tv and covered the lower-left portion of my screen as per usual during the eye poke machine, because I just can't with that. I had a LOT of close calls in chapter 14. I thought I was done for in one room where I was attacked by an infector and it triggered a QTE, then by the time I freed myself I was cornered by an enhanced slasher and the ubermorph. Still don't know how I made it out of that one alive. Good thing I had the force gun on me, I guess. I mostly used the contact beam alt fire and the force gun to get through chapter 14 and the beginning of 15. I just ran through trying to survive rather than kill everything and grab items. At the last store, I stocked up with 5 large med kits, 5 medium, 3 or 4 stacks of stasis packs, and the rest ammo for the contact beam and force gun. I ended up using all but one of those med kits, so if I did it again I would've gone for more health and a little less ammo. The contact beam made the marker fight a piece of cake, but I was nervous about catching Ellie's ship at the end (admittedly, I paused the game and watched a YouTube video to learn where the rocks and debris would be flying from in advance). Caught up to Ellie, and that was that.

 

Having completed the whole thing now, getting to the first save was definitely the hardest. Before you can upgrade your RIG, one or two hits can take you out. Once you've upgraded the RIG and have built a small stockpile of med kits, encounters become a lot less stressful. You can take some hits and keep chugging along. I never sold a single med kit; the only things I sold were semiconductors and ammo for weapons I wasn't using. I only ever had to buy plasma energy, force energy, and power nodes, until the very last store when I bought a two or three large med packs for the final stretch.

 

Even though I'll probably never try it again, I think hard core mode is how the hardest difficulty in games should be done. Zealot felt like a chore, because you could just tank through each checkpoint, but hard core was fun and truly felt like a challenge, and the trophy feels like a real achievement rather than a grind. It was really intense. I'll probably be taking a long break before I decide to finish up the hardest Dead Space 3 trophies.

Edited January 8, 2019 by IrishGuyJay
typos