Ranger Hardcore Difficulty

[Fr_0zt]

24 minutes ago, JaapertNL said:

Is it just me or are you not able to change the difficulty back to a lower one once selected Ranger Hardcore?

 

You can't, that's one of its features.

[kdogg_gamer_]

6 hours ago, JaapertNL said:

Is it just me or are you not able to change the difficulty back to a lower one once selected Ranger Hardcore?

That is true. I missed forest child and now have to replay through the game a third fucking time which is god damn annoying. 

[Stormwarrior90]

6 hours ago, JaapertNL said:

Is it just me or are you not able to change the difficulty back to a lower one once selected Ranger Hardcore?

exactly,you can't change it

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

1 hour ago, kdogg_gamer_ said:

That is true. I missed forest child and now have to replay through the game a third fucking time which is god damn annoying. 

 

Chapter select doesn't give you the trophy?

[Valkirye22]

20 hours ago, kdogg_gamer_ said:

That is true. I missed forest child and now have to replay through the game a third fucking time which is god damn annoying. 

 

19 hours ago, Avatar_Of_Battle said:

 

Chapter select doesn't give you the trophy?

 

You can do Forest Child via chapter select, no need to replay the whole game...

[kdogg_gamer_]

1 hour ago, Valkirye22 said:

 

 

You can do Forest Child via chapter select, no need to replay the whole game...

Correct but i had just finished my HC Ranger playthrough and wasn't aware that I cannot change difficulty even after i beat the game on HC Ranger.

[Crispy_Oglop]

I'm making slow progress through Ranger Hardcore in my first playthrough at the moment - it's my first playthrough and i'll be aiming to do as much as possible.

 

My first impressions:

 

Good stuff (survival aspects)

 

• Mechanically it's a very do-able difficulty, if you play as stealthily as possible.
• Not having a manual/quick save option isn't as bad as I was expecting - autosaves/checkpoints are generous and I've never lost more than 5 mins of progress
• It really forces you to take your time, listen to your surroundings, pick your route etc
• You have to rely on always knowing how many bullets you have left in combat as you can't check your ammo unless you are in your kit bag
• You have to plan on what time of day to go out and do a thing
• Resource management is challenging but rewarding too and can add an element of peril if you know you only have a couple of minutes left on your gas mask filter - you have to try and scavenge for more parts in landmarks nearby.

 

Bad stuff (technical aspects)

 

• Camera stability
• If i swing my camera to the left to look in a different direction the game pretty much goes into slow motion. But looking right the speed is normal.
• Clipping
• Artyom can sometimes get stuck on tiny bits of debris - at one point i couldn't step over a single brick on the floor and he ended up doing the climbing animation as if he were trying to get on top of a cargo container
• Load times
• Load times are honestly insane - loading into the game for the first time has taken 3-5 minutes on a loading screen each time
• After that please look forward to 2-3 loading screen times every time you die on Ranger Hardcore - it's truly ridiculous.
• As an example - the game gives me a checkpoint save. I spend 3 mins working my way through a bandit camp for the first time and die. I go back to the loading screen, then spend the same amount of time i just spent playing the game waiting to play the game again.
• Stealth mechanics
• Stealth detection feels a bit clunky in comparison to the harder difficulties in the previous games. I get that it is meant to be easier to get spotted. But if i'm literally behind a 5 foot wall crouched and a dude spots me from the other side of the wall, that's a bit ridiculous.
• The previous games had really well balanced stealth mechanics, even in harder difficulties. This one feels either buggy or they've added an element of RNG to it. I did the same segment 10 times in a row, replicating the same stealth route & speed. The two enemies on my route were just chatting, not agitated or aware of my presence. 4 out of those 10 times, they suddenly went apeshit and killed me, the rest they carried on. I don't ever remember that happening in the previous games.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Crispy_Oglop

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

42 minutes ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

I'm making slow progress through Ranger Hardcore in my first playthrough at the moment - it's my first playthrough and i'll be aiming to do as much as possible.

 

My first impressions:

 

Good stuff (survival aspects)

 

• Mechanically it's a very do-able difficulty, if you play as stealthily as possible.
• Not having a manual/quick save option isn't as bad as I was expecting - autosaves/checkpoints are generous and I've never lost more than 5 mins of progress
• It really forces you to take your time, listen to your surroundings, pick your route etc
• You have to rely on always knowing how many bullets you have left in combat as you can't check your ammo unless you are in your kit bag
• You have to plan on what time of day to go out and do a thing
• Resource management is challenging but rewarding too and can add an element of peril if you know you only have a couple of minutes left on your gas mask filter - you have to try and scavenge for more parts in landmarks nearby.

 

Bad stuff (technical aspects)

 

• Camera stability
• If i swing my camera to the left to look in a different direction the game pretty much goes into slow motion. But looking right the speed is normal.
• Clipping
• Artyom can sometimes get stuck on tiny bits of debris - at one point i couldn't step over a single brick on the floor and he ended up doing the climbing animation as if he were trying to get on top of a cargo container
• Load times
• Load times are honestly insane - loading into the game for the first time has taken 3-5 minutes on a loading screen each time
• After that please look forward to 2-3 loading screen times every time you die on Ranger Hardcore - it's truly ridiculous.
• As an example - the game gives me a checkpoint save. I spend 3 mins working my way through a bandit camp for the first time and die. I go back to the loading screen, then spend the same amount of time i just spent playing the game waiting to play the game again.
• Stealth mechanics
• Stealth detection feels a bit clunky in comparison to the harder difficulties in the previous games. I get that it is meant to be easier to get spotted. But if i'm literally behind a 5 foot wall crouched and a dude spots me from the other side of the wall, that's a bit ridiculous.
• The previous games had really well balanced stealth mechanics, even in harder difficulties. This one feels either buggy or they've added an element of RNG to it. I did the same segment 10 times in a row, replicating the same stealth route & speed. The two enemies on my route were just chatting, not agitated or aware of my presence. 4 out of those 10 times, they suddenly went apeshit and killed me, the rest they carried on. I don't ever remember that happening in the previous games.

 

During my RH run I could always check my ammo by holding  it showed each weapon and how much ammo had. Also, the game did not hide QTEs at all. It only dimmed them. This game's RH is not as balanced as the other 2 games because it doesn't do well in an open world where just about every feature is made to screw you.

 

EDIT: Contains slight spoilers.

 

 

Tips that I might add after my run.

 

Turn the gamma up in dark sections. It makes it day time in any dark section if you don't want to rely on the flashlight/night vision.

 

You only need your flashlight and lighter on parts with spiders. No need to waste bullets.

^Regarding the above, I don't know if this is a technical mishap, intended, or if it only happened for me, but if I kept the charger in my hand as I walked then my flashlight lasted indefinitely even with the extra bright flashlight equipped. (may or may not work for others.)

 

This one is most important. Contains a slight spoiler.

TAKE THE GODDAMN RAILGUN FROM MILLER IN DEAD CITY. Never equip it until your first encounter with the Blind Ones so it doesn't get dirty. If you want to just rush through the last section then you can stealth a couple blind ones, but this weapon will save your life in the room where they automatically spawn behind you when flipping switches. This weapon kills them like the game is on Reader. Doing so before you try stealthing around means you're home free and the last section that can prove to be a very big problem will be nothing.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Avatar_Of_Battle

[SuperSaiyan3985]

On 2/15/2019 at 8:13 AM, Mori said:

Another downside are the checkpoints which sometimes can occur on the worst possible moment. I remember on the first Metro I was suddenly stuck on a bridge and couldn climb up so I had to do some Mirrors Edge shit to get up again, and everytime I failed I fall in water, reload and had to move while the screen was still black or otherwise I would immediately fall into the water ... only other alternative would be to start a new game. Though I dont know if thats even possible in Metro Exodus, but I've read that the checkpoints can be somewhat of a bitch sometimes.

It is 100% possible. I fell into the water on Volga and died, then every time I'd re-spawn I'd find myself back at the drowning death-animation. It was an inescapable loop. I had to restart the chapter.

[IKillYouDude9]

You can sleep to ''force" a checkpoint. Really helpful when you need to get the 2nd part for the train at the bandit camp in the Volga level.

Kill enemies - sleep - kill more + open gate - ... 

[Crispy_Oglop]

I'm just about to pass through the second major game area  (Caspian Sea) on Ranger Hardcore difficulty. I swear there is some form of RNG applied to the stealth mechanics. Right now i'm sneaking through a slave encampment towards the end of this section. Same route, same timing but it's a toss of the dice whether someone spots you or not.

 

6 tries on this section so far to not alert anyone, 3 of these times, people have woken up and spotted me, the others people have just stayed asleep. Feels like a bit of a detection crapshoot.

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

6 hours ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

I'm just about to pass through the second major game area  (Caspian Sea) on Ranger Hardcore difficulty. I swear there is some form of RNG applied to the stealth mechanics. Right now i'm sneaking through a slave encampment towards the end of this section. Same route, same timing but it's a toss of the dice whether someone spots you or not.

 

6 tries on this section so far to not alert anyone, 3 of these times, people have woken up and spotted me, the others people have just stayed asleep. Feels like a bit of a detection crapshoot.

 

You've got to be talking about the cage area after you pass through the grate right? (I think they have dogs fighting each other)

That section was utter bullshit and poorly tested. No reason why in the complete darkness every single sleeping person wakes up the moment you get within 20 feet of them. You have to wait nearly a minute to get around each person to make sure they've caught up with what they're supposed to be doing.

[Valkirye22]

On 3/3/2019 at 2:58 PM, Crispy_Oglop said:

I'm just about to pass through the second major game area  (Caspian Sea) on Ranger Hardcore difficulty. I swear there is some form of RNG applied to the stealth mechanics. Right now i'm sneaking through a slave encampment towards the end of this section. Same route, same timing but it's a toss of the dice whether someone spots you or not.

 

6 tries on this section so far to not alert anyone, 3 of these times, people have woken up and spotted me, the others people have just stayed asleep. Feels like a bit of a detection crapshoot.

 

On 3/3/2019 at 9:43 PM, Avatar_Of_Battle said:

 

You've got to be talking about the cage area after you pass through the grate right? (I think they have dogs fighting each other)

That section was utter bullshit and poorly tested. No reason why in the complete darkness every single sleeping person wakes up the moment you get within 20 feet of them. You have to wait nearly a minute to get around each person to make sure they've caught up with what they're supposed to be doing.

So you guys are talking about the stealth part with the Tribals beneath the Baron's Rig?

In that area hug the right side, there will be a guy kicking someone out of his bed let him lay down then sneak past, follow the edge until you reach the back of the leader's seat (some guy will bring him food) before you pass behind it wait until they talk and the leader gets up to go puke then sneak past behind and go for the door. Other people sleeping shouldn't give you trouble.

 

Hope it helps

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

2 hours ago, Valkirye22 said:

 

So you guys are talking about the stealth part with the Tribals beneath the Baron's Rig?

In that area hug the right side, there will be a guy kicking someone out of his bed let him lay down then sneak past, follow the edge until you reach the back of the leader's seat (some guy will bring him food) before you pass behind it wait until they talk and the leader gets up to go puke then sneak past behind and go for the door. Other people sleeping shouldn't give you trouble.

 

Hope it helps

 

Oh I've been done with the game for a while now. I just knew what section he was talking about. It is most definitely bugged. People that were sleeping all of a sudden go to standing position whining that you're there.

 

I had the same experience on the boat section of the Taiga that I mentioned somewhere on these forums.

[medenko1975]

I'm having hard time at Baron's boat with Damir and Guil, 2nd phase when big gunner comes, i have only 1 molotov + 1 bomb

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

3 hours ago, medenko1975 said:

I'm having hard time at Baron's boat with Damir and Guil, 2nd phase when big gunner comes, i have only 1 molotov + 1 bomb

 

You should be able to pick up something from killed enemies. I believe there is other molotovs around? If you can switch sides fast enough I also think you can pick off the support enemies quicker but it's more risky. Remind me, is Guil there with you?

 

For anyone reading this before this area, the Molotovs are your best damn friend against the 2 heavy suits you will face in Yamantau and Caspian. In Caspian I recommend being full on them if possible and taking a high damage Shambler.

 

Another tip for this game. IF YOU HAVE A PARTNER JUST FIND A PLACE TO CHILL OUT. In any area with a partner they can't die and they will eventually wipe everything out. 

[medenko1975]

yes Guil is with me of course, but for the second part she goes to room where Baron is, i'm alone and only 1 damn molotov. I'm not doing whole Caspian again.

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

38 minutes ago, medenko1975 said:

yes Guil is with me of course, but for the second part she goes to room where Baron is, i'm alone and only 1 damn molotov. I'm not doing whole Caspian again.

 

I wouldn't want to redo Caspian either at this point. From what I could tell the grenades do absolutely nothing these guys. I threw 3-4 of them at the one in Yamantau and he didn't even budge and took multiple molotovs and shotgun hits afterwards. 

 

A couple of things.

What are your weapons? That 1 molotov should give you a decent amount of time to put a lot of damage into the heavy. From there unfortunately it's just going to take skill and luck to not get killed by the flanking enemies coming down at you while taking shots at the guy from corners.

 

Also, since I don't remember....can you craft molotovs without a workbench? I was pretty sure you could so you should have ample time to get craft just 1 before he busts through the door and starts shooting. 

 

[medenko1975]

kalash

sniper

tikhar

 

i can't craft molotovs without wokbench, which is weird.

[Crispy_Oglop]

5 minutes ago, medenko1975 said:

kalash

sniper

tikhar

 

i can't craft molotovs without wokbench, which is weird.

 

If you stand at the back of that room and face the area all the enemies start coming in - to the right is a table and on it are some medkits, one or two molotovs and one of those massive heavy guns on the wall. That might help turn the tide of battle a little  

 

The Tikhar is a bit useless for this fight. The Sniper might be good for some focused shots on the heavy dudes helmet, if you can pop that off and start shooting his head he goes down pretty fast. Kalash is better for the non heavy enemies that arrive.

 

I 100% recommend the molotov you have and the molotov on the table i mentioned for that heavy though.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Crispy_Oglop

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

23 minutes ago, medenko1975 said:

kalash

sniper

tikhar

 

i can't craft molotovs without wokbench, which is weird.

 

17 minutes ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

If you stand at the back of that room and face the area all the enemies start coming in - to the right is a table and on it are some medkits, one or two molotovs and one of those massive heavy guns on the wall. That might help turn the tide of battle a little  

 

The Tikhar is a bit useless for this fight. The Sniper might be good for some focused shots on the heavy dudes helmet, if you can pop that off and start shooting his head he goes down pretty fast. Kalash is better for the non heavy enemies that arrive.

 

I 100% recommend the molotov you have and the molotov on the table i mentioned for that heavy though.

 

Crispy's advice is pretty much what I'd say. Hopefully that molotov didn't come from the one you can pick up. ?

 

Good luck though. In my opinion this was the 2nd to last tough section of the game. (the last being the putrid tunnels section of Dead City)

[medenko1975]

made it :))))

 

you throw molotov to big gunner you go to right, shot 3-4 enemies wait a little and Damir comes

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

48 minutes ago, medenko1975 said:

made it :))))

 

you throw molotov to big gunner you go to right, shot 3-4 enemies wait a little and Damir comes

 

I thought he came along eventually, but I didn't want to get your hopes up because I was wrong about Guil being with you.  

 

Congrats on getting by though.  

[SuperSaiyan3985]

On 2/16/2019 at 5:59 PM, SirBaronOBeefdip said:

Ok important question. Does Hardcore Range mode in Exodus show QTE's or does it hide them like it did in last Last?

 

Because I want to that difficulty but only if they show QTEs.

 

That was/is the only deal breaker for me.

It does.

On 2/19/2019 at 11:05 AM, SirShavesALot said:

Quick question, not really about the difficulty though.  I have this game ready to go on my hard drive but can't figure out if I want to play through it on the default difficulty to learn the layout of the game and the new crafting mechanics along with getting the collectibles or if I want to start on Ranger Hardcore and try for all of the collectibles on that difficulty.  While I definitely want the plat I also want to enjoy my first playthrough of the game.  While it's all opinion based, would it be a better idea to start out on a lower difficulty so I can enjoy the game and then go for Ranger Hardcore last?  ?

I recommend doing your first playthrough on "Reader" while going through and getting the collectibles, the good ending, and just enjoying the story. Make your second playthrough on "Ranger Hardcore" and get the bad ending then. "Ranger Hardcore" really is a bitch so I suggest saving that for last. 

On 2/19/2019 at 2:26 PM, Vizard-Ichigo-- said:

 

Hardcore then Ranger.  

?

On 2/21/2019 at 4:54 PM, kdogg_gamer_ said:

That is true. I missed forest child and now have to replay through the game a third fucking time which is god damn annoying. 

Yeah since I just wanted to enjoy my first playthrough and not worry about choices I didn't get the "Full Strength" trophy so I had to replay from Caspian till the end. Ah well, the price I pay for trying to enjoy games while simultaneously being a trophy hunter I guess, LOL.

On 2/26/2019 at 1:06 PM, IKillYouDude9 said:

You can sleep to ''force" a checkpoint. Really helpful when you need to get the 2nd part for the train at the bandit camp in the Volga level.

Kill enemies - sleep - kill more + open gate - ... 

Yes! This feature really worked in my favor during the Volga level where you had to steal the carriage. There's a safe-house nearby so I'd kill a couple enemies, sleep, kill, sleep until they were all gone.

Edited March 13, 2019 by SuperSaiyan3985

[SuperSaiyan3985]

Ranger Hardcore is a bitch. I don't remember 2033 and Last Light being this difficult. Forget open combat, your dead as soon as an enemy spots you. Always take the stealthy route and if you can avoid conflict, do so. In stealth sections patience is a virtue. The moment you start to get greedy is the moment you get spotted. If you take your time you can pick off each enemy silently. I recommend always having a silenced revolver on you as those are really helpful. Scavenge as much as possible and don't wander on the big levels because you're just asking for trouble then. Focus on the main story if you want to maximize efficiency.