Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Hardcore mode update has arrived, making KCD2 potentially even more lethal than ever before. This is a new difficulty that imposes all kind of negative limitations and restrictions on the player. This is the big challenge that will really separate the elite knights the scrounging knaves, at least in theory.
Now that the KCD2 Hardcore mode update is live, we've got all the info on how it works and what to expect below, with a full accounting of the way it penalizes you and limits your abilities. If you want to know what to expect with hardcore mode, here's everything you need to know before you commit to the this truly brutal challenge.
Hardcore mode in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 explained
Hardcore mode in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is currently available in game, having been teased as part of the Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 roadmap from the beginning.
To play it, simply start a new game and you'll be given the option to select Hardcore Mode as a permanent modification to that game. There is no way to turn this off without modding the game, and it effects your experience by making the following changes to gameplay:
- Reduced UI in and out of combat, including no visible health and stamina bar, and no directional indicators for angles of attack.
- Fast travel is disabled.
- Auto-save is disabled.
- Your position on the Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 map is not marked, forcing you to find your way around.
- The compass is removed.
- Players pick three of the negative perks laid out below when starting the game. They are permanent penalties that cannot be removed throughout the entire playthrough.
All KCD2 Hardcore mode perks
We've got all the negative perks in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 that are tied to Hardcore Mode listed below - when you start a new game at that difficulty, you immediately pick three of them to become permanent negative debuffs that afflict Henry for the whole game.
- Bad Back: Due to your bad back, your carrying capacity is 50% lower, and whenever you bend to pick up a herb or mushroom, there's a small chance you'll strain your back and be left hobbling for a while.
- Bashful: You can't ask people for directions, so it's more difficult to find your way around. Besides that, you're too shy to speak to the girls at the bathhouse, so you can't request all of their services. Since you're not much of a talker, gaining Speech experience is 20% slower.
- Hangry Henry: In addition to the usual effects of hunger, starving also reduces your Speech, Charisma, and Intimidation. The hungrier you are, the bigger the penalty. Moreover, all food will fill you 50% less, and your digestion rate increases by 25%.
- Heavy-Footed: Your heavy steps cause your starting Noise level to be increased from 0 to 25. What's more, your shoes wear down twice as fast, so you'll have to repair them more frequently.
- Menace: Once you're branded for a crime, the effect is permanent, and getting caught for any other serious crime will lead to your execution. What's more, guards will punish you more severely, and the consequences of these punishments will be more intense. The chance of you being randomly searched is also doubled.
- Numbskull: You gain experience 40% slower.
- Picky Eater: Your pickiness causes all food in your inventory to spoil 25% faster. When gutting animals, you're also pickier and get only a quarter of the meat and other items from animals.
- Punchable Face: People who attack you are motivated to really hurt you, making them stronger, braver and more resilient. The effect is multiplied based on the combat skills of your opponent - the stronger the opponent, the greater their buff is. What's more, you take 10% more damage.
- Somnabulant: You lose restedness 40% faster and every time you sleep, there's a chance your sleepwalking legs will take you somewhere else.
- Sweaty: Your excessive sweating causes your clothing to get dirty 50% faster as well as start to smell. When you do start to stink, you can be smelled from twice as far away, which makes stealth more difficult. Not even perfume will help to hide this stench.
If you're wonder which perks to pick... well, that depends on what kind of character you're hoping to make and experience you're hoping to have. The idea is that the different perks make specific sections of the game harder - so if you think you're strongest in combat, you could pick perks that make fighting harder. Or, if you're somebody who never uses stealth anyway, pick something like Heavy-Footed, as it'll be impeding a skill you're not even using.
If you're going to take on this major challenge of chivalric prowess, you'll need help. Check out all the best Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 weapons here, or find out all the ways to thrive in Bohemia in our Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 tips page!
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