What are the difficulties in Pillars of Eternity? How are they different?

So you're starting up a new game on Pillars of Eternity and you aren't sure which difficulty to choose. Maybe you've never played before and you want to learn about the lower difficulties. Maybe you've played other similar games and want to know how the difficulties compare to those. Maybe you're trying to decide if you're ready for the harder modes. This guide will explain each of the difficulties and how they work.

5. Story Time

Do you just want to sit back and experience a great story without having to worry about your party dying every encounter? Do you want to gear your party with the coolest-looking items without caring about the stats? Is Story Time is like playing D&D with a dungeon master who throws in combat encounters that aren’t actually meant to be a threat? Technically there’s a chance of dying, but your party will be a lot like movie protagonists with plot armor.

How It Works

• Encounters will have the same enemy composition as higher difficulties, but with less and sometimes weaker enemies
• The party can carry an unlimited number of camping supplies
• At any time, you can change your difficulty between Story Time, Easy, Normal, and Hard

Choose This Difficulty If…

• You’re new to RPGs
• You’re more interested in the story of the game than combat
• You don’t want to worry about optimizing your party’s builds

4. Easy

Does the idea of plot armor sound unappealing to you but you still want to be extremely powerful? Take it a step up and choose Easy. Easy is welcoming to players new to real-time party RPGs. You’ll need to optimize your party slightly and you’ll need to pay attention to what you do in combat, but you likely won’t be experiencing total party kills. Compared to Story Time, more and deadlier enemies will appear and you’ll have to keep track of your camping supplies.

How It Works

• Encounters will have more and deadlier enemies than in Story Time
• Enemies do NOT have higher stats than those in Story Time
• The party can only carry 6 sets of camping supplies at a time
• At any time, you can change your difficulty between Story Time, Easy, Normal, and Hard

Choose This Difficulty If…

• You’re new to real-time party RPGs
• You want a more forgivable combat experience
• You only want to optimize your party’s builds a little bit

3. Normal

Are you looking for a good middle ground between the difficulties? Normal might be for you. As the name suggests, it’s the standard Pillars of Eternity experience. You’ll still need to manage your party and upgrade their equipment, but complete optimization won’t be necessary and combat will have room for mistakes. Like from Story Time to Easy, more and deadlier enemies will appear and you’ll have fewer camping supplies to use.

How It Works

• Encounters will have more and deadlier enemies than in Easy
• Enemies do NOT have higher stats than those in Easy
• The party can only carry 4 sets of camping supplies at a time
• At any time, you can change your difficulty between Story Time, Easy, Normal, and Hard

Choose This Difficulty If…

• You’ve played other real-time party RPGs
• You want a challenging experience with room for mistakes
• You want to optimize your party’s builds with some room for fun items

2. Hard

Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, Divinity, have you played them all? Then Hard may be a good place to start before you take on Path of the Damned. Not the hardest in the game, but by no means easy, this difficulty will feature tougher encounters and fewer chances for your party to take breaks. Like the previous difficulties, more and deadlier enemies will appear and you’ll have fewer camping supplies to use.

How It Works

• Encounters will have more and deadlier enemies than in Normal
• Enemies do NOT have higher stats than those in Normal
• The party can only carry 2 sets of camping supplies at a time
• At any time, you can change your difficulty between Story Time, Easy, Normal, and Hard

Choose This Difficulty If…

• You’re a veteran of real-time party RPGs
• You’re looking for a challenge
• You enjoy optimizing your party’s builds

1. Path of the Damned

Are you a glutton for pain? Is Hard too easy for you? Are you willing to walk the Path of the Damned? This difficulty might be right for you. Path of the Damned is the only difficulty that increases the enemies’ stats. Enemies will throw everything they have at you, they’ll focus on your weak spellcasters if your tank can’t keep the aggro, and they’ll bring all their friends - encounters will have many more enemies than other difficulties. This difficulty is brutal but a lot of fun if you love micromanaging and maximizing your party’s builds. It is also the only difficulty you must commit to at the start of your playthrough.

How It Works

• Encounters will have more and deadlier enemies than in Hard
• All enemies gain +15 Accuracy and +15 Defenses!
• The party can only carry 2 sets of camping supplies at a time
• Once you select this difficulty, you CANNOT change it

Choose This Difficulty If…

• You want a hardcore and punishing experience
• You’re an achievement hunter and want the Path of the Damned achievement
• You enjoy optimizing your party’s builds to the highest extent

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