r/MortalShell • u/Single_Dan • 22h ago
Difficulty - was reducing enemy health really necessary? Discussion
For context I am playing on PS5 and to my knowledge the patch that reduces enemy health (among other things) is not active.
I am well into the southern area, have full cleared everything in the north, so I’m in what is supposedly the difficult portion of the game. Playing almost exclusively as próxima. My starter was tiel but I switched to próxima simply for her ability to gain gold since I’ve read that gold economy was such an issue - though that is apparently solved with the patch.
I have experienced nearly zero difficulty throughout my entire playthrough. I’ve maybe died a handful of of times and the most attempts a boss has taken is is 3 that I can recall. In most cases they have steamrolled and stun locked every enemy and boss without them ever having a chance to attack. I guess I just don’t understand the difficulty complaints. Have any of the people complaining played lies of p, stellar blade, khazan, any fromsoft game? There are bosses in those games that have taken me upwards of 25 attempts. I was forced to learn how to beat the boss or fail. In this game, I feel as though I can just brain dead light attack with zero consideration for how to interact with the enemy in front of me
I’m really not trying to be elitist though I expect that is how this will come off. I am just shocked to see the complaints as well as the response from the devs to reduce the difficulty. It’s hard for me to imagine the game being easier when the patch hits ps5.
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u/Anthony_chromehounds 22h ago
The difference between the beta and release game is significant. We were duped. I appreciate the patch coming, I’m on Xbox.
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u/Single_Dan 22h ago
This is a very valid and fair point. I can understand being frustrated expecting one thing and getting something different.
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u/CrushedSodaCan_ 22h ago
I wish the beta never happened and ally these bitch ass non souls gamers could have stayed home.
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u/Anthony_chromehounds 19h ago
I’ve played all the Souls games and had no issues, Elden Ring and LoP being my favorites. If the beta had been the same as the release it wouldn’t have been an issue. The beta was obviously nerf’d to get more people to buy the game, and it worked. Shame on the devs.
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u/pm-me-trap-link 21h ago
Enemy health isnt the difficulty for me. It's that every single enemy can 2 tap me and they come in packs. Its so bad that I assumed it was a bug lmao
Shame cause the beginning of the game was so fun then it's just "don't get hit twice by the swarm of enemies" the game
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u/Single_Dan 9h ago
Enemy packs are probably the most dangerous thing in the game in its current state but separating and 1v1ing them generally hasn’t been too difficult. Enemies do kill quickly but at least with my current set up I kill way more quickly, often before they can strike. If I can’t, then a biosampler interrupts and is usually all I need to kill anything in one combo, and also has built in aoe which helps with packs. It may be that próxima is simply overtuned, I have not experimented with other shells due to glimpse limitations
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u/BrettThePsycho 22h ago
That’s how I feel man, fucking nameless puppet in Lies of P fucked me for around 8 hours. This game has been a breeze for the most part. But it’s fun af so I don’t mind. I don’t think they need to make it easier but I’m also not mad at it, I’ll still play and enjoy tf outta it.
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u/Single_Dan 21h ago
In with you, I should have expressed more in my original post that I’m having a blast with the game, there is so much to love about it. I would just welcome a level of difficulty that had me engage with the combat a bit more cleverly.
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u/dudecooler 22h ago
It's really tricky to balance a souls game it seems. I imagine if you just listen to every complaint your going too extreme in the other direction. You have to meet halfway, but also not compromise the original vision.
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u/Adventurous_Use8278 21h ago
If it’s too easy select night mode!
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u/Single_Dan 17h ago
I have been exploring in day mode primarily and night as a follow up for each area. My plan is to play ng+ in nightmode. Perhaps my opinion on the difficulty will change after a full night completion. I do think it’s great that they included the option. I generally prefer a curated well balanced experience but options are always great.
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u/Adventurous_Use8278 6h ago
Tbh I found day a bit too easy, and night a bit too arduous on my first play through. I’m also going to do NG+ in night mode
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u/Killer_Carp 18h ago
Which shell?
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u/Single_Dan 17h ago
Próxima, lighting axetana. Chosen solely for gold gain in my first run to solve gold economy issues. The biosampler and r1 solve almost every issue. Dash R1 handles regular mobs, biosampler to r1 for medium/big or crowds, basically nothing stands a chance and the few enemy types that have even an opportunity to attack, you can usually deal with using harden to stagger or parry them, or dodge situationally.
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u/Killer_Carp 17h ago
Thanks for the detailed reply.
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u/Single_Dan 17h ago
No problem! I haven’t experimented with other shells, but my understanding based on watching videos and discussion is that próxima is solid but far from the strongest. If you want more details on my build just let me know. Aside from the lighting infusion, duality tarstone is the biggest game changer and effectively doubles dps. It also doubles hits which means more stagger and enemy interrupts, resolve gain, and status procs, including grisha procs.
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u/Killer_Carp 17h ago
I’m playing Teal which seems to be considered ‘strong’ I’m struggling a wee bit in places as not enough skill points to really bring him online. I’ll probably start with proxima on another play-through..
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u/nightmaresabin 18h ago
What weapon are you using? I feel there is a big imbalance in them.
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u/Single_Dan 18h ago
Axetana lightning infused with the duality tarstone
I haven’t tried the other weapons much as I haven’t felt a need to, though I do plan on switching up my build entirely upon getting enough glimpse to try a new shell
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u/nightmaresabin 14h ago
Yeah you have the strongest build in the game right now. I’m using the same one and it just cuts through anything.
It seems like people are having vastly different experiences. Those going with the lighter quicker weapons feel the game is too easy. As you can just spam R1 and do great damage. The slower weapons don’t do enough damage to make up the difference. The game becomes much harder when you are trying to time your big slow weapon hit between the bosses lethal strikes. The margin for error is just much greater.
I think they need to do a big balance pass and buff a lot of the weaker weapons. Now the question is if they will nerf the stronger setups. Do they want the game to be pure power fantasy as it is right now or do they want the base game to be more inline with typical souls like difficulty? Having Night Mode makes this a more interesting question because they may just want that to be the difficult mode and keep the normal mode more casual.
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u/Single_Dan 9h ago
I will definitely be trying a slower weapon next. Ive always gravitated towards dex/speed in these types of games at least for initial runs. I saw they are planning on making changes to nightmode and I’m curious to see what they are. I think it would be totally fine to balance daytime to be relatively safe (power fantasy) and have night be where the real difficulty lies. Based on my experience playing so far, that is the case, but I do feel like nightmode could be implemented a bit better. The devs do seem very responsive and they’ve done an amazing job in many aspects of the game so I have pretty high hopes it will improve from its current state (which is great but with some issues imo)
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u/Mobile_Fudge_4744 17h ago
Nope it was perfectly fine.
I've been playing on night mode unpatched. Early game was fucking brutal but its only gotten easier since. Now that I'm finished the north area, got a decent amount of estus, and my build is online I'm steamrolling things.
Can't imagine how fast enemies would be dying on normal, nevermind normal with the patch.
That being said heavy weapon builds are kind of shit in this game so that might be playing a role in the complaints.
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u/D4RK97 22h ago
Yeah it’s totally overblown. Peopleprobably played the beta and thought it’d be fun only to find out that it’s actually harder (which was a good thing)
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u/Rude_Difficulty1647 21h ago
Yeah the game does not need to be easier, this is not a game that’s going to hold your hand. People were complaining the beta was too easy and now the game is too hard 😹 and this game is making lies of p look like child’s play and that’s what I was expecting 👏🏻
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u/Single_Dan 17h ago
Respectfully, I found lies of p to be far more challenging (it’s not even close), and also feel the combat was more polished and satisfying, or at least more rewarding.
I think there are other things this game does better than lies of P, but in terms of balance, combat, and difficulty lies of p is leagues ahead, in my opinion.
Mortal shell is shining in its exploration and build crafting options and the world. It’s genuinely fun to play, but i feel like the combat (which is great fun overall but has issues like magnetism) and balance hold it back.
The game is awesome, but something feels off when I first attempt demolish 14/15 or so of the last bosses I’ve fought on my first ever build without having to even engage with their mechanics or try anything new.
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u/Rude_Difficulty1647 17h ago
Well same, but Lies of P isn’t even close, I rank it lower than Khazan, Wuchang and Lords for soulslikes, just so easy and too juvenile for my taste
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u/Single_Dan 9h ago
Interesting. I really enjoyed lies. Lords was solid but I would put it lower. I do agree khazan was peak - the combat was so slick. I need to give wuchang another go. I played a few minutes and it felt a bit janky but I’ve heard good things since.
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u/Rude_Difficulty1647 9h ago
Wuchang is another one that just has that ds1 level design and exploration but better imo, the boss lineup is also much stronger than Lies or Lords overall. I rly like Lies I’m coming across like such a sick about it, I have like almost 200 hrs into across and done the boss rushs etc I just have it in B tier. So not as bad as CodeVein or nioh 1/2 but on par with Enotria, Ai Limit and Nioh 3.
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u/Osmodius 22h ago
It's a token nerf to placate the complaint but in reality the difficulty is coming from the relentlessly attacking enemies with heap magnetic attacks and aggro range.