SPOILERS Hard Mode Discussion
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Saven
Pro Adventurer
After taking so much time to do so, I FINALLY got the Platinum! The Whispers were tricky during the first half of the fight and I was getting concerned for a little bit, but I was able to defeat them and Sephiroth on my first try! Eligor, Roche (both times), Leviathan, Bahamut/Ifrit, those helitroopers on Chapter 12 before Jessie, and that asshole from the last post above were definitely the trickiest moments for me on Hard. Bring on Intergrade!
Torrie
astray ay-ay-ay
Hard mode is a bunch of surprises and no joke.
So I found out that you don't have to play the chapters in the chronological order any longer and decided to try the hard mode from Chapter 3 in order to unlock one of Tifa's dresses. Been eliminated by a bunch of goddamn whererats twice already! They feel like a proper boss now. I'm probably going to drop the very idea of playing the whole game on hard. Despite having Cloud at lever 48 and having the most useful materia maxed out, it still feels like a lot of trouble, and I just don't want to stress myself out that much. Luckily, my competitive spirit is close to none, and I'm not going to clear out the game log either. The normal difficulty was perfect. More and more challenging towards the end and surely fun. But the hard mode reminds me of Crisis Core where the hard difficulty is insane compared to the vanilla playthrough. I just can't enjoy dying all the time.
You all are crazy people and I admire you
So I found out that you don't have to play the chapters in the chronological order any longer and decided to try the hard mode from Chapter 3 in order to unlock one of Tifa's dresses. Been eliminated by a bunch of goddamn whererats twice already! They feel like a proper boss now. I'm probably going to drop the very idea of playing the whole game on hard. Despite having Cloud at lever 48 and having the most useful materia maxed out, it still feels like a lot of trouble, and I just don't want to stress myself out that much. Luckily, my competitive spirit is close to none, and I'm not going to clear out the game log either. The normal difficulty was perfect. More and more challenging towards the end and surely fun. But the hard mode reminds me of Crisis Core where the hard difficulty is insane compared to the vanilla playthrough. I just can't enjoy dying all the time.
You all are crazy people and I admire you
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
Finishing the chapters again on hard mode gives you more weapon upgrade points, which is the big incentive to just start from the beginning again imo. Doing sidequests on hard also gives you weapon points, which of course means that you need to do chapter 9 no less than three times between all difficulties in order to 100% the game.
Torrie
astray ay-ay-ay
Oh no, I'm definitely not ready for doing Wall Market again and again
Thanks for your advice though! Maaaaaaaybe I'll give it a try. Maybe. Maybe baby.
By the way, does Hard Mode add any new weapons/armor/accessories? I'm still a bit bothered by the fact that each character has six available weapons but the menu looks as if seven were intended...
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
No new weapons. There's an accessory you can win in the chapter 17 VR simulator (only accessible on hard mode) which gives you auto limit breaks and quickly refills the limit gauge, but to get that you must first complete what is probably one of the hardest VR challenges in the game.Oh no, I'm definitely not ready for doing Wall Market again and again
Thanks for your advice though! Maaaaaaaybe I'll give it a try. Maybe. Maybe baby.
By the way, does Hard Mode add any new weapons/armor/accessories? I'm still a bit bothered by the fact that each character has six available weapons but the menu looks as if seven were intended...
Torrie
astray ay-ay-ay
Ah, must be Götterdämmerung that was actively discussed earlier in this thread. Gotcha. Well, that's... Slightly disappointing.
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
There's a lot of exclusive content in hard mode.
I'd say that the best of the game is in the Hard Mode's gameplay itself. The battles are difficult but the game's materia system and mechanics are meant to be utilized to their fullest and equalize the challenge.
What I would do is grind out my important materia in easier Hard Mode chapters like the first 4 and then skip ahead to 17, do the Top Secret boss rush challenge, get Gotterdamerung, and then go back to complete the harder chapters with the Limit Break accessory to help difficult fights like say, Chapter 9's Hell House boss fight.
The materia you need most for hard mode are:
Synergy (Hard mode loses a lot of it's teeth thanks to the buff it gained, your best magic user should always have Synergy paired with the best elemental magic for the situation)
Steadfast Block
Chakra (this is your bread and butter in terms of healing without using Cure magic)
HP Up (every character should have 2 of these on)
MP Up (most characters should have at least 1)
Parry (because the dodge is so much better and gives you short iframes and the frames you are vulnerable count as you blocking and you deal damage towards any enemies that get hit which also builds up ATB)
ATB Stagger
Revive (because you don't have phoenix downs, this needs mastered ASAP)
Cure (because you need cure)
Black magic materia (fire, ice, wind, lightning) should also be mastered, along with Barrier materia. But those are the essentials. Hard mode is hard but it's worth it and not nearly as bad as it looks. It's fair and able to be done with enough planning and effort.
I'd say that the best of the game is in the Hard Mode's gameplay itself. The battles are difficult but the game's materia system and mechanics are meant to be utilized to their fullest and equalize the challenge.
What I would do is grind out my important materia in easier Hard Mode chapters like the first 4 and then skip ahead to 17, do the Top Secret boss rush challenge, get Gotterdamerung, and then go back to complete the harder chapters with the Limit Break accessory to help difficult fights like say, Chapter 9's Hell House boss fight.
The materia you need most for hard mode are:
Synergy (Hard mode loses a lot of it's teeth thanks to the buff it gained, your best magic user should always have Synergy paired with the best elemental magic for the situation)
Steadfast Block
Chakra (this is your bread and butter in terms of healing without using Cure magic)
HP Up (every character should have 2 of these on)
MP Up (most characters should have at least 1)
Parry (because the dodge is so much better and gives you short iframes and the frames you are vulnerable count as you blocking and you deal damage towards any enemies that get hit which also builds up ATB)
ATB Stagger
Revive (because you don't have phoenix downs, this needs mastered ASAP)
Cure (because you need cure)
Black magic materia (fire, ice, wind, lightning) should also be mastered, along with Barrier materia. But those are the essentials. Hard mode is hard but it's worth it and not nearly as bad as it looks. It's fair and able to be done with enough planning and effort.
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
I personally feel as though relying on the Götterdämmerung to circumvent some of the challenge of hard mode takes away from the experience of playing on hard. I've never bothered to use that piece of equipment at all, it's more fun with a challenge, but I know that's not for everyone.
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
I think anything and everything should be used to make the game as less stressful and accessible as possible to maximize enjoyment.
...And no one should have to fight the Hell House on hard mode three times without all the help they can get
...And no one should have to fight the Hell House on hard mode three times without all the help they can get
Shademp
420
If I recall correctly, Torrie is playing the PS4 version so I assume she won't get the same use out of Synergy as you would in the PS5 release.
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
I mean, you have to do the hardest not-Weiss (Torrie is on PS4) challenge in the game to get it in the first place, so I dunno man, I don't think it's much of an "accessibility" issue at that point. If you can complete the summon gauntlet, you can do anything.
You only need to do it twice for the sidequests. And not to braaag but Hell House is actually pretty easy once you have the right materia and equipment set up....And no one should have to fight the Hell House on hard mode three times without all the help they can get
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
Naw, Hell House on Hard Mode is harder
You only have 2 people on your team, have to load out Aerith with a ton of elemental materia along with the materia needed to survive and just. The boss is stupidly tanky and resistant to stagger. Naw, it's definitely worst.
Sure it's easier if you master all that materia before hand. But that's a lot of materia AP to grind, especially when you factor in the magic, and everything else you have to equip.
Well shit, that's a bummer. Yeah, synergy sucks, toss it in the trash lol
Strangelove
AI Researcher
- AKA
- hitoshura
i didn't finish a hard mode playthrough and would appreciate any help i can get. my last save is standing infront of the door in the sewers that leads to the room you fight aps? but i don't remember what chapter it was in now. i think i was stuck on that battle so i might go back and do easier chapters to get more skill books
but i want anything that will make the experience easier because i am bad at video games and want an easy ride. give me the overpowered accessories
but i want anything that will make the experience easier because i am bad at video games and want an easy ride. give me the overpowered accessories
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Yeah I've only done Chapter 3 on Hard so far (which fortunately I did not have any issues with), now I'm basically waiting for a PS5 to do my hard playthrough. But you bet your ass I'm going for the Gotterdammerung early
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
And proudly so!
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
... Holy shit, LMAO
That's some freebase Gamer-tude right there.
That's some freebase Gamer-tude right there.
cold_spirit
he/him
- AKA
- Alex T
Having just beat Hell House on Hard mode during my lunch break as part of my challenge playthrough (no armor, no accessory, and no Up materia), I will say that Hell House is actually pretty easy.
Top Secrets, however, is hard. I will consistently lose to Bahamut even without challenging myself.
Top Secrets, however, is hard. I will consistently lose to Bahamut even without challenging myself.
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cold_spirit
he/him
- AKA
- Alex T
To elaborate, Hell House has weaknesses. Use ice when it's in its fire state, use wind when it's in its lightning state, and so on. Countering Hell House's element will immediately stop its action and make it pressured. Use a few Focused Thrusts and you're good. Throughout its first phase, Hell House will always be imbued with an element. Later, Hell House will only imbue itself before a big attack. That's your chance to counter. This is the key to punishing Heavensward, the ability where Hell House flies around. Finally, use Triple Slash to deal with the tonberries. You can beat Hell House between sandwich bites.
Bahamut, however, has no elemental weaknesses and an unblockable super move. If you don't have ATB at the right time to stop it's countdown or to cast Mbarrier, you're screwed. Not to mention Bahamut sucks your HP just standing near him. That's tough. There's really no place to hide, no weakness to exploit.
Bahamut, however, has no elemental weaknesses and an unblockable super move. If you don't have ATB at the right time to stop it's countdown or to cast Mbarrier, you're screwed. Not to mention Bahamut sucks your HP just standing near him. That's tough. There's really no place to hide, no weakness to exploit.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
I have a hard enough time with Bahamut on normal...lol
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
When he says a number, if you do a focused attack on him, he enters a pressured state and loses his Umbral Aura. That's how you make him pressured and turn off his damaging proximity aura.
cold_spirit
he/him
- AKA
- Alex T
That might work on normal when fighting Bahamut for Chadley, but in Top Secrets you need to dish out a whole lot more during those countdowns. Plus it gets even more difficult to pressure him as the countdown gets closer to zero. Even if you manage to pressure him, his countdown will go down and his aura will increase regardless. You have to stagger him to truly reset the countdown and aura, which isn't always possible if you don't have the ATB.