It always depends on your build. Veteran is probably a waste of time if you wanna level up a character quickly (If you have no trouble with Veteran then just do it obvously). You can do ultimate from level 1 after you finish the game on elite with your first character.
Personally I don't think Veteran is hard but it definetly can be for a new player.

Probably because there can happen some spikes. One moment its ultra easy and then boom one enemy you arent prepared for (boss, types you have no restitances again, you get stunned and then surrounded by multiple enemies) and if you dont pay attention / have a good build: dead.

While non veteran is basically easy all the time and you can just chill.

Originally posted by Thomas D.:

Probably because there can happen some spikes. One moment its ultra easy and then boom one enemy you arent prepared for (boss, types you have no restitances again, you get stunned and then surrounded by multiple enemies) and if you dont pay attention / have a good build: dead.

While non veteran is basically easy all the time and you can just chill.

Makes sense, I struggled quite a bit with a quest boss named "Grand Priest Zarthuzellan" because he just hit like a absolutely truck on Veteran but outside of him, I have barely struggled against anything really

Normal mode is way too easy for my tastes but I guess everyone plays the game differently

Just run a character in Veteran Hardcore mode. I've beaten the game numerous times on Ultimate with different classes and weapon types (all DLC's) but getting beyond level 40 or so in Hardcore has proven elusive for me. Painful to admit but it's true. Whether it's from bad habits I've developed in regular play, being too cocky at critical points and not being strict enough with myself in avoiding certain encounters or overlooking critical issues in resists . . . well, I end up dead and flushing a load of time and effort down the drain time and time again. Rather painful.

The difficulty is Veteran level but death is permanent. Remember that stashes are separate from standard mode and can't be shared between them. All Hardcore toons will be able to share the Hardcore stashes just as regular toons share theirs. The added difficulty is that, once your toon dies, everything you've collected but not moved to the stash is lost along with the character. This raises the stakes dramatically even for advanced players who have a pretty solid grasp of the game's mechanics. You'll soon come to have a very deep appreciation of the value of gear that you would normally just leave lying on the ground in regular gameplay.

Best of luck.

depend on your build and knowlodge about mechanic, if you know how resistance and health regeneration work it easy peasy.

Originally posted by Vulgar Saint:

Just run a character in Veteran Hardcore mode. I've beaten the game numerous times on Ultimate with different classes and weapon types (all DLC's) but getting beyond level 40 or so in Hardcore has proven elusive for me. Painful to admit but it's true. Whether it's from bad habits I've developed in regular play, being too cocky at critical points and not being strict enough with myself in avoiding certain encounters or overlooking critical issues in resists . . . well, I end up dead and flushing a load of time and effort down the drain time and time again. Rather painful.

The difficulty is Veteran level but death is permanent. Remember that stashes are separate from standard mode and can't be shared between them. All Hardcore toons will be able to share the Hardcore stashes just as regular toons share theirs. The added difficulty is that, once your toon dies, everything you've collected but not moved to the stash is lost along with the character. This raises the stakes dramatically even for advanced players who have a pretty solid grasp of the game's mechanics. You'll soon come to have a very deep appreciation of the value of gear that you would normally just leave lying on the ground in regular gameplay.

Best of luck.

I haven't completed my first playthrough just yet but a Hardcore playthrough would be really cool to try out once I am confident enough in my abilities and gameplay knowledge

I have played Hardcore modes in games like Minecraft and Terraria so I know how absolutely brutal losing 50+ hours on a playthrough can be, certainly not for the faint of heart LOL

If you completed Manic Miner on the ZX Spectrum then any game following is easy

I'm not sure I've seen anyone say that actually. I really can't promise you that it's gonna be THAT much more difficult on Elite or Ultimate. Really depends on what kind of character you have. The need for resistances rises the higher you go with the resistance penalties, but if you've already grasped what stats you should focus on at what point, then you could very well cruise yourself all the way through Ultimate without too much difficulties. Though since you've died at least a few times, maybe it'll give you some challenge.

If you weren't aware of the Hidden Path quest (I think it was called that), then do that on Elite and above. In the third part of the quest there's a hidden boss (a hidden area within a hidden area) that can be pretty tough depending on your build.

Edit: Generally if someone's gonna find Veteran hard, then it's because they're probably new and don't grasp what stats they should get.

Originally posted by Blake:

If you completed Manic Miner on the ZX Spectrum then any game following is easy

I had to look up what the heck that even was lol

Originally posted by Valentine (Lunaticus):

I'm not sure I've seen anyone say that actually. I really can't promise you that it's gonna be THAT much more difficult on Elite or Ultimate. Really depends on what kind of character you have. The need for resistances rises the higher you go with the resistance penalties, but if you've already grasped what stats you should focus on at what point, then you could very well cruise yourself all the way through Ultimate without too much difficulties. Though since you've died at least a few times, maybe it'll give you some challenge.

If you weren't aware of the Hidden Path quest (I think it was called that), then do that on Elite and above. In the third part of the quest there's a hidden boss (a hidden area within a hidden area) that can be pretty tough depending on your build.

Edit: Generally if someone's gonna find Veteran hard, then it's because they're probably new and don't grasp what stats they should get.

Gotcha, I'll keep that quest in mind once I get to Elite

I think it's mostly hard for people who are new. Whenever I make a new character I just do normal since vet kinda makes it a slog to go through the game, and it's gonna be harder when I get to ultimate anyways

Anytime you feel like it's too easy just set the game to ultimate + hardcore.
1 life on hardest difficulty.

good luck; we'll see you back ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about how hard it is in a few hours.

Originally posted by Cy_:

Anytime you feel like it's too easy just set the game to ultimate + hardcore.
1 life on hardest difficulty.

good luck; we'll see you back ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about how hard it is in a few hours.

Uh... I think you might of missed that I am a new player. I couldn't do ultimate even if I wanted too my guy, the things locked LOL

once I unlock that though, I'll let you know how that goes

Originally posted by GoldenDove20:

Originally posted by Cy_:

Anytime you feel like it's too easy just set the game to ultimate + hardcore.
1 life on hardest difficulty.

good luck; we'll see you back ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about how hard it is in a few hours.

Uh... I think you might of missed that I am a new player. I couldn't do ultimate even if I wanted too my guy, the things locked LOL

once I unlock that though, I'll let you know how that goes :stress:

If you do want to advance very quickly then you can do stuff like completely skip Act 1 (just fix the bridge and keep going). Walk straight through Act 2 all the way to Deadman's Gulch where you'll find Ulgrim and can start doing the story from that point on. And of course only doing stuff that you have to do, like the Amalgamation, prisoner rescue in Blood Grove, the aetherial dude in Fort Ikon, and then you can go straight to the quest that unlocks the door to the final boss. As soon as you beat Loghorrean, you can go to the next difficulty.

Originally posted by Valentine (Lunaticus):

Originally posted by GoldenDove20:

Uh... I think you might of missed that I am a new player. I couldn't do ultimate even if I wanted too my guy, the things locked LOL

once I unlock that though, I'll let you know how that goes

If you do want to advance very quickly then you can do stuff like completely skip Act 1 (just fix the bridge and keep going). Walk straight through Act 2 all the way to Deadman's Gulch where you'll find Ulgrim and can start doing the story from that point on. And of course only doing stuff that you have to do, like the Amalgamation, prisoner rescue in Blood Grove, the aetherial dude in Fort Ikon, and then you can go straight to the quest that unlocks the door to the final boss. As soon as you beat Loghorrean, you can go to the next difficulty.

I'll remember that for elite difficulty