I have recently been playing through PP again on Rookie level after having taken a couple of month’s break due to expected upcoming patches.
There have been so many positive changes, but I’m not longer sure what the differences are with weapons etc. They are listed in a table in the PP manual for an easy overview, so I was wondering if the info is up to date there?
Since the rebalancing of the DDA, I find that it’s very playable, especially for inexperienced players, but too easy for me. Now that I want to play it at my own playing ability I’m unsure which level to select. Previously I found Veteran too difficult, but recently cruised through Xcom 2 WOTC on Commander level without much difficulty.
I know that there are some very dedicated players around, so was wondering if someone could clarify the main differences? I couldn’t find a recent topic detailing it.
Basic assault rifles from each faction, Disciples handgun, NJ PDW and incendiary grenade received +1 shred value per bullet (incendiary grenade and Disciples handgun more). Not big change but after few bursts at enemy you can decrease armor so much, that it is possible to start doing damage to well-armored enemy.
Projectile weapons which had shred value before, now have it increased by 1 or 3 points.
Explosive weapons shred armor even better than before (increase vary between 6 and 16).
Grenade launcher became more accurate.
NJ piercing sniper rifle has less damage.
NJ piercing assault rifle pierce value lowered, bud damage increased, burst size and magazine capacity decreased
Crossbows became silent.
Melee weapons are somewhat stronger (+20 damage).
Viral weapons became like +50% more potent in WP damage.
Paralyzing weapons became like +33% better in paralyzing.
Mounted laser is 33% stronger
Virophage weapon became more powerful (change between +50% to almost +100%).
Poison arm from mutation became stronger.
Acid grenade damage was lowered, but whole mechanic was changed to deal more damage
There are new items from first DLC: Repair Kit, Zeus Grenade (EMP), Shield.
Starting soldiers: 6 on Easy, 5 on Normal, 4 on Hard and Very hard
Soldier stats: Different starting stats - Speed is always 14 but Strength and Willpower vary: 20 STR and 9 WP on easy, 18 STR and 8 WP on Normal, 16 and 7 on Hard and 14 and 6 On Legend. These stats apply also to the soldiers you hire later in the game. So with a higher difficulty, you are hiring worse soldiers.
Starting resources: 200 Tech, 800 Materials, and 400 Food on Easy. 150, 600, and 300 on Medium, 100, 500, and 200 on Hard and 80 400 150 on Legend.
Starting Equipment: 10 medkits and grenades on Easy, 2 on Legend.
Recruiting soldiers: On Easy and medium you are hiring soldiers with armor and equipment. On Hard with armor only and on Legend without anything.
If the player does nothing to stop the Pandorans:
Easy - The game should end in 6 months in-game
Normal- The game should end in 5 months in-game
Hard - The game should end in 4 months in-game
Very Hard- The game should end in 3 months in-game
About the guns you can check Wikipedia I am currently working on. It is not finished yet and still under construction and this is the first time I am sharing link publicly so do not expect much :). But all the guns are there and up-to date: http://phoenix.server317.com/Main_Page
Honestly, I do not know the exact answer and do not want to provide something inaccurate.
But just because you are here and asking these questions means that you are probably a good and experienced player in general. You already played Phoenix Point on Rookie so I would suggest trying some harder difficulty now.
The game is easier in general than at release and the DDA effect is much weaker and less punishing. Also for me personally the game feels better at a higher difficulty. I like starting weak and getting stronger. The route from 0 to hero is for me more interesting than being the hero.
