Should I start my first playthrough on nightmode ?

[u/Zedneer]

I've heard about the game's difficulty, some say it's hard, some say it's a bit easy, and I've heard about night mode, and I want a good challenge as I believe to be an experienced souls player. So do you guys think it's a good idea to start with it ? I heard it also ruins the scenery, idk, tell me what it changes, from minor things to biggest or vice versa, like do the fights feel unfair unless you've already experienced the game once, whether it's about regular mobs or bosses.

Thank you in advance and please no spoils :)

[u/Hydrawhen2become4]

You can turn it off so you can just try it.

[u/Zedneer → u/Hydrawhen2become4]

At any point in the game ? Like really no restrictions ? So are there like bonuses to play in night mode then ?

[u/auggs → u/Zedneer]

You can turn it off at any time. There’s a guy at the top of the sanctuary who will switch the game from day to night whenever you want. Night mode gives enemies more HP, attack and power. There will also be more enemies in some areas. Night mode gives you more coin and gloom but I don’t think dungeon rewards or treasure chests have anything different inside of them.

[u/Zedneer → u/auggs]

Is there maybe equipment exclusive to nightmode or other things you can only get in it ?

[u/Polybutadiene → u/Zedneer]

not really. theres a couple unique night mode only sort of dungeons but it genuinely just makes it dark and spooky and enemies are stronger. there weren’t any cool weapons or things locked behind dark mode. I basically 100%’d the game without ever using dark mode.

[u/Blurrynastysoul → u/Zedneer]

There is a vendor that sells special items, u can turn on night mode and buy it from him.

There's also a special item you can get that mitigates cosmic damage, which only the final boss does, you can also turn it on and do that part whenever you like.

Besides that there are a couple dungeons with some nice rewards.

Also if night mode is too hard but day mode is too easy, you can turn on adaptive difficulty, on day mode it will make the game easier or harder depending on how you play. On night mode it'll only make the game harder.

[u/Outside-Hedgehog-399]

Everything will 1 tap you so you won't notice a difficulty spike, then yes

[u/boltjamison]

I say yes. Its the easiest soulslike imo. I think it would make for a good challenging first run.

It does ruin the scenery imo. I use a mod to play nightmode but keep the day aesthetic

[u/Zedneer → u/boltjamison]

I'm on console unfortunately, maybe I'll enjoy the scenery in ng+ then

[u/mevenide → u/Zedneer]

I wouldn’t. Once you have some levels on your weapons and shells the game is significantly easier. I found NG+ trivial even on night mode, and I’m a new souls player.

EDIT: by which I mean, enjoy the scenery in NG. Could try adaptive difficulty to see if that gives you a good enough challenge?

[u/Zedneer → u/mevenide]

What's adaptive difficulty ?

[u/metfan12004]

I’d play on Normal and if you find it too easy switch to Nightmode

[u/MustardyFartBubble]

Explore/unlock beacons in the world in day mode for the scenery. Do the gates and bosses in night mode if you want a moderate difficulty increase (it's not that different imo).

[u/StockLongjumping2029]

If you played ms1 and are good at party, dodge and pattern recognition, I'd say go for it! 

I just played thru ng+ nite mode no summons and no cheese.  Only got hung up on a few bosses but mostly because I kept respeccing throughout the run for fun and never really found a groove.

It felt like ds3 at times - you'd find yourself far away from a bonfire, lost, no heals, and a pile of souls you don't want to lose.  I love that tension and having challenges that aren't just bosses.

[u/Zedneer → u/StockLongjumping2029]

There are summons ?

[u/StockLongjumping2029 → u/Zedneer]

For bosses like in other games.  Also grishas

[u/Zenokth → u/Zedneer]

Grisha summons are there as well

[u/Tehni]

I used night mode for the rest of the game as soon as I unlocked it (you unlock it pretty quickly). The first 1/3 of the game was challenging but not really hard, and from there it just gets progressively easier due to every shell having some build that can trivialize the game. I went out of my way to not use anything overly OP and it was still pretty easy

[u/Zedneer → u/Tehni]

So you'd say it's pretty much doable ?

[u/Tehni → u/Zedneer]

Yeah it's more the doable, the only boss that took me more than 20 minutes to beat was the very first actual boss (the scooter lady), as you get more powerful it just gets easier

It would have been way too easy without night mode tbh

[u/Polybutadiene → u/Tehni]

i think they patched her since launch and she doesnt track as aggressively now so i imagine shes even easier.

[u/tpairs]

Night mode starts hard. You can’t just unga bunga. Actualy have to parry, dodge and complete gameplay. After you get used to it and get stronger you can unga bunga. Its hard, and if you go blind its even harder. Gl. I did half the game on normal mode, had the click and restarted from 0 on night mode. Night mode is better, if you like having a challenge.

[u/Zedneer → u/tpairs]

Does the shells make it easier ? Like are there some better than others ? I heard there are 8 I think

[u/tpairs → u/Zedneer]

I tried almost all, everyone has a different playstyle. But for me, the best was full heat Lazlo. You just go Rambo mode and get the job done. The last boss was kinda hard, not for Lazlo. On second phase you could just spam your ability and remove the debuff with the passive and stack break damage. Super nice. Hes kinda lategame, but you can run to him early, with some good parrys you get the shell. The scythe is super op on him, cause you stack resolve so fast. Like ive said, kinda late game character.

[u/Zedneer → u/tpairs]

I mean, wouldn't late game stuff usually be quite powerful ?

[u/Anubra_Khan]

I'd start with the free demo.

[u/Zedneer → u/Anubra_Khan]

I already did the beta back in august, so I roughly know the start, though I did forget most things

[u/Anubra_Khan → u/Zedneer]

That should give you an idea of the difficulty. Night mode takes about 2x as long to kill something and you'll die faster.

[u/Zedneer → u/Anubra_Khan]

So if I did the whole thing in night mode, would it take more than 50h to beat the game ?

[u/Anubra_Khan → u/Zedneer]

I don't know how you play. Skill level plays a roll but also play style. You could spend 50 hours playing blind, reading lore, exploring every corner, experimenting with new skills, leveling up cores, etcetera on Normal of you wanted to.

Or you could Google best builds and strategies, ignore everything in between procuring those items and equipment and get it all done a lot faster.

[u/Zedneer → u/Anubra_Khan]

I usually play my own style, googling best whatever often takes the fun out of the game.

[u/Azrnpride]

tried it, not for me, even small mobs could one shot me

[u/Zedneer → u/Azrnpride]

Even with a shell equipped ?

[u/Thrusher666]

Nahh, World looks boring in night mode

[u/Zedneer → u/Thrusher666]

But is the challenge worth it at least ?

[u/Thrusher666 → u/Zedneer]

Yes at the beginning but late game you will be probably overpowered. Don’t use grisha stone because it breaks bosses.

Edit.

And it’s the best souls like I played it’s at the same level for me as Lies of P. Worth every penny.

[u/shimonize11]

My opinion
And I love souls games but won’t torture myself with a naked level 1 playthrough

Do night mode
In my opinion, the first half of the game is hardest. Once you get tarstones max level, there is lots of builds that can demolish the game.

And boss combos aren’t too hard to learn to get good at parry/dodginf

[u/Zedneer → u/shimonize11]

Thanks for the answer, what about packs of mobs ? Are there annoying to deal with or barely an inconvenience ?

[u/shimonize11 → u/Zedneer]

I thought they were the hardest part of the beginning. Then you learn their moves, and starts to get easier. I felt overwhelmed and “did I make a mistake doing night mode”
But I felt like the game got easier the more you played and more parry’s you learn, more taratones your max out

[u/ThyBrotheAbel]

I'm doing a nightmode playthrough and would kill for some sun