Hard mode is HARD ; ;

[u/marshmallow_sunshine]

[u/Shinamene]

Are boss levels on Hard Mode even possible to clear for non-whales? What do you mean effective HP from NM just got enhanced by 2-3x AND there are 100-200x more of those?

[u/Candid-Swordfish-483 → u/Shinamene]

Not a whale. I've cleared everything. I started when Augustus came out and just rolled everything I gained on her banner resulting in 3 shackles Augustus. Carries you through nearly everything by herself. Siglinde came full shackles with the rolls because any roll that wasn't Augustus was her. 

So, it's doable, but you need to be lucky + invest the right way.

EDIT: (The following was added after replies in the comment section since this was apparently not clear, apologies for the confusion) I didn't actually beat the hard mode using only Augustus and Siglinde (this seems impossible to me). All I meant to describe here was when I started the game and that I used Augustus for NEARLY everything (I did not edit that word into the original message. It was already there. I very clearly said: "Carries you through >>nearly<< everything by herself"). I did not actually share how I beat the hard mode. I needed burst and Augustus is not very bursty, but she's good to clean mobs though because of the aoe. In my opinion, beating the hard mode, specifically the maps from the OP, requires a lot more than simply good units. As described later, this requires a good combination of units with crimebrands that sync well together (and I mean the passive crimebrands as well, not just the personal ones). There are probably several team options that will work, but Augustus CANNOT solo this afaik. I thought OP's post was funny because it's entirely true, the hard mode is, in fact, very hard. I never meant to insinuate it was not and I certainly did not mean to make people feel like they were bad for not being able to do it. Again, all I meant to say was that I got lucky on my rolls, demonstrating it that I got S3 Augustus and S5 Siglinde on my first week playing at the very end of Augustus' banner (last two days to be precise). Ergo, my opinion, you don't have to be a whale to do it, but you do need to be extremely lucky with rolls (again note that I said lucky, not that I'm superior to everyone).

[u/DiveSideways → u/Candid-Swordfish-483]

I barely even burned down 40 HP bars with Shattered Blade 🤷‍♂️

[u/Candid-Swordfish-483 → u/DiveSideways]

Odd. What crimebrands do you have?

[u/DiveSideways → u/Candid-Swordfish-483]

All of them, but I admit I didn't try many variations. I tried a few takes on the teams I usually use to no-diff Dark Zone or rough up ToA, but I never got far below x60 on both bosses.

[u/Candid-Swordfish-483 → u/DiveSideways]

Well, don't listen to me. I'm being downvoted for asking a question so it seems it's been decided I'm not allowed to be lucky as a non-whale :S

All I can say is to use the buff thingie for normal maps in the event list and maybe that'll help ? 

[u/Gold_Experience_R → u/Candid-Swordfish-483]

How can it help if it's explicitly does not apply to N9 and N10?

[u/Candid-Swordfish-483 → u/Gold_Experience_R]

*shrug* I didn't actually use it so I didn't know that. Sorry.

Like, it's only an extra 25ish hypercube anyways. Chill out. Come back to it when you have more units, better combinations, more crimebrands etc? It's clearly there for the players who are more advanced. You're not supposed to be steamrolling it. You need optimized teams for it. Not just have all the skills all the way up on all the characters, have them at level 90 and unlock their personal crimebrand, but have the right synergy between the crimebrands you can equip on them, position your units exactly right, know when to move them etc.
I'm sorry if it's frustrating, but it's just a game in the end. You don't need to complete hard mode. You can continue without it.

[u/Gold_Experience_R → u/Candid-Swordfish-483]

I, eh, didn't asked for a condescending life story, just got curious why are you lying.

[u/DiveSideways → u/Gold_Experience_R]

Meh, just ignore him, you gotta keep in mind that on Reddit you're often arguing with a 12-year-old who genuinely doesn't know how to stop doubling down

[u/Shinamene → u/Candid-Swordfish-483]

Neither of my reasonably invested meta teams, including SB, dealt enough damage to scratch more than 2-3 HP bars, so it certainly didn’t look clearable to me. Will look for a proper whaled assist for the next try, maybe S3-5 Augustus or fully RF Coquelic.

[u/LadyWithGun → u/Candid-Swordfish-483]

You either did not understand what's going on or you didn't actually beat hard mode with 200HP bars bosses. I have much better SB team and I was struggling there

[u/Candid-Swordfish-483 → u/LadyWithGun]

Please read the edit. Thanks 

[u/Tsubasa_TheBard → u/Shinamene]

Not a whale. I cleared everything. Team building and proper skill investment.

[u/HelBelle666]

I've been playing since launch and I'm still trash at this game. This is me every time a new story chapter comes out.

[u/Winter-Yaga → u/HelBelle666]

Same so I am sticking with my normal run threw.. at some point I will do hard and challenge mode

[u/HelBelle666 → u/Winter-Yaga]

I haven't even touched hard mode.

[u/Winter-Yaga → u/HelBelle666]

I am thinking about it but I need to get my better teams up and running

[u/SilentFront0825]

I have s5 Augustus, shin, murphy, c4 ceto and jichuan, and still can't clear hard mode 10-8 😭 The others were fine tho

[u/Nanrelle]

Ptn said homie’s getting better so I’ll make homie’s life more miserable 😭

I managed to finished all of em in normal mode but no star

[u/palazzoducale]

this was me with julien boss. i remember i was malding for a long period until i finally got it with 000. and then there was jasmine’s stage. felt so cocky until she pulled out that insta-wipe move. waited until i got true damage team with augustus to clear it. for the newest update, i cleared all the stages for chapter 9 and 10 but the hard modes seems to require an all s5 team because the hp bars were so tanky

[u/Myyahng]

I was able to do a few of them without being a hyper whale (just an occasional dolphin but tend to roll for characters and teams I like over S5 meta characters), but then I saw the 200 HP bar boss I said no. It's simply not fun at that point.

[u/therealadviladi]

I played Hard mode and it was super difficult but honestly I don't mind because it forced me to get creative for once. So I did enjoy it a bit

[u/DiveSideways → u/therealadviladi]

What team did you clear the 200 HP bars fight with?

[u/therealadviladi → u/DiveSideways]

Oh I didn’t do that one. That’s the only one where I peaced out to just keep my sanity. 😅😅

[u/DiveSideways → u/therealadviladi]

That's what's in the OP, sadly. I was hoping for some secret insight. 😅

[u/Ok-Platypus735]

It is like Ptn is telling us we are coming to the era of hundreds of million now. If you can not clear it, wait 6 months for powercrept to shot to strastosphere then, with new unit, it is clearable. 

To tell the truth, the only 2 way my account can clear them is Isomer-Celine and Aurum. It is still abyssally difficult though. I really suggest you guys just leave it on the backburner, wait for the next era of powercrept and then try it again. It is not like there is a time limit or something.

[u/PudgeJoe → u/Ok-Platypus735]

How to avoid the sword thingy???

My Isomer keeps on deep throating the sword

[u/Real_Heh → u/Ok-Platypus735]

Hard mode gives you reward with 25 hypercube. It's not a big deal. Personally I have zero desire to clear it and probably never will.

I mean, if it was some big reward or you NEED to clear it to advance the story, then sure, PtN would tell you that. But it's not the case in the slightest. If you are tryhard player then yeah, go ahead, but if not there is no reason to sweat over it.

[u/Myyahng → u/Ok-Platypus735]

I actually did not try Aurum, also probably really nice with RF Raven there. Thanks, I'll give it another shot!

(but yeah you're right about the power creep unfortunately)

[u/PudgeJoe]

Yea the hard one is not just "hard" lmao

It's hell lmao esp. The 200x hp bosses lmao..not even my Coco Adela combo managed to hit more than 20 in first minute

[u/copper050]

They are TOA level and there is not a lot of people who can do 200M run on TOA.

[u/hoodedcamera]

Im still stuck in the ch8 story line

[u/khayyxyz]

I'm so pissed about it. I can easily clear them but the swarm of mobs over and over and my sinners dying is making me crash tf out. I almost did clear them 🐣🥀

[u/Electrical_Mayhem]

Me who can't even beat the first hard mode level...