Since the 1.08 patch, does anyone notice that ME:A seems to have gotten harder in normal mode? I've played for a while and ridden out all the glitches and bugged quests. I've been trying to fight the Eos architect for the first time since the patch and I keep dying, over and over. I was beating it easily before on hardcore. Frustrating.I can't find any reference in the notes that they made any modes harder to play. Anyone else notice this?EDIT: Just for the heck of it I changed the difficulty to casual, one click lower than normal. I beat the architect in five minutes and never lost more than half my health. It is harder than it was before patch 1.08

Yes, it has. Check section "Enemies" of the official combat balance updates memo for patch 1.08 here.I don't think there's a distinction between single-player and multiplayer mobs either.The kett chosen you fight in multiplayer are the same as the ones you encounter on Eos while roaming.That's the reason why, for some time before patch 1.07 (or was it 1.06?), the game difficulty setting affected both SP and MP modes.For me, 1.08 enemies are too aggressive especially when you have to complete a MP match on gold.Even basic raiders keep killing me in two shots on silver since the patch. It's like they always score critical hits or something.

Has ME:A gotten harder? | EA Forums

12 Replies

Anonymous
8 years ago
Um...no i dont think so. They even did some adjustments in the previous patch(es) that should've made your life easier. I dont think they did some stealth buff, and if so i doubt it was intentionally.
At least i dont have any probs on insanity in general ... used to die a few times on the lower levels but thats about it.
Is the architect really an issue by the way? In my playthroughs i fought it when i was lvl10-15 and you just really have to be careful to not get caught by its cannon otherwise you are done for good. Troops...duh...early game biotic/tech combos are just devastating.
EgoMania
Seasoned Ace
8 years ago
I have noticed a difference. I can't be quite as casual about combat in Normal mode as I could before. It's not a huge change from my point of view and I don't have a problem with it but it is enough to be noticeable.
Avanglion
8 years ago
Yes, it has. Check section "Enemies" of the official combat balance updates memo for patch 1.08 here.
I don't think there's a distinction between single-player and multiplayer mobs either.
The kett chosen you fight in multiplayer are the same as the ones you encounter on Eos while roaming.
That's the reason why, for some time before patch 1.07 (or was it 1.06?), the game difficulty setting affected both SP and MP modes.
For me, 1.08 enemies are too aggressive especially when you have to complete a MP match on gold.
Even basic raiders keep killing me in two shots on silver since the patch. It's like they always score critical hits or something.
Anonymous
8 years ago
I used cover to great effect and when i go on silvers, i usually lay on my duelist.. my duelist recovers shields nicely as i launch at my next target and when i melee, so as long as i keep my killing spree going and as long as i make sure i respond to incoming fire on myself, i can survive them rather nicely.
I've been playing silvers mostly, but this last 2-3 days i've upped it to gold. I do find though, and i'm not sure if this was just coincidence, but when you find yourself in a game where 1 or 2 in the game are a bit underlevel/undergeared, the enemies seem to go for you a lot more when you seem to be the one doing a lot of the killing. Perhaps i just look for trouble , but they do seem to home in on me a lot 🙂
I don't play for score on silver/gold, but i do use score to see if i'm being lazy in a game and if i am, i get with the flow again.
Not sure everything is insanely harder, but it is more challenging, and you kinda want that in a game. Someone recently said that the hardest difficulty was too easy for them.. but i suspect for many people its probably balanced either just right, or a bit beyond their reaction speeds.
MOJayhawker
8 years ago
So I'm not imagining this! Great to hear.

I don't play in multiplayer since I play on Xbox One and I don't have a gold account so no multiplayer. The notes rarely mention single player side of the game so I just figured that those improvement were only for multiplayer. EA seems so set on getting us to go over to the MMP side of games.

When I've tried to play a multiplayer game I was cursed out of the online room. Not worth my time for that abuse. Single player is just fine with me. Bioware's new game Anthem sounds great but I'll probably never play it since it appears geared towards online multiplayer.
Anonymous
8 years ago
@MOJayhawker wrote:
...

When I've tried to play a multiplayer game I was cursed out of the online room. Not worth my time for that abuse. Single player is just fine with me. Bioware's new game Anthem sounds great but I'll probably never play it since it appears geared towards online multiplayer.
Sounds like the Xbox MP community is a bit ... selective 👎
Playing MP is fun, but one has to understand that Bioware's recommendations of character level for difficulties are misleading.
So it's not your fault, maybe not even from the group kicking you.
Playing on silver and eventually gold is more about the character tier (not the level; the multiple copies drawn from packs), knowledge of maps and opponents, and in the first place: weapons & equipment. First indicator APEX level (not level of character).

My recommendation play bronze a lot before going to silver.
Tuinbonen
8 years ago
If you like KOTOR, ME1 and ME2 I would especially pay attention to Anthem after its release.
Anonymous
8 years ago
@MOJayhawker wrote:
Since the 1.08 patch, does anyone notice that ME:A seems to have gotten harder in normal mode?
...
I have no idea if the general damage increasement in MP of 5% in bronze (and 10% respective for the silver & gold) are also valid in single player difficulty levels.
They have increased the shield gate an enemy can absorb in SP and the assembler does 10% more damage per se.
Patch 1.08 Combat Balance Updates
MOJayhawker
8 years ago
@IIIPripyaTIII wrote:
If you like KOTOR, ME1 and ME2 I would especially pay attention to Anthem after its release.
Love the first Mass Effects. I'll watch it unfold over the next 18 months as I ponder whether I'll play. The expense of getting a gold account is part of it. I had one but never used it and you can play single player games with out gold so I pocketed the money.
MOJayhawker
8 years ago
@Phoenixflieger wrote:
@MOJayhawker wrote:
Since the 1.08 patch, does anyone notice that ME:A seems to have gotten harder in normal mode?
...
I have no idea if the general damage increasement in MP of 5% in bronze (and 10% respective for the silver & gold) are also valid in single player difficulty levels.
They have increased the shield gate an enemy can absorb in SP and the assembler does 10% more damage per se.
Patch 1.08 Combat Balance Updates
I have noticed mostly that Kett and remnant bots are the most affected. The assemblers do hit harder and all enemies can take more hits before dying. Casual difficulty seems to be easier though. A strange thing all around. I'll keep plugging away