The game difficulty: Vision of the studio.

Hail to the Kings and Queens!

Lately, we’ve received a lot of questions from you regarding game difficulty. Our bad – we should have realized sooner that our view on the matter may differ significantly from what some of you are used to. A lot of games tend to use the “normal difficulty” label for their casual mode which requires minimal input from the player. Knowing this, many players choose “hard” or higher by default every time they start a new game just to make their experience at least a little challenging. Well, this isn’t quite how things work in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

We decided to be honest with our players from the start, so in our game “normal” really is what you’d expect from “normal”: a bit of challenge and a fair amount of Pathfinder experience. It is a mode that you can play on and not feel that the game is playing itself for you. Still, it is also a good choice for those getting their first taste of the game, as well as for those who are yet not familiar with the Pathfinder system but would like to dig in. The “hard” mode is literally hard – expect many tries, a lot of saving and loading, get ready to feel anger rise in your chest as your persistence is put to the test. The game will require you to think long and hard on your moves and to use potions, scrolls, spells and abilities wisely. You’ll have to learn about your foes’ weaknesses and use them. And as for the “unfair” mode – well, enough said, it IS unfair! It is for the most hardcore of gamers, for those who enjoy a real freakin’ challenge. Do not expect it to be just hard. Expect it to be soul-crushing. “Story mode” is for those who enjoy the game world and the storyline more than they do fighting, tactics and min-maxing.

So, please, do not rush to choose the hardest difficulty level right at the start. We expect you to be the wise and provident ruler of the Stolen Lands. Measure your skill, have a proper taste of the game first, and whenever you’re ready – feel free to switch to a more challenging level. Or an easier one, if that’s what rocks your boat. And if the existing difficulty levels are not enough, remember you can always tailor the rules to your individual taste in the options menu. We are also currently working on even more deep and detailed difficulty settings to make sure you can set the gameplay to your liking.

Nevertheless, we really appreciate your comments about certain unbalanced encounters. We're not planning to lower the whole difficulty level of the game, but we constantly note all your requests and are doing our best to fix all the problems and adjust the balance (some of them are already fixed - check out the Hotfix letters). Thank you!



