Jummy's Hardcore Tips.

[Jumnious]

Finished it this morning when I woke up and was pretty happy with the rewards given. However, I figured I will also provide some personal tips as I've observed several people rage over Hardcore.

Opening Comments

Compared to Zealot it is easier. By far, Hardcore is doable. Before attempting I was contemplating not doing it all and not worrying about those 50GS. But the competitor spirit within me was deeply interested and my imagination was most intrigued with the Foam Finger gun.

video

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With playing with the Foam Finger now I am just loving it and blasting my way to my last achievement (4 max weapons) and the Soldier suit is beefy and awesome. The gun alone is worth every second of it...

Make Time.

I only played when my wife had company or she went out. Otherwise I would be up and down helping her and not being able to focus on playing the game. With the already added stress from playing Hardcore you should avoid any real life stressers or distractions. (not that my wife is either)

DLC Choices

I bought Supernova pack for the Health Pack bonus and the added inventory slots for the Engineering Armor. Also for the damage bonus on the Plasma Cutter. You also get the Contact Beam which I will describe later.

However, that is if you have the extra 400MS.

Weapons of Choice

Plasma Cutter
- The lovable limb-chopping device is your little baby. Dump nodes as soon as you can for the damage bonuses. After, get some extra capacity later on as there might be situations that the extra shots will save you then having to pause to reload.

Contact Beam
- What!? Not the Force Gun? Nope. I got it in Chapter 7 and put nodes into it and found it ill-advised for crowd control. If you bought the Supernova pack you should find the Contact Beam in the Shop. When you go to put in Nodes you will see no damage nodes. So dump them into the Alt area up until you get the Special. This will cause the Contact Beam's secondary to not only damage all surrounding foes, but will put them into stasis. (much longer then your personal stasis) The secondary (when maxed) will kill everything in one shot except the black/enhanced Spitters and the Hunter at the end. The only caution I give during the animation/time required to do the secondary attack you are still vulnerable to attack - make sure to have some distance any incoming attacks. The primary shot on this thing will drop most enemies, if it doesn't they are crawling on the ground towards you.

Additional Notes Concerning Contact Beam vs. Force Gun.

I was playing through with the Foam Finger gun on Normal and selling all ammo I got for my Contact Beam and using all the money to level everything. I also fully upgraded the Force Gun and used it towards the end. I had to shoot an enhanced/black Puker 4 times with the secondary and another Puker was shot 4 times with the primary action. I pulled out my Contact Beam and one shot from the primary dropped them. While the secondary shot from the Force Gun can hit every enemy in a straight line whether they are double or triple stacked, I still find the Contact Beam's secondary much more useful in killing and stasis'ing any survivors in a 10-15 yard proximity.

Rig / Stasis

I bought some extra HP on the Rig and my Stasis was maxed out towards the end. Remember though, Plasma Cutter's Damage take your first bunch of nodes before you touch your Rig.

My order was -

Plasma Cutter's Damage
Rig - 1 HP
Contact Beam's Secondary
Stasis - Duration, Count. ( Cooldown is not as important as Stasis packs and Stasis regeneration stations are surprisingly numerous )
After that I spread the rest of my Nodes amongst the weapon's and Rig for more HP.

Avoid Stressing

If you know scenes are coming up that will cause you to fret and have the 'stomach in your mouth' feeling, stop. Take a piss. Have a drink (avoid caffeine). Insist for sex (if she is available/willing). Anything to lose that edge. Being too jumpy will get you killed as the audio track of the game already adds to the 'jumpiness' of hardcore.

I also advise this strategy that DreamDevice mentioned in his HC Tips Topic -

A Narrative Sing-A-Long - Okay try not to make fun, but in order to kill the tension, I actually talked alot to myself. And it helps. For realz. In order to relax that tense emotion that may get you killed, it helps alot to let go. Often times I would run through clusters killing everything saying, "BLAM! Your garbage, BLAM! Get shit on, CLAM! Your terrible at this game" and would on occasion sing hilarious tunes as I trudged along or make fun of situations that was happening. I found I was much more calm and focused and the anxiety would fade about upcoming events and rooms.

I narrated everything as well; including such as ...

'I'm walking through a door.'
'I walked through a door.'
'I'm a shooting my gun.'
'I'm reloading my gun.'
'I'm popping off limbs.'
'I'm leaving this room.'

All this while using some annoying tone of voice which also amused my wife. It did help being calm while playing. If you ever die, take a 15 minute break as you will probably be angry and might cause another unwarranted death.

[Jumnious]

My Save Points & Places I Died

I saved in Chapter Six before entering the school because I had to turn off the Xbox due to the request of the wife. I would have waited till the Elevator default save from switching discs as when I continued my load I was unscathed all the way to the Mainframe room were I died, carelessly allowing a Slasher to get close.

I suggest using the disc-switch as being your first checkpoint. REMEMBER! This is not a save point, if you turn your Xbox off you lose all progress.

My second save point was Chapter 11 after I got off the Ishurmura before taking the ramp downwards were you fight the Stalkers and exploding babies. ( again, due to the wife ) I died again later when I carelessly allowed another Slasher close to me. ( this was right before the area where you get the Advanced Suit )

I'd suggest waiting till after your Ex-Girlfriend becomes pretty again before saving as the upcoming Drill Ride can be somewhat crazy.

My final and chosen save was before Chapter 14 right at the 'stab me in the eye' sequence as losing all progress due to Isaac's twitchy eye was not worth investing in. So at this save max out everything- health packs, stasis packs, Contact / Plasma ammo. After this is your Hunter gauntlet sequence and the final fight. (this save room has the shop and bench hinting at the upcoming action)

Every time I died it was from an enhanced/black Slasher. Two hits from them will kill, one hit to your back will kill you (assassination?). Those two hits will come in quick succession too so make sure to stasis them a.s.a.p. A Puker's ranged is laughable; the only really punishment is the slow effect it does. The lurker's ranged is more damaging so be wary of them and drop them fast. The spitters run really fast but I never had one hit me; I have, however, been hit by their ranged but that is laughable as well. The really effect is that it knocks you back for a small moment.

My Places of Concern

Upon getting your Stasis upgraded due to hacking the box, a Necro drops down and starts running at you. However, the animation of Issac attaching the Stasis allows the Necro to almost lose all the Stasis on him and 1-hit kill you dispite any shots you manage to get off.

TIP: Re-apply stasis a.s.a.p. and then simply shoot him down.

Your first encounter with the Tripod in the large room with a wrecked transport. This will be a shoot and kite fight as your plasma cutter hardly does anything.

TIP: The Tripod will not spawn till you get close to the wrecked transport. Therefore use your TK to grab all the ammo boxes and be wary of the stasis refill station at the back of the room. Start the fight and apply stasis, while shooting one of his limbs be moving backwards already. There are several pillars around the room that you can get behind but remember that the Tripod can merely destroy those. However, the middle big pillar can be used to stop him from doing his lunge attack at you.

In the Church you will encounter the pack which can be a little overwhelming after the Tripod sequence.

TIP: Relax! This Pack comes from almost every direction if you moved backwards towards the entrance. I ran forward to the far-right corner and turned around. To your immediate left on the wall there is a vent where some Pack can come out of. Just be wary of that while one-shotting all the Packs with your Plasma Cutter. After they are dead go up the ramp that is now on your left hand side (the ramp on the right when you first entered the room). As you walk down the hallways the bomb-limb necro can spawn at a vent when your are literally right on it. When you get to the door turn around and you should see a pulpit/balcony with a medium healthpack, yummy! Upon picking it up a slasher will start climbing up the wall with a nice suspense music to scare you.

After the Uni-Wench dies from Gov Sec shooting her down and spamming your 'A' button to avoid a free space walk you will fall down a vent to be ass-bushed by a Tripod.

TIP: My Plasma Cutter was upgraded to the point where I only needed to one-shot the yellow limb. After it falls off he will throw you and you will end up coming out of the animation/cinematic facing the Tripod. Immediately throw a stasis at him to buy time to be safe, turn around and run down the hallway and get ready to TK the door. On my first play-through I accidentally grabbed several items off the ground because my reticle was too low. The game thought I wanted to pick up a tub of OJ to convince the Tripod not to give me a ass-raping. Just make sure your reticle is not too low...

Your first tank fight!? This is just after the school sequence.

TIP: Apply stasis and shoot at his yellow shoulder to work a limb off. Re-apply stasis when the original one starts falling off. When his shoulder falls off position yourself in the middle amongst the spiky fence (which would seem to cause some horrific accidents if children were running around) so therefore the tank ranged attack won't hit you. From this place I corner-shooted at his other limb.

The lift you take going up to the solar array seems to go through a cluster of Tripods allowing a suspenseful but yet soothing time to get some fresh space-air.

TIP: I went in the middle and aimed at the left-window as through all of my play-throughs there first tripod always spawned in that window. I also used my Plasma Cutter for this fight as I felt confident about it. Before hand, make sure to have several health packs as this fight might call for it when being tongue-lashed by every horny Necro in the proximity. Each limb for me on Hardcore needed 1-2 direct hits to the yellow limb. Stay in the middle as most times it disallowed any of the Tripods to hit me but instead stare at me hungrily while I shot at them.

The Ishimura brings memories and jitters but remain calm, you've beaten that game. It shouldn't be so bad... o wait! The engineering level that has a circular hallway brings a ton of Necros (counting 14).

TIP: Upon entering the room a fattie will be your left along with a lurker and to your right will be a Stalker with no legs (these bastards are loud as hell when they claw towards you). Kill the stalker, go left to handle all enemies to grab the power node. Turn around and start going down the hallway to your Objective. CAUTION! Necros will silently spawn behind you to touch your butt so always check up '6' (behind you) to stop such cheekiness from happening. Have plenty of ammo and welcome the use of the Contact Beam's secondary (with the stasis upgrade) to even the fight.

The lift in the mines going up which has Raining Necros. For this I played this video to make light of the dire situation.

Raining Necros

Raining Necros

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TIP: I just stood in the middle and every time they landed I used my Contact Beam's secondary (with the stasis upgrade) and those that didn't die (upgraded/black slashers) would take some shots to the limbs from my Plasma Cutter. Reload, smash bodies and grab ammo, and position yourself for another Contact Beam attack.

The entrance to Gov Sec that requires a hack on the big door but you will be distracted by several waves of baddies.

TIP: I remained at the elevator door and used the Plasma Cutter to cut down the first couple of foes that walked by unbeknown to your location. The rest of the enemies either took Plasma Cutter shots (pukers get headshots to eliminate their ranged attacks, lurkers lost two tentacles to stop foul play with anime chicks, and the bomb-necros lost there bomb for me to use to one-shot many Necros). The only word of caution is for the enhanced slashers which have no problem closing the space between you and them. STASIS! Use it. Contact Beam's secondary can handle the slashers and the headless Pukers. Do not use the secondary if a bomb Necro is nearby as we wouldn't want a death like that.

[Jumnious]

Gameplay Tips.

Conserve ammo.
- If you have enough time to grab stuff and TK them at enemies do so. Explosive Crates, spikes, even brooms can be used to spike enemies.

Shoot the limbs!
- Avoid shooting center-mass - unless its the Contact Beam, have at it and watch limbs fly.

Several enemies? Stasis!
- Stasis them and laugh while you shoot their limbs off unscathed by their razor sharp angry fangs.

Tripods?
- Stasis and shoot the yellow things. I'd suggest Contact Beam for one-shotting two different limbs off for the kill. Conserve your Cutter ammo fro the regular Necros.

Tanks?
- Stasis and get around them and put two Contact Beams into them. One into their back legs were it is yellow and one into an arm. There is much less ammo behind them. Two limbs off and they drop as well.

Exploding Babies?
- Shoot off their head, pick up the body and throw it at something else. The bodies typically one-shot most Necros or AOE kill a couple of other babies.

Bomb-carrying Necro?
- They carry a yellow bomb on an arm and have a distinct noise when they enter a room. When I heard them I smiled with joy. They guaranteed a kill on anything. Try to shoot off their bomb-limb and TK that bomb into another Necro. It guarantees the kill even on enhanced/black Necros.

LB is your Friend!
- Always strafe using LB to give a speed boost. This will help avoid Vomit/Spitter shots and also the Zero-G fights against the Necro-Zit shooting Red things at you. It is CRUCIAL to avoid Vomit shots as the vomit will slow you down significantly.

Lurkers around?
- Plasma Cutter wielded and shoot off two tentacles. Done. So during the drill ride while using LB to strafe, take some pop-shots at the tentacles. You just waste ammo center-mass shooting them.

FINAL BOSS

One charged shot from Contact Beam to the Ex-girlfriend.

Then spamming the Plasma Cutter into the Marker's heart.

Did this two more times and it was over - probably less then 30 seconds.

One time some little guys got onto me and the Contact Beam's secondary got them all away from me.

Make sure to keep your health up.

[Younicorn]

I'm loving all these tips.

One question, do the health packs give you health more like a Survivalist playthrough or a Zealot playthrough? This is the "true" way I'm gauging how difficult the game actually is on Hardcore...

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by Younicorn

I'm loving all these tips.

One question, do the health packs give you health more like a Survivalist playthrough or a Zealot playthrough? This is the "true" way I'm gauging how difficult the game actually is on Hardcore...

I've played Casual / Normal / Zealot / and Hardcore. I'd say the health was just definitely more then what I received in Zealot. Both times I was using a suit with the Health Bonus.

[Dan.Pro]

Originally Posted by Jumnious

Both times I was using a suit with the Health Bonus.

Yeah, these are the best suits! Nice tips by the way, even if I'm arleady done with HC. I'm sure many persons will find this usefull!

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by Dan.Pro

Yeah, these are the best suits! Nice tips by the way, even if I'm arleady done with HC. I'm sure many persons will find this usefull!

Thank you!

And yes, those suits were great for Zealot. I didn't really care for it much in Hardcore but having a LVL2 suit so soon did help.

[work u later]

great tips, but i have a couple questions. What is your advice on the Stalkers? how did u manage ur inventory? was it mostly heath packs and plasma cutters? thx in advance

[JuSt BLaZe]

Originally Posted by Jumnious

Contact Beam
- What!? Not the Force Gun? Nope. I got it in Chapter 7 and put nodes into it and found it ill-advised for crowd control. If you bought the Supernova pack you should find the Contact Beam in the Shop. When you go to put in Nodes you will see no damage nodes. So dump them into the Alt area up until you get the Special. This will cause the Contact Beam's secondary to not only damage all surrounding foes, but will put them into stasis. (much longer then your personal stasis) The secondary (when maxed) will kill everything in one shot except the black/enhanced Spitters and the Hunter at the end. The only caution I give during the animation/time required to do the secondary attack you are still vulnerable to attack - make sure to have some distance any incoming attacks. The primary shot on this thing will drop most enemies, if it doesn't they are crawling on the ground towards you.

EPIC SHIT! That's what I'm tryin to tell most of the people here, but all the say is Fuck Gun here Fuck Gun there, muhaha. Contact Beam is the real shit.
Nice tips there, way to go Jummy.

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by work u later

great tips, but i have a couple questions. What is your advice on the Stalkers? how did u manage ur inventory? was it mostly heath packs and plasma cutters? thx in advance

Stalkers are a joke on Hardcore. One shot from my Plasma Cutter usually put them down; aiming for their legs/arms. If not then two. Also seems as they are running straight at you take advantage of anything you can TK throw at them, ie: spikes, stasis barrels, explosive babies, explosive limbs from the screamer necro.

I always kept at least 5 medium health packs, 1 stack of stasis packs, and a plenty of plasma cutters. I survived on just picking up Contact Beam ammo as I went along. However, before the 'stab in the eye' sequence I bought out everything and I was broke. 122 Plasma Shots, 24 Contact Beam shots, 8 Medium Health Packs, and 1 Stack of Stasis.

[DeekBoy]

very nice work!!! i will be using this more when i hit that point

[Destroyer295]

Thanks for the help, this game is hard.

[ruslan74]

Thanks for the tips. So in your opinion the best DLC suit for HC would be the one which gives you a 15% extra healing from health packs?

And how long did it take you to complete the game on HC, the reason I am asking is because tomorrow I have the whole day reserved just for the HC run.

[alex1407]

Originally Posted by JuSt BLaZe

EPIC SHIT! That's what I'm tryin to tell most of the people here, but all the say is Fuck Gun here Fuck Gun there, muhaha. Contact Beam is the real shit.
Nice tips there, way to go Jummy.

Force gun and Seeker rifle are the best guns in the game!!!!! Force gun is like the shooting can of wooop ass!!!!!

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by ruslan74

Thanks for the tips. So in your opinion the best DLC suit for HC would be the one which gives you a 15% extra healing from health packs?

And how long did it take you to complete the game on HC, the reason I am asking is because tomorrow I have the whole day reserved just for the HC run.

Yea, I didn't see much use for the other bonuses. Just the extra healing is great as most healing packs you come across in the first 2/3 are the small medium packs. In a dire situation, extra health always wins.

HC mode? Probably 6-7 hours worth as I died three times.

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by alex1407

Force gun and Seeker rifle are the best guns in the game!!!!! Force gun is like the shooting can of wooop ass!!!!!

Sorry not seeing it.

I'm playing through Regular right now with maxed out Force Gun and it took three shots to take down an enhanced Puker. While in my Hardcore playthrough one shot from my Contact Beam killed an enhanced Puker.

[ruslan74]

Originally Posted by Jumnious

Sorry not seeing it.

I'm playing through Regular right now with maxed out Force Gun and it took three shots to take down an enhanced Puker. While in my Hardcore playthrough one shot from my Contact Beam killed an enhanced Puker.

So do you think the power vs cost ratio outweighs the use of the Force Gun when compared to the Contact Beam? Ammo for the CB is way pricier and of less quantity than the FG. Would carrying 3 guns be better in HC?

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by ruslan74

So do you think the power vs cost ratio outweighs the use of the Force Gun when compared to the Contact Beam? Ammo for the CB is way pricier and of less quantity than the FG. Would carrying 3 guns be better in HC?

The times when I really needed the Contact Beam I never found myself short of ammo. I didn't abuse the Contact Beam, I used it mainly on the enhanced Necro Slashers. Pukers got a headshot by my Plasma Cutter stopping all their ranged attacks. The normal Spitters would run at me but two shots and they were down too.

The secondary on the Contact Beam still only uses one ammo but hits anything close to you. Also with the nodes into the special attack, all those enemies hit by it went into stasis. So for example the lift in the mines, the entrance to Gov Sec were the door had to be hacked, and even the Hunter gauntlet I found myself breezing through killing and stasis'ing anything that managed to survive.

The damage wins as well as the ability of crowd control.

[ruslan74]

Thanks for the replies. I guess its going to be Plasma Cutter and Contact Beam for my HC run.

[Blackrose Writer]

You know if you wanna kill the tension more just add your own soundtrack to the game. I listened to Dead is the new alive by Emile Autumn though Zealot Mode and right now I am creating a 25 song soundtrack for Hardcore. XD

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by ruslan74

Thanks for the replies. I guess its going to be Plasma Cutter and Contact Beam for my HC run.

No problem.

I was playing through with the Foam Finger gun on Normal and selling all ammo I got for my Contact Beam and using all the money to level everything. I also fully upgraded the Force Gun and used it towards the end. I had to shoot an enhanced/black Puker 4 times with the secondary and another Puker was shot 4 times with the primary action. I pulled out my Contact Beam and one shot from the primary dropped them. While the secondary shot from the Force Gun can hit every enemy in a straight line whether they are double or triple stacked, I still find the Contact Beam's secondary much more useful in killing and stasis'ing all survivors in a 10-15 yard proximity.

Originally Posted by Blackrose Writer

You know if you wanna kill the tension more just add your own soundtrack to the game. I listened to Dead is the new alive by Emile Autumn though Zealot Mode and right now I am creating a 25 song soundtrack for Hardcore. XD

I was unable to play music, I had my wife playing Netflix on the other TV or talking about something. We just got married several months back and I guess she still hasn't learned a man cannot be talked to when he is engrossed into a game.

[M4EOzzy]

I'm definitely going to think about contact beam. Although when I went for the tripod achievement I used the Zealot suit (+5% Force Gun dmg) and the Zealot Force Gun (Increased dmg). With the damage fully upgraged all I had to do was stand in the middle of the elevator and turn and shoot once, legs and tripods easily blown off. I can only imagine what it would do to a group of normal Necros.

[LocustDawn]

I agree with making time, I spent the whole of today going for it and only just unlocked it because I fucked up before the disc swap and got seriously annoyed. I'd recommend going and doing something else for a while if you get annoyed.

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by M4EOzzy

I'm definitely going to think about contact beam. Although when I went for the tripod achievement I used the Zealot suit (+5% Force Gun dmg) and the Zealot Force Gun (Increased dmg). With the damage fully upgraged all I had to do was stand in the middle of the elevator and turn and shoot once, legs and tripods easily blown off. I can only imagine what it would do to a group of normal Necros.

The elevator part - the tripods fall from minimal damage. On my Zealot play through I had my Detonator with no upgrades at all and I shot once directly at each tripod for them to fall.

[Jumnious]

Updated post #2 with things of concern. Will update again with more points.

[xxplicitt]

Thanks for these great tips. I played through the game three times already so hopefully I will remember the most intense parts. I don't plan on buying any of the current DLC so I guess I will go with the Zealot Suit and Zealot Force Gun.

Thanks again.

[TheRevClamp]

Those are some great tips! I hope they will help me when I start Hard Core mode, although I am a little frightened and intimidated by the challenge it presents, but I will at least attempt that difficulty!

[Dead End Kyo]

Nice guide, might I also suggest that if you're low on health & want to save some meds, you could either upgrade your RIG health upgrades or for those with the DLC packs can change into a new suit for free healing.

Back on Dead Space 1 when you upgrade the ammo cap of any gun it automatically replenish your ammo to max but I haven't been paying attention on if it has the same effect in Dead Space 2 anyway my point is you could save a bit of credit/ammo doing that.

@TheRevClamp: Hardcore mode isn't as bad as it sounds, it just sounds intimidating if you haven't played it, I was surprised to find it rather easy (I believe the difficulty is that of survivalist since they didn't do as much damage compared to when I played Zealot) but that might be because I was using the Forged Plamsa Cutter with the +10% damage lol.

EDIT: Just finished hard core a moment ago, I found it more effect to fight the last boss using the Contact Beam only & wearing the suit that gives +5% damage to the contact beam, took about 3-4 charge shots to the marker.

[UCSDpitcher]

These are good tips for anyone looking to beat hardcore mode. I read all about the force gun vs contact beam. I have to agree that the contact beam is more beneficial because of the stasis area effect. It made chapters 14 and 15 (including the final boss) a joke on hardcore, I was very gratful that I had a CB.

Another tip i would offer for this thread is in chapter 13 there is a three level room that's red (at the bottom you fight a brute). On hardcore just RUN to the door down the ramp, through the 2nd room to the door and down the ramp again, to the bottom, you still have to fight the brute but it's waaaaaaay easier than fighting down those 3 levels, just do yourself a favor and skip that part. You may get hit a couple times but just quick heal and keep running.

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by Dead End Kyo

Nice guide, might I also suggest that if you're low on health & want to save some meds, you could either upgrade your RIG health upgrades or for those with the DLC packs can change into a new suit for free healing.

Agreed. I detailed a little what DLC pack I used and in what order I upgraded with the nodes. Extra health is a must for Hardcore...

Originally Posted by UCSDpitcher

Another tip i would offer for this thread is in chapter 13 there is a three level room that's red (at the bottom you fight a brute). On hardcore just RUN to the door down the ramp, through the 2nd room to the door and down the ramp again, to the bottom, you still have to fight the brute but it's waaaaaaay easier than fighting down those 3 levels, just do yourself a favor and skip that part. You may get hit a couple times but just quick heal and keep running.

Yea, on my Hardcore, 3rd, playthrough it became apparent to me that I could run through the entire area but I was just nervous of a bad spawn or getting hit one too many times. Those first two levels are a huge ammo dump. The tank was easy as I stasis'd him and got behind him for two shots from my Contact Beam for the kill.

If people want to save some ammo then by far this is a good strategy that UCSDpitcher brought up; just be cautious of any spawns that might jump on you.