Honestly, the difficulty curve on HZD feels like a sine wave sometimes.
Cuz:
You do simply get stronger over time
You also improve your use of tactics over time
You also gain access to new tactics
But they introduce much stronger machines too
But a lot of a machine’s strength can be mitigated by approaching it with the right tactics
But they also deliberately put you in situations where you can’t use the easy tactics
But they also put you in situations where you can use the easy tactics, against a ton of very strong machines
So depending on how quickly you hit the skill ceiling on using your available tactics, how much you like to grind, how reliable your multi-tasking is, and your basic “twitch skills”, you might get a skewed perspective at any point along the way.
I don’t think there’s any harm in changing the difficulty back and forth (not sure). So maybe just go with whatever feels comfy at the moment?
Edit: I’ll say, overall, they do an excellent job of making you feel like the stuff that used to be scary is no longer scary, but for the right reasons. That is: not because of dmg++ and armor++ buffs (although there is some of that), but because you’ve become so much more proficient at handling dangerous situations. For the most part, even mid-to-late game, the simple stuff is still deadly if you let your guard down.
Honestly, the difficulty curve on HZD feels like a sine wave sometimes.
Cuz:
So depending on how quickly you hit the skill ceiling on using your available tactics, how much you like to grind, how reliable your multi-tasking is, and your basic “twitch skills”, you might get a skewed perspective at any point along the way.
I don’t think there’s any harm in changing the difficulty back and forth (not sure). So maybe just go with whatever feels comfy at the moment?
Edit: I’ll say, overall, they do an excellent job of making you feel like the stuff that used to be scary is no longer scary, but for the right reasons. That is: not because of dmg++ and armor++ buffs (although there is some of that), but because you’ve become so much more proficient at handling dangerous situations. For the most part, even mid-to-late game, the simple stuff is still deadly if you let your guard down.