As a long-time Remnant 2 fiend boasting over 500 hours played, I‘ve developed an obsession with hardcore mode. This brutal optional setting transforms an already punishing experience into a hellish gauntlet that swiftly annihilates the unprepared, yet offers handsome rewards to those skillful enough to emerge triumphant.
Hardcore mode‘s permadeath jeopardy provides dizzying stakes that get my blood pumping like no other Remnant 2 content. The permanent death risk amplifies every close call and demands peak concentration maintained indefinitely. Eventually your focus wavers for just a moment…and it‘s all over.
After countless perished hardcore runs, I‘ve accumulated comprehensive knowledge on optimizing success, especially regarding the coveted weapons and gear exclusively available by cheating death. Today I‘ll tap my Remnant 2 expertise to reveal the path towards these six Hardcore rewards along with a definitive boss strategy guide.
Let‘s start by properly conveying what enables hardcore mode‘s uniquely merciless experience.
Embracing Hardcore Mode‘s Demanding Crucible of Combat
Accessible when creating a new character, hardcore mode injects mortal danger into every bullet fired and blow dodged. Die once beyond revive stones and your save file disappears forever – hundreds of hours of progress erased instantly. Undoubtedly Remnant 2‘s most terrifying prospect.
To further up the difficulty, hardcore mode enforces additional key changes:
- Can only matchmake with others also playing hardcore
- No access to public lobbies for easier co-op assists
- Unlocks exclusive gear rewarding consummate skill
Catering exclusively to Remnant 2‘s top-tier community, hardcore mode represents the pinnacle gauntlet of skill available after dominating on standard difficulties. Adopting a meticulous, reactive playstyle becomes mandatory when the slightest misstep spells absolute doom.
Personally, I find dancing along hardcore mode‘s razor edge utterly intoxicating once accustomed to the raised stakes. The electrifying possibility of abrupt failure amplifies the satisfaction from overcoming insane odds. Hardcore mode certainly isn‘t for everyone, but talking shop about close shaves and fallen heroes with fellow high-risk players keeps me returning to the fire.
Now let‘s examine the base difficulty options most amenable to one‘s first successful hardcore run.
Choosing Your Descent into Madness: Hardcore Difficulty Comparison
While simply enabling hardcore introduces permadeath jeopardy, you must also complete the campaign on specific base difficulties to earn epic gear rewards. Remnant 2 offers four difficulty modes available with hardcore activated, each escalating the pain:
Survivor (Default): Enemies deal 100% base damage
Veteran: Enemies have 50% more health and deal 65% more damage
Nightmare: Enemies have 175% more health and deal 250% more damage
Apocalypse: Enemies have 275% more health and deal 300% more damage
As the names signal, Apocalypse enemies become veritable damage sponges capable of nearly one-shotting players even at higher levels. While the 50% extra EXP helps accelerate hero development, one slip still spells utter catastrophe.
Therefore, I recommend Veteran or Nightmare for most players‘ inaugural successful hardcore run depending on skill level. Here‘s a breakdown of my advice per difficulty:
Survivor: A good fit only for elite aces capable of no hit runs in their sleep
Veteran: Ideal 1st hardcore difficulty for seasoned Remnant 2 veterans
Nightmare: The true chaotic evil insanity Realm, approach with caution
Apocalypse: Sadistic overkill even for my extreme tastes
Of course if you possess the skill, then damn the odds and go forth unto permadeath heresy! Next let‘s overview the almighty weapons and gear unlockable by toppling Remnant 2‘s titans while hardcore perils nip your heels.
The Holy Grails: Remnant 2‘s Coveted Hardcore Rewards
Few feelings compare to Reggie firing up Ward 13‘s 3D printer to materialize phenomenally powered guns, rings, and amulets exclusively available to esteemed members of hardcore mode‘s living legends club. To call these items "game-changing" still undersells their capabilities.
Here are Remnant‘s six transcendent hardcore rewards along with how to acquire them:
- Savior (Shotgun): Utterly disintegrates groups withbonus burning damage. Unlocked by beating the game on hardcore + Veteran difficulty.
- Daredevil‘s Charm: Amulet boosting damage by 5% per unequipped armor piece. Unlocked by finishing hardcore on any difficulty.
- Ahanae Crystal (Ring): Additional 5% damage per status effect afflicting targets. Requires defeating Yaesha‘s World Boss on any hardcore difficulty.
- Dran Scavenger Ring: Restores 10% health & boosts damage on pickups. Beat Losomn world boss on any hardcore.
- Provisioner Ring: Automatically reloads holstered firearms over time. Earned by beating The Labyrinth Sentinel on any hardcore.
- Drzyr Sniper Sigil: Doubles sniper rifle minimum damage at max range. Requires felling the N‘Erud world boss on any hardcore.
As a connoisseur of explosive firepower, mentioning the Savior shotgun still elicits involuntary drooling. However, the flexibility provided by ability and proc chance boosting rings proves equally invaluable. Let‘s dig deeper on ideal deployment strategies and synergies for these glorious spoils of high-stakes victory.
Savior: The Cornerstone of Ultimate Destruction
This ludicrous automatic shotgun imbues shots with scorching incendiaries that douse entire mobs in napalm through area spreading ignite chance alone even before factoring the secondary shrapnel effect triggered upon kills. Augmenting this apocalyptic street sweeper with fire-boosting armor mods and the relevant status power weapon trait achieves the most gloriously devastating mob clearing results imaginable in Remnant 2.
While the Savior lacks a mod slot, apply Explosive Shot consumables to further amplify its already outrageous damage with explosive bolts. Laugh maniacally as even elite enemies evaporate under the sheer bullet hell unleashed from this magnificent weapon available only to esteemed hardcore conquerors.
Daredevil‘s & Damage Amplifying Rings
Between the Daredevil‘s Charm increasing output inversely to armor equipped and damage amplifying rings like Ahanae Crystal, I leverage these multipliers to construct specialized high DPS single target loadouts focused on rapidly felling stationary bosses and other lumbering juggernauts with focused precision.
Ahanae crystal in particular, providing +5% per status affliction including Weakpoint hits, enables easily accruing an extra 30-50% output or more depending on build and skill rotation. Rings may lack the visual pizazz of a shiny new gun, but combined legendary effects enable spectacular feats.
Now let us delve into my personal strategies and advice for felling four required bosses to unlock these transcendent rewards starting with the enormous cosmic horror herself…
Yaesha Guardian: Dancing With a God
This screen filling world boss bombards you with dense bullet hell hailstorms emerging from a shifting portal network while elsewhere her arena churns to life with ubiquitous lightning fields compelling perpetual movement. Meanwhile the Guardians‘s void rift network continues vomiting hostile sorcerers from adjacent dark dimensions further harassing your position.
Yet for all her dazzling cosmic power, precise positioning and relentless aggression causes even this old god pain in due time. Here is my preferred battle plan:
- Keep Mobile: Continually relocate when electricity fields activate or seeking projectiles converge
- Destroy Minions: Rapidly eradicate invading sorcerers to prevent flank harassment
- Attack Every Opening: Pour on damage whenever Guardian emerges from rifts
- Massive Burst Damage For Portals: Utilize ultimate at 25% phase shift for big damage
Adhering to these four tenets while otherwise simply avoiding her relentless assault prompts the Guardian‘s health attrition until that sweet moment her colossal frame dissolves into nothingness.
Few thrills compare with toppling a cosmic entity while dancing along death‘s razor edge. And your reward? The Ahanae Crystal ring, enabling life as a bane to any target already hindered by negative status afflictions.
Losomn The Infinite: Slaying a Teleporting Nightmare
In some ways, Losomn‘s smaller frame proves more troublesome than facing down the Yaesha‘s greater cosmic terrors. This spectral horror zips about the arena erratically with masterful agility either to unleash vicious melee flurries or channel explosions of soulfire from midair.
Meanwhile rotating darkness fields limit the playable area, gradually sapping strength from anyone caught wandering from Losomn‘s orbit. Only by sticking tight to this teleporting terror and avoiding his attacks through reactive rolling and strafing can one emerge triumphant.
Here are my key tips for putting down this lightning bruiser:
- Remain Close to Losomn so rotating darkness doesn‘t overwhelm
- Keep Strafing to reliably dodge claw combos and magic volleys
- Use Abilities Aggressively since darkness prevents ammo gathering
- Save Mobility Tool For escaping darkness zones closing in
While an intense battle demanding peak performance throughout, leverage these tips to eventually strike the decisive blows against Losomn unlocking the marvelous Dran Scavenger‘s Ring as your prize.
Labyrinth Sentinel: Stonebreaker Strategies
In carved stone halls patrolled by aged automatons, one finds the Labyrinth Sentinel boss. A formidable bipedal tank system switching between vicious minigun Strafing and salvoed missile bombardments while chunks of flooring vanish into lethal drops awaiting the unwary.
Though imposing defenses initially blunt attacks, sufficient application of force still degrades even this hardened war machine given time. Here are my tactics for toppling Talos Prime:
- Use Cover Frequently To block missile salvos and minigun fire
- Hold Range To monitor ground integrity and kite Sentinel aggro
- Exploit Lulls To unleash heavy damage when it pauses firing
- Bring Corrosion Weapons To melt its hardened exterior quicker
While demanding patience only possible when not actively fleeing permadeath‘s hungry maw, those avoiding even a single lost life ultimately topple this imposing antique to earn the sweet auto-reloading Provisioner ring.
N‘Erud: Felling an Eldritch Horror
This alien entity N‘Erud presents a hovering cephalopod horror flanked by enormous eyeball stalks independently tracking you mid-combat while it spews spread patterns of projectiles from the sky and impales territory with erratic spikes. Rotating darkness fields limit play space forcing mobility.
Yet dimensional horrors too must yield when properly countered as detailed in these key tips:
- Always Be Circling to avoid spike waves and darkness
- Strafe & Dodge Frantically to evade tracking salvos
- Focus Eye Stalks Quickly when they detach for slams
- Offload Abilities To augment damage windows
While intensely demanding on both positioning and output, seasoned veterans who perfectly balance aggression against survival discover even N‘Erud buckles given time. Toppling this otherworldly coordinates unlocks the Drzyr Sniper Sigil ring to further terrorize targets from extreme ranges.
Conclusion: Hardcore‘s Allure
As one with hundreds of hours perfecting high-risk Remnant 2 play, I remain fatally entranced by hardcore mode‘s perilous crucible promising phenomenal power should I stand victorious. Certainly proving daunting for even seasoned teams, mastering each sharp difficulty spike delivers untold satisfaction.
Yet beyond the chase itself, attaining weapons and accessories restricted to only those walking the permadeath tightrope keeps me returning. Each gun, amulet and ring not only symbolizes mastery for overcoming insane odds, but further elevates your strength against the coming darkness.
While undoubtedly intimidating, I hope my advice today inspires fellow high-skill players to test themselves against hardcore. That intoxicating thrill of winning ultimate stakes makes all the difference. See you beyond the grave!
