Make F04 harder + SS2

[Eichkater]

Hello everybody,

I'm having a blast with SS2 but encountered an issue that is inherent to F04, namely that the game becomes too easy once one crosses the lvl 50 point. Doing the SS2 main and sidequests catapults me towards higher levels too quicky. I feel that a lot of quests, especially gunner related offer no real challenge as I maw them down too quickly. Therefore I'm contemplating starting anew with a harder modpack. I'm here asking you guys to give me inspiration and maybe even help a little with the setup IF anybody is willing that is. What I pose as question is not SS2 specific but I'd like to know whether these mods interfer somehow with SS2 (I give an example later).

I'm looking for mods that make FO4 harder in a sense that the enemies are
- more intelligent (AI mods)

Spoiler: AI mods

Combat AI Empowered A pretty recent mod. I've tried a little and it gives enemies roles according to their outfit so snipers will stay back, you get flanked etc. But I'm not sure whether these behaviour changes might negatively impact SS2 npcs in any way.

- more numerous (enemy mods)

Spoiler: More enemies

Super Mutant Redux As the name suggests adds more Super Mutants. I've been running it since the start of the game and no issues at all.
Raider Gangs Extended Adds more raiders. No issue at all.
Mutant Menagerie Adds more wildlife but also different mechanics. Looks good but no experience with it.
D.E.C.A.Y Adds more ghoul variants. There is a direct issue with SS2 that it breaks the quest Hub of a Problem. There is a fix solution being discussed in the comments. But I've not used this mod so far and I'd like your opinion.

• harder on higher levels (dmg overhaul?)
• harder survival (overhaul?)

I'm open to suggestions especially towards the last two points. I've been looking through the nexus and also watching some videos but I'm really not sure about that one. I leave some mods I'm currently looking at here
True Dmg
Be Exceptional
Hardcore Health Overhaul

 

[Torberg]

Someone commented elsewhere on the forums that they use damage overhauls like True Damage or similar and found that come CH3, they get absolutely wrecked by the mobs of gunners using the induction rifles, so be careful what you wish for.

For things like Combat AI Empowered or other mods that overhaul enemy response in attempts to make them more intelligent, the biggest risk is going to be script backup. SS2 starts off script heavy as you're building up settlements and it's tracking upgrades of plots/city plans, production values, etc. Then as CH2 progresses you get large Defend [Settlement] fights and the seige on the plaza. Then comes CH3's assault mechanics where you have large groups of your soldiers fighting large groups of enemies. It adds up to the scripting engine taking out a restraining order against your load order. You can ostensibly make it work, but you'll likely want to be very focused on those mods and not too much else and be very mindful of balancing all the demands.

 

[Eichkater]

Someone commented elsewhere on the forums that they use damage overhauls like True Damage or similar and found that come CH3, they get absolutely wrecked by the mobs of gunners using the induction rifles, so be careful what you wish for.

Thank you Torberg for that information. I found a fix on nexus.

For things like Combat AI Empowered or other mods that overhaul enemy response in attempts to make them more intelligent, the biggest risk is going to be script backup.

I can see that. I'm giving it a go anyways. I've backed up my old save and I'm going to try. What could go wrong :-D. The good thing about those AI mods is that they can (allegedly) be removed mid-game.

 

[Rocola]

You can play with rules of your own to make it harder, like not using power armor, only use pipe weapons, permadeath (or some kind of penalty when dying, like drop, scrap or sell all items), no leveling up, etc. I used to go with random builds for example.

 

[Captain LaserBeam]

Someone commented elsewhere on the forums that they use damage overhauls like True Damage or similar and found that come CH3, they get absolutely wrecked by the mobs of gunners using the induction rifles, so be careful what you wish for.

For things like Combat AI Empowered or other mods that overhaul enemy response in attempts to make them more intelligent, the biggest risk is going to be script backup. SS2 starts off script heavy as you're building up settlements and it's tracking upgrades of plots/city plans, production values, etc. Then as CH2 progresses you get large Defend [Settlement] fights and the seige on the plaza. Then comes CH3's assault mechanics where you have large groups of your soldiers fighting large groups of enemies. It adds up to the scripting engine taking out a restraining order against your load order. You can ostensibly make it work, but you'll likely want to be very focused on those mods and not too much else and be very mindful of balancing all the demands.

Agree with @Torberg - there have been many complaints that playing SS2 on vanilla survival is almost impossible because of the level of difficulty that comes later, so I would proceed cautiously when it comes to adding mods to make the combat harder. I would also not want to add mods the increase enemy spawns. We've seen that users who do that will often see their settlements attacked by hundreds of Gunners because those mods are taking every enemy spawn and multiplying it.

 

[Eichkater]

Thank you for your input. I do take it into consideration. I came up with a modlist that would allow me to change damage values on the fly if the game gets too hard later. I decided against mods that change spawn counts.

Maybe you experts could help me with an issue though. It's not SS2 related but I can't find a solution. Atm (just lvl 10) most enemies are very deadly. The only expeption is ghouls. I don't know why but they only do very little damage. Here is my modlist. Any suggestion is appreciated!

Fallout4.esm
DLCRobot.esm
DLCworkshop01.esm
DLCCoast.esm
DLCworkshop02.esm
DLCworkshop03.esm
DLCNukaWorld.esm
Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.esp
BakaFramework.esm
ArmorKeywords.esm
WorkshopFramework.esm
HUDFramework.esm
SettlementKeywords.esm
SS2.esm
SS2_XPAC_Chapter2.esm
SS2_XPAC_Chapter3.esm
TrueStormsFO4.esm
GavMan_Vault88_CityPlan.esl
Armorsmith Extended.esp
True Damage.esp
Modern Firearms.esp
TD - Modern Firearms.esp
WheelMenu.esp
TrueStormsFO4-FarHarbor.esp
TrueStormsFO4-NukaWorld-FH-Compat.esp
NAC.esp
AGM_Climate_TrueStormsPC.esp
NAC-FH.esp
NAC-NW.esp
AGM_DLCwithLOD.esp
ConditionBoy.esp
DD_bleu_Ump_Extreme_Lore_friendly_edition.esp
3dscopes.esp
ASVektor.esp
BattleRifle.esp
Combat AI Empowered.esp
SS2Extended.esp
SuperMutantRedux.esp
ImmersiveAnimationFramework.esp
SS2_FDK_TinyLiving.esp
Raider Gang Extended NPC (Fixed & Cleaned).esp
SS2WastelandVenturers.esp
[SS2 Addon] SimSettlements SuperStructures.esp
AtomicAnnieLagrieGun.esp
LegalizeTheCommonwealth2.esp
D.E.C.A.Y.esp
SCOURGE - Vanilla.esp
SCOURGE - Automatron.esp
SCOURGE - Far Harbor.esp
SCOURGE - Nuka World.esp
IAF - Far Harbor & Nuka World.esp
True Damage - Adrenaline Module.esp
True Damage - DLC.esp
True Damage - Vehicle Module.esp
JunkTownTwo.esp
SS2-PraRandomAddon.esp
SimSettlements2_AddOnPack_ApocalypticAdditions_SirLach.esp
ohSIM_Sim2_Settlements_Scrappers_Addon.esp
K9TacticalHarness.esp
SuperMutantRedux_ArmorSmithExtended.esp
Cannabis Commonwealth.esp
free production.esp
SS2AOP_VaultTecTools.esp
SuperMutantRedux_WeaponsmithExtended_Patch.esp
SS2BadNeighbors.esp
MAIM Distributor.esp
MAIM 2.esp
True Damage - Perk Module.esp
True Damage - Perk Module DLC.esp

 

[Eichkater]

You can play with rules of your own to make it harder, like not using power armor, only use pipe weapons, permadeath (or some kind of penalty when dying, like drop, scrap or sell all items), no leveling up, etc. I used to go with random builds for example.

Unfortunately I lack the willpower and discipline for that.

 

[Captain LaserBeam]

Thank you for your input. I do take it into consideration. I came up with a modlist that would allow me to change damage values on the fly if the game gets too hard later. I decided against mods that change spawn counts.

Maybe you experts could help me with an issue though. It's not SS2 related but I can't find a solution. Atm (just lvl 10) most enemies are very deadly. The only expeption is ghouls. I don't know why but they only do very little damage. Here is my modlist. Any suggestion is appreciated!

Fallout4.esm
DLCRobot.esm
DLCworkshop01.esm
DLCCoast.esm
DLCworkshop02.esm
DLCworkshop03.esm
DLCNukaWorld.esm
Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.esp
BakaFramework.esm
ArmorKeywords.esm
WorkshopFramework.esm
HUDFramework.esm
SettlementKeywords.esm
SS2.esm
SS2_XPAC_Chapter2.esm
SS2_XPAC_Chapter3.esm
TrueStormsFO4.esm
GavMan_Vault88_CityPlan.esl
Armorsmith Extended.esp
True Damage.esp
Modern Firearms.esp
TD - Modern Firearms.esp
WheelMenu.esp
TrueStormsFO4-FarHarbor.esp
TrueStormsFO4-NukaWorld-FH-Compat.esp
NAC.esp
AGM_Climate_TrueStormsPC.esp
NAC-FH.esp
NAC-NW.esp
AGM_DLCwithLOD.esp
ConditionBoy.esp
DD_bleu_Ump_Extreme_Lore_friendly_edition.esp
3dscopes.esp
ASVektor.esp
BattleRifle.esp
Combat AI Empowered.esp
SS2Extended.esp
SuperMutantRedux.esp
ImmersiveAnimationFramework.esp
SS2_FDK_TinyLiving.esp
Raider Gang Extended NPC (Fixed & Cleaned).esp
SS2WastelandVenturers.esp
[SS2 Addon] SimSettlements SuperStructures.esp
AtomicAnnieLagrieGun.esp
LegalizeTheCommonwealth2.esp
D.E.C.A.Y.esp
SCOURGE - Vanilla.esp
SCOURGE - Automatron.esp
SCOURGE - Far Harbor.esp
SCOURGE - Nuka World.esp
IAF - Far Harbor & Nuka World.esp
True Damage - Adrenaline Module.esp
True Damage - DLC.esp
True Damage - Vehicle Module.esp
JunkTownTwo.esp
SS2-PraRandomAddon.esp
SimSettlements2_AddOnPack_ApocalypticAdditions_SirLach.esp
ohSIM_Sim2_Settlements_Scrappers_Addon.esp
K9TacticalHarness.esp
SuperMutantRedux_ArmorSmithExtended.esp
Cannabis Commonwealth.esp
free production.esp
SS2AOP_VaultTecTools.esp
SuperMutantRedux_WeaponsmithExtended_Patch.esp
SS2BadNeighbors.esp
MAIM Distributor.esp
MAIM 2.esp
True Damage - Perk Module.esp
True Damage - Perk Module DLC.esp

I would think NAC and True Storms would fight each other since they both impact weathers. Also, there have been fairly significant issues with D.E.C.A.Y. breaking SS2 quests due to the changes it makes to ghouls. I also would assume that MAIM, True Damage, and SCOURGE might have issues with each other since my understanding is they all make similar changes to the game but I don't use any of them so I wouldn't know for sure.

 

[Eichkater]

I would think NAC and True Storms would fight each other since they both impact weathers.

There's a patch in there somwhere.

I also would assume that MAIM, True Damage, and SCOURGE might have issues with each other since my understanding is they all make similar changes to the game but I don't use any of them so I wouldn't know for sure.

Yes, so did I. But after checking and re-checking those three actually work quite well together according to their mod pages. Scourge and Maim in any case. True damage I'm not so sure but here's the thing: Their patch respitory has quite a few files but I needed only one (for modern firearms). No other patches needed. I read a bit and it seems fine. The only thing people are actually discussing is how to get all the sliders right. But no one mentiones my issue. Also in MCM menu there is no slider for (unarmed melee combat for ghouls) or something like that.

Also, there have been fairly significant issues with D.E.C.A.Y. breaking SS2 quests due to the changes it makes to ghouls.

Yes, but I found a fix for that by altering the Decay esp with FO4edit. Maybe here is the source of the problem? I've never done it before. The idea was that some cloaking aura of the ghouls breaks the Well Well Well quest. I've deleted this cloaking aura entry and did the quest. There was no problem. But maybe I did it incorrectly? Here's a screenshot.


So, obviously I don't know what I'm doing here. As far as I understand it this "Actor Effect" that I marked red was responsible for an effect that broke the quest. By removing it the quest didn't break. But did I maybe break something here? It says "Null Reference" thus doesn't refer to any effect. I can edit it to give it an effect. There is a drop down menu with all sorts of effects. I'm wondering if maybe this "SPLO - Actor Effect" needs some reference and that the second collom must not have a "Null Reference"? Is that possible? Logic would dictate that I therefore must be able to get rid of the whole first row "SPLO - Actor Effect" but I've not yet figured out how.
What I then did was looking through this drop down menu and re-enabling the original effect. Then everything turned green which I consider a positive sign although I'm in the dark about it's implications.
I've tested it for a bit and it seems that it miiighht have fixed it? I'm really not sure. The ghouls seem to do more limb and bleed damage now.

 

[tempestbob]

Game Configuration Menu gives you a bunch of sliders to fix the game to your own specifications. Change how a bunch of character stats are used, change damage input and output, jump height, spawns, all sorts of things. Highly recommend.