Harder Difficulties
Harder Difficulties has been updated for patch 1.6 and the Fate of Iberia flavor pack. I have removed the defines edits which made the AI more likely to attack de jure targets, as Paradox has fixed this issue in patch 1.6. Everything else functions as it did in the previous version.
This mod adds Hard and Very Hard difficulty settings to the game. Although there are other difficulty mods on the workshop, this mod differs in that it primarily strengthens the AI rather than penalizing the player. These difficulties do not include any buffs or penalties to health or skills. This is to provide a challenge without feeling unfair, and the buffs to the AI are targeted to reduce incidents of AI realms imploding while ensuring that the player’s vassals are more threatening than ever. The end result is that AI realms are stronger, more stable, and more expansionist, while the player has a harder time manipulating the AI and keeping their vassals in line.
You can select a difficulty level in the Game Rules menu before starting a game.
Hard Difficulty has the following effects:
Player:
-5 General Opinion
+25% stress gain
+10% tyranny gain
-10% tyranny loss
-5% owned personal scheme success chance
-5% owned hostile scheme success chance
-5% vassal taxes (multiplied)
-10% vassal levies (multiplied)
AI:
+10% levy size
+5% vassal taxes (multiplied)
+10% vassal levies (multiplied)
+10 vassal opinion
+1 domain limit
-25% mercenary hire cost
-25% men at arms maintenance
-25% army maintenance
Very Hard Difficulty has the following effects:
Player:
-10 General Opinion
+50% stress gain
+20% tyranny gain
-20% tyranny loss
-10% owned personal scheme success chance
-10% owned hostile scheme success chance
-10% vassal taxes (multiplied)
-20% vassal levies (multiplied)
AI:
+20% levy size
+10% vassal taxes (multiplied)
+20% vassal levies (multiplied)
+20 vassal opinion
+2 domain limit
-50% mercenary hire cost
-50% men at arms maintenance
-50% army maintenance
This mod makes the AI significantly more likely to declare wars. I feel that this effect is essential to keep the game challenging, especially in later years. This effect occurs regardless of which difficulty level is selected, so make sure to disable this mod if you want to play a game on normal difficulty with vanilla AI.
If you have any questions or feedback, let me know in the comments below. If you enjoy this mod, I would appreciate a rating so it reaches more people.
You can check out my other mod, Genetics, Fertility, & Mortality, here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2749556165
Revisions:
Old revisions of this mod are available below. Click the link to download.
