My challenge to my fellow Gears

General Discussion
#16

You called? I did Gears 4 Insane and Incon solo. Sure as hell not an experience I intend on repeating. The DBs aren’t the problem there(besides Sentinels), it’s the ridiculous sponge Swarm that will charge through entire Lancer mags to kill you with a single melee, Boltok or Gnasher hit. Or catch you in an almost unwinnable chainsaw duel.

Re the challenge…

I’ve made it to RAAM solo in Gears UE Insane but can’t beat him for some reason. As soon as I go anywhere but the starting area the Kryll immediately kill me, Dom is totally useless or I just get killed by RAAM’s Troika aimbot when I try to do anything to land shots on him or he moves up to the starting area I cannot seem to leave and kills me there if he’s close to death.

Gears 2 Insane can sod off when I keep failing at the rig section because the game decides Nemacyst explosions that are nowhere near it destroy the driver’s cabin, or that the Reaver that starts smashing into it just sponges hundreds of chaingun bullets just because it can. Coop is far too laggy even when I connect to EU players for some reason.

Have not attempted Gears 3 Insane. I suspect I won’t want to.

Judgement? After how ridiculous some parts in that game are on Hardcore, I doubt I’ll want to try it on Insane. Same goes for Aftermath. Plus, the control scheme being different is one hell of a throwoff.

Done Gears 4 Insane/Incon and Gears 5 Insane solo. Definitely not repeating 4, it almost entirely is controller throwing rage inducing BS from start to finish as soon as you run into the Swarm. Inconceivable is slightly less worse than Insane in 4 but still has the same issues in the ridiculous sections clearly not made for that difficulty, or not well made.

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#17

Gears 3 insane was very difficult. Even with me and 3 other heavy Gears fans at the time. We saw Game Over countless times at the final part of the game with Myrrah’s Last Stand. Just getting to her at the top of the tower was a Nightmare. When it comes to boss difficulty, I’d place them in order.

  1. Queen Myrrah
  2. RAAM
  3. Skorge (Gears 2)
  4. Karn (Judgment)
  5. The Kraken (Gears 5)
  6. The Hive Guardian (Gears 4).

Yeah Judgment had way too many annoying parts. And because of the Smart Spawn System, you never knew which enemies you were getting. Also, The Fortress with Cole can go to Hades. That D-Day like level was a Nightmare with the mortars and turrets. Then you had to contend with a Mauler too. Getting Lion Heart on Insane was satisfying though cause only 1% of people that have played the game has it.

Not looking forward to Gears 4 or especially Gears 5 on Insane. Lmao, they were punishing even on Hardcore.

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#18

For Gears 3 Insane, I had a lot more trouble with the Lambent Stalk outside of Griffin’s Refinery after you meet him in Act 4 than I did with the Tempest. Honestly the Theron Guards weren’t a problem for me, it was the Shriekers.
And because Insane mode follows Gears’ code of ridiculously spongey enemies they take a lot of ammo and patience to take down and they’ll never stop coming. It almost makes the Tempest a big DPS check.

Gears 2 Insane was the worst because most of the deaths I could never prepare for, all because of Dom’s awful AI and the fact that he could actually bleed out, and he bleeds out fast.
That and garbage like Torque Bows clipping through cover and Dom sending exploding Grenadiers over my head while I’m in cover.

Gears 1 is relatively easy going until the end of Act 3 once the Therons show up and then it’s one gauntlet after another, especially Act 5’s PC levels.

I’ll never run Insane mode again until Gears 6 rolls around.
However I had LOTS of fun with Gears 4 Inconceivable because the enemies weren’t spongey anymore. That change alone made Incon SO MUCH MORE FUN than Insane because fights don’t overstay their welcome, even with less ammo it just worked so much better. I really wish Incon was the new Insane mode going forward.

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#19

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This was my reaction when I saw the requirements for Iron Man. I’d be ok with a death cause you to restart the chapter, but the game ? I ain’t got time for that. Even though you can do it on Hardcore, that’s still too much stress lol.

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#20

Miss me with that bs, it’s waaaay to easy to die and I’m not about to spend 40+ hours inching my way through a campaign for that.

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#21

Gears 5 is a lot easier if you use Jack a lot… but he’s not a substitute for player skill, to be clear. Kinda think you need him and all the ultimates as well as a certain amount of upgrades for Gears 5 Insane to be actually kinda fun to play… in most sections, anyway.

Judgement was a real pain for some sections, even though they seem to have disabled instant death by explosives on Hardcore. Reavers especially when the AI was being stupid and kept getting downed by the Reaver while I was down, or the Reavers kept pulling ridiculous explosive shots downing me all the time. The beach assault also was a real pain to say the least, although it was at least a one time thing only instead of being done often like the pesky Reavers(that reminds me, the final fight of RAAM’s Shadow when two Reavers join RAAM’s? god that was annoying… I actually had to cheese it by bugging the Reaver AI out in a spot where it would not attack me because the AI allies kept being stupid… that doesn’t work for RAAM since he has to lower his Reaver’s Kryll shield so you can actually hit it). Bloodmounts also tended to be more of an annoyance than needed. Sofia sure as hell ain’t enough to play through it on Insane, particularly when her section feels like it’s the shortest and I’m not entirely sold on her personality yet. The only saving grace I found is that the Hardcore enemies in Judgement seemed less spongy than in Gears 4/5. Or it was because of the bigger Lancer clips/mags. And that you had a working Markza or the Breechshot instead of the somewhat underwhelming Markza in Gears 4/5.

I see your comments on Ironman too. I actually did that, although I kinda cheesed the Coop Ironman playthrough with a second controller on Casual with JD hiding at the back as I’d done it legit when solo and that was enough strain on my brain/heart for what’s supposed to be a fun experience.

@AkimboLeadPipes I find Gears 5 Insane enemies are nowhere near as spongy as the Gears 4 Insane ones so there’s some improvements they’ve made there… unless you’re playing Coop where TC decided to “balance” the second ‘smarter’ person you’re playing with and having to share ammo with by doubling the enemy health pool(or more). It isn’t as noticeable with Drones but you sure feel it while fighting Stumps, Pouncers, Wardens and other bigger enemies. Would recommend it solo, the Jack abilities also help a lot with making the experience more bearable, if you ever attempt Gears 5 Insane. They haven’t gotten rid of the stupid insta death from anything though, which can and will make Juvies, Snatchers and the occasional Leeches a pain(although thankfully, neither Juvies nor Leeches sponge the amount of fire in Campaign that they do in Horde). You also don’t get the absurd “Drone through an entire Lancer clip“ bullsrush. That AI behavior seems to have been eliminated, thankfully.

Could’ve sworn there was something else I wanted to add but it slipped my mind.

#22

That’s what I’ve got to remind myself about Gears 5. Since this was the first Gears with the ability to use the bot, it is easy to forget about him. Then again, I was really annoyed with the enemy placements in the game. Also the fact that it is only you and JD for an entire act doesn’t help. I’m more confident though now.

When I played through Gears 4 and 5, I was rusty. I hadn’t played a Gears game since 2014 at that time. I’ve been playing them nonstop now. Like every reload is an active reload and every shot is precise kind of thing.

I do remember hating the awful Wind Flare obstacles in Gears 4. This isn’t a game where parkour is good. Roadie Running serves its purpose, but not to avoid obstacles.

I also didn’t like the hoard sections in Gears 4, especially in the mine cart.

#23

Gears 5 was my first campaign to solo on Insane actually. The enemies vary this time around. Drone health ranges from low with the Imagos and damn near Scion levels of health with the Grenadiers.
The difficulty with 5 was less with spongey enemies (like Gears 4’s ludicrous enemy health) and more to do with little cover and stand off situations, Act 3 is chock full of those instances with Jack ripping so many doors it was like a Gears 1 throwback.

Definitely improved the health balances, it’s still brutal but relatively fair. Juvie lunge range is still crazy far.

You mean the lift? I loved those cuz I could just sit back with the sentries lmao

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#24

I only remember two or three doors in Act 3 that Jack has to open. One in the rocket hangar where a bunch of Juvies, Poppers, Grenadiers and some Elite Hunters show up as well as a Warden, one in a side mission with loads of Hunter Elites and Juvies(NOT fun!), and one when you’re in the cosmodrome in the Windflare with a bunch of Drones, Poppers(both easily killed with the provided turrets) and two Boomshot Scions shielded by Bastions(by far the most difficult to deal with in that section due to the unpredictability of the shots they fire against the wind when you’re on one of the turrets to kill the Bastions, and how the AI frequently lands magic shots right on their first aim attempt, and because they will separate and kind of pincer you there if you don’t manage to take them out quickly).

Being honest, other than the encounter with the Warden, I found the door outside the mine in Act 2 to be far more difficult to handle, especially on my first Experienced playthrough(why did the difficulties require renaming again, rather than just adding the new names on top of what already existed?). Even if you managed to use the ice lake to your advantage(hint : look above on the train bridge for something big to drop into the lake, or use it later to get “Oh… oops” from Kait, but it won’t serve any use then - I discovered that by accident when some stray bullets hit something when I was aiming for Juvies after leaving the mine with the phosphorus), you could still end up with a Bastion shielded Grenadier flanking on the right while there is Poppers closing in, or barring that, the Bastions will attempt to kamikaze you if there’s no enemies left for them to shield. Took me so often on the first playthrough… but on Insane, I beat that part on like, my first or second attempt.

I still question why we get such a ridiculous Horde/Escape balance(more in terms of player health in the latter, the enemies don’t have as much health in Escape) when they have managed to make the Campaign a lot more bearable.

PS If you missed the Relic EMBAR, it can be found near the crashed Condor in the open world section of Vasgar by the turntable. At risk of spoiling its potential, I was able to one shot kill a Scion on a headshot with that thing on Insane. Crazy high damage, but long charge up.

#25

Holding out in front if the mine made wanna pull my hair out but over time I had a strat going. Gnashering the Ice helps IMMENSELY for the Poppers and Juvies tho.

And there’s another instance of door ripping with a side mission in Act 3 with a plethora of Hunters that ambush you, not as difficult mind you, but still one for the list lol

I don’t know, the absurd balloning health in Horde turns me off, ESPECIALLY when I wanna play as Fahz and a lot of his cards are crap. Rarely do I ever get to capitalize on the Unwounded crit damage buff because someone always puts a Lancer bullet in something and pisses all over my crit damage then and there.
I would much rather go Judgment route and have more enemies and less health than fewer foes that are literal sponges.

#26

I did mention that one, but it is only one out of the three instances I can remember in Act 3 where you have to defend Jack opening a door in Act 3. I mostly find it difficult due to the number of Juvies that force you out of cover while there’s Torque Bows being aimed at you with only two viable cover pieces in the whole area. What I question about the cosmodrome section is why JD chose to take himself out of the fight entirely when carrying the beacon instead of dropping it off outside of line of sight and fire so it’s safe and then starts helping out with the enemies.

And I did think it was a nice surprise to find the Judgement enemies weren’t total bullet sponges, but some of the encounters in its Campaign were rather questionable. Gotta say though, the Markza and Breechshot in it were surprisingly fun to use. Same for the One Shot… although only if there was no enemies using it.

And the messy Horde balance just puts me off generally on top of how boring it is to play, on Incon and Master in particular. To me it literally feels like Gears 4 with less powerful classes that are also locked to characters, and a Dropshot and Torque Bow that got nerfed into the ground for non-headshot/explosives classes. What reason would I have to play it with the fun weapons rendered near useless without using half or all their ammo on a single enemy, and the freedom of choice taken away if I don’t want to use a character I may not want to play? But I don’t wanna turn this into a Horde discussion so let’s not go into detail too much there. Escape is slightly less worse there but playing a character with no damage buffing options(eg Lizzie) also makes itself noticeable. Just not as much so it can still be kind of fun to use those characters there… and Lizzie gets the Silverback too, so not too much to mind there.

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#27

First they must release the games for PC

#28

That is far too much punishment, you are masochist of the highest level. GG. :smiley:

I gave up at somepoint during marcus’s mansion. Burst firing the enforcer that much had given me weird finger cramps by the time I got decent guns. Never could face continuing after that.
It’s not even the sponginess of the enemies that put me off, it’s the complete lack of ammo for the good guns for fricking ages.

G1 you can seriously just keep retrying until he glitches out it will happen eventually.
Even easier, just get someone to join in co-op and tell them to shut up, sit still until raam moves and always, always stand in the effing light. let them lancer so that the don’t feel useless though or they might get annoyed and quit.

#29

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I just did this Solo with the RAAM fight on Insane. Fun fact, cause of the nonstop achievements you unlock for completing the game on Insane, I saw Soldier, but not Commando, my heart stopped ha ha. But I checked it and unlocked it. Its cause the original 360 version had to be completed first before Insane unlocked, so it at first read it that I beat it on Hardcore.

I used a method where RAAM gets stuck in a block and I let him have it. When he got really weak, I got around him carefully to the other side and Dom distracted him while I blind fired the last few shots in him from a Lancer. I used active reloading every time and went for headshots when the Kryll left him. The first go around, I was in co op on 360.

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#30

Noice, I couldn’t manage the block method on UE for some reason, just Gears 1.

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#31

It took me quite a number of tries. Worst part was that I didn’t have a Torque Bow either. It took me quite a number of tries as he would walk around a few times. After weakening him a lot, I had no more grenades to scare the Kryll away, so I rolled the dice and carefully navigated to the other side. AI Dom came came through and thankfully didn’t follow me. RAAM had his attention on Dom and threw the Kryll at him and that’s when I took him down. I forgive Ai Dom for screwing up in the past ha ha

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#32

I sure can’t, god damn headache all the way to the DLC. Until Gears 3 that is lol

#33

Oh he was really annoying in this game. All the Ai was. They also don’t crawl to you.

But on a good note, the regular Locust ignore them and they also don’t bleed out. After I remembered that, I took my time with the Locusts and many times, they would auto revive.

I will have to see if I want to jump into Gears 4 or play something else now. Judgment and Ultimate were done within 2 days and then I completed Gears 4 and 5 before them on Hardcore.

#34

Nice. I knew it. One Shot was fun to use in Gears 3 Horde against Reavers. What do you think of Markza scope compared to no scope in Gears 4 and 5? Which is better?

#35

I mentioned this in a different thread. Judgement Markza > Gears 4/5 Markza which basically takes lower damage and no scope like the Breechshot to combine the worst aspects of both weapons. Why do they keep bringing it back without the scope?