Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Patch 1.3 Brining The Biggest Updates

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II still has a lot of major bugs, especially since Patch 1.2, and Warhorse Studios is planning to release another big update soon. But there's more that a lot of you probably aren't expecting right now: A DLC is also coming soon. We got to play with the first DLC, Brushes of Death, which gave us a lot more information about when it will be out. Things have been getting really serious with KCD2 lately.

The really exciting news is that Kingdom Come: Deliverance II's Hardcore Mode will be out on April 15th, likely along with Patch 1.3, which will have many other changes and much-needed fixes. This patch might finally help you if you've been having a lot of problems, especially late in the game or when you're trying to use your bed. But the new Hardcore Mode is, without a doubt, the best thing about this patch.

Fans have been testing Hardcore Mode since the end of February, so by the time it comes out, it will have had over a month of community feedback. The last patch even added Hardcore Mode early by accident, so we got a sneak peek of what to expect. To play Hardcore Mode, you'll need to start a new save. Saves that have already been made won't work. If the game is almost over, now is the time to end it.

You have to pick at least three "perks," which are really buffs before you can start Hardcore Mode. Some of these could make it harder to sneak, lighten your load, or even make it impossible to ask for directions (yes, that's real; more on that in a moment).

A lot of people think that Hardcore Mode is mostly about making battles harder. That's kind of true, but not in the way you might think. Combat doesn't always get deadlier. The enemy doesn't seem to hit harder. That's what even the developers have said. Most of the HUDs have been taken away during combat, which is the biggest change. Like your health, stamina, and the icons for your sword and shield? Gone.

You'll have to remember or see things that help you keep track of how hurt you are, like how your screen looks and how many times you've been hit. It's harder to block and parry perfectly because of that little shield icon you're used to? That's also gone.

You'll still do well in one-on-one fights if you've trained your muscles to remember what to do. But things get complicated when you have more than one enemy. Since there is no longer a warning indicator, you can't reliably stop attacks from the side. You'll probably be hit from directions you didn't expect, which makes it really hard.

The extra difficulty was kind of fun for me; it's not brutally hard, just noticeably harder. This could be your jam if you thought KCD2 was too easy. But here's the thing: navigation is what really changes things in Hardcore Mode. You don't see where you are on the map anymore. When you open it again, it only shows you where you left off when you closed it. You're stuck if you get lost in the forest and don't know how to get back.

Visit the nearby town and ask someone to help you figure out where you are. That puts a flag on the map for a short time, giving you a point of reference. If not, you'll have to use landmarks, your memory, or ask someone for directions to find your way. The really cool thing is that one of the optional Hardcore perks stops you from ever asking for directions. That right there is ultra-hardcore territory.

It gets harder to sneak as well. Fewer clues let you know when an enemy is nearby, and the famous "rabbit" for sneaky feedback is gone. If you want to complete stealth missions, you'll need to use your own judgment and skills.

They've been getting feedback on this since the early test builds, so it may be different by launch. The developers even showed off a version during a stream, so when the mode comes out, the systems might be better. I think that a lot of players will quickly use mods to change or get rid of some of these features because Hardcore Mode changes how you look around. Luckily, there are a lot of modders out there.

Many fans think that each update makes the game less stable, which is a bad sign. A hotfix was released to fix this, but it didn't fully fix the issues. The most important ongoing problem? Beds. When you get back to your owned bed after a quest, the door might be locked, and there's no way to get in. Or, you could pay for a room in a tavern and then get caught trespassing, which could get you kicked out by the owner.

This could happen at any time, and sometimes, it would happen after switching maps or finishing a quest. This was supposed to be fixed by hotfix 1.2.2, and for some players like me, it was. But not for everyone. It looks like PlayStation 5 users are still having trouble with these bed bugs, which make it hard to save or rest, basically making the game a nightmare to play.

Besides the bed mess, NPCs have also begun to behave badly. The Goatskin quest was fixed, but it's still broken because Goatskin doesn't appear to talk to the merchant. Other NPCs act in similarly strange ways; they don't react to what's going on or even notice that the game is over.

During the ending, many of the NPCs who should be talking just walk away. The last area feels like it's stuck in the past, like it's still part of the final quest, even though it's over. On top of all that, PlayStation 5 users are also seeing more visual bugs.