Kingdom Come Deliverance 2’s hardcore mode is out now

Last month, “Mark Corrigan’s Oblivion” Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 got a free barber mode update, and now with yesterday’s release of Patch 1.2.4, you can finally have those RPG barbers shave Henry of Skalitz boiled butter bean bald. Did baldness signify nail-hard bastardry in medieval times, or simply some kind of maledicted scalp leprosy? Hopefully it’s the former. Henry’ll need to look tough to survive the new Hardcore mode.

The first casualty of this set of difficulty modifiers is Henry’s sense of direction. You’ll no longer know exactly where you are on the map, and your compass won’t show cardinal directions either. Instead, you’ll have to ask NPCs where you are to get your bearings, and look to the heavens to guide your way. No fast travel, either.

There’s a selection of 10 negative perks to choose before you start the game, of which you’ll have to pick three. For example, you can give Henry a chance to throw his back out while picking herbs, a personal favourite for how mundane and insulting it is. The underground herb economy isn’t what it used to be either – the patch also promises a rebalance so “they never sell for a higher price than their buying price”. Tracking down a full list of the perks has been a little tricky, but here’s an Imgur gallery with just that.

There’s also no combat UI, enemies are more aggressive, and if you get branded for going on a crime spree, there’s a perk that makes the brand permanent. I like the sound of it overall. There’s a few instances of flat number tweaking, but I can see things having to ask NPCs for directions make the world feel absorbingly textured. I’ve actually been waiting for this patch to have a proper playthrough. If you don’t fancy any of this, the hardcore medieval roleplayers over at Nexusmods are already cooking up fixes for basically everything interesting about the new mode. What are they like, eh!