Hello,
I have played through all three of the campaigns for AoE III DE on ‘Hard’ difficulty, but I found all of the scenarios to be too easy. I like this game, but I want to experience challenging singleplayer scenarios that demand the highest level of skill and expertise. I do not care if the AI cheats to some degree, I just want to be challenged.
Can anyone please recommend me the most challenging custom scenarios that currently exist in this game?
Thank you.
New Ludicrous difficulty will come with the new DLC
Probably try again after September 10th. Not sure if the new harder mode is coming out as part of the update or the DLC (though the update would make more sense imo), but they are adding a harder mode.
I played part of it (in the bata), some levels were definitely still cheese-able, but I also didn’t make it out of the Morgan Black campaign and that was never the hardest one imo.
It wouldn’t be a custom scenario, but there is always playing vs 2+ AIs on the hardest level and keeping a running list of how many you beat on each map. That lets you find a level where you’re having trouble.
From that thread I made a post that mentions New Campaign “Ludicrous” difficulty level for all Campaigns & Historical Battles! from a post below 
Don’t worry, the next DLC will include two new difficulty modes: Story, so you can play through the story without any worries, and Ludicrous, where the AI will give you a hellish challenge and attack you relentlessly…
There are several…look for Troteck scenarios or those big maps where you face multiple enemies at once (there’s a Swedish campaign where you face enemies with 600 units)…I’m even remaking the original campaigns myself so you can play with the multiplayer civs (Maltese, British, Haudenosaunee, United States, etc., etc., etc.)…
I generally found most of the campaign is easier than playing against higher level Skirmish AI. With some exceptions. The Asian campaigns were generally harder than Blood, Ice, and Steel for sure. The Historical Battles vary in difficulty.
Did anyone else find Breakout in Act 1 to be way harder than Last Stand of the Boneguard in Act 3? Maybe it’s the constant enemy waves or being stuck with Crossbow/Pikemen only…
Yes, I agree… Breakout is difficult because you’re limited and defensive, whereas with LSotB you play offensively and can advance to the final age…
I tried to finish the expert difficulty (Ludicrous) during the beta time.
It was impossible. Some of those scenarios are so hard, they are basically unbeatable.
But you will defo enjoy playing them again on that difficulty, as it is quite a challange.
Sometimes had to restart the scenarios 5 times before i finally figured out a way / pattern to overcome the constant masses.
If the enemy has a preset base, you will be overun in the first minutes, and even lateron it will be insanelyhard, as the enemy units will have a 15% stat bonus. Cannons having 90% range resist, and so on,
It doesn’t help that your army consists of purely Crossbowmen and Pikemen. Meanwhile, the Ottomans are sending waves of Janissaries, Sipahi, and even Great Bombards. I swear the Janissaries kill the Pikemen before they even do much damage to the Sipahi. They should have introduced some Hoop Throwers in this mission, not the next one.
Enemy units in Ludicrous mode must have some insane stat upgrades. Cannons having 90% range resist would make the Great Bombards nigh impossible to kill until help arrives. Some missions might not have been balanced for it yet.
Yes, I’m testing the Maltese in the Blood campaign and at least I can use the Sentinels against the Janissaries and the Sipahi…at least they could let you use the Sentinels somehow if you already have the Mediterranean DLC…
Note, that if you have ally´s ( A third yellow player, or like the panese campaign where u have 2 allies ) They also have the increased stats
Pay to win in a solocampaign..?
Nah, I don’t think so…ultimately it would simply be optional and as a gesture of historical significance…
I might be wrong because I never uninstalled the DLC once I got it, but I was under the impression that some DLC content was still featured in various base game civilizations even if the DLC wasn’t bought.
Like Dutch getting the Belanda Hitam HCC that lets you train Akan Ankobias. That unit is from the African Royals DLC. Or Germany getting the Prince-Electors HCC that allows the training of various units from different Euro Royal Houses that were introduced in the Knights of the Mediterranean DLC. Do those cards disappear from the civilization’s deck if the DLC is not uninstalled?
If they are, then adding actual Maltese units to the Knights of St. John campaign faction would be a nice way to promote the KotM DLC and its units/cards for people who are starting out AoE3 via campaign and haven’t considered getting the DLC.
By extension, those of us that already have the DLC would appreciate actually having units that fit the campaign civs and it would allow for new strategies. Now that Mexico and United States civs are included in the base game, it would be appropriate to include their units in the appropriate campaigns as well. The current USA campaign civ is basically a British civ clone in all but name.
The developers are already doing something similar, but for the campaign AI. The Inca ally soldiers in the Last City of the Inca campaign level will actually use units from the full Inca civilization rather than the minor civ.
Yes, I’m playing the Maltese in the Blood campaign and basically the only unique units are 2 all the time: Sentinels (like musketeers) and Hospitallers (you can situationally create Fire Throwers to face the Janissaries, but I hardly ever use them until later ages)…in Pirates! since it’s more of a naval map, I’d use Order Galleys against Lizzie’s ships, and then obviously you have the Hospitals and Commandaries (plus the Mediterranean church and the tavern)…it’s curious, but also interesting…waiting to finish the Blood campaign to focus on the Ice campaign with the British and Haudenosaunee (the first two scenarios, being under the command of Stuart and Brunswick, John and Ká:nien would use the British, and from then until the end of the Ice campaign, Ká:nien’s Haudenosaunee tech tree)…In the Fire campaign, Nathaniel would do the reverse: Haudenosaunee first, then the United States civilization under Washington’s command, continued later by Amelia -in the Steel campaign- and Chayton to finish with the Lakota in the Shadow campaign…so it would be like this:
Blood campaign: Maltese
Ice campaign: British/Haudenousanee
Steel campaign: United States (the one from Multiplayer)
Fire campaign: Haudenousane/United States
Shadow campaign: United States/Lakota
Then, in the Asian campaigns, I would replace the civilizations with their multiplayer versions (I’ll see if I can include the Japanese and Aztecs in the Chinese campaign for variety sake, and in the Indian campaign, start with Edwardson’s British—for the EIC—until Nanib and Pravar switch sides and join the Indians in Resist!)…
