SSF: Only for the Elite? >:)

SSF players, please share your thoughts! Why SSF? Why do you prefer it? Or if you play both modes, which one do you enjoy more and why?

I already know the differences, so no need to explain those! I just want to hear your personal opinions based on your own experience and playstyle.

If you've played both modes for a long time, your insights would be super helpful! I'm trying to decide for the new patch but don’t have enough time to fully dive into both.

Thanks a lot, lovelies! 💖

It is the same idea when deciding to play a game on normal mode or hard mode. We are just choosing a more challenging mode.

Personally, even before they added SSF to the game I already avoid to engage trade, so it wasn't that different to me at least.

I'm by no ways elite, but I did complete the campaign on SSF and had a blast.

1. I don't think it's good for a 1st playthrough. If you ever hit a wall in the normal game, trading for a good item will almost always bail you out. SSF you have to grind/start over. You need to know the game well enough to know where to allocate resources, kind of like old resident evil games?

2. No economic pressure, nobody to compare yourself too, no FOMO, kind of like a classic video game. Can you finish all bosses or not? Doesn't matter if you blaze it in 2 hours or 20 hours. In normal game there is strong peer pressure to one shot everyone and zoom through the game, it can get excessive. In trade league your opponent is other players. In SSF your opponent is the game.

3. Personally there is a stronger feeling of accomplishemnt. Trading advantage is *significant*. One good item will crank your damage up by 50-100%. You have to earn these items in SSF. When you trade a measly exalt for it, it's not the same.

4. You never alt-tab to a website to make the game easier. Better immersion.

5. Towns are empty. This can make the game feel empty but your frame rates are a lot better.

Elite would be hardcore, or hardcore SSF. I tried those. Far too punishing, and you stop taking risks. SSF is not as punishing, it's just a resource-starved mode.

Also want to add, for new patches, for a new league, I'd always play trade because I want to experience the new interactions with the least friction. SSF is best as a alternate endgame, once I get tired of normal endgame.

SSF HC

I am not an "Elite" player but I think it provides the best gaming experience.

It all starts with actually being able to lose.

Try it sometime, put a real effort into trying to win. Far more rewarding. When I have played softcore, I just don't give a shit because it doesn't matter if you die. Losing a map or some EXP isn't enough to make me care.

Thanks for awsome comments fellas

A game mode doesn't make you elite.

Your ability makes your elite. All game modes have em.

I am a SSF player which I prefer it. I am a 100% solo person even without trading online. However, I do wish they would provide this mode with a more increased droprate on items for the player. Also tone down the difficulty level EndGame to make it more enjoyable for the casuals.

Im just not a hardcore style player to which I believe the majority of players are the same. Hardcore players have always been the minority in many of the games ive played.

The problem with trade is that - if properly taken advantage of - it trivializes the game.

It also puts you on a hamster wheel of chasing FOMO, because if you actually do want to engage in it, you either do what is most profitable, or you stay behind the curve as far as the market is concerned.
This pertains to everything - from mapping strategies to the builds themselves.

If you wish to play the game the way you _actually_ want to, then SSF is the answer. You decide what to build, what to pick up off the ground and what areas of the game to focus on.

In trade that choice is just an illusion and whilst you can force yourself to resist the temptations of FOMO, one has to ask why even play that mode then?

"

arandan#3174 wrote:

The problem with trade is that - if properly taken advantage of - it trivializes the game.

It also puts you on a hamster wheel of chasing FOMO, because if you actually do want to engage in it, you either do what is most profitable, or you stay behind the curve as far as the market is concerned.
This pertains to everything - from mapping strategies to the builds themselves.

If you wish to play the game the way you _actually_ want to, then SSF is the answer. You decide what to build, what to pick up off the ground and what areas of the game to focus on.

In trade that choice is just an illusion and whilst you can force yourself to resist the temptations of FOMO, one has to ask why even play that mode then?

I can't say for sure what you mean by FOMO, but I think you're referring to the inevitable pull that shapes our gameplay over time. Like, I was happily rocking my Galvanic Xbow for ages, doing my own thing… and then, at some point, I just had to switch to HoWA. It just happens, right? Are you talking about that kind of inevitability when playing outside of SSF? 😊