Cruel

This article describes historical game content.

Cruel difficulty was the moniker for the level-upscaled versions of Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3 temporarily introduced during Early Access as a replacement for Acts 4 to Act 6, before a player can reach Endgame.

Cruel difficulty was removed in Version 0.3.0 and replaced with Act 4 and three Interludes.

Overview

After defeating the act boss of Act 3 and being at least Level 25, the player will advance to Act 1 at Cruel difficulty. The permanent -10% all resistance penalty will apply after the completion of each Cruel act as well.

Cruel difficulty contains the same areas, monsters, and quests (with some minor differences). The difference between the default difficulty is primarily the increased area level, consequentially increasing the local monster level and item level within these areas.

Higher level versions of some existing equipment base types will also begin to appear in these areas, usually designated by "Advanced" in the item name. These are placeholder base types as equipment is themed towards each act they begin appearing in.

Cruel acts will not repeat tutorials found in the earlier acts.

Content differences from regular acts

• Some areas may have new monster types.
• Quest rewards provide higher level or different rewards.
• Chests and strongboxes innately have 50% more item rarity and quantity.
• The ending of Act 3 is different.

Version history

Version	Changes
0.3.0	The Third Edict also marks the removal of Cruel Difficulty. We've introduced three new temporary interludes, a set of side stories that will take you to level 65, where the Endgame begins.
0.2.0	Characters are now required to be at least level 25 to enter Cruel difficulty areas and level 50 to enter Endgame areas.
0.1.0	Introduced to the game.