How does Scythe 2 compare in difficulty to other WADs?

[Jiggahertz]

Scythe 2 is one of the WADs that I want to play eventually and I know that it's known for being pretty difficult, I'm just curious how difficult it is on UV when compared to Sunlust, Sunder, and other WADs on UV?

[Nefelibeta]

First 4 episodes are relatively moderate. Later 2 episodes are similar to mid-late sunlust maps, definitely not as hard as sunder though.

[Endless]

I haven't played Sunlust nor Sunder, but those are well regarded as extremely difficult WADs since the get-go.

 

Scythe 2 on the other hand is well known for having a progressive difficulty curve, until the last 10 or so maps, where it really jumps into highly challenging level, perhaps similar to Sunlust.

 

Sunlust and Sunder are WADs that I don't see a casual player beating on UV. You gotta have a lot of patience and balls to make it through. If you beat those WADs, I think you can boast about being a Doom God.

 

Scythe 2 is more approachable, and while the last maps are a kick in the teeth, it's not as agonizing as Sunder or Sunlust.

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

1 hour ago, Nefelibeta said:

First 4 episodes are relatively moderate. Later 2 episodes are similar to mid-late sunlust maps, definitely not as hard as sunder though.

Good way of describing it. I'm by no means a DOOM God (I use a controller) but I managed to finish Sunlust and Scythe 2, with Sunlust being more difficult but still on the same page, just difficult in a different way. The first half of Scythe 2 poses very little threat. Sunder isn't even comparable and is made in a completely different style.

[Jiggahertz]

Ok all of that clears it up

For some reason I was under the impression that it was some ultra-difficult WAD but apparently it's easier than a lot of stuff that I've already beaten on UV

Edited August 13, 2022 by Jiggahertz

[Borg]

It's been a couple years since I played Scythe 2 and I think I will play it again soon, now that you have brought it up. I just finished Sunder map 10. I consider myself an average player. Keyboard only, no pistol start and I save at safe points. There is nothing in Scythe 2, as I remember,  that compares with Sunder in difficulty and I'm only at map 11. I doubt that I would have gotten this far on my own. I rely on decino at times for strategy.

I reserve the right to be wrong about Scythe 2 though, until I play it again.

[Stupid Bunny]

Scythe II is quite manageable until exactly MAP23 at which point it very sharply decides it's done with mercy and stays that way for the remainder of its length

[ImproversGaming]

My standard reference for things like this post:

Scythe 2 is on the list! There is no universal answer for difficulty as it really depends on how you play and the settings and motivations you have. However, this list was cultivated by folding in the input of responders from the community so carries some useful impact. Have a look and see what you think!

I am playing through this list in order and am nearing the end of Scythe! Great fun!

 

[Borg]

I started S2 . How many of you have been able to get to map 32?

I'm not quick enough. You have maybe 10 seconds. Maybe it was Alm's way of saying "don't bother".

I thought 32 was OK.

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by Borg

[baja blast rd.]

40 minutes ago, Borg said:

I started S2 . How many of you have been able to get to map 32?

I'm not quick enough. You have maybe 10 seconds. Maybe it was Alm's way of saying "don't bother".

I thought 32 was OK.

 

If you're way too slow, you might want to practice the movement in -nomonsters for a bit so you can beat that comfortably. The route I use is YK (behind the crates), BK, RK, exit -- and you need to straferun a lot. The minimum distance path has you a lot closer to the edges of the platforms (borderline falling off at times) rather than "safely" on solid ground all the time. RK -> YK -> BK also works but I think I'd mess up more in the tighter spaces so I like getting the YK out of the way faster. Either way whatever works for you is best. 

 

If you're just getting blocked a lot by the marines, the key is your SSG shots at the two pedestal keys should be proactive/defensive. They should be fired such that they would bump a marine out of the way were it to block you (but probably miss otherwise). This is opposed to reactive play, which is actually responding to what is going on in front of you. If your approach is reactive and you're trying to skirt around the marines, they can always configure themselves such that the available path you have will be too slow, so there will be a lot more RNG. And aiming at the marines the times they're out of position is a waste and can mess up movement. 

 

Here's an exit (actually has a slow bump at the very start, which should probably be a reset, but still makes it comfortably :P). 

 

 

[baja blast rd.]

This is even better. Challenged myself to get it 3x in a row. 

 

 

The key is there is no key! It's recognizing that not needing the keys -- you just need to cross triggers around 32 mu away from their center -- gives you a lot more slack.

 

The yellow key barrier is the most free. You just have to run past the little patch of terrain in front of the key. The most consistent way to do this, amusingly, is to plow straight into the plasma dude, who will usually move. I have missed the other keys too, but I usually end up grabbing them because that's simpler, but don't reset if you get slightly nudged off the key trajectory. The relevant trigger for the other keys is the dark gray square they are resting on. 

[Borg]

Ah! That's right. You don't need the keys. You just need to trigger the W1 linedef action.

 

[Gougaru]

Would you guys recommend a warm up wad before tacticaling it. Or is it more of Baptism of fire type experience 

[Clippy]

It's deceptive lol. Survived first 20 maps and felt like a hero til 21 happened. Recently beat 26 blind saveless tho my best accomplishment of the year prolly

[Gougaru]

25 minutes ago, Clippy said:

It's deceptive lol. Survived first 20 maps and felt like a hero til 21 happened. Recently beat 26 blind saveless tho my best accomplishment of the year prolly

I don't mind a challenge at all. Plus it's a classic. It's weird I've never tried it before 

[Lucius Wooding]

I don't think the first maps are much of a challenge, it will warm you up itself. Around the halfway point it steps up and gets difficult but there's much harder stuff out there these days. It's just got a certain amount of scale to it later on, and makes you kill tons of monsters quickly to survive. The difficulty curve starts to kick in around map 20 IMO, especially in regards to map length. Playing with saves will probably help you out a lot on this wad, personally trying to UV max single segment made the longer maps a big pain in my ass.

 

I generally don't like most of Scythe 2 that much, even though it's clearly very influential and had a lot of work put into it. I've played some of Erik Alm's other stuff and liked it better. These days it's certainly worth playing and a good accomplishment to beat, but there's so much else to play out there. I will say I like it much better than Alien Vendetta though because it has at least some attention paid to quality of life for the player. 

 

Spoiler

The Afrits I can deal with. The plasma marines annoyed the fuck out of me. I don't know if they're meant for people with deathmatch skills but I found them unforgivably terrible to deal with. I play UV max saveless when possible and had a great run on map 20 but got bodied at the ending. This probably made me salty enough to pretty much bail on the wad.

 

I had a lot more fun getting stomped by Sunlust than holding my own against Scythe 2. It's subjective but I found the challenges in some wads addictive where others just turned me off and made me stop. I do plan to revisit it at some point but I have around 30 other wads queued up and a dozen new ones on the forums every week.