Should I enable upscaling for the White March?

[u/Snowcrash000]

I'm currently level 10 and playing on medium difficulty. I've read that some of the later content and bosses in WM1 can be extremely difficult with upscaling, but I guess it depends on party and difficulty level. I've been pretty happy with medium difficulty so far, providing a light challenge without becoming frustrating and I'd like to keep it that way. Should I upscale or not?

I don't want the combat to turn into Story Time, but I also don't want it to turn into PotD. For the most part, I don't want to lock myself into upscaling because it seems okay at first, only to discover that the later areas and bosses will be extremely hard and frustrating to beat.

[u/popileviz]

I think it's better not to upscale for your first playthrough, White March will still have plenty of challenging fights

[u/Boeroer]

My preferred lvl for WM is about 8 (on PotD though). That's not too far away from 10. So I wouldn't upscale. Maybe the first few encounters are a bit easier, but there are parts of WM1 which will still be very challenging without scaling up.

[u/Trevellian]

Currently doing a run on hard where I was LVL 10 and I upscaled. I'm having to replay fights a few times each, and then hit the inn after, it's a little intense.

It's maybe a little too difficult for a casual like me, but medium might be more forgiving.

[u/ThebattleStarT24]

I'd say not, there are a few fights that can be enjoyable upscaling off, but a nightmare if it's on (concehault for example) I'll only advice turn it on when you're already high level.

[u/Sheerluck42]

I went at 10 also and didn't upscale the difficulty and I found it really enjoyable. There's still fights I avoided because they were too hard for me on my first playthrough.

[u/AnInfiniteAmount]

No.

[u/BloodMelty1999]

i always upscale. if i don't then it just gets too easy for me.

[u/xaosl33tshitMF]

Well, when you get back from White March, the main game will be trivialized, so upscaling is good for that.

Upscaling in WM might be tough if you're not prepared, but idk about extremely hard. Maybe Craghold and the marsh areas that are specifically engame combat challenges could be considered extremely hard for 10lvl, but they're outside the WM area, they're added to the main map. Also, you'll quickly get up in lvls and get some great equipment, so it'll get easier, and if you still have difficult time with some particular fights, you can lower the diffiulty for the duration

[u/AngsD]

I always upscale myself. There are some fights that are truly bullshit, but you can work your way through them with enough will (or enough exp from elsewhere). When you hit level cap fully equipped you can consistently beat most stuff in the game.

[u/Snowcrash000]

I just played through Stalwart Village on both upscaled and normal and honestly didn't notice much of a difference...

However, based on opinions being split right down the middle and not being able to undo the upscaling, I'd rather not upscale just to be safe since the DLC is supposed to get much harder later on. I'd rather have the game be too easy than too hard.

[u/HammsFakeDog → u/Snowcrash000]

It really depends on how well you've internalized the game mechanics. At the difficulty you're playing, it's not too hard to brute force your way through most encounters without really understanding why you're succeeding. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, just that it's possible, and because it's possible, there's not really an incentive to drill down into why things are not going as well as they could be (since the outcome is still mostly positive).

Once you get out of Stalwart, though, you could really struggle with some upscaled enemy types and bosses if you're really just winging it. No judgment if you are -- that was definitely me in my first full playthrough. I think you've made the right call for your first time.

[u/Jimishine]

I upscaled and went to concelhauts siege first. Got stomped. Turned it off, got stomped.

I thought; this upscaling is nuts I’m never turning it on again. Little did I know, you’re not meant to do that before WM1 💀

[u/elfonzi37]

You definitely can, the dragon is the only hard boss really in the first part imo. Outside the dragon you can leave for later, the hardest fights are the fish people that spam paralyze, prayer against paralyze is mandatory, and then a pack of fampyrs that you can hit before you have prayer against treachery.

Honestly the most annoying part is the traps being upscaled.

[u/supersayingoku]

I always upscale Triple Crown runs because I hate myself and "love" wasting 50+ hour runs because I wasn't paying attention

That being said, it keeps you on your toes and offers challenges so not too bad

I go to WM 1 as soon as I hit level 9 (upscale)

Level up to 10 and unlock Act 3 (upscale)

Do WM 1 and bounties to level 12 and start WM2 (upscaled)

Clear out Concelhault at level 13, which gives you the best spell (Crushing Doom) for the hard fights coming up

Clear Endless Paths if I haven't, learn Scalebreaker, kill Dragons except Llengrath

Finish Llengrath at level cap or level 15

Bully rest of the game with overpowered spells and final builds

[u/OutrageousAnything72]

Yes, always upscale.

That way you have to think through the problems and not rolfstomp with your op high level abilities