A bit of talk before diving in. Stay here, it's important !

For those that never bothered with Hardcore Mode, know that it's like the Hard Mode (that you need to beat in order to unlock Hardcore Mode), but you have 90% less health !

Quite the challenge : with this setup, most attacks will kill you in one hit. Not to mention Boss fights will be almost impossible.

I dare you to beat just the first Boss without being hit, giving how much health he has, and how little damage you do at this stage...

Also note that beating Hardcore Mode is required to unlock Canta as a playable character, thus it's required to get 100% achievements for this game.

Now to the good part.

I noticed a little something while I worked my way through the game : the items stats ... they stack.

So if you have 2 items with the same stats, you gain benefit from both items. There's also an item called "Knight's Shield" that give you 20% chance to avoid damage.

See where I'm going ? :)

Yes, if you manage to get 5 "Knight's Shield", you gain 5 * 20% = 100% dodge chance !!!

And how do we manage to do that ? With a bit of grind. The Knights in the first Biome can drop this item, and enemies can respawn.

Not entirely sure about it, but it seems enemies respawn (or not) based on how many rooms you explored before entering the room again. So if you can circle around the map, enemies will respawn, giving you a chance to collect the items you need.

It works for any items, but the "Knight's Shield" is the only one interesting enough.

Now, let's start the preparations. Hardcore Mode is a challenge, and even cannon fodder can kill you in one hit if you're not cautious.

You can do this with any character.

When you start a new run, you always find a big chest next to you. You can start a new run by going back to the bedroom in the menu. We will do so to get the item we want.

2 items are really interesting for us when starting a new run :
- Health Tonic : +20 health (to avoid dying too fast)
- Horseshoe : Doubles enemy drop rates (to cut down the time needed for the grind)

If you have either of these, you can try your chance. In my successful run, I started with the "Horseshoe" and stumbled upon the "Health Tonic" in a big chest.

- Open the chest
- If the item inside is not one of these 2, return to the bedroom
- Start a new run
- Repeat

Once you're equipped, explore the first biome.

Once it's fully explored, explore the rooms once more by going in a circle, to let the time for the enemies to respawn.

Kill all enemies, and specifically target the Knights that might drop the Shield. They also drop "Knight's Spear" (not bad as a first weapon), and "Armor" giving you 20% damage reduction, but it's better to avoid damage entirely.

The grind will surely take some time if you don't have the "Horseshoe", but bear with it.

Once you have your 5 shields, congrats ! You're now invincible !

And now : GO KICK THEIR ASSES !