Also, don't reload after you've collected the inactive Mines. Be careful not to launch the Mines too close to yourself or each other. When you pick up the Mines they go into your inventory slots, not back into the Detonators. Launch all the Mines and use alt-fire to deactivate said Mines. Go to the nearest Store and buy them for free, like all DLC weapons. This is how it works: you need to have at least one of the DLC Detonators (preferably both). You can sidestep the scarce resource problems inherent to a New Game by using the Detonator exploit. This will force you to learn important details about each major encounter (such as where/which enemies spawn and when, as well as the safest spots to engage enemies from) and develop a good strategy that you can carry over to your Hardcore run. Also, try restarting a room if you think you could've been a lot more ammo-efficient. To really prepare yourself, play through the game on Zealot difficulty and select "Restart from Checkpoint" each time you get hit, until you can get through most areas without taking damage.
The player should plan out where each of his/her three saves will be, remembering that there are some extremely difficult areas in the game that the player will likely die in.ĭLC like the Supernova Pack can help by giving a high-quality suit like the Forged Engineering Suit at the first Store. It is recommended to play through the game while noting possible Save Stations and item pickups before attempting Hardcore. Hardcore mode is unlocked after beating the game on any difficulty so a player must play through the game at least once. To beat Hardcore mode, a player must be conservative, enduring, patient, and skilled. The enemies are around Survivalist mode in terms of durability and damage output, while ammo drops are the same size as Zealot mode. The experience is notably different from any other difficulty setting as checkpoints are disabled and the player is allowed only three saves for the entire game in Dead Space 2, where Dead Space 3's hardcore mode allows infinite saves but the player will not be able to reload save upon death. It is unlocked by completing the game on any difficulty. Hardcore mode is the hardest difficulty in Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3.