I don't think there is an objective "best." There's just "best for you." For me, since I have nerve damage in my hands that makes it harder to manipulate a mouse, "best" is easy, though I've recently been trying out the default/medium setting and been doing OK. I've never tried hard difficulty and probably never will because of the disability, so I have no idea if it's "broken," but I wouldn't think so, since the other levels seem fine.

I don't think the enemies have "ridiculous" hit points. For me, on easy with mid-level weapons, many of the enemies go down with one well-placed shot. On medium, the same enemy seems to require two well-placed shots. So, I imagine on hard it would require three well-placed shots.

This explains what that setting does.
Also available in-game in the PDA!

https://empyrionbuddy.com/pda/difficulty-scaling-eden_pda_iWiqeGs/re2/english

Thanks for that, so Medium is realistic, High favours the enemy.

just after most realistic settings before starting new game, going for a one life iron man run in re2, see how far i can get, starting on Masperon.

Great work by the way.

Easy:
Enemies deal 50% damage and take 200% damage.

Normal:
Enemies deal 100% damage and take 100% damage.

Hard:
Enemies deal 200% damage and take 50% damage.

Also Explosion Damage will wipe you out even with best armor. I've had that happen a few times, be careful opening fire on enemy if you are standing near explosive barrels.

It's worth noting than Vanilla's settings are currently harder than RE2's. With enemies in RE2 having significantly less hp than vanilla enemies (e.g. A Zirax Soldier has 350 hp in RE2 and 500 hp in Vanilla) and will always be under level 4.

Are there any battles in RE2 on High Enemy Difficulty that would be impossible without a trip to the clone chamber? (e.g. abandoned bunker, etc), if the answer is NO then High it is for me.

Also I think a one life save wipe if you die mode would be great and also an option to disable the factory so you are forced to build everything from scratch yourself.

But all that aside RE2 makes this game 100 times better and I thank you for your work.

I think most of the abandoned POIs are doable as long as you are very careful and not get sloppy, with the possible exception of abandoned factory (unless you know some safe away around the two nasty things in the middle).

Originally posted by ZomBeGone:

...with the possible exception of abandoned factory (unless you know some safe away around the two nasty things in the middle).

In abandoned factories, I am far more likely to die in the lowest level than in the Turret Room o' Death, thanks to the various combat androids and their infallible aim, at least until I have some "epic" weapons that have good bonuses against mechanoids.

I think the key in the turret room is 1) Light armor + mobility boost and 2) using the thin, partially-destroyed walls on the right-hand side of the room as you enter it as cover and 3) distracting the turrets with your drone to get them looking away from you.

So, my strategy for the Abandoned Factory Room o' Death:

1) Get rid of the combat mechs. Thankfully, they usually spawn near the door and stay in that area, so you can pick them off without actually entering the room.

2) Sprint all to the first tall bit of the second thin wall mentioned above. If you're running, the turrets can't usually hit you, unless you're bogged down by heavy armor. (I usually wear light armor with an armor boost plus a mobility boost until I get through the turret room, then go back to my ship and change to something heavier for the lower level.)

3) Unleash your drone, move it down as low as possible to the ground, then send it back to the door. Dance it around a bit so that it gets the turrets' attention. Repeat, if necessary, until both turrets are looking at the door instead of where you are.

4) Make a mad dash up the far side of the room until you reach the switch that turns off the turret closest to you, which is attached to a deco capacitor that you can hide behind. If you're moving fast enough, the turrets can't turn fast enough to get a bead on you. (Again, light armor + mobility boost is key, I think)

5) Take out the abominations that are usually wandering around the "control room" area, though sometimes they come out and wander around the turret room, in which case you'll need to take them out sooner.

6) Make a mad dash into the "control room" and hit the switch to turn off the other turret.

7) Profit.

I do still sometimes die doing this, so I guess still not good if you insist on a "permadeath" sort of thing, I suppose, but I succeed I'd say 90% of the time.

You should try a one life run, its much more fun and rewarding when you escape with your life, makes you think and plan carefully before committing to any offensive action. It's mostly some stupid mistake that gets you because you rushed in without thinking or you got cocky because you were doing well.

I have only done it once and it went pretty bad until i figured out the far side of the room was the best way to go. And I was using heavy armor. Died probably 4-5 times. I farm the other abandoned POIs but pass on the "turret room o' death" :D

I rarely die except by bleeding out because I did not see that I was burned AND bleeding. I cure the burn then a bit later I bleed out. That is about 90% of how I die in RE2 :D

I did really well last run, started with an energy bar, survival tool, 1 bandage, and 5 oxygen canisters on Masperon, made it up to CV with superior CPU extenders. Got to last stage in abandoned reactor, one switch to pull to blow reactor, already pulled the other switch when two zirax showed up, opened fire near explosive barrels BOOM game over, had a red armor booster with improved heavy armor on too that i got from one of the abandoned depot raids, you live and learn, or die and learn should I say. :D

You know you're... not meant to do a mad dash across that room right?
You can either launch your drone and have it point the turrets away from you to give you more time; or the intended method of crouching behind the boxes and debris and moving across the room safely, until you reach the capacitors on the wall where the switch is.

Originally posted by Vermillion:

You know you're... not meant to do a mad dash across that room right? ...

Now you tell me :D

Originally posted by Maddog316:

You should try a one life run, its much more fun and rewarding when you escape with your life, makes you think and plan carefully before committing to any offensive action. It's mostly some stupid mistake that gets you because you rushed in without thinking or you got cocky because you were doing well.

LOL, I think and plan carefully even though I don't play "permadeath." It's in my nature because I am nothing if not overly-cautious. I would not enjoy a permadeath thing. It would only make me anxious and the game not-fun. I don't need anxiety, and I play games to have fun. As it is, I play this game such that death has no consequences at all, so I don't even have to retrieve a backpack when I die. It's my compensation for nerve-damaged hands making manipulating a mouse to play games more difficult than it is for a "normal" person, especially games involving first-person shooting as this one does, because I probably die a lot more often than the average player. I just don't (generally) die in the turret room of abandoned factories, though.

Different people find different things to be fun and all that, and I'm happy that you've found a way to play that is fun for you. :)

Originally posted by ZomBeGone:

I farm the other abandoned POIs but pass on the "turret room o' death" :D

Aw! The factories are my fave! Especially in RE2 with the relevant loot tables, so you get some stuff that you'd otherwise have to buy from factories that you have to unlock.

I rarely die except by bleeding out because I did not see that I was burned AND bleeding. I cure the burn then a bit later I bleed out. That is about 90% of how I die in RE2 :D

My most common death is being bum-rushed by abominations. Even with a flamethrower I get overwhelmed because I just can't move my character around fast/well enough. I need to try a modded flamethrower, I think...

I have had good results lately with the laser minigun. It can work at a distance (unlike the normal minigun), and works very good against bum-rushes. It can even take down the normal sentry turrets (not the greens) quickly so less weapon changes. I have been using that, a laser rifle, and rocket launcher pretty much exclusively for the last few days and pretty happy with it.