Flash, same thing happened to me. I started of on action which was too easy, then switched to tactical for the bulk of Act I. At the battlefield, the skeletons were too easy so I chose to move to Hardcore, which is dang hard once I returned to the main game and had to face a Citadel Death Knight. It seems every creature does double the damage, hits twice as often, and takes half the damage....ouch! I feel up to the challenge but its going to make gaming life difficult. I don't like having to reload several times every battle for lucky breaks or using endless potions. This is my first time through, so I anticipate frustration... I may just start over and go tactical. I have had to pull the steal gold technique just to keep enough potions on hand, not cool. All the monsters are quite above me in level and kick my butt unless play hard and dirty. Heeeelp <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohh.gif" alt="" />