At least for the start of the game, opponents in hardcore get fairly modest bonuses, if at all (less than 10% extra health, mana and stats if there was any difference; only 1 of the resistance stats I looked at changed, and that was only by 1 point). It seems the doubling up of some opponents would prove more trouble than specific creatures being a little bit tougher. Playing again I would go with hardcore difficulty, but I don't think I would have the patience to reload at each level-up. On tactical with a warrior / archer combination I pretty much always had spare skill points (though I never got around to trying out traps or playing with many spells...).
Oh right, I didn't realise there was such little difference between tactical and hardcore. I only started playing through the game properly in hardcore because I read about the skill point bonus.
I still haven't finished playing through the whole of Beyond Divinity or even Divine Divinity, because I get sidetracked by just about every other game that's released. Fallout 3, Sacred 2, Far Cry 2, Mass Effect, Racedriver - GRID, Devil May Cry 4, The Witcher, Dead Space, etc. I've even got Eve Online and World of Warcraft accounts. Lord help me when Diablo III arrives.
