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Hardcore Ultra Realism

Kenshi as it should be - tougher, rawer, relentless and brutal.

Hardcore Ultra Realism is a pure vanilla hardcore, realistic, survival based overhaul. Dive into a fast-paced world where just being alive is a feat, and thriving a legend. Brace yourself for brutal combat, fierce predators, and a merciless climate that will end your dreams. Witness Kenshi in its raw, unfiltered glory - exactly as it was meant to be seen!

Everything that could be done to make Kenshi realistic, harder and quicker, has been done by resourceful and much more engaging means. All this while keeping the game Vanilla in all it's designs.

This mod has been a long time in the making, and I'm finally making it public.

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Playing Kenshi since it's early beginnings, I played vanilla endlessly and tried virtually every overhaul made. The big and ambitious world expansions and the complex mod-packs full of stuff. And it turns out what I loved the most was Vanilla Kenshi. But something always made me get bored: the dumbed down combat, unnecessary time commitment and in-viability of a serious iron-man play-though.

So I made combat as realistic as could be, inspired by how realism can be fun by games such as Kingdom Come: Deliverance. But then, Kenshi being what it is, will just kill you! So what was the second thing I realized that was boring was simply the not-so well done role playing aim of Kenshi. No game was supposed to try and be that, because role playing should come at your own initiative. The game should be, in the first place, a game. Something you must do your best to beat. Something you can actually restart instead of HAVING to reload the game because of the time commitment. Setting out to work since 2021 (It was a mod-pack then), I think my vision and commitment paid out immensily. Kenshi is now the tough beast I always hoped it would be.


In vanilla Kenshi you paid for your mistakes with your time, now you pay with valuable resources or your life. I've revamped the entire game, in every way possible, to be more realistic and less time consuming. The game now emphasizes realistic combat, strategy, and economy, with an all encompassing more brutal world, while speeding the boring parts to realistically allow for the eventual restart after death. Gone are the exploits and shallow tactics, making way for a game that prevails in logic. Well thought out mechanics, difficulty and progression work seamlessly together to bring forth Kenshi as a challenging game instead of a lying down simulator.

I present to you, with all my heart put into it, and challenge you to try and beat what me and my friends have dubbed the "hardcok mode". I hope you have as much fun playing as I have had in making it!

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This overhaul should be used without any other mods, for it changes or re-balances almost everything in the base game, even lighting settings. Feel free to use texture, UI and optimization mods.

Subscribe and, in the launcher, place "hardcok combat" at the bottom, after all other mods. Remember to "Refresh" first and "Save Config" when done.



1. No other mods must be used.

2. Game's settings must have "Show damage floaters" set to "off"; everything else on Game's Settings and Advanced Settings before starting must be kept on default (1).

3. Reloading saves (save-scumming) for any reason ends the challenge.

Everything else is fair game. Go get them!

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You are tasked with the killing. The challenge is complete when everyone on this list is dead: https://kenshi.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Bosses

KILLING. Not delivering the bounty or trapping them; they need to DIE.

The one who accomplishes such feat will be forever blessed with utmost confidence in his perseverance and cognitive ability, being recognised as a mad-man of feats; a hero of mankind; a daredevil with no care for supposed impossibilities, with rights to the well deserved title of "King of Kenshi" as well as "Master of Strategy" or "Sun-Tzu the Second", and most importantly: the HARDCOK.

Expect death and suffering.

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• Combat is realistic, balanced and deadly. Expect what a real sword hit would do to you unarmored (you die) .
  
  
• I have implemented my own "No cut efficiency" mechanics, and the armor system has been completely redone to be realistic. All weapons have blunt damage equal to their real weight, to balance this out in a realistic manner.
  
  
• Most people are now better equipped, so no more all around prototype tier equipment that only serves to debuff.
  
  
• People will be temporarily hostile if you sneak near them, and sneaking inside towns or shops is a crime. No more knocking passerby unimpeded also. You are not that ninja: stealth is a real feat now.
  
  
• You can try to lock-pick all locks, but they are incredibly more difficult and time consuming.
  
  
• Useful items have been added, such as the prisoner pole, survival tents and rope for tying up prisoners.
  
  
• Beasts and the horrors have realistic speeds. Good luck outrunning them now.
  
  
• You start at a slow jogging speed, up to 16mph or 25km/h at level 99. Wearing the correct gear and using bionics is essential in order to run fast now.
  
  
• Population and animal spawns of the entire world have been remade to be realistic. Fertile areas and urban surroundings have more people and are full of conflict, for example.
  
  
• All predators can EAT YOU ALIVE, but they are rarer all around, as meeting one will surely mean your death unless you know your ways. (Did you know skimmers were supposed to suck your blood? Well, now they will.)
  
  
• All around Item and body weights are made realistic, and ancient tech items weight way more, so don't bother bee-lining the ruins for your get rich quick scheme.
  
  
• All around prices for everything are made to fit the lore of Kenshi, striving for utmost realism while preventing metas.
  
  
• Houses, taxes and bed rents are specifically much more expensive. Fortifications are realistically stronger, but cost way more materials to build.
  
  
• There are no more random hobos to recruit. The only characters who can be recruited are the unique (who are also expensive and non-replaceable). You can still risk buying slaves or freeing them in the off-chance they will join you, which is way more realistic.
  
  
• Healing in beds has gotten a completely new mechanic: it is now way faster but will consume a lot of nutrition, so having food to recover is essential.
  
  
• You will level up much faster when fighting opponents tougher than you and actually gain strength using heavy weapons, balancing out the average thousand fold reduction in your life expectancy and allowing for a legit and feasible permadeath play through.
  
  
• Plus many many more changes. Too much to list here. Try it out for yourself and see how far you can get!

The game is completely different, so before you start, make sure to read the tips!

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The complexity of this Overhaul would not have been possible without Lawh's "Sneaking is Sus" mod. Make sure to check out his wonderful work!

I have also merged in Rebitaay's "Sensible Nomadism" mod. This should have been Vanilla. Check out the original mod.

[ko-fi.com]