Those costs for re-rolling end up being more than the merces you miss out by just failing it.
Okay, I only now learned that in hardcore mode prestige objectives must be successfully passed or the campaign is failed. I thought the complaints were just about being forced to accept them.
Can anyone confirm if the campaign fails instantly the second a Prestige Objective becomes impossible to complete?
I’m terrified of edge cases… say, killing the leader during a tell. If you poison their drink, does it work? Are they still technically doing their “tell” during the poisoning animation?
I tested it the day of release.
So no, I think you could theoretically altf4’d it
(yes I quote one of my own post)
I’m staying well clear of Hardcore mode 
I only just managed to do the normal mode! 
Best to beat try to play Hardcore mode as soon as possible and when your mercer account is relatively low to minimize the impact for failing. And only bring weapons when you absolutely have to and limit yourself to gear you lose regardless where it is if you fail. Oh and do this before IO does something like require players to have 500,000-1,000,000 mercers to play in Hardcore.
That’s why ioi said planning is very important. If SA is impossible, then why choose it? Obviously choose the sheriken, throw it and run.
Timers makes sense to not exist in freelance cuz it’s all random so it’s contradictory whether in normal or hardcore. We’re supposed to plan everything. Not rush through it like a circus.
The point of hardcore is to play it in a more difficult manner. Doesn’t make sense to make hardcore mode…. Easier. lol.
Agreed. And there should be absolutely no reward for losing in Hardcore - no “I’ll Be Back” nor “A Worthy Sacrifice”.
Are all prestige objectives mandatory or only “at least one”?
EDIT: Sorry, my mistake: I mean side objectives. What do I have to do: only prestige, only one side objective, all side objectives or all side objkectives and the prestige objective?
Yes killing with a poisoned drink/food does count as killed during tell. I’ve done it myself.
On Hardcore mode, the only important objective is the prestige one. Other than that is optional. You can still finish a mission even if all the original mission objectives is not fulfilled except the prestige one but don’t ever failed prestige objective or your campaign will be over (can hard restart alt+f4 before you die or exit). My advice is choose the easiest one & don’t care about Merces in Hardcore mode 
Maybe I am a masochist – but I like the idea that the hardmode of Freelancer is “hard”.
I like the challenge where I have something to work for. Having said this, I haven’t had time to try Freelancer yet, but by the sounds of it, there is a lot to it, and it is engaging and immersive, and it doesn’t appear to be easy to master.
Everything about it should be hard. But but but, there shouldn’t be timer objectives/prestige in either normal or hardcore cuz again, it makes the mode feel like a circus. Planning and strategy are thrown out the window, a complete contradiction on what the mode is all about.
Yes I feel that the most out of places objectives are the timed ones, both in normal campaign and in hardcore.
Some of them aren’t even hard but just annoying like the timed one with hiding, it just feels weird.
I completed an hardcore contract in new york where this objective just feels stupid not hard at all.
In the map there are plenty of hiding spots and closets so the urge to hide every minute just feels stupid and like 47 is playing some kind of hide n seek with imaginary people.
It’s more like nan annoyance because if you know a map you know plenty of hiding places and again it feels so weird for having to use those obsessively, it’s almost as bad as the sloth 7DS escalation.
Maybe they will make adjustments of the timed objectives.
It is hard to get the balance right until it is play tested thoroughly by Hitman players, especially some of the hardcore ones on Hitmanforum.
I am certain that IOI were waiting for feedback, and have dedicated guys to scan reddit / Hitmanforum comments for what to change, maybe, possibly, absolutely?
What I don’t understand is how could they even make this decision to put timed objectives in a mode where planning, strategy and patience is the prime objective. This didn’t need any play testing.
Did someone say ioi say: I’m a freelancer but I love going in and out of closets and bins. 
Objectives where you are being railroaded into making immediate decisions is pretty consistent with different game modes that IOI have added in Hitman. Elusive targets are meant to break players out of their comfort zone, where you are forced into making decisions. In many elusive contracts, they have you break into a safe or kill a target, so that you are then committed to complete the challenge. In Sniper maps and in the Berlin the targets are all escaping and you have a time limit to kill all of your targets.
IOI have kept a lot of variety in Freelancer so that players are forced into playing guns blazing sometimes, where it is better that you remain stealthy sometimes, sometimes where they give you time for careful planning, and other times where you have to be fast on your feet. Rogue-likes are best when there are limitless mix of possible scenarios that you are caught up in, and that you are given choices, where your choices have consequences, with a lot of different ways that the difficult situations that you are caught in can be solved.
It is important in a rogue-like that there is a lot of variety or it really gets old and repetitive quick.
The balancing may not be right yet, but I think that inclusion of as much variety as possible is what IOI was hoping for.
I would disagree.
The entire discussion is missing the point. We should not try to find the best solution for how they should implement forced objectives, the whole concept should be removed. The game has to preserve the sandbox. ANY attempt to force a specific way to play turns freelancer into ABSOLUTION, the worst thing ever in the hitman franchise.
There should be no forced objectives. Also it does not add variety. It turns the game into a linear chore
I get the argument that there is a sense that there are not enough choices in tackling particular objectives. You decide on a set of locations to tackle in Freelancer, and then you are railroaded into completing particular objectives a certain way when you have made your choices of set of locations and objectives. But it isn’t like Absolution, a completely, linear game.
You are given a choice of locations and objectives for each set, which you carry out in Freelancer. Perhaps IOI could provide more than one option to successfully carry out objectives for each location.
It is finding the right balance between player choice in an open sandbox, between player choice of playstyle, and getting players into scenarios which forces engagement in scenarios which challenge them out of their comfort zone with different playstyles.
There are open sandboxes which provide a lot of ways to play, but if you find one playstyle that works to tackle every objective, it is just a rinse and repeat of the same mechanic. You end up cheesing it out, over and over to complete the game, using one playstyle that works. This is every Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry or XCom or whatever video game.
From a standpoint of game design, rogue-likes are supposed to introduce randomness in each run, so that when you repeat over and over, it feels like it is different every time because each run has enough randomness and challenge to keep it fresh.
Slay The Spire and Hades I think get the balance right in a rogue-like because you really have choice in each run, and you also have to adopt a playstyle that suits whatever choice from an available random selection of choices provided in each run. There are no dramatic spikes of difficulty in these games. These games gradually gets more challenging, and you can meet the challenge because you learn from your mistakes and different opportunities in every run.
IOI is attempting to create the balance in Hades or Slay the Spire, but these games had years in Steam early access to work out the balance right.
Holy moley, just got my “taste” of Hardcore mode. Showdown, 1st Syndicate, Marrakesh. Get spawned in the consulate parking.
Since every territory is alerted, this is a Master Difficulty on steroids. Immediately have a soldier walking past and blocking my paths away from the car since him and extra soldiers control the line of sight. Tried to sneak past, instant alert, pacify the guard with the Kalmer before he shoots his rifle and instantly get a LOOKUP ALERTED message. Whole basement moves onto me.
I feel defeated and just Alt + F4 the thing since I didn’t want to lose gear due to BS spawn (almost the same feel as Hokkaido morgue during the alerted territory) and because I spent 30 mins SA/SOing 4 targets in Miami (didn’t have any other doable Premium objectives) right before that.
Okay, my frick up, I accept.
But then I got the same BS 3 more times before I figured out where to run (skip the cutscene rightaway and go to the left before anybody walks close enough to block your paths).
On 4th time I go into the escape tunnel (2 obvious civie wearing assassins walk past but they are not enforcers), wait for them to pass and go to KO the first tunnel guard. Success. Or so I thought. One of the suspects decided to literally walk back towards me (he was going deeper into the tunnel before I ran for the guard) and spotted me.
No problem, it happens, whip out my pistol, headshot. 2s later those assassins come back and one shot kill me. Lose silenced HWK, Sieker, Collector’s Kalmer (yes, you can lose these too(, ICA Throwing Axe.
Gg wp brb
Seething and coping is what Hardcore mode makes me feel. Will continue to lose gear until I git gud and beat it (lost Silverballer already in a previous failed campaign there 
) but it does feel brutal and unfair to an extent.
Some tweaks and it’d be a fun challenge. As I mentioned before, I think blood alerting guards as if they’d seen a body would be a good way to add a realistic challenge.
I also think way more objectives (especially prestige) should be added to add more variety. Having to choose between impossible ones and timed / SA is annoying, especially when the cost of loss is so high. More choice and intelligent distribution to ensure there are no impossible ones offered would make a huge difference.