What aspects of the game does the difficulty level change?

I just bought The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and I am wondering what difficulty level I should play it at. I don't like switching the difficulty level during a playthrough, so the suggestion I found online, which is to just start at the highest difficulty and lower it if it becomes to challenging, doesn't work for me. I get bored fast if a game is too easy, so I'm considering the highest difficulty available. HOWEVER, I'm worried about the way the difficulty level is implemtented due to my experience with the Legendary difficulty level in Skyrim.

In Skyrim, the difficulty level just scales enemy HP up, and the player character's HP and DMG down. This is frustrating because the game doesn't really become harder in a mechanical sense, you only have to hit the enemies more often (like, much more often). Also, this threw off the game's design in some instances. For example, try leveling up your Light Armor skill when every damn mudcrab one-hit-kills you. Also at one point there was an enemy that regenerated health faster than I could deal damage, so was literally impossible to beat.

So how is the difficulty level implemented in Witcher 3? Does it just scale HP and DMG levels? Or do the enemies actually become 'smarter'? And what other aspects of the game does it change?

the-witcher-3

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What are the difficulty levels in games?

Generally, games with difficulty levels will run on a scale that includes some or all of the following:

Easier Than Easy.
Easy / Beginner / Novice.
Normal / Medium / Standard / Average / Intermediate.
Hard / Expert / Difficult.

What can developers do to change the difficulty in games?

A great way a game can enhance its difficulty is by encouraging you to dig deeper into its mechanics and gameplay systems. A shining example of this would be FromSoftware's Soulsbourne games, such as Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

How does video game difficulty work?

Traditionally, game difficulty increases steadily along the course of the game (either in a smooth linear fashion, or through steps represented by levels). The parameters of this increase (rate, frequency, starting levels) can only be modulated at the beginning of the experience by selecting a difficulty level.

Why do games have difficulty settings?

Even though a game traditionally gets more difficult as you progress\u2014as it takes into account that your skill is improving and so increases the challenge\u2014difficulty presets offer players relatively easier or harder start and endpoints.

How Do Games CHANGE Completely When Playing On Highest Difficulty?

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Pixabay, Blue Bird, Ketut Subiyanto, Lachlan Ross