Playing on Hard Mode for the first time, finally understand the importance of buffs.
I started playing Pillars of Eternity on 2024, my first character being a Fire Godlike Fighter (very original, I know). Since I always prioritize having fun over having a challenge, I always played on Normal mode to feel like I'm achieving something without feeling the game is actively cheating against me.
I played five characters this way: Fighter, Druid, Paladin, Barbarian and Priest. The game got progressively easier with each character, to the point that even the Bog dragons weren't much of a challenge on my last character. That's when I decided it was time to up the stakes.
Hard mode is another thing entirely. Sure, I'm still on PoE and the enemies don't get more stats, only more mobs, but I can already feel the difference. A party of 5 is weaker than a party of 8, regardless of how generic those additional 3 mobs are, and that makes combat a lot harder.
Now I understand the importance of priests and chanters. Everytime combat starts I'm buffing my party with all necessary prayers and buffs before using Salvation of Time. Goddamn what a difference it makes.
I'm at Raedric's Hold for the second time, at level 14, and I intend on finishing all Act 3 sidequests and Bounties before going to TWM2 and then finally beating the game. There's still a ways to go, and I'm excited for that, but I'm even more excited at the prospect of what Deadfire will bring to the table.
(Still don't use consumables besides potions and scrolls :D)
Edit: Forgot to mention I'm using upscaling whenever I'm queried about it, as well, so that's definitely a factor.