Board Thread:Help Desk/@comment-89.154.214.84-20130604155340/@comment-11126608-20130710201900

Okay, seeing as no-one answered the question in full, here it is.

The game has two methods of utilising difficulty.

1. The penalty for dying.

Softcore = lose half your coins, lose nothing from inventory.

Mediumcore = lose your entire inventory.

Hardcore = your character gets deleted permanently.

2. Actual difficulty.

Normal mode = before defeating Wall Of Flesh

Hard mode = after defeating Wall Of Flesh

The "core" you choose has no affect on the difficulty of the game itself, it just sets the maximum penalty for dying. Regardless of the "core" you choose, your enemies will still have the same HP, DEF, etc, as any other "core".

However, defeat the Wall Of Flesh, and the difficulty - not the "core" - changes from normal to hard. This means that stronger monsters and bosses arrive in the world, but the penalty for dying will remain as per the "core" you chose at the start.

So, the DIFFICULTY of the game only changes with the Wall Of Flesh dying, but the PENALTY FOR DYING will remain constant as per your choice at the very start.