I know how you feel . my first play through is taking forever because I refuse to drop below normal difficulty . Had to laugh at your elven vision assessment , but it ' s the damn truth . The guards in D 1 were a gaggle of Helen Kellers compared to the guards in this game . And don ' t get me started on the damned clockwork soldiers . They can eat several bags of dicks . High ground is mostly going to be your friend , though I ' ve had a few frustrating guards that learned how to crane their necks . And with the hilly landscape , it seems like I ' m always at someone ' s eye level , anyway . But , yeah , high ground , dark vision everywhere , far reach or blink wherever you can , and quick save as often as you think about it . I usually quick save right before I have to check out a spot that Emily ' s Dark Vision couldn ' t clearly give me a hint about , and I ' m about to yolorun into a room full of witches just to get the lay of the land . I ' m looking at my first run as a practice run , anyway so that the replay should go smoother . Hopefully .