I am a casual Killer Instinct gamer. I have been playing since 11-22-2013. I am NO pro at all. I have a total time of 55D 23H 54M. I consider myself a decent player of KI. Shadow Lords is by far TOO HARD. I have played 4 times all the way through on CHALLENGING difficulty (to unlock the Astral Plane) and have lost every single time. Gargos is extremely OP. I took all 4 buffs every time and he still REKS me. I understand that the point is to get awesome perks and he is easier to beat. My team has so many great perks and some really amazing ones, but I still lose to Gargos every single time. You cant move at all and it is extremely frustrating. I would just like to say that this mode is targeting the PRO crowd and not the Casual crowd. To unlock The Astral Plane you have to beat this mode on Challenging or GODLIKE. Well, for me and players like me, this mode too hard and unlocking that level is very out of reach. Please for the love of your fans please reduce the difficulty or make it unlock-able for playing it on NORMAL to unlock the Astral Plane . Not everyone is PRO and EVO champ status. This is just ridiculous.
While I feel your pain, I’m also a casual with less hours into the game then you and with the right buffs and especiallya few killer guardians he’s doable
It’s recommended to start out on Normal till you get enough Guardians/Consumables then you’ll be much better equipped to take on Gargos on higher difficulties.
Here, just do this.
-Get a Killer Snake
-Kill the Omens
-Put the snake on Arbiter, Aria or Omen
-Fight Gargos
-Land one combo
-Go into one-chance juggle ender (with Arbiter add a grenade)
-Flipout
-Use crouching light as he lands (with Arbiter you may want to go into command grab)
-Loop the one chance flipouts over and over
-Profit
This is true, I managed to get a couple of Killer and Epic level Guardians, and a BIG amount of items to use and I have 4 rare level Shadow Lord relic to use when I feel it’s a good time for them, plus saving guardians and items when doing a mission or two is a good idea (The Fulgore units test mission is a good one for grinding Astral Gems).
Trust me you’re not alone, they just nerfed the difficulty slightly but even on normal its a “challenge” no way average players will be completing challenging or godlike in this mode.
Oh no, normal atm is fair. You just need to kill omens and understand how consumables and passive itens work, even the challenging is not that difficult anymore, except for that crap resurrection of gargos.
“Piece of cake” is a subjective opinion.
I’ve been playing on normal and its not a piece of cake for everyone. 
Yeah i agree, i’ve edited it but was not fast enough.
I just finished my 5th play through and still got REKT. I’m just about done with this mode. Its not just Gargos either. The other characters on the globe are relentless and ruthless. This mode is NOT fun, its beyond frustrating. I love the idea, but its just tooooo hard.
Do you have killed tier gaurdians? A bunch of those wolf hearts and etc that give you free shadow moves and immunity to combo breakers? A.i are weak to frame traps from what I saw, are you using a charecter that is good with that strategy and has big damage? These tips can tip the scale greatly in your favor. This single player is designed around multiple tries to get as many healing packs and items as possible so losing a run to gargos isn’t bad if you find better items during the run.
Losing on the fifth run isn’t something to be angry and instead should be expected. This mode should last you a while until you become good enough to finally win
I’m gonna post a video tomorrow on how to body Gargos free, see you then.
I am not trolling. Why are you harassing me FulMetalSnorlax? I will report you for harassment. This forum website is to discuss, ask for help and suggest things for KI. That is what I’m doing. I am not the only one who thinks that Challenging mode is way more difficlult than it needs to be. So please leave me alone. Thanks.
You are asking the devs to change an entire game mode because a difficulty setting is too hard for you personally, when an easier difficulty setting is available.
You have started multiple threads on this topic in multiple subforums on the same day.
And you say I am harassing?
Sorry to say but I’m just being frank. Now I’m putting you on mute, good day to you. I hope you have luck getting astral plane, I honestly do, just don’t spam the forums please.
There is a mute button?
One post is voicing my opinion on Shadow Lords. The other is simply asking for a moderate nerf in suggestions section. I am following the rules and please do NOT tell me what to do. Thanks.
I hope so.
Can you tell us what are your difficulties exactly so we can provide you the info you need?