A year ago when I was playing, I was beating Humankind difficulty with ease. Now I'm trying out the Expansion Pack for the first time, I'm finding that I have to crank the difficulty lower and lower. The battle AI still isn't that smart, but the AI now blitzes through technologies like no other whilst the human player is left struggling to catch up, even on Empire difficulty. What gives? I'm playing with the VIP mod though, is that why?

The game is noticeably harder on the VIP mod, yes, as a result of patching several of the possible exploits, but it is certainly beatable and you might need a few games to relearn it.

docktorkain wrote:

The game is noticeably harder on the VIP mod, yes, as a result of patching several of the possible exploits, but it is certainly beatable and you might need a few games to relearn it.

Wow, the main himself! What are some tips, can you give me any? My normal Egyptians -> Pyramids rush doesn't seem to work anymore because the AI gets out of neolithic super fast even with the 2 star mod, so I can no longer spam districts, and they cost alot in stability anyway. But the biggest issue I have is that I always fall behind in technology.

Btw, is it possible to implement a mod which restricts rebels from attacking outside the faction borders? Getting sick of rebels from another country attacking my cities...

sadhukar wrote:

 My normal Egyptians -> Pyramids rush doesn't seem to work anymore because the AI gets out of neolithic super fast even with the 2 star mod, so I can no longer spam districts, and they cost alot in stability anyway. 

Try Hittite -> Persians -> Swahili

sadhukar wrote:
What are some tips, can you give me any? My normal Egyptians -> Pyramids rush doesn't seem to work anymore because the AI gets out of neolithic super fast even with the 2 star mod, so I can no longer spam districts, and they cost alot in stability anyway. But the biggest issue I have is that I always fall behind in technology.

You have to actively invest in science to get techs in VIP, be it building research districts and infra, choosing science bonuses in cultures civics and events, and especially using researcher jobs. Pois in general are more important in VIP so you need them working.

As for the other question, unfortunately that is only possible so far with Bepinex