This is really only for folks who've beaten the game.
Honour mode, like DOS2 before it, is a neat concept, but really doesn't work well for seasoned players outside of the addition of Ironman. In an RPG where there are literally game ending dialog choices (i.e., no dice rolls, just choose the wrong thing two or three times, and Game Over), it feels a bit more out of place than in DOS2.
Similarly, the hardest bits are the beginning of the game, when you're resource constrained. Act 3, supposedly full of big bad bosses with legendary actions, were all pretty much a breeze since they would get punked in one or two turns. Some of them I never really saw or understood what it was since they died so fast and I just DPS'd my way out of potential problems. The Act 1 side bosses, like dual owlbears, weremore nerve wracking.
Much like DOS2, knowing the "order of operations" regarding which quests, areas, and enemies to tackle, in which order, makes the difficulty increases less an issue. Yes, Larian nerfed a few character builds in honour mode to not allow the most cheesiest of the cheese, but I think that's a bit silly since the difficulty should have been tuned for best-in-game builds, since anyone running honour mode isn't playing some Care Bear unoptimized RP build...
You're also really pushed towards certain game outcomes, because certain vendors have late game critical items, or certain quests of build critical rewards, that makes some choices really stupid if you are playing to win. Which I assume people in Honour mode are doing so.
My hardest bouts were usually when I had to deviate from the plan or tried to get clever. I almost got wrecked by dual owlbears as I legit did not know that was coming. The Avatar of Mykul is a hard DPS check which I overcame, but it's pretty tough to balance since he's resistant to so much stuff. None of the Act 3 bosses really stood much of a chance since you can get to Lvl 12 before fighting them and find all non-boss related gear. Also, the "Oh,
" button that is Globe of Invulnerability in scroll form means even dicier fights, like Ansur, were mitigated. That spell should be removed in Honour Mode, IMO...
It did let me use Barrelmancy against Raphael, though. I stacked every flammable barrel, explosive, firework, smokepowder, and runepowder device I could find in the room beforehand. It was literally dozens upon dozens. I set it off after talking to him and my 27" monitor literally flash banged me. It was ridiculous.
The Iron Throne was my only major messs up because I used the Necromancy of Thay spell to summon ghouls. I wanted them to be road blocks, but I didn't realize that they would be teleported back to the sub with me if I went back in there. I used Omellum to teleport Duke Ravengard into the sub, who then got attacked with the fire spiders. Gale, the summoner, went in to help... and so did his ghouls. Who then all exploded, along with the spiders, killing everyone I just saved except Omellum and Duke Ravengard, as I had already healed them both previously. I felt pretty dumb...
Overall, the entire playthrough was an adventure in risk management and risk mitigation. Using every tool at hand makes it sufficiently enjoyable. Not quick save/loading bad RP dice rolls was kind of refreshing; rolling with it made the gameplay go much faster. I liked that bit very much. I kind of recommend one save playthroughs for everyone.
But if you're at all seasoned, it's pretty easy. I beat it one try, no game overs.