What is exactly too hard? How about mystery purple spikes that come out of the ground when you are taking cover forcing you to go out in the open to get killed? How about that?

Caltrops banes. Entirely avoidable as long as you aren't doing quick play. Though they also pop up rarely as a hidden environmental modifier when the enemy is hive, specifically on K1. They stop after you clear the first area. They're also forecast as reminder text on the left as something like 'an enemy spellcaster targets you'. I've never found them to be anything more than an annoyance, but i understand that even the weakest member of my usual play group is apparently above average in skill compared to the players at large, so i generally can't use anecdotal experiences to make assumptions. Anything else? What power Delta do you usually find yourself playing at? Or do you only ever do quick play missions?

Its not so much that it is extremely difficult (at least not at my power of like 330) it's just extremely tedious if I want A grade I have to throw on all kinds of stupid modifiers that make the game more annoying (and maybe a little harder) such as no hud, Volatile trade off, Oscillation trade off etc.