Veteran increases enemy level cap.
If you make a “full run” in Normal (Get all shrines, complete AoM and FG content) or use “+100% XP potions”, you get to 50+ level easily, while enemies remain low-levels noobs, that grant 0 XP and no good loot.
Also, a strong enough build steamrolls enemies anyway, Veteran or not.
If you struggle with enemies, die here and there, or it takes a lot of time to kill a boss or trash mobs, then turn off Veteran for sure.
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Personally, I’ve never played Normal at all (other than first few hours of my first playthrough, before learning about Veteran). IMHO Veteran is just more fun without really being too hard at all. A build that would be struggling on Veteran probably isn’t viable anyway. I can only imagine playing on Normal with a hardcore character, just to make sure I don’t die. Otherwise, it’s no fun for me when I just steamroll everything without even trying, which is how Normal felt to me.
Well, some builds dont work without certain high-level items (skills/conversions/etc), or work poorly early (DW WPS builds, etc). And dont underestimate enemies in dungeons, AoM and FG content on Veteran, without appropriate capped resistance they can screw even quite strong builds. And if it’s your first playthrough, you wont have insane rep boost from mandates, decent leveling gear and components ready at hand.
Sure, with ultra-top-tier builds, like AAR or Forcewave, you can steamroll almost everything, if you cap your resists,
Well, that’s what respec is for IMHO rather than working towards specific “gear-centered” build from the get-go, effectively forcing yourself to play the game in “easy mode” (or grind and get frustrated a lot) until you get there 
I was level 46 when I finished the core game on normal difficulty. I went to elite difficulty for the fast levels and shrines. I died a few times, but that’s okay. I didn’t want to start the next part until I was 50. When I hit 50, I stopped elite mode and went back to normal to start Ashes of Malmouth. After a few minutes, I switched it to veteran difficulty and played for a few hours.
I took a few days off before continuing and I forgot it was on veteran mode. I didn’t notice a difference until I hit the boss mobs and the totems in my early 60s. I died a couple times here and there, but I didn’t mind. It is veteran and I am playing a dual melee Purifier that started as a dual pistol character. I am still working out the kinks here and there, especially with the different skills.
I am level 77 in the Forgotten Gods part and I still have it on veteran mode. The 10% increase in experience is hardly noticeable at all from 50 to 77, maybe I will start to see it more when I hit 80, I don’t know. However, I did notice that the loot drop is a bit better than normal mode. I still haven’t found any purples that I can use, but I have some for future characters. I have found a bunch of blues, some good upgrades too.
FYI Level cap in Normal / Veteran Forgotten Gods is 75 so you won’t level too much from now on.
That makes sense. I started the area at 76 and finished it at 78. Now I’m off to continue the core game elite mode, hoping to be in the early 80s when I start Ashes.