Starfield difficulty levels explained

Wondering how difficulty works in Starfield? Like other Bethesda games, Starfield has its fair share of difficulty options, allowing players to customize their experience depending on how much of a challenge they’re up for. However, picking a difficulty level might seem daunting — but luckily, we’ve rounded up everything you’ll need to know about difficulty in Starfield, including how to change it and what each level means.

How to change difficulty in Starfield

You can change the difficulty in Starfield at any point during gameplay by pausing, going to the Settings menu, selecting Gameplay, and using the Difficulty Selection button. This can also be done from the game’s title screen using the menu to the left side of the screen.

All difficulty levels in Starfield

Starfield’s difficulty is set to Normal by default, though the game has five available levels:

• Very Easy
• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Very Hard

Each of these levels impacts how much damage you deal to enemies, and how much damage you receive from all sources. Also, the higher your difficulty setting, the greater your chance of encountering Legendary enemies, which as you can imagine are quite a bit tougher than regular hostiles.

Which difficulty level should you pick?

If you're unsure which difficulty level to pick in Starfield, we'd advise starting at Normal - at least at first.

Since the difficulty level in Starfield mainly affects combat, players who want to explore and make their way through the game’s story without focusing on fighting might want to try an easier setting, while players in search of a challenge might want to take on the game’s hardest settings.

It’s also possible to change your level at any point during gameplay, so if you're looking to try out different playstyles throughout your playthrough, try experimenting with difficulty a bit to find what works best for you.

That's all the info we've got on Starfield's difficulty levels. Searching for more guides to aid your trip through the stars? We've got you covered with tips and tricks and the best ways to level up quickly. Or, if you're just getting started, we've got information on all of the traits and backgrounds you can pick when creating your character in Starfield.