Helldivers 2: All Difficulty Settings Explained

The long-awaited sequel from Arrowhead Game Studios is finally here. In Helldivers 2, you will team up with up to three friends to complete various missions aimed at liberating different planets from the scourge of alien enemies. As you start clearing these missions, you will notice there are many difficulty settings to choose from. These settings alter the number of enemies you will encounter, how tough they are  and the value of your loot. In this guide, we will explore all the difficulty settings and show you how to unlock them. 

Helldivers 2 difficulty settings

There are nine difficulty settings to choose from, with each planet offering various missions that differ in difficulty. The settings are:

• Trivial
• Easy
• Medium
• Challenging
• Hard
• Extreme
• Suicide Mission
• Impossible
• Helldive

If you're looking for a more relaxed experience, opt for the initial difficulty settings. However, the easier the missions, the less rewarding the loot will be. As you progress to higher difficulties, you will receive more rewards, but the enemies will become stronger and more numerous. In the harder difficulties, you will face more tasks in each mission, have less time to complete them, and find many more Points of Interest (POIs) to explore.

How to Unlock Difficulty Settings in Helldivers 2

As you start the game, the Trivial option will be the only one available to you. This level has almost no enemies, and you will complete it in no time. To unlock the next difficulty settings, you will need to complete a mission from the previous setting. Completing a Trivial mission unlocks the Easy setting, completing a mission on Easy unlocks Medium, and so on.

On every planet, there are missions with different difficulty settings. To choose the difficulty you want, head to the Galactic War screen on your ship and press Q or E on PC to change the difficulty settings. There's no need to rush to the highest difficulty. Find the one that suits your style and keep completing missions there until you feel ready for the next challenge.

And that concludes our guide on all difficulty settings in Helldivers 2. Remember, if you want more rewards, you will have to tackle the higher difficulties. For more Helldivers 2 guides, check the rest of our website.