Stellar Blade Difficulty Settings Explained
When first starting Stellar Blade, you’ll be prompted to select a difficult option. Depending on the challenge you want to face, you may be unsure which difficulty option is best for you. Thankfully, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about the three difficulty modes in Stellar Blade.
Stellar Blade Difficulty Settings Explained
Before you begin your Stellar Blade journey, you’ll have the opportunity to choose your preferred difficulty level—Story Mode or Normal Mode. It’s important to note that there are no difficulty-based trophies in Stellar Blade, and you're not locked into your initial choice. So, you can freely switch between the difficulty levels at any point during the game.
Switching between the two modes, though, will see you starting from your last save point.
Here’s how each difficulty mode is described in-game:
- Story Mode: Enemies are weakened. Recommended for players who simply want to enjoy the story.
- Normal Mode: Features tense battles. Recommended for players who enjoy combat.
If you opt for Story Mode, you’ll gain access to a new feature: Action Assist. This feature is designed to make your combat experience much easier, as when an enemy performs a powerful attack, such as those themed blue, purple, or yellow, time will slow down, and on-screen controls for a counterattack will appear.
This optional feature can be toggled on and off via the Gameplay Settings. But, if you do find yourself struggling in some of the more challenging encounters, Action Assist can make Stellar Blade’s combat much more forgiving, especially during boss fights.
While Story Mode is more accessible than Normal Mode, it still provides quite a bit of challenge, especially if you aren’t too familiar with games similar to Stellar Blade, such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
If you’re still having trouble with Stellar Blade’s combat after switching to Story Mode, trust us, and don’t give up just yet. You’ll eventually begin to get the hang of things as the game progresses, as you pick up on enemy attack patterns, learn new attack combinations, and unlock new skills that will help you deal even more damage.
You can also check out our handy tips and tricks guide, as well as our comprehensive combat guide, which has 19 essential combat tips that could provide some guidance on better understanding attacks, using combinations, and tips for avoiding any incoming attacks.
Other Difficulty Modes
Once you have completed Stellar Blade's main story, you'll unlock a new difficulty mode known as Hard Mode. As you might suspect, Hard Mode drastically increases the difficulty of Stellar Blade, as monsters will now hit even harder than before. But, to help combat that, Eve will have access to more skills, allowing her to deal even more damage back. With the added skills to help increase your damage, Hard Mode offers a rather fun and compelling dynamic to Stellar Blade's overall gameplay, making it a great option to try out if you're a fan of Stellar Blade's combat system.
