Engaging in combat in Starfield
Image Source: Bethesda via Twinfinite

How to Use Extreme Difficulty in Starfield

Take your intergalactic adventures to the EXTREME!

After months of waiting, Starfield’s latest update has air-dropped today with a slew of new features and improvements for the game. This includes an all-new Extreme Difficulty setting, which sounds as ominous as it does exciting. If you’re wondering how to enable it or how it works, here’s our handy guide for how to use Extreme Difficulty in Starfield.

Recommended Videos

How to Enable Extreme Difficulty in Starfield

How to adjust difficulty in Starfield
Image Source: Bethesda via Twinfinite

The newly added Extreme Difficulty setting in Starfield isn’t a traditional difficulty adjustment. It’s not an all-encompassing setting you implement at the start of or during your game. In the case of Starfield, various aspects of combat-related gameplay can now be adjusted up to an ‘Extreme’ difficulty.

To do so, head to the System Menu in-game and then scroll down to ‘Settings’. From there, look for ‘Gameplay Options’ and click on it. Near the top of the entire list you’ll see the following options:

  • Enemy Combat Damage – Adjusts how much damage you take from enemies.
  • Player Combat Damage – Adjusts how much damage your character inflicts on enemies.
  • Enemy Ship Damage – Adjusts how much damage you take from enemy ships.
  • Player Ship Damage – Adjusts how much damage your ship inflicts on enemy ships.

You can enable one or all of these at the same time to any one of the available difficulties, including Extreme. In addition, the higher you set the difficulty, the higher the percentage XP bonus as well. The highest is 6% on Extreme, and this can be stacked with each combat setting.

As you might have guessed, this new difficulty option is here to provide an “extreme” challenge and push your combat abilities to the absolute limit. So think carefully before placing yourself in a dangerous situation, especially on important missions.

Is Extreme Difficulty Worth It in Starfield?

Ship combat in Starfield
Image Source: Bethesda Studios

The new Extreme difficulty can add a unique challenge to Starfield, particularly for those who prefer to push their combat capabilities. If you have solid gear, weapons, stats, and a powerhouse of a ship, it can be worth at least trying this new option. If you find it to be too much, you can always toggle it back to normal.

Otherwise, Extreme difficulty may not be entirely worth it, in my opinion. Even the simplest combat encounter can become too stressful and hinder your progress, especially if you’re still working through the story (for the first time). It can end up melting away your health and ammo stores a lot quicker, and vendors only restock those items so quickly, which can push you into a corner and deplete your funds.

All in all, I’d only recommend trying Extreme if you’re well into your endgame phase of Starfield, and are looking for a serious challenge.

That concludes our guide for how to use Extreme Difficulty in Starfield. We hope you found this helpful, and let us know if you’ve tried this difficulty yourself.

Be sure to check out all of our guides and news for Starfield, such as our list of facts you probably didn’t know about the game.


Twinfinite is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Dead by Daylight (DBD) Codes (June 2024)
Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight
Read Article Roblox Highschool Hoops (HSH) Codes (June 2024)
Highschool Hoops Roblox experience cover art
Highschool Hoops Roblox experience cover art
Highschool Hoops Roblox experience cover art
Read Article Untitled Attack on Titan Codes (June 2024) (UAOT)
Untitled AoT promo image
Untitled AoT promo image
Untitled AoT promo image
Related Content
Read Article Dead by Daylight (DBD) Codes (June 2024)
Dead by Daylight
Read Article Roblox Highschool Hoops (HSH) Codes (June 2024)
Highschool Hoops Roblox experience cover art
Read Article Untitled Attack on Titan Codes (June 2024) (UAOT)
Untitled AoT promo image
Author
Stephanie Watel
Stephanie Watel is a freelance writer for Twinfinite. Stephanie has been with the site for a few months, and in the games media industry for about a year. Stephanie typically covers the latest news and a variety of gaming guides for the site, and loves gardening and being the bird lady of the neighborhood. She has a BA in Writing from Pace University in NY.