star wars zero company difficulty levels explained

The four difficulty levels

STAR WARS Zero Company offers four difficulty levels in the current accessibility information. They are Story, Normal, Hard, and Expert. The difficulty setting controls how much pressure the tactical campaign places on the player, while the separate permadeath toggle decides whether squad losses can become permanent.

Story is intended for players who want the Clone Wars narrative with less emphasis on tactical punishment. Normal is presented as the default level in the current difficulty menu. Hard is aimed at players who already understand the genre, and Expert is the most demanding option listed. The exact enemy, damage, and recovery changes for every level are not fully confirmed.

You do not have to make the perfect choice at the opening screen. Difficulty can be changed outside combat between missions. That gives a new player room to learn Action Points, cover, Overwatch, Advantage, and squad composition before deciding how much pressure the campaign should apply.

What changes during combat

The basic tactical rules remain the foundation at every level. Operators normally work with three Action Points per turn, and movement, attacks, support actions, Overwatch, Rally, and abilities compete for that economy. Higher difficulty makes each decision more expensive because a missed shot, a bad position, or an ignored objective can leave the team with fewer safe options on the enemy turn.

Normal is tense without feeling overwhelming for a player familiar with turn-based tactics. Enemy positions and map design can still punish careless play. A chance to hit that looks comfortable can still fail, so a strong turn uses cover, backup plans, and the squad’s available resources instead of relying on one attack.

Hard and Expert disable the Bacta Tank. The Bacta Tank is an instant injury-recovery option in the Medbay that clears an injury for Credits without using a cycle. On the higher levels, Operators have to recover through a regular cycle, which can keep a useful character out of the next mission.

That recovery rule should be read with care. Its exact behavior is To be confirmed if the installed build differs. The four names and the separate permadeath setting are clearer than every level-specific modifier.

Permadeath and Beskar Mode

Permadeath is an independent setting for squad members. It can be turned on or off to match the experience the player wants. When it is active, injuries and repeated knockdowns carry a larger consequence because an Operator can be lost permanently instead of returning to the roster after the mission.

Hawks is treated differently from other story characters. Hawks must make it through a story mission, and a Hawks defeat causes the mission to fail. Hawks is the exception to the normal story-character permadeath explanation. The exact interaction between a failed mission, a save, and every campaign mode should be checked in game if you are planning an ironman run.

Beskar Mode is a separate ironman-style modifier. It uses a single save so that a lost Operator or failed mission cannot be undone by reloading an earlier outcome. This mode is stacked with a difficulty level, and the hardest completion requirement is connected with Expert plus Beskar Mode.

The name and save behavior of Beskar Mode still carry some uncertainty. Treat this description as a useful guide rather than a guarantee of every menu label. If your menu uses a different label or exposes different save rules, those details are To be confirmed.

How the settings work together

Difficulty and Permadeath answer different questions. Story, Normal, Hard, and Expert change the pressure of the tactical campaign, while the Permadeath toggle changes the consequence of injuries and repeated knockdowns. A player can therefore learn on a lower difficulty with Permadeath off, then raise one setting without changing the other.

Beskar Mode adds a save restriction to that choice. It is an ironman-style mode with one save, so a failed mission or lost Operator cannot be undone by reloading an earlier outcome. The exact menu wording and the full relationship between Beskar Mode and every difficulty level are To be confirmed.

Recovery planning becomes more important as pressure rises. Hard and Expert may restrict Bacta Tank recovery, which can keep an injured Operator out of the next mission. Because that behavior still needs current-build confirmation, use the Medbay screen and the live difficulty settings before planning a permanent roster rotation.

Accessibility and learning tools

The first-launch accessibility menu lets players adjust the experience before beginning a campaign. It includes colorblind filters, Extra Large text for menus, on-screen UI, and subtitles, along with subtitle customization. It also includes controller and keyboard remapping, a Stabilizing Dot, motion-related options, and audio controls such as dialogue and voice boost settings.

Guided training missions and on-demand tooltips are available for learning squad tactics. These tools matter on higher difficulty because a player can spend time understanding a rule without guessing from a failed battle. Menu narration is listed as unsupported, so players who depend on narrated menus should treat that limitation as part of the current setup.

The game also lets players choose a difficulty outside combat. That is useful when a campaign begins on Normal and the player later wants more pressure, or when Expert creates a recovery burden that stops the roster from functioning. Keep the choice aligned with how much time you want to spend planning each mission and managing injuries between missions.

Which level should you choose

Choose Story if you mainly want the narrative, character conversations, and Clone Wars setting. Normal is the safest starting point for most players because it keeps the tactical layer present without asking for a strict ironman routine. Players with strong XCOM experience can consider Hard, while Expert belongs to a run where long-term injury and resource management are part of the appeal.

Turn permadeath on when you want each Operator’s survival to matter. Leave it off while learning if losing a named squadmate would make the early campaign frustrating. The difficulty system gives you room to change the pressure, yet the core lesson stays the same at every level. Read the objective, protect the squad, and keep one action available for the problem that arrives after your turn.