God War: Ragnarok players are ready to dive deep into the brand-new story and gameplay. However, the question arises that which of the five settings offers the best gameplay and experience.
The game has something to offer for every type of player; so if you are someone who likes to explore the story or some who like a challenge, the game has got you covered.
The following guide will help you decide which difficulty setting to choose in God of War: Ragnarok as we explain the difference between each.
God of War: Ragnarok difficulty differences
Players can select from five different difficulty settings in God of War Ragnarok. We will now break down all five to explain the differences.
Give Me Story
This is the easiest difficulty level, perfect for beginners of the game who want to experience the story with no challenge. Enemies will be easier to take out, so you’ll be able to enjoy the cinematics of the game.
- Enemies have very low defense and resistance.
- Enemies have a very low stun bar.
- Enemies do very low damage.
- Healthstones give very large amounts of health.
Give Me Grace
Give Me Grace also offers a more story-focused gameplay offering a greater challenge than the previous difficulty setting. Players who enjoy experiencing the story more than the fights should consider this difficulty mode.
- Enemies have low defense and resistance.
- Enemies have a low stun bar.
- Enemies do low damage.
- Healthstones give large amounts of health.
Give Me Balance
This is the default difficulty of the game and offers the middle ground between story, and challenging gameplay. It is equivalent to the Normal difficulty setting in other games, where you fight stronger enemies than the previous difficulty settings.
- Enemies have moderate defense and resistance.
- Enemies have a moderate stun bar.
- Enemies do moderate damage.
- Healthstones give moderate amounts of health.
Give Me No Mercy
The Give Me No Mercy difficulty setting is equivalent to the Hard settings in other games. It features more difficult battles, enemies, and no checkpoints in between boss battles. This setting should only be selected by previous players of GOW or for those who have completed the game on easier settings.
- Enemies have high defense and resistance.
- Enemies have a high stun bar.
- Enemies do high damage.
- Healthstones give low amounts of health.
Give Me God of War
Offering the greatest challenge to veterans of the game is the Give Me God of War difficulty setting. This is equivalent to the ultra-challenging or ultra-hard difficulty modes of other games.
Kratos will have a lower healing ability so your defense must be impregnable. One thing to note is that if this mode is already chosen as your difficulty setting, once you change it during the game, you can’t revert to it.
- Enemies have very high defense and resistance.
- Enemies have a very high stun bar.
- Enemies do very high damage.
- Healthstones give very low amounts of health.
How to change difficulty settings
To change difficulty settings in Ragnarok, head to the menu and select Settings. Now choose the Gameplay option, and you will find the Difficulty tab.
Select the difficulty you want, and the game will restart. You can start again from the recent checkpoint.
However, note that if you have selected the Give Me God of War difficulty setting and moved to lower settings, you can’t choose it again. If you want to play the whole game with this difficulty, you must stay with it from the start. But you can shift between the other four difficulty settings whenever you want.
Which difficulty level should you choose?
The God of War Ragnarok difficulty settings should be chosen based on the type of experience you want from the game. Every setting offers a different type of experience and your ability as a player must also be taken into account when choosing a setting.
Players looking to explore the story and lore should try out the first two difficulty settings, while players looking to test their metal can try the last two. Those who want the perfect mix can go with the Give Me Balance difficulty setting.
How to fix the God of War: Ragnarok difficulty bug
As you face varying difficulty boss fights throughout the game, you may want to adjust the difficulty settings mid-game. You may encounter a bug in this instance where you are not able to change the difficulty settings, or the changed settings are not saved. You can try the following to fix the issue.
The first thing to try is to reload the game from the last saved checkpoint and then try changing the difficulty settings to see if they are saved.
Another option is to save the changed difficulty settings using your touchpad, which should solve the issue.
One last thing to try is to change the difficulty settings by pressing the X button and the left side of the touchpad at the same time. Save the changed settings.
If none of these solutions worked for you, it is best to wait for a patch from the game devs to resolve the issue.
