What to do
- Start with Easy, Normal, or HardThe current beginner guide describes these three as the standard selectable modes and says they change enemy strength and durability. Choose for combat comfort, not for a promised loot multiplier.
- Change the standard mode if neededNoobFeed reports that the standard difficulty can be changed later through the menu. Recheck the displayed mode after changing it rather than relying on memory.
- Treat Expert as a loss-of-relics modeDigital Sun's Blob-Life notes say Expert loses your relics on death, makes everything more expensive, and increases Endless Vault thresholds. It is more than a simple enemy-health slider.
- Treat Hardcore as a progress resetThe 1.0 announcement describes Hardcore as losing your progress and starting the journey again from the beginning. Do not test it on a save whose town progression you need.
- Do not fill missing numbersThe checked official notes do not provide exact damage, health, cost, or threshold multipliers. Use the in-game mode description for those values if the build exposes them.
How you know it worked
The mode label in the difficulty screen matches the rule you intend: standard modes adjust combat pressure, Expert protects no carried relics, and Hardcore warns about a full progress restart. Do not infer the mode from how hard the first room feels.
Platform and version boundaries
| Easy / Normal / Hard | Current beginner coverage describes enemy strength and durability differences and later menu changes. |
|---|---|
| Expert | Official Blob-Life notes: lose carried relics on death; prices and Endless Vault thresholds are higher. |
| Hardcore | Official 1.0 notes: death loses progress and starts the journey again from the beginning. |
| Unpublished | Exact combat multipliers, mode-specific achievement eligibility, and every later-mode unlock condition. |
Common failure branches
- Stop and verify: Exact damage/health multipliers for Easy, Normal, and Hard are not stated in the cited current sources.
- Stop and verify: Expert threshold values and the precise scope of 'everything is more expensive' need an in-game 1.0 comparison.
- Stop and verify: Hardcore's complete save-file behavior and achievement compatibility should be verified on a disposable run before publishing a deeper rule.
FAQ
Which difficulty should a new player choose?
Normal is the neutral starting point; Easy and Hard change combat pressure. Choose based on how much room you want to learn the backpack and shop loop.
What is the difference between Expert and Hardcore?
Expert loses carried relics on death and raises prices/thresholds. Hardcore is the 1.0 restart-from-the-beginning mode described by the official launch post.
Can I change difficulty later?
Current beginner coverage says Easy, Normal, and Hard can be changed from the menu. Do not assume that statement applies to every Expert or Hardcore save rule.
Does Hard give better rewards?
The checked sources establish combat-pressure differences, not a universal Hard reward multiplier. Do not promise extra loot without a current build comparison.
Sources · checked 2026-09-08
Source type is explicit so a player can tell an official rule from a community observation.
- Official 1.0 announcement ↗official · Current reference · Hardcore section says death loses progress and starts the journey again from the beginning.
- Official Blob-Life patch notes ↗official · Current reference · Expert section says death loses carried relics, prices are higher, and Endless Vault thresholds are bigger.
- NoobFeed beginner guide ↗editorial · Current reference · Independent current coverage says Easy/Normal/Hard change enemy strength and durability and can be changed from the menu.
- Nintendo official store listing ↗official · Current reference · Current platform listing exposes adjustable difficulty and the start-over-if-you-fail boundary without inventing multipliers.