This concise article covers everything you need to know about all difficulty levels in Remnant 2 (2023).
Survivor
A solid starting point for most players. Enemies and bosses have normal health and damage, and you gain normal experience. This mode is suitable for those who want to enjoy the story and gameplay without too much frustration. However, if you are a fan of soullike games like Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Nioh, etc, then you will surely find this mode too easy and get bored quickly (experienced players can finish the game very fast without dying even once).
Veteran
A more demanding experience with tougher and deadlier enemies. Enemies and bosses have increased health and damage, and you gain more experience. This mode is an excellent choice for players who enjoy a challenge and are familiar with the game mechanics.
Nightmare
Ruthlessly brutal. Designed for fully geared players with strong builds and a desire for an unforgiving experience. Enemies and bosses have significantly higher health and damage, and you gain even more experience. This mode is not recommended for general gamers as a starting point, as it requires a lot of skill and strategy to survive.
In my personal opinion, if you are a person who loves challenges and has high skill and perseverance, this is the mode to choose from the beginning. You can die so many times, but the feeling of defeating a boss will be very rewarding. The difficulty level is pretty equivalent to the difficulty in the first playthrough in soul games like the Dark Souls trilogy, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, the Nioh duology, Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice, etc.
Apocalypse
Apocalypse is the hardest difficulty level in the game, and it is only available after you finish the campaign once. This mode is for those who seek the ultimate challenge and are confident in their abilities, as enemies and bosses have extremely high health and damage.
You can unlock Apocalypse by completing the game on any difficulty level, including Survivor. However, you should be aware that Apocalypse is a huge leap in difficulty from Survivor, so you may want to try Veteran or Nightmare first to prepare yourself for the challenge.
How to change the game difficulty?
You can select a difficulty when creating a new character or change it at any time by interacting with a world stone, but this will reset your progress in that world.
A world stone is a red glowing crystal that acts as a checkpoint in Remnant 2. You can interact with it to access the world map, fast-travel to other locations, change the difficulty level or join a multiplayer session. You can find world stones in Ward 13 and in various places throughout the game’s worlds.
What is the hardcore mode?
The hardcore mode in Remnant 2 is a permadeath mode that is available from the start of the game. It means that if your character dies in the game, it will be gone forever, and you will have to start a new game from the beginning. Hardcore mode is a very challenging and risky way to play Remnant 2, as you will lose all your progress and gear if you die. It is only recommended for the most adventurous and skilled players who want to test their limits.
Note that you may lose everything in the hardcore mode due to external reasons like an outage, a game crash, a computer error, etc. Imagine that you spend a few dozen hours and get a lot of rare items but lose them all in a second. Chances are, you’ll need to buy a new monitor or a new keyboard if your head isn’t cool and calm enough.