Difficulty tier
Journey
Boon
You take -50% damage.
Curse
Soul Gems gained and squad EXP gained -50%.
Progression ladder
Difficulty tiers
Difficulty changes more than damage. It trades safety and progression speed for treasure quality, Battle Scars, and enemies pulled forward from later chapters.
6tiers
Difficulty tier
Common
Neutral
No special effect.
Difficulty tier
Hard
Boon
A seasoned hunter can identify treasures. The chance of obtaining high-quality items is slightly increased.
1 required Battle ScarsCurse
Before departing, reveals a Chaos Battle Scar.
1 required Battle ScarsCurse
Calamity spreads. Enemies from the next chapter appear.
1 required Battle ScarsDifficulty tier
Nightmare
Boon
A seasoned hunter can identify treasures. The chance of obtaining high-quality items is slightly increased.
2 required Battle ScarsCurse
Before departing, reveals 2 Chaos Battle Scars.
2 required Battle ScarsCurse
Calamity spreads. Enemies from the next 2 chapters appear.
2 required Battle ScarsDifficulty tier
Hell
Boon
Hunter's luck improves. The chance of obtaining high-quality items is increased.
3 required Battle ScarsCurse
Before departing, reveals 3 Chaos Battle Scars.
3 required Battle ScarsCurse
Calamity spreads. Enemies from the next 3 chapters appear.
3 required Battle ScarsDifficulty tier
Reality
Boon
The hunter becomes a master treasure seeker. The chance of obtaining high-quality items is greatly increased.
3 required Battle Scars · 4 maximumCurse
Before departing, reveals 3 Chaos Battle Scars. Each chapter reveals 1 additional Chaos Battle Scar.
3 required Battle Scars · 4 maximumCurse
Calamity spreads. Enemies from the next 4 chapters appear.
3 required Battle Scars · 4 maximumProgression choice guide
Choose difficulty by purpose, not toughness alone
Difficulty changes more than incoming pressure. The six tiers also alter progression rewards, treasure quality, the number of Chaos Battle Scars, and how far enemies from later chapters can appear early.
Choose the tier for the goal of the next run: learning a mechanic, progressing at the normal rate, or accepting more interacting rules for better treasure prospects. The page lists exact boons and curses; the guidance below turns those rules into a decision without inventing hidden enemy multipliers.
Use Journey for learning, with its progression trade
Journey reduces the damage you take by 50%, but it also reduces Soul Gems and squad EXP gained by 50%. That makes it a clear practice option when survival time is the limiting factor, not an automatic best starting point for every goal. Common has no special effect and keeps the normal reward pace.
- Choose Journey when extra time alive will help you learn enemies, weapons, or trigger timing.
- Choose Common when you want the baseline rules without Journey's progression penalty.
Read Hard, Nightmare, and Hell on three axes
These tiers increase high-quality treasure chances while revealing one, two, then three Chaos Battle Scars. They also allow enemies from the next one, two, then three chapters to appear. The step is therefore not just more combat pressure: reward quality, modifier complexity, and enemy variety rise together.
- Check whether the build can absorb several modifiers that target the same resource.
- Treat later-chapter enemies as a change in encounter knowledge, not a verified flat stat multiplier.
Prepare for Reality to escalate during the run
Reality greatly increases the chance of high-quality items and lets enemies from the next four chapters appear. It begins with three Chaos Battle Scars, then reveals one additional Scar in each chapter, up to four active Scars. Unlike a static step above Hell, its rule set can change after the run has started.
- Leave defensive and resource flexibility for the additional Scar.
- Review the Battle Scar database before choosing a build that depends on one fragile interaction.