The life of a Jedi isn’t always easy. Thankfully, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has four different difficulty levels to choose from, allowing players to adjust the game’s overall challenge to suit their individual skill levels. There’s been a fair amount of debate over which difficulty level you should choose in Jedi: Fallen Order, with some suggesting that the harder difficulties provide more satisfying combat and a more entertaining experience overall. What are the differences between the four Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order difficulty levels? That’s what we’re here to explain.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | How difficulty levels affect combat
There are four different difficulty levels in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. From least difficult to most difficult, they are Story, Jedi Knight, Jedi Master, and Jedi Grandmaster. Story is clearly meant for players who want a relaxing experience with as little conflict as possible, meaning most players are likely to choose between the three remaining Jedi-oriented difficulty settings.
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In the options menu, the difficulty levels are presented with three different meters or scales: One for Parry Timing, one for Incoming Damage, and one for Enemy Aggression. As players choose higher difficulty settings, they’ll notice the Parry Timing level is reduced while the Incoming Damage and Enemy Aggression levels increase. This effectively means that on higher difficulties, enemies will be more daring and do more damage. However, don’t be fooled into thinking the changes go beyond how much damage is done in combat.
In a nutshell, enemy combat behavior is the main difference between the game’s difficulty levels. On Jedi Knight, enemies will attack Cal Kestis, but won’t put up too much of a fight and won’t display very much teamwork. On Jedi Master, enemies hit harder and are better-prepared to take on Cal as a group. Naturally, enemies hit hardest on Jedi Grandmaster, and they’ll gang up on the protagonist whenever possible. Coupled with the severely reduced Parry Timing window, Grandmaster is the difficulty of choice for players who demand a challenge.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Which difficulty should you choose?
Deciding which difficulty level to choose in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order takes some consideration. After all, many players have favorably compared the game’s combat to titles such as Dark Souls or Bloodborne, where consideration and well-timed parries are the only way to truly survive. As such, players who enjoy a challenge should likely go straight for the Jedi Grandmaster difficulty.
For everyone else, it’s worth considering why you’re interested in Jedi: Fallen Order in the first place. If you’re only around to catch up on the story and enjoy the familiar, nostalgic sci-fi vibes of the Star Wars canon, Story Mode or Jedi Knight should allow for a relatively easy romp through Cal’s adventure.
However, with all that said, the Jedi Master difficulty presents the most balanced blend of all the game’s difficulty settings. This is evident visually, as the options menu shows that all the difficulty meters for Jedi Master are tuned right to the middle of the level. It still has a generous Parry Timing window, and there’s only a slight increase in Incoming Damage and Enemy Aggression when compared to the Jedi Knight difficulty level.
If you ask us, the Jedi Master difficulty should be the go-to for most Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order players. Of the four difficulties present in the game, Jedi Master presents a fair challenge while still giving an ample window to perform a parry. Fans of the Soulsborne formula will most likely go straight for Grandmaster, but dropping one step down to Jedi Master should provide the best balance between challenge and adventure.
