5. Very Easy

A close-up of BB

As the difficulty name may imply, very easy is indeed very easy. It’s for those who find the game a bit difficult and don’t want to deal with the stress of having to deal with Mules or BTs.

Very Easy is a difficulty intended for those who want to focus on delivering orders from Point A to Point B, and that’s a perfectly fine way to play the game. Death Stranding is an extremely relaxing and enjoyable game where you can tune out and enjoy the scenery, the music, and the experience.

How this difficulty works:

• Sam’s balancing is great
• Enemies deal a lot less damage
• Humans basically never guard 
• Enemies have an extremely tiny detection range
• Enemies will almost die in a single hit
• Cargo barely takes damage

Choose this difficulty if you:

• Only want to enjoy the scenery and music
• Only want to focus on delivering orders and pretty much ignore combat
• Don’t like the stress of containers breaking from time fall

4. Easy

Sam hiding from a BT but seems like he’s about to get caught

Easy is a bit harder than Very Easy, but Deathstranding isn’t a very difficult game to begin with, so it’s still pretty easy.

This difficulty setting is for those that find the Normal difficulty a bit too stressful (and understandably so), as when you get chased by a BT, the heart-thumping sounds do get stressful, so having a less aggressive BT does help if you want to focus on delivering.

How this difficulty works:

• Sam’s balancing is good
• Enemies deal a bit less damage
• Humans basically never guard
• Enemies have a small detection range
• Enemies take a few hits to die
• Cargo takes a bit less damage than normal

Choose this difficulty if you:

• Think Normal is a bit too stressful and want to tone it down a tiny bit
• Enjoy taking enemies out faster
• Find it difficult to balance Sam’s cargo – lowering the difficulty helps with balance!

3. Normal

Sam running from a group of Mules

I think Normal is how the game was designed to be played; it strikes a nice balance between fun and danger. BT’s are never too hard to deal with, and Mules aren’t aggressive enough to become annoying.

Normal makes you aware of the potential dangers of travelling the route you intend to take because, when you run into enemies, be they humans or BTs, you want to make sure you’re prepared. So each trip requires careful planning—you don’t want to bring too much equipment (container repairs, guns, and blood grenades), but you also don’t want to find yourself without anything to protect yourself with.

How this difficulty works:

• Sam’s balancing is mediocre – you’ll find yourself tripping all the time and you need to watch your steps
• Enemies deal some damage – Each hit doesn’t do too much damage, but it does get dangerous if you don’t use armor plating in the later parts of the game
• Humans will sometimes guard – It doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes enemies with spears guard so you can’t just walk up to punch them
• Enemies have a larger/better detection range – Enemies are basically always on the lookout
• Enemies have more health – You need to start focusing on weak points like headshots (for humans) to really deal damage. Body shots will barely do anything
• Cargo takes more damage – You need to be careful and keep an eye out for your container stats 

Choose this difficulty if you:

• Enjoy some dangers – it’s manageable and traversing BT-infested areas is exciting
• You like to pay attention to Sam’s balance – the exoskeletons help a lot too
• You like to plan out your trips

2. Hard

Sam facing off against a BT

Hard mode is the 2nd hardest difficulty in Death Stranding as of this article; the hardest difficulty is actually Very Hard, which was introduced with the PC release of the game. If it isn’t clear, the variables affected by difficulty become increasingly harder as you increase the difficulty.

Hard mode provides additional challenges for Sam’s balancing; using the speed skeleton with a heavy load will make you feel like you’re always exhausted, with legs trembling and knees weak. Mules are actually a lot more aggressive and will hunt you down as if you’re prey. BTs are aggressive and have tunnel vision; once they spot you, they’ll chase you a lot further. Lastly, the containers are heavily affected by Timefall—your iron cases will feel like cardboard, so you actually need to keep an eye on the durability levels or your cargo may become damaged.

How this difficulty works:

• Sam’s balancing is wibbly wobbly
• Enemies deal even more damage
• Humans will guard against your melee attacks from the front
• Enemies have a larger/better detection range and will chase you down
• Enemies have more health
• Cargo takes significantly more damage

Choose this difficulty if you:

• Enjoy the balancing mechanic and want more challenges with it
• Enjoy some resistance from Mules – hard is when they start feeling like a threat
• Enjoy planning your trips – you’ll really need to keep track of the path and see if there are any time fall shelters to help protect/repair your containers to ensure that your cargo doesn’t get damaged

1. Very Hard

Sam encounter with Unger

Very Hard is Very Hard – it’s the toughest difficulty the game has to offer and is a level above the Hard mode of Death Stranding. Some have said that the game is meant to be played on this difficulty because it makes the game challenging, but is it the right difficulty for you?

Very Hard makes Sam’s legs into jelly; it heavily impacts your balance and stamina, so you have to balance the weight you’re carrying—maybe use supporting equipment more, such as the carriers or vehicles. Very Hard aims to make you use the game’s systems to counter these challenges—so keeping Sam’s body cargo light with weaponry to go up against BTs and Mules or to bring PCCs to make the return trip easier by setting up bridges, chiral bridges, ziplines, and so on. It’s a challenge, but it also makes you fully understand what the game offers and how you can make the challenges easier to deal with. It’s a difficult option for those who like to play the game to its fullest.

How this difficulty works:

• Sam’s Legs are made from jelly and he has no stamina
• Sam is Jelly so he takes a lot more damage from attacks
• Humans will guard against your melee attacks from the front
• Enemies have a larger/better detection range and will chase you down like you owe them a lot of money
• Enemies have more health
• Cargo takes significantly more damage – instead of metal containers they feel more like cardboard
• The weather has a stronger effect – so if you have a lot of cargo that stacks up very high, the wind might make it harder to stabilize (but there aren’t a lot of windy regions in the game so it’s not a huge concern).

Choose this difficulty if you like:

• A challenge
• Learning game mechanics and using it to make the game easier – the base difficulties are still somewhat easy, so there’s no need to use a lot of mechanics. This difficulty makes the game hard so you should use those mechanics to make your experience more enjoyable.
• You enjoy planning – Death Stranding is a game that requires planning out your trips, but on this difficulty, you should really plan out your trips carefully to ensure smooth sailing. If you just YOLO you may run into some trouble with keeping your containers safe.

You may also be interested in:

• All Death Stranding Villains And Their Motives
• What Is Death Stranding About? (Death Stranding Story Explained)
• Death Stranding Amelie Explained (All You Need To Know About Her)