Whether you are a new player looking to make the game easier on yourself or a veteran looking for a challenge, knowing how to change the difficulty of Destiny 2 can make it much more enjoyable.
We will show you how you can control the difficulty settings for many of the activities in Destiny 2.
Recommended Read: How to Get Xenophage in Destiny 2
To change the difficulty in Destiny 2, select Change Activity Mode before starting an activity and select Hero, Classic, Legend, Master, or Grandmaster difficulty.
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How to Change Difficulty in Destiny 2
Destiny 2 doesn’t have a universal difficulty setting. Instead, each activity bases its difficulty on the player’s Power Level.
If your Power Level doesn’t meet the recommended minimum of an activity, it can be very difficult to complete. Most activities have a set recommended Power Level for completing them.
This is often displayed next to the activity when you are selecting it.
If an enemy is 15 Power Levels higher than you, you will see a red sword icon displayed beside their name, indicating that this enemy is challenging but not impossible to defeat.
If their Power Level is 20-50 Levels higher than your own, you will see a red skull icon near their name.
These enemies will be near invincible and are a clear indicator that you have entered an activity that you are not quite ready to take on.
Some activities, such as campaign missions, Legend Lost Sectors, and Nightfalls, have multiple difficulty options that you can choose from to tailor your experience.
These difficulty options range from Classic, Hero, Legendary, Master, and Grandmaster difficulty.
Aside from wanting a harder challenge, there are many reasons players want to run high-difficulty activities.
Harder difficulties often reward you with better loot, Exotics, end-game materials, and crafting materials that you won’t get on low-difficulty settings.
Campaign missions only use two difficulty options, Classic and Legendary. Classic still provides a challenge, though it is catered to players who haven’t yet reached the Power Cap of 1800.
For the Lightfall Campaign, the newest campaign added in the Lightfall Expansion, the recommended Power Level starts at 1610 for the first campaign mission and ends at 1750 for the last campaign mission.
Each mission will reward you with new armor and weapons that should help you keep pace with the gradual increase in Power Level that every mission requires.
The Legendary Campaign difficulty adds some modifiers to make the game much more interesting while capping your effective Power Level 15 Power Levels below the recommended minimum.
This makes the average enemy much more challenging, and minibosses seem like Raid bosses all of a sudden.
You can not change your difficulty setting in the middle of a campaign mission. In order to swap to a higher or lower difficulty, you will need to abandon the activity first.
Head to the Mission Banner, and after interacting with it, you should see the option to change from Classic to Legendary above the Launch button.
Beating the Lightfall campaign on Legendary difficulty will reward you with a complete set of 1750 armor as well as the Strand subclass.
On the Neomuna Directory, you will also see an option to replay any campaign missions that you have already completed. These missions will show up as Classic and Legendary Campaigns.
Legend Lost Sectors have two difficulty options, Legendary and Master. Legend difficulty is unlocked once you reach Power Level 1750, though it is recommended for players who are Power Level 1800.
Legend Lost Sectors reward you with an uncommon chance of receiving Exotic armor. Master Difficulty is only recommended for players who are Power Level 1810 or above and have a common chance of rewarding Exotic armor. Learn more about How to Unlock and Do Legendary Lost Sectors in our guide.
Nightfall Strikes are split up into 4 different difficulty options: Hero, Legend, Master, and Grandmaster.
Hero Nightfall Strikes have matchmaking enabled and will pair you with up to two other Guardians if you don’t already have a full Fireteam. Their recommended Power Level is 1770.
Legend, Master, and Grandmaster Nightfalls do not have matchmaking enabled. You will be required to find a Fireteam ahead of time, or you will be put into the mission solo.
These activities have a common chance of rewarding Exotic armor, with Master difficulty having an uncommon chance of rewarding Ascendant Shards.
Grandmaster Nightfalls are among the toughest of end-game activities in Destiny 2, requiring a minimum Power Level of 1840.
Players will have a common chance of obtaining Exotics, Ascendant Shards, Nightfall Ciphers, and Nightfall weapons from this activity.
Now you are ready to play the game on a difficulty that better suits your Power Level.
What are your thoughts on the difficulty settings in Destiny 2? Do you think any activities are too easy or too challenging? Let me know in the comments!
