Mass Effect: How to Change Difficulty

Difficulty levels are always really important to have in video games, as it allows for both casual and hardcore players to enjoy the games, creating different experiences as a result. Mass Effect Legendary Edition knows the importance of this, as it implements plenty of different levels of challenge throughout its trilogy. Here is everything you need to know about how to change difficulty in Mass Effect.

Like most games, you should select difficulty based on skill level. If you are new to the game, you should start on the lowest setting. If you’re a veteran, or just want a bit of a challenge, start on the highest. If you’re at all confused on which ones are more difficult, the game even offers descriptions below them when you’re looking through each one.

It is also important to note that Mass Effect’s hardest difficulty, Insanity, is unlocked from the get-go in Mass Effect Legendary Edition. That means it no longer requires players to beat the game once to unlock it in any of the games.

Lastly, you can also change difficulty at any point during the game. Just keep in mind that doing this will affect certain difficulty trophies and achievements, meaning you’ll need to play all the way through the game with whatever one you are trying to unlock.

How to Change Difficulty in Mass Effect

Mass Effect 1 & 2

All you have to do to change the difficulty in each game is open up the pause menu. Once here, click on Options and then Gameplay. Here, you’ll be able to see which difficulty is right for you. From easiest to hardest, those difficulties include Casual, Normal, Veteran, Hardcore, and Insanity.

Mass Effect 3

While Mass Effect 3 also has those five difficulties, which are also changed the same way, there is one small difference. Unlike the previous two, the final entry in this trilogy also has a narrative mode. The Narrative difficulty level is even easier than Casual, as it takes pretty much all the challenging scenarios out of the game for the purpose of putting the story first.

That just about does it for everything you need to know about how to change difficulty in Mass Effect. If you’re looking to find more tips and tricks, be sure to check out our guide wiki for Mass Effect Legendary Edition. You can also have a look at the related articles below to see more of our Mass Effect coverage.