If you’ve ever jumped into a Honkai: Star Rail domain fight only to get one-shot by a boss you thought you could handle, or blown through a story chapter in 10 minutes without any challenge at all, you’re not alone. A lot of players don’t realize how easy adjusting the game’s challenge level is until they’re dozens of hours in. Learning how to change difficulty in Honkai: Star Rail can completely transform your experience, whether you’re a casual player who just wants to enjoy the story or a min-maxer chasing the highest possible reward drops. I’ve messed with these settings more times than I can count across multiple accounts, so I’m breaking down exactly what you need to know, no confusing jargon included.
How to Change Difficulty in Honkai: Star Rail: Exact Steps for Every Platform
The process of adjusting your difficulty setting is nearly identical across mobile, PC, and PlayStation versions of the game, so you won’t have to learn a new workflow if you play on multiple devices. You cannot adjust your difficulty setting while you are in an active combat instance, story cutscene, or domain run, so make sure you’re back in the open world or main menu before you try to make changes. The full process only takes 10 seconds once you know where to look:
- Open the main game menu by tapping the phone icon (mobile) or pressing ESC (PC) / Options (PlayStation)
- Navigate to the Settings tab, marked with a gear icon on the right side of the menu bar
- Select the Gameplay Settings option from the left-hand navigation menu
- Scroll down to the Difficulty dropdown, select your preferred level, and confirm the change when prompted
You will get a pop-up warning if you’re lowering your difficulty, noting that some reward drops may be reduced, but you can skip this warning in one click if you already know the tradeoff. Difficulty settings are locked for new players until you hit Trailblaze Level 20 and complete the first major Jarilo-VI story arc, so don’t panic if you don’t see the option when you first make your account. It unlocks automatically once you hit those milestones, no extra quests required.
What Each Honkai: Star Rail Difficulty Level Actually Means
The game currently has four core difficulty levels, each tailored to different playstyles and progression points. It’s normal to swap between them regularly depending on what you’re doing in the game, so don’t feel like you have to pick one and stick with it forever. Story difficulty is the lowest option, designed for players who care more about the plot than combat challenge. Enemies have 50% less HP and attack than Normal mode, and rare reward drops are reduced to 70% of the Normal drop rate, but you’ll be able to clear every story fight even with underbuilt characters.
Easy difficulty is a middle ground between Story and Normal, with enemies at 75% of Normal mode strength and reward drops at 85% of the Normal rate. It’s a great pick for new players who are still learning the combat system, or players who want a little bit of challenge without having to grind for relics every week. Normal mode is the default setting, balanced for players who have decently built level-appropriate teams, with full 100% reward drop rates. Most players will stick to Normal for general play, unless they’re specifically farming for rare materials.
Hard mode is the highest available difficulty, with enemies at 130% of Normal mode HP and attack, and reward drops boosted to 115% of the Normal rate. Hard difficulty is the only setting that gives you a chance to earn 5-star relic drops from Calyx runs before you reach Trailblaze Level 60, so it’s worth switching to if your main team is built well enough to clear fights consistently. I usually play on Normal when I’m running through new story content, and swap to Hard only when I’m farming materials for my main team, because the extra challenge isn’t worth the time if I’m just there for the plot.
When You Should Adjust Your Honkai: Star Rail Difficulty Setting
There’s no right or wrong time to change your difficulty, but there are a few common scenarios where adjusting it will make your playtime way more enjoyable. First, if you’re stuck on a story boss for more than 3 tries, lower it immediately. There’s no shame in playing on Story or Easy if you just want to get past the fight and keep enjoying the plot. Lowering your difficulty won’t lock you out of any story content, so you never have to grind for hours just to progress the main plot.
So if you’re farming materials for character ascension or relics, bump it up to Hard if your team can handle it. You’ll get more drops per run, which saves you tons of Trailblaze Power long term. I swapped to Hard last month when I was farming for Seele’s ascension materials, and I cut my total farming time almost in half because I got twice as many rare drops per run. The extra 30 seconds per fight is totally worth the time you save on farming over a month of regular play.
If you’re testing a new team comp, you can drop to Easy to test rotations without worrying about dying, then bump it back up once you have the flow down. It’s a great way to practice timing for support buffs and ultimate abilities without wasting healing items or restarting runs over and over. You can swap difficulty as often as you want, as long as you’re not in an active instance, so don’t feel stuck with one setting forever.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Changing Honkai: Star Rail Difficulty
Even though adjusting difficulty is straightforward, there are a few common mistakes that can cost you rewards or time if you’re not paying attention. First, don’t lower your difficulty right before a big reward run without checking the reward penalty. A lot of players don’t realize that lower difficulty gives fewer rare drops, so if you’re about to run a Calyx you’ve been saving Trailblaze Power for, make sure you’re on the highest difficulty you can clear first. Always double check your current difficulty setting before using a Trailblaze Power booster or limited-time reward ticket, because you can’t reverse the run once you start it.
Second, don’t force Hard mode before your team is properly built. I see a lot of new players hear that Hard gives better rewards, so they swap to it as soon as it unlocks, then get frustrated when they can’t clear even basic fights. You don’t get any rewards if you can’t finish the run, so it’s better to run Normal consistently than to wipe over and over on Hard. You’ll earn more materials total running 5 quick Normal runs than 2 failed Hard runs in the same amount of time.
Third, don’t forget to swap back up after lowering it for a story boss. I’ve done this myself! I lowered the difficulty to beat a tough boss on Jarilo-VI, then forgot to swap back for a week, and missed out on a ton of extra relic drops during my farming runs. I only noticed when I realized I wasn’t getting any 4-star relic drops from my Calyx runs, and I’d wasted almost 500 Trailblaze Power on lower difficulty rewards. Set a quick reminder on your phone if you need to, so you don’t make the same mistake.
At the end of the day, Honkai: Star Rail is supposed to be fun, not a chore that makes you want to throw your controller across the room. Taking 30 seconds to learn how to change difficulty in Honkai: Star Rail lets you tailor the entire experience to what you want out of the game, whether that’s a relaxed story playthrough or a challenging grind for the best possible gear. Don’t let anyone make you feel like you have to play on a higher difficulty than you’re comfortable with—there’s no wrong way to play, as long as you’re having a good time. If you’re still unsure what setting works for you, test them all out over a few days, and stick with the one that feels the most enjoyable for your playstyle.
