Horizon Forbidden West difficulty settings explained: levels, trophies & more
Sony Computer EntertainmentThe difficulty level determines how challenging a game is and by toggling its settings players can tailor the game experience to their own skill level. So, here’s how to change Horizon Forbidden West difficulty settings, and whether or not there’s a trophy for completing it in the hardest one.
After years of waiting, the highly anticipated sequel to Sony’s PlayStation exclusive, Horizon Zero Dawn, reached our screens in the form of Horizon Forbidden West. Now, after a little more than two years since its launch, it’s coming to PC.
Putting players back into the shoes of fan-favorite heroine, Aloy, fans are tasked with bringing an end to The Blight, a rust-colored moss intent on causing chaos.
But before you dive in, you might want to know how challenging Aloy’s newest adventure can get and if you’ll be able to change its difficulty level in case it is too high.
So, here are all the difficulty levels in the game and whether or not there’s a trophy for getting through the Forbidden Forest at the hardest level.
Contents
- Horizon Forbidden West difficulty levels
- How to change difficulty settings in Horizon Forbidden West
- Difficulty level comparison for Horizon Forbidden West
- Does Horizon Forbidden West have a difficulty trophy?
All Horizon Forbidden West difficulty levels
As with every game, Forbidden West has a vast array of different default difficulties, but it also allows you to tailor just how challenging the game is with the custom difficulties setting.
Below are all of the build-in modes, as well as what you can change in the custom section:
| DIFFICULTY | ATTRIBUTES |
| Story | Combat is made easier to allow for focus on exploration and the game’s narrative |
| Easy | Gives players an easy combat experience while exploring |
| Normal | Balances exploration, story, and combat |
| Hard | Offers challenging combat throughout |
| Very Hard | Incredibly demanding combat that will force players to test their skills |
| Ultra Hard | The toughest combat experience with enemy aggression and damage increased. Aloy’s weapons are rebalanced and everything is more expensive. |
| Custom | Players can set:
|
How to change difficulty settings
Thankfully for players, you can change the game’s difficulty at any time throughout your post-apocalyptic journey. So no matter what you chose at the beginning of your story, if you’re in for a change mid-way through, you can do it by following these easy steps:
- Choose ‘Options‘ on your controller.
- Go to ‘Settings‘.
- Select the ‘Game‘ tab.
- This should be the default one when you open Settings, but have a check just in case!
- Scroll down to ‘Difficulty,’ and adjust it by using left and right on the analog stick.
There’s no limit to how many times you can do this, so try them all until you find the balance that best suits you and your skills.
Difficulty level comparison for Horizon Forbidden West
Each difficulty level in Horizon Forbidden West changes different stats and conditions. Here’s a full explanation of how they increase with each scenario.
| STORY | EASY | NORMAL | HARD | VERY HARD | ULTRA HARD | |
| Damage taken | 10% | 50% | 100% | 125% | 150% | 200% |
| Enemy HP scaling | 33% | 80% | 100% | 133% | 182% | 294% |
| Enemy tear and elemental defense | 29% | 67% | 100% | 100% | 182% | 250% |
| Aim assist | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional | No | No |
| Easy loot | Yes | Yes | Optional | Optional | Optional | No |
| Weapon stamina drain on damage taken | None | None | Up to 15% of total stamina | Up to 15% of total stamina | Up to 15% of total stamina | Up to 15% of total stamina |
Additionally, the Ultra Hard mode has reduced effectiveness for Smoke bombs, enemy health bars are disabled and they become alerted even while attacking on stealth, and both visual and auditory perception ranges are doubled.
Does Horizon Forbidden West have a difficulty trophy?
In short, no, Horizon Forbidden West does not have a difficulty trophy. This means that you will not get anything special for playing the game at a higher level (other than bragging rights, and to be honest those are kind of worth it in themselves, right?)
There are also no specific missions that need to be completed on a higher difficulty, so you can explore the game at whatever pace you like.
Brimming with trophies for you to obtain and flex on your friends with, many have been asking whether or not there’s a trophy for completing the game at the most challenging level.
For more Horizon Forbidden West content, check our guides below:
Horizon Forbidden West review | Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC requirements: Minimum & recommended specs | Will Horizon Forbidden West run on Steam Deck? | Horizon Forbidden West: How to destroy Firegleam (Red Crystals) | Horizon Forbidden West: How to apply face paint | How to fix Horizon Forbidden West bricking PS5 | Horizon Forbidden West Explorer vs Guided Mode: What’s the difference? | Is there a Horizon Forbidden West difficulty trophy? How to change difficulties