Difficulty (LWR)

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Expectations

LWR Easy is similar to Long War 1.0 Normal.

LWR Classic is similar to Long War 1.0 Classic.

LWR Brutal is around as hard as Long War 1.0 Impossible.

LWR Impossible is tough, unforgiving, and will sometimes feel Impossible.

Playing Ironman is like jumping all the difficulties up another notch.

It's probably best to start out a little easier if you've never played LWR before.

Landed UFOs and swarming abductions are quite challenging -- treat them with respect and do not rule out retreating.

Expect to have satellites shot down, to not be able to stop a lot of UFOs, to lose soldiers, to lose missions, and to lose around 1 country per month (give or take).

Last, if you feel like being masochistic and decide to play on impossible: please expect to lose many (literally many) times before you even come close to winning. Expect the game to feel unfair and punishing. I'd recommend treating impossible as more of a "How far can you get?" rather then a "Can you beat the game?". Impossible in Long War Rebalance is much harder than that difficulty was in Long War 1.0.

Difficulty Levels

In Long War Rebalance, difficulty levels scale many different aspects of the game. Difficulty level can also affects perks like the effectiveness of the Outsiders' Growth ability.

To select the Pain difficulty you must press the down key on Impossible difficulty and then press the space bar. It is intentionally somewhat hidden.

Strategic Changes
Difficulty	Alien Level Up Speed	Speed of Incursion Strength Regression	UFO HP	Home Country Daily Credits	UFO Alloy Yield	UFO Elerium Yield	Fragment Yields	Meld Yields	Injury and Fatigue Times	Starting Power	Initial Panic	Monthly Soldiers	Starting SHIVs
Easy	90%	120%	40%	45	120%	120%	120%	120%	40%	45	500	2	4
Classic	95%	110%	70%	40	110%	110%	110%	110%	80%	40	600	2	3
Brutal	100%*	100%	100%	35	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	35	700	1	2
Impossible	105%**	90%	120%	30	90%	90%	90%	90%	120%	30	800	0	1
Pain	110%**	80%	130%	25	80%	80%	80%	80%	120%	25	900	0	1

* On Brutal difficulty the Alien Level accelerates later into the game by the formula AL *= 1 + ((AL/30)^2)

** On Impossible and Pain difficulty the Alien Level accelerates later into the game by the formula AL *= 1 + ((AL/20)^2)

Alien Changes
Difficulty	Mobility	Base HP	Damage	Aim	Will	Alien Level Attribute Gains	Alien Leader Appearance Chance Multiplier	Alien Leader Levels	Prepared Chance (0/1/2 Active)	Sneak Mode / CR when no LoS	Temple Squad Size
Easy	-1.3	80%	-2	-20	-20	80%	0.6	-2	0%	No	12
Classic	-0.6	90%	-1	-10	-10	90%	0.8	-1	40/0/0%	No	10
Brutal	0	100%	0	0	0	100%	1.0	0	70/40/0%	No	8
Impossible	+0.6	110%	+1	+10	+10	110%	1.2	+1	100/70/40%	Yes	6
Pain	+1.3	120%	+2	+20	+20	120%	1.4	+2	100/100/70%	Yes	6

Alien Perk changes
Difficulty	Growth	Deflection Shield	Plasma Shield	Fractal Spawn	Taunt	Psi Fade
Easy	25%	25%	20hp	No	No	No
Classic	50%	50%	40hp	No	No	No
Brutal	75%	75%	60hp	Yes	Yes	No
Impossible	100%	100%	80hp	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pain	100%	100%	100hp	Yes	Yes	Yes

First Mission Alien Count
Difficulty	Sectoids/Drones	Outsiders
Easy	5	-
Classic	6	-
Brutal	6	1
Impossible	7	1
Pain	8	2