Difficulty (LWR)
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.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Difficulty | .png){kind=small} Alien Level Up Speed |
Speed of Incursion Strength Regression |
 UFO HP |
 Home Country Daily Credits |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 Injury and Fatigue Times |
|
 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% | 140% | 25 | 900 | 0 | 0 | |
* 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)
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||||