The Star Wars Zero Company difficulty settings let players choose between Story, Normal, Hard and Expert, while a separate Beskar Mode removes the ability to reload earlier saves. Permadeath is another separate setting and is enabled by default, although it can be disabled if you do not want Operators permanently removed from your campaign.
This means there are three different parts of the challenge setup to understand: your difficulty level, whether permadeath is active, and whether you enable Beskar Mode.
| Setting | What We Know |
|---|---|
| Story | Lowest difficulty |
| Normal | Standard difficulty |
| Hard | Third of four difficulty levels |
| Expert | Highest difficulty |
| Beskar Mode | Prevents reloading previous saves |
| Permadeath | Enabled by default, can be disabled |
Star Wars Zero Company Difficulty Settings: Campaign Modifiers in Patch 1.2
Patch 1.2 adds Additional Campaign Options to the Difficulty Settings screen when creating a new campaign. These modifiers work with Story, Normal, Hard or Expert difficulty; they are separate from Beskar Mode. Your choices activate after the tutorial and change how the campaign plays, from Injury limits and death risks to Health increases, Advantage, critical hits and restrictions on respecs.
EA lists three Injury Limit choices: Instant Death, Two Strikes and the default Three Strikes. Random death options include No Risk, a flat 20% risk, and escalating 20%, 40% and 80% risks after surviving consecutive defeats. You can also reduce or remove Health increases earned from Focus Points, prevent Cross Training between disliked Operators until Bond Level 4, limit Advantage generation, permit enemy critical hits, allow missed Assist Shots, cap shots at 99% accuracy, or lock Talent, Specialization, weapon and recruitment rerolls.
The modifiers are selected before starting a campaign, not changed freely in an existing save. For the complete list and the tactical-death exceptions, see EA’s official 1.2 patch notes.
All Star Wars Zero Company Difficulty Settings
There are four main Star Wars Zero Company difficulty settings:
- Story
- Normal
- Hard
- Expert
These difficulty names are also tied directly to the game’s trophies and achievements.
Completing the campaign on Story or higher unlocks Hired Gun, Normal or higher unlocks Veteran, Hard or higher unlocks Operator, and completing the game on Expert unlocks Captain.
There is then an additional challenge for completing Expert with Beskar Mode enabled.
What Is Story Difficulty?
Story is the lowest of the four Star Wars Zero Company difficulty settings.
It is intended to provide the most accessible route through the campaign, particularly for players more interested in the Star Wars story and characters than a punishing tactical challenge.
The fundamental systems remain part of the game. You’ll still be controlling Operators through turn-based battles using Action Points, cover, positioning and character abilities.
Story simply sits at the lowest end of the game’s four difficulty levels.
Completing the campaign on Story or any higher difficulty earns the Hired Gun achievement.
What Is Normal Difficulty?
Normal is the standard Star Wars Zero Company difficulty.
This sits above Story but below Hard and Expert.
Normal is also the difficulty explicitly referenced by the game’s Injury system. On standard difficulty, an Operator who accumulates three Injuries can die permanently when permadeath is enabled.
Completing the campaign on Normal or higher unlocks the Veteran achievement.
What Is Hard Difficulty?
Hard is the third of the four Star Wars Zero Company difficulty settings.
Xbox’s hands-on preview confirms this directly, with the reviewer playing on Hard following the developers’ recommendation for an experienced tactics player.
The preview describes Hard as providing a significant tactical challenge, with battles regularly resulting in injuries even without Operators necessarily being permanently lost.
Completing the campaign on Hard or Expert earns the Operator achievement.
What Is Expert Difficulty?
Expert is the highest standard difficulty in Star Wars Zero Company.
Completing the entire campaign on Expert unlocks the Captain achievement.
There is then an additional challenge beyond simply completing Expert: combining it with Beskar Mode.
Doing both is required for the Legend achievement.
What Is Beskar Mode?
Beskar Mode is not another difficulty level.
It is a separate campaign modifier that prevents you from reloading previous saves.
Bit Reactor describes it as the Star Wars Zero Company equivalent of XCOM’s Ironman Mode.
Normally, a disastrous tactical decision can potentially be undone by returning to an earlier save.
Beskar Mode removes that safety net.
Your decisions, injuries and losses therefore become considerably more consequential because you cannot simply rewind the campaign to a point before they happened.
Is Beskar Mode the Hardest Difficulty?
No.
This distinction is important because Beskar Mode and Expert difficulty can be enabled together.
The game’s achievement requirements prove that they are separate systems.
| Achievement | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Hired Gun | Complete Story or higher |
| Veteran | Complete Normal or higher |
| Operator | Complete Hard or higher |
| Captain | Complete Expert |
| Legend | Complete Expert with Beskar Mode |
The final requirement would make no sense if Beskar simply replaced Expert as a fifth difficulty.
Instead, Beskar changes how saving and reloading works while Expert determines the difficulty level.
Can You Reload Saves in Beskar Mode?
No.
This is the defining rule of Beskar Mode.
Earlier saves cannot be reloaded, so you must live with the outcome of your tactical and campaign decisions.
That becomes particularly important when combined with Zero Company’s Injury and permadeath systems.
An Operator lost during a normal campaign could potentially be recovered by reloading an earlier save.
Beskar Mode removes that option.
Is Permadeath Part of the Difficulty Setting?
Permadeath is another separate setting.
It is enabled by default, but Bit Reactor has confirmed that players can turn it off.
This gives you considerably more control over the type of campaign you want.
You could therefore play a challenging difficulty while disabling permanent character loss, or keep permadeath active without necessarily playing on Expert.
Difficulty, permadeath and Beskar Mode should not be treated as three names for the same system.
How Does Permadeath Work?
When an Operator reaches zero Health, they become Downed and suffer an Injury rather than immediately dying.
Another Operator can Rally them back into the current battle.
On standard difficulty, accumulating three Injuries results in permanent death when permadeath is active.
Because permadeath is enabled by default, permanent character loss is part of the standard campaign experience unless you specifically turn it off.
What Happens If an Operator Dies in Beskar Mode?
If permadeath and Beskar Mode are both active, losing an Operator becomes considerably more serious.
Permadeath allows the Operator to be permanently removed from the campaign.
Beskar Mode prevents you from returning to an earlier save to undo what happened.
The combination therefore creates the closest Star Wars Zero Company gets to a traditional Ironman tactics campaign.
What Is the Hardest Star Wars Zero Company Setting?
The hardest confirmed combination is Expert difficulty with Beskar Mode enabled.
The game’s achievements explicitly recognize this combination with the Legend achievement.
That means players attempting the maximum documented challenge need to complete the entire campaign on Expert without relying on earlier save reloads.
Permadeath can add further consequences to Operator losses.
Do Higher Difficulties Have Separate Achievements?
Yes.
This is one of the clearest reasons we know the four Star Wars Zero Company difficulty settings.
Each major difficulty threshold has an associated achievement.
Importantly, the first three use the wording “or higher.”
That means completing the campaign on Expert also satisfies the difficulty requirement for the Story, Normal and Hard completion achievements.
You do not need four separate campaigns purely to complete those four difficulty achievements.
Do You Need Expert for the Platinum Trophy?
The trophy list includes achievements for completing Expert and for completing Expert with Beskar Mode.
The Legend achievement specifically requires Expert difficulty with Beskar Mode enabled.
Players aiming to complete the entire achievement or trophy list will therefore need to tackle that combination.
Can You Turn Permadeath Off?
Yes.
Bit Reactor has explicitly confirmed that permadeath is enabled by default but can be toggled off.
The developers have explained that they believe permanent loss supports one of Star Wars’ central themes, but they also encourage players to adjust the settings to create the experience they want.
Turning it off does not mean you need to play on Story difficulty.
Permadeath and difficulty are separate choices.
Should You Use Beskar Mode?
Beskar Mode has one very specific consequence that matters when deciding whether to use it: you cannot reload previous saves.
That means it is designed for a campaign where decisions and tactical outcomes remain permanent.
If you want the ability to retry an earlier point after losing an Operator or making a campaign decision you regret, do not enable Beskar Mode.
If you specifically want an Ironman-style campaign, Beskar Mode provides it.
Star Wars Zero Company Difficulty Settings FAQ
How many difficulty settings are in Star Wars Zero Company?
There are four named difficulty levels: Story, Normal, Hard and Expert.
What is the easiest difficulty?
Story is the lowest difficulty.
What is the hardest difficulty?
Expert is the highest standard difficulty.
What is Beskar Mode?
Beskar Mode is an Ironman-style modifier that prevents you from reloading previous saves.
Is Beskar Mode a fifth difficulty?
No. It is separate from the four standard difficulty levels and can be combined with Expert.
Is permadeath enabled automatically?
Yes. Permadeath is enabled by default, although it can be turned off.
Can you play Expert without Beskar Mode?
Yes. The achievement list separately recognizes completing Expert and completing Expert with Beskar Mode.
Is there an achievement for Expert and Beskar Mode?
Yes. The Legend achievement requires completing the campaign on Expert with Beskar Mode enabled.
Star Wars Zero Company Difficulty Settings Explained
The Star Wars Zero Company difficulty settings consist of Story, Normal, Hard and Expert, but those aren’t the only choices controlling how punishing your campaign becomes.
Permadeath is enabled by default but can be disabled, while Beskar Mode separately prevents players from reloading previous saves.
The most demanding confirmed combination is Expert with Beskar Mode enabled, which has its own Legend achievement and turns the campaign into Zero Company’s equivalent of an Ironman run.
