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Difficulty
Nine named tiers and a Custom tier. Difficulty sets how strong the enemy is and how fast it grows across the galaxy. It is separate from the Game Options, which can be combined with any tier. Sub Commanders are not affected by difficulty.
The Difficulty dropdown's tooltip gives a one-line guide to each:
| Badge | Tier | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
 |
Beginner | you completed the tutorial |
 |
Casual | you have some hours in PA |
 |
Iron | you no longer turtle |
 |
Bronze | you beat vanilla Galactic War |
 |
Silver | you beat the skirmish AI |
 |
Gold | you beat the Queller AI mod |
 |
Platinum | one enemy is no challenge |
 |
Diamond | your loadouts are OP |
 |
Uber | you hate winning |
 |
Custom | create your own challenge |
| Beginner | Casual | Iron | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond | Uber | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting economy | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.425 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 10 |
| Economy growth per system | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.075 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Micro | Poor | Poor | Average | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Target selection | Poor | Poor | Poor | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Scouting | Poor | Poor | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Commander transport | Off | Off | On | On | On | On | On | On | On |
| Factory unit delay | 0 to 12 s | 0 to 12 s | none | none | none | none | none | none | none |
| Max basic and advanced fabbers per army | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Landing evaluation | Spawn only | Spawn only | Tiny | Small | Medium | Large | Huge | Immense | Immense |
| Personality modifier | Slower Expansion | Slower Expansion | Slower Expansion | none | none | none | Prevent Waste | Prevent Waste | Prevent Waste |
| Systems until an extra army | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3, faster ramp | 3, faster ramp |
| Boss Commanders per player | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Systems until AI tech appears | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | immediately | immediately |
| FFA | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| Land Anywhere | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| Sudden Death | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| Bounties | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| Bounty value | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Eradication | 20% | 20% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| Allied Commander | 100% | 20% | 20% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 10% | 5% | 5% |
The percentages are how often each game mode or an allied Commander is rolled for a non-boss enemy system.
- Economy. An enemy's economy is the starting economy plus the growth for every system it sits from your start, then varied by up to 10% either way. An economy of 1.0 is yours. At each distance where the reinforcement count ticks up, that system's economy drops back by one growth step, never more, and never below the starting economy, so a new army arrives with a little less to spend. Uber ignores all of this and gives every enemy a flat ×10.
- Reinforcements. The number of armies in a system is the minimum plus one for every so many systems of distance. With one player, "3" adds an army at distances 3, 6, 8, 11, and 13, about one every two and a half systems. "3, faster ramp" adds one at 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, one every two systems. In co-op both the minimum and the rate are multiplied by the player count.
- AI tech. An enemy holds one AI Tech buff for every two systems of distance, less the tier's delay. Diamond and Uber start counting immediately.
- Bosses use the economy and AI tech of the farthest system in the galaxy, whatever their own distance.
The Scaling Reference tool gives the economy, army count, and AI tech at every distance for any combination of tier, player count, and galaxy size.
Named tiers are read afresh at every battle, so a balance update reaches a war already in progress. A Custom war keeps the values it was created with.
Difficulty never touches your Sub Commanders. Commander and Sub Commander Tech describes how they play and the three cards that improve them.
Select Custom and the AI Settings column beside the dropdown becomes editable. Its tooltip on a named tier explains that the column shows what the tier sets; only Custom lets you change it.
| Control | Tooltip | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | "Starting economy." | Dire 0.35, Terrible 0.425, Poor 0.5, Weak 0.6, Unhealthy 0.7, Normal 1, Healthy 1.2, Incredible 10 |
| Economic Growth | "Speed the economy grows as you get deeper into the galaxy." | None 0, Slowest 0.025, Slower 0.05, Slow 0.075, Average 0.1, Fast 0.15, Faster 0.2, Fastest 1 |
| Boss Commanders | "Number of Commanders in the boss's army." | 1 to 5 |
| Armies/Commanders | "Minimum number of armies/Commanders per faction in every system irrespective of distance." | 1 to 5 |
| Reinforcement System | "Number of systems until additional armies/Commanders appear per faction." | Never, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3 faster ramp up, 2, Immediately |
| Tech System | "Number of systems until AI tech appears." | None, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Immediately |
| Basic Fabbers | "Maximum number of basic fabbers per army." | 5 to 12, 15, 20, 30, 50 |
| Advanced Fabbers | "Maximum number of advanced fabbers per army." | 5 to 12, 15, 20, 30, 50 |
| Unit Delay (min) | "Minimum delay between units produced from a factory." | None, Short 3 s, Medium 6 s, Long 12 s |
| Unit Delay (max) | "Maximum delay between units produced from a factory." | None, Short 12 s, Medium 30 s, Long 60 s |
| New Base Delay | "Delay in creating new bases." | None, Short 60 s, Medium 120 s, Long 900 s |
| Unable To Expand Delay | "Delay before AI realises it cannot expand." | None, Short 60 s, Medium 120 s, Long 900 s |
| Micro | "How well the AI handles its armies in combat." | Poor, Average, Good |
| Scouting | "How well the AI scouts." | Poor, Good |
| Target Selection | "How well the AI picks who to attack." | Poor, Good |
| Landing Evaluation | "Distance examined when choosing spawn." | Spawn only, Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, Immense |
| Commander Transport | "Allow Commanders to travel by orbital transport and teleporter." | Disabled, Enabled |
| Personality Modifiers | "Tweaks to how the AI plays." | Titans and Penchant: Lobotomy, Slower Expansion, Prevent Waste. Queller: Loves Air, Loves Bots, Loves Land, Loves Orbital, Loves Tanks, FFA Behaviour, Late Orbital |
| FFA | How often a system holds a second enemy faction | 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100% |
| Ally | How often a system hosts an allied Commander | 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100% |
| Land Anywhere | How often Land Anywhere is on | 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100% |
| Sudden Death | How often Sudden Death is on | 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100% |
| Bounties | How often Bounties is on | 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100% |
| Eradication | How often Eradicate is on | 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100% |
| Bounty Value | "Eco bonus per army kill." | 0.1 to 0.5 |
Landing evaluation is the radius the AI examines when choosing where to land: Tiny 100, Small 150, Medium 200, Large 250, Huge 300, and Immense 400.
Winning a war earns a badge for the loadout you used, shown on that loadout in the Commander picker. A badge is replaced only by a higher tier, or by the same tier won on Hardcore, which has its own badge art. No badge is earned on Custom difficulty, with developer mode on, or in a co-op war that had more players than it was scaled for (see Co-op).