Crimson Moon lets you pick your difficulty, but only at one moment: when you set up the first mission of a new run at the War Table in Sanctus Clypeus. You cannot change it mid-run or from the pause menu, harder tiers unlock as you progress, and each step up makes enemies more dangerous while improving your chances at higher-rarity gear. Patch 1.1 on November 3, 2026 added a 6-Skull tier with a single life and seven optional Omens on top, so the ladder is longer than it was at launch.
We pulled this from ProbablyMonsters' Steam store page, gameplay explainers and patch notes, a launch review that tested the higher settings, and two published guides that cover the War Table and the Hellish trophy, all checked in November 2026.
How Difficulty Works in Crimson Moon
The Steam store page sums up the design in one line: dynamic difficulty scaling lets every mission match your skill, and higher difficulties come with greater rewards. Instead of a single Easy, Normal and Hard toggle buried in a settings menu, difficulty is part of how you plan a hunt. It is represented by skulls, which show up on the reward and Mission Failed screens, and a guide written at launch counted six difficulty levels in total, with the harder ones opening as you clear content.
Difficulty in this game is also part of the progression system rather than only a challenge slider. One systems breakdown notes that equipment rarity is capped at each difficulty tier, and the studio's own loot explainer says higher difficulty levels offer increased rewards, including more opportunities to earn higher-rarity gear. In plain terms, staying on the lowest setting forever slows down how good your permanent arsenal can become.
That is the trade the whole system revolves around. A harder hunt spends lives faster, but when it succeeds you walk back into Sanctus Clypeus with better loot to purify.
How to Change Difficulty at the War Table
Every hunt begins at the War Table, where you choose your next destination among Gildenarch's Wards. That is also where you choose difficulty, and only when you are setting up the first mission of a new run. The reason trips up a lot of players: a full run is three missions followed by a World Boss, and returning to the hub between those missions does not end the run. While a run is active, the War Table will not offer you a new difficulty, and the Loadout Station stays unavailable too.
- Finish or end your current run (complete the World Boss or lose your last life).
- Return to Sanctus Clypeus and visit the Loadout Station to set your gear and Angel.
- Go to the War Table and select the Ward and mission you want.
- Pick the difficulty, choosing from the tiers you have unlocked so far.
- Confirm the setup and start the hunt; the setting now holds until the run ends.
If the higher options look locked, you simply have not cleared enough content yet. Keep progressing through the districts and the next tier becomes available. In co-op, agree on the setting before the host starts, since it applies to both of you for the whole run; our co-op guide covers how the shared life pool changes that decision.
What Changes When You Raise the Difficulty
![Crimson Moon YouTube thumbnail: Crimson Moon[PS5] “Infernal Difficulty… The Nightmare Ends Here!” MAXLevel 30](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/21SHCCSotYw/hqdefault.jpg)
A launch review on PC put it well: higher difficulty makes enemies smarter, gives them enchanted weapons and increases their damage, adjusting how enemies behave rather than just inflating their health. You notice it in enemy groups that pressure you from more angles and in hits that punish a missed parry much harder.
| Area | Effect on harder settings | Source type |
|---|---|---|
| Enemies | Smarter behavior, enchanted weapons, more damage | Launch review |
| Rewards | Greater rewards for higher difficulty | Steam store page |
| Gear rarity | More chances at higher-rarity equipment | Studio loot explainer |
| Rarity ceiling | Equipment rarity capped per difficulty tier | Systems breakdown |
| 6-Skull tier | One life only (added in Patch 1.1) | Patch 1.1 notes |
| Omens | Seven optional difficulty modifiers (Patch 1.1) | Patch 1.1 notes |
The rewards side is what makes climbing worth it. Better drops mean better items to purify, and purified items become permanent parts of your collection. Remember the detail the studio clarified in September: purifying unlocks an item at Common quality no matter what rarity you found, and upgrading it with Gajov is what permanently raises its floor. So the loop is to climb a tier, collect strong pieces, purify them, then upgrade your favorites before climbing again.
6-Skull Difficulty and Omens in Patch 1.1
Patch 1.1 was the game's first major update. Its headline addition is 6-Skull Difficulty, described in the notes with a single sentence: you have just one life. Alongside it come Omens, seven new difficulty modifiers that let you change the challenge of a run, and Leaderboards that rank players across every mission and difficulty level. The same patch added 12 new Boons and 12 new Trinkets and let you re-roll Boons at Nexus Gates and at Mereda, which gives you a little more control over a run that is going badly.
One life changes how you should play more than any number on an enemy health bar. With no spare lives in the pool, a single mistimed dodge ends the hunt. Treat 6-Skull as an endgame mode for players who already have upgraded gear and a build they trust, not as the next natural step after clearing a district on the tier below.
If you are picking up the game again after the update, Patch 1.1 also rebuilt the save system to address the progression losses some players hit at launch, and it added controller button remapping, which helps if you want parry and dodge on different inputs for the harder settings.
Is Crimson Moon Hard? A Fair Answer
At the default settings, Crimson Moon is demanding but not punishing in the way the hardest soulslikes are. You have a life pool rather than a single attempt, you keep experience and permanent unlocks when a run fails, and you can drop the difficulty for your next run if a district is beating you. That flexibility is one of the main differences from games that lock you into a single setting, a contrast our explainer on what makes a game a true soulslike explores from another angle.
Where it gets hard is the combination of higher tiers, unfamiliar districts and weak permanent gear. Parrying and dodging are the core defensive skills, and both become less forgiving as enemy damage rises. The single best way to make the game easier is not a setting at all but a stronger loadout: our build guide covers slot priorities and synergies, and our Boons explainer shows how stacking the right effects changes how long you survive.
A Practical Plan for Climbing the Tiers
The fastest way up is to treat each tier as a gear check rather than a skill wall. Start new districts on a tier you can clear comfortably, because your first visit is about learning enemy placements, elite spawns and the boss at the end, not about loot. Once a district feels routine, push it one tier higher and keep doing so until a run starts costing more than half your life pool before the World Boss. That is the signal to stop climbing and spend a few runs collecting and purifying gear at the tier you can handle.
Between climbs, put your upgrades into a short list of pieces rather than spreading them across everything you find. A weapon you actually use, a shield you trust for parries and armor that supports your chosen Weapon Art will carry you further than a dozen half-upgraded items. Lotte sells trinkets, throwables and consumables before each hunt, so check his stock when a district has a boss that punishes you at range.
Finally, use co-op as a tool rather than a crutch. Encounters scale for two players, so a partner does not make every fight trivial, but a second player who can revive you turns a failed solo attempt at a higher tier into a run you can finish. A sensible pattern is to clear your first high-tier district as a pair, then return solo once your gear has caught up.
Difficulty and the Trophy List
Only one trophy cares about difficulty directly. Hellish asks you to complete a single district mission on Hellish difficulty or higher, and you do not need a full run or every district on that setting. No Deaths is the other skill check: complete one district mission without losing a life, on any difficulty you like. Both are best attempted after your purified gear is upgraded, on a district you know well.
No trophy requires the new 6-Skull tier or any Omen. The rest of the Platinum is a mix of progression and cumulative counters, laid out step by step in our Crimson Moon trophy roadmap. If you track your PlayStation profile closely, our explainer on how PS5 trophy levels and points work shows what the Platinum adds.
When You Would Rather Not Grind Hellish
If clearing a district on Hellish and surviving a deathless mission are the only things standing between you and the Platinum, the store's Crimson Moon Platinum trophy service covers every Bronze, Silver and Gold plus the Platinum on your own PS5 account, with a choice of instant or spread-out time-stamps. If you want to keep playing yourself but start with a stronger Nephilim, the separate PS5 and PC modded save lists Rank 30, Legendary gear in every loadout slot and both currencies at 999,999,999, and it replaces your current save.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you change difficulty in Crimson Moon?
Walk to the War Table in the hub before a fresh run begins and pick from the tiers you have unlocked. The option is not in the pause menu.
Why can't I change difficulty in Crimson Moon?
You are probably still in an active run. A full run is three missions plus a World Boss, and returning to the hub between missions does not end it.
How many difficulty levels does Crimson Moon have?
A guide written at launch counted six, unlocked as you progress. Patch 1.1 then added a 6-Skull tier with a single life, plus seven Omens that modify a run further.
Does higher difficulty give better loot?
Yes. The studio says higher difficulty levels offer increased rewards, including more opportunities to earn higher-rarity gear.
Is there a difficulty trophy in Crimson Moon?
Yes, Hellish: complete one district mission on Hellish difficulty or higher. Losing lives during that mission is allowed.
Is Crimson Moon harder than a typical soulslike?
On default settings it is more forgiving, thanks to a life pool and adjustable difficulty. The higher skull tiers and the one-life 6-Skull mode are where it gets brutal.