Star Wars Zero Company Difficulty Guide: Which Mode Should You Choose?

Updated: August 24, 2026

Status: Pre-release

Quick answer

Choose your difficulty based on what you want from the campaign:

Story difficulty: Best if you mainly want the characters, cinematic campaign, and Star Wars setting.
Standard difficulty: Best for most first-time tactics players who want meaningful decisions without starting at the harshest pressure.
Hard or Expert: Best if you already understand cover, AP, Overwatch, Advantage, squad roles, and resource management.

Permadeath is enabled by default but can be turned off. On Standard difficulty, accumulating three Injuries causes permanent death. Hawks’ death causes an automatic mission failure and requires a restart.

The complete difficulty-by-difficulty rule table is Retail verification required.

What difficulty options are available?

Developer information describes a range of experiences, including a more forgiving Story difficulty and tougher options for tactics veterans. Public materials refer to Story, Normal/Standard, Hard, and Expert-style difficulty levels.

The exact menu names, launch settings, enemy modifiers, save restrictions, and difficulty-specific rewards should be checked in the retail build.

Story difficulty

Story difficulty is for players who want the campaign to stay accessible while they learn the systems.

Choose Story if you want to

Focus on Hawks and the squad’s stories.
Learn turn-based combat without harsh punishment.
Experiment with Specializations and equipment.
Avoid losing a favourite character while learning the rules.
Play Star Wars Zero Company as your first tactics game.

Story difficulty does not mean the game has no strategy. You still need to understand movement, cover, objectives, and squad positioning, but mistakes should be less punishing based on the developers’ description.

Exact Story difficulty modifiers are Retail verification required.

Standard difficulty

Standard is the sensible starting point for players who have some experience with tactics games or want to learn the intended risk-and-reward loop.

On Standard difficulty, the official gameplay overview confirms that accumulating three Injuries results in permanent death.

Choose Standard if you want to

Take squad decisions seriously.
Learn to manage injuries, resources, and Bonds.
Keep Permadeath as part of the campaign’s tension.
Experience a challenge without immediately choosing the most demanding mode.

If you want Standard’s tactical pressure but not permanent loss, check the Permadeath setting before starting the campaign.

Hard difficulty

Hard is for players who already understand how to protect Operators and plan several actions ahead.

You should be comfortable with:

Using cover instead of chasing one extra attack
Focusing fire on dangerous targets
Ending turns with a defensive plan
Saving Advantage for decisive moments
Replacing injured Operators
Planning around expiring Operations and Cycle progression

Preview players have described Hard as demanding but manageable when the squad and combat systems are understood. That is a media experience, not a final universal difficulty measurement.

Exact enemy scaling, resource pressure, save restrictions, and injury rules are Retail verification required.

Expert difficulty

Expert is intended for players who want the game to punish inefficient decisions and expose weaknesses in squad planning.

Before choosing Expert, make sure you can:

Build a squad around the objective rather than favourite roles alone.
Recover from a missed shot or failed setup.
Keep a backup Operator for important roles.
Manage Intel, Credits, equipment, and treatment costs.
Accept that not every Operation can be completed.
Continue a campaign after losing a valuable character.

The exact Expert rules are Retail verification required. Do not assume Expert automatically changes every enemy statistic in the same way.

What does Permadeath have to do with difficulty?

Permadeath controls whether lost Operators remain gone from the campaign. The official Q&A confirms it is enabled by default and can be toggled off.

With Permadeath on:

Injuries become a long-term squad management problem.
An authored character can be lost.
Bonds and personal story content may be affected by death.
Custom Operators are not disposable just because they were created by the player.
You need backup roles and safer mission planning.

With Permadeath off, you can still make tactical mistakes, but losing a character should not create the same permanent campaign consequence.

The exact interaction between difficulty settings and Permadeath is Retail verification required.

What happens if Hawks dies?

Hawks is the player character. If Hawks dies in combat, it causes an automatic mission failure and you must restart the mission.

This is different from another Operator dying permanently. The campaign can continue without a lost Authored or Custom Operator, but it cannot continue through Hawks’ death in the same way.

The exact restart point and save behaviour are Retail verification required.

What are Limited Saves?

Official materials have associated higher difficulties with limited saves. The goal is to make decisions more permanent and reduce the ability to undo every bad outcome.

Limited saves make the following habits more important:

Check the Den before advancing the Cycle.
Do not begin a mission with a badly injured key Operator.
Read the objective and reward before deploying.
Avoid spending every Advantage or Utility before the mission’s second phase.
Keep a backup plan when a shot or movement can fail.

The exact number and timing of saves at each difficulty are Retail verification required.

Is there an Ironman-style mode?

Preview coverage has referred to a named mode called Beskar, described as similar to an Ironman-style experience with no reloading previous saves.

This detail comes from preview coverage rather than the core official rules pages used for this guide.

Beskar mode name, availability, and exact restrictions: Retail verification required.

Do not assume it is available on every difficulty or that it uses exactly the same rules as XCOM Ironman.

Which difficulty is best for a first playthrough?

You are new to tactics games

Choose Story difficulty, especially if you are mainly interested in the Star Wars story. Learn AP, cover, Overwatch, Advantage, and mission objectives without adding unnecessary frustration.

You know XCOM or similar games

Choose Standard. Keep Permadeath on if you enjoy meaningful consequences, or turn it off if you want to learn the campaign before committing to permanent losses.

You are a tactics veteran

Choose Hard first if you want pressure but still want room to learn the game’s unique systems. Move to Expert after you understand Bonds, Operations, equipment, and the enemy’s strategic growth.

You want the hardest possible campaign

Choose the highest available difficulty and any Ironman-like setting only after confirming the retail rules. Do not assume the pre-release descriptions provide the full launch configuration.

Should you turn Permadeath off?

Turn it off if:

You are unfamiliar with tactical games.
You want to see every authored character story.
You dislike restarting or losing progress.
You are testing different builds and team combinations.

Keep it on if:

You want character deaths to matter.
You enjoy long-term roster planning.
You are comfortable rotating injured Operators.
You want the campaign to create consequences from tactical mistakes.

There is no correct answer. The developers explicitly support adjusting the setting for the experience you want.

How should your strategy change on higher difficulty?

Protect the action economy

Do not spend every AP on damage. A safe position, Overwatch zone, Backup action, or movement plan can prevent a worse enemy turn.

Treat injuries as a campaign resource

An injured Operator may be alive but still be a poor choice for the next mission. Use the Medbay, Bacta Tank, or a replacement when the risk is too high.

Build a reserve roster

One perfect squad is fragile when Permadeath and limited saves are active. Develop at least one backup for important roles.

Choose missions more carefully

Higher difficulty makes expiring Operations, reward value, mission objectives, and Cycle progression more important. Do not start combat without checking the Den.

Use Bonds with a purpose

Bond and Cross Training benefits are useful, but do not keep an injured pair together if the mission requires a different role.

Common difficulty mistakes

Choosing Expert because the game looks familiar

Star Wars Zero Company has systems beyond ordinary cover combat, including Bonds, Operations, the Galaxy Map, Zone Influence, and a changing enemy threat.

Leaving Permadeath on without understanding Injuries

Learn how Downed, Injury, treatment, and replacement work before committing to the harshest campaign.

Changing difficulty for the wrong reason

If one mission is difficult, first check your squad, equipment, objective plan, and resource use. The problem may be a planning mistake rather than the overall difficulty.

Assuming Story means no consequences

Story difficulty is more forgiving, but you still need to complete objectives and learn the combat loop.

Copying a preview player’s settings

A media reviewer’s difficulty choice reflects their experience, not your own. Choose based on the kind of campaign you want.

A safe difficulty setup for new players

Use this starting plan:

Select Story or Standard.
Keep Permadeath off for the first few missions if the system is unfamiliar.
Learn AP, cover, Overwatch, Advantage, and mission objectives.
Turn Permadeath on once you understand injury management if you want more pressure.
Move to Hard after completing enough missions to recognise your common mistakes.

The exact ability to change settings during a campaign is Retail verification required.

Bottom line

Choose difficulty for the experience you want, not for status:

Story is the safest entry point.
Standard is the balanced learning option.
Hard rewards careful tactical planning.
Expert is for players who already understand the full campaign loop.
Permadeath can be turned off.
Hawks’ death always causes mission failure and a restart.

What is confirmed and what needs checking?

Confirmed by official materials

Multiple difficulty experiences are available.
Story difficulty is designed to be more forgiving for story-focused players.
Permadeath is enabled by default but can be toggled off.
Three Injuries cause permanent death on Standard difficulty.
Hawks’ death causes an automatic mission failure and restart.
Higher difficulties can include limited saves and harsher consequences.

Retail verification required

Final difficulty names and menu structure
Enemy, damage, accuracy, and resource modifiers
Exact injury and Permadeath rules by difficulty
Save limits and timing
Beskar mode availability and restrictions
Whether settings can be changed mid-campaign
Difficulty-specific rewards or achievements