Star Traders: Frontiers combines a number of difficulty systems to build the game's difficulty ladder. Difficulty ratings are broken out by their effect into systems related to combat, legality, enemy level, and economic profits.
Difficulty Settings[ | ]
Invincibility[ | ]
This determines which characters are protected from death and cannot die during your game. Characters that are not protected will have to roll a Death Save.
Death Save[ | ]
When any character suffers a lethal wound they have a chance of dying outright. Difficulty is one of the major factors in a Character's Death Save, which determines the chance that a character will survive a lethal hit.
Bonus Experience[ | ]
When your crew earns experience, it is boosted by this percent before being allocated to crew members. The higher this number, the faster your crew will level.
Bonus Profits[ | ]
When you make a profitable trade in the Exchange, your profits will be boosted by this amount before being paid. This will increase the value you receive from trading and piracy.
Enemy Difficulty[ | ]
This rate adjusts how the game determines a fair opponent for your captain and ship. The lower this number, the easier the opponent AI will be.
World Difficulty[ | ]
This rate adjusts how hostile the game world will be to your ship and crew. This will reduce the damage, mutinies and encounters you have. The lower this number, the easier the game will be.
Combat Boost[ | ]
When you make an attack, your to-hit and evasion (dodge) rolls are boosted by this percentage. This gives you an advantage over your enemies. The higher this number, the easier combat will be. This applies to the number of successes on accuracy rolls in Crew Combat, Ship Combat, and multiplies the to-hit and evasion chance of craft in your favor. For example a +25% bonus on Basic difficulty for 8 successes in Crew Combat or Ship combat becomes 10 successes. Your small craft with a 60% chance to avoid attacks are boosted to 80% chance to avoid hits etc.
Starting Funds[ | ]
The funds your captain starts with. 20% of any funds left over from your ship selection will be added to your starting funds. Some Kickstarter backers will receive a bonus amount of $5k credits.
Retraining Cost[ | ]
Difficulty also impacts how much it costs to Retrain Talents. This cost is higher on harder difficulties. (The level of characters retraining is also a factor, independent of difficulties.) This is not configurable in Custom Difficulty games.
Maintenance Points[ | ]
Difficulty will impact the credit cost, and the time cost of small craft repairs to correct Maintenance Points. It will also impact the probability of acquiring them to begin with. This varies from 15% (Basic) to 50% (Impossible) for the credits, time and chance of maintenance points. This is not configurable in Custom Difficulty games.
Game Difficulty Levels[ | ]
| Basic | Normal | Challenging | Demanding | Hard | Brutal | Impossible | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invincibility | Captain Officers |
Captain Officers |
Captain | Captain | - | - | - |
| Death Save | 80% + Resilience | 70% + Resilience | 60% + Resilience | 50% + Resilience | 40% + Resilience | 30% + Resilience | 20% + Resilience |
| Bonus Profits | 25% | 20% | 15% | 10% | 5% | - | - |
| Bonus Experience | 25% | 20% | 15% | 10% | 5% | - | - |
| Enemy Difficulty | 60% | 80% | 80% | 100% | 110% | 120% | 140% |
| World Difficulty | 80% | 90% | 100% | 110% | 115% | 120% | 130% |
| Combat Bonus | 25% | 20% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 10% | - |
| Starting Funds | $17,500 | $15,000 | $12,500 | $10,000 | $7500 | $5000 | $2500 |
| Retraining Cost | $2,500 base | $2,500 base | $2,500 base | $2,750 base | $3,000 base | $5,000 base | $7,500 base |
Custom Difficulty[ | ]
Exactly as you please. Achievements are unlocked as though you were playing on the highest difficulty that all of your difficulty factors match or exceed.
Game Turns[ | ]
The game will gradually increase the challenge of certain elements over time (as represented in Game Turns passed) making each difficulty require ship and crew improvements as the game progresses. This will be less noticeable on easier settings.