Helldivers 2 is a challenging game at the best of times, but sometimes you need more challenge (or sometimes less). When it comes time to change the difficulty, it’s rather straightforward, although it might not be immediately obvious if you haven’t been the one organizing the lobby.

To change the difficulty of Helldivers 2, head to the galactic war table in the ship’s bridge. Interact with the terminal and look down the bottom of the screen. Here you will see the current difficulty that is selected and then two buttons on either side – these buttons let you increase or decrease the difficulty. There are 9 difficulty levels:

1. Trivial
2. Easy
3. Medium
4. Challenging
5. Hard
6. Extreme
7. Suicide Mission
8. Impossible
9. Helldive

Each difficulty level will have its own modifiers including increased enemy numbers, enemies with more armor (which is where armor penetrating rounds becomes more important), as well as different types of samples.

When you’re playing with a full squad with everyone rolling around using the best Stratagems, you should definitely bump up the difficulty. For those who are new to the game, playing with fewer people, or just looking for a calm time, knock the difficulty down a few pegs.

Changing the difficulty of Helldivers 2 is as easy as going to the ship’s galactic war table and pressing the on-screen buttons. Select the difficulty that is right for you! Take a look at our Helldivers 2 page for more help with the game’s mechanics.