Difficulty Levels
X-COM has five different difficulty levels that can be selected when starting a game:
- Beginner
- Experienced
- Veteran
- Genius
- Superhuman
On higher difficulty levels, a larger number of aliens will appear on each mission, and their stats will be higher. It is not known if difficulty influences any other aspects of gameplay.
Alien Deployments
The total number of aliens found in each UFO or mission type are the same for Beginner and Experienced difficulty levels. On Veteran/Genius level approximately 20% - 40% more aliens will appear than on Beginner/Experienced level (depending on UFO type). On Superhuman level 50% - 100% more aliens will appear. See the "Alien Deployment" section of each UFO page for specific numbers.
Alien Stats
Several key alien stats will increase with each difficulty level. The alien stats which change are:
Stat | Beginner | Experienced | Veteran | Genius | Superhuman |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Strength | 100% | 102% | 104% | 106% | 108% |
TUs, Energy, Psi Strength, Psi Skill | 100% | 104% | 108% | 112% | 116% |
Reactions | 100% | 106% | 112% | 118% | 124% |
Firing Accuracy | 50% | 106% | 112% | 118% | 124% |
Armor | 50% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
These percentages are modifiers to base alien stats, which can be found on the Alien Stats page. Unlike all other aliens, Zombie stats will not increase; all stats will be at "base" level regardless of difficulty level.
Known Bugs
All DOS versions of X-COM have a bug which causes the difficulty setting to revert to "Beginner" after the first combat. XcomUtil can be used to fix this bug.