Difficulty is a measure of how hard a video game is. Although highly subjective, many games have a "Difficulty Setting" that allows players to set the general level of challenge they will face.
In the Epic Battle Fantasy series, there are four difficulty levels available: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Epic. The main differences are the enemies; as the difficulty level rises, they gain more HP, their attacks do more damage, their defenses become stronger, and they may gain new abilities or traits to make them even more threatening.
Epic Battle Fantasy
In the original game, Easy difficulty reduced enemy strength to 80% of their Normal difficulty level. Hard difficulty gave them a 20% power boost over Normal, and Epic raised it a further 20% (140% total).
Epic Battle Fantasy 2
The difficulties remained the same in EBF2, but their attributes had changed slightly. With Normal difficulty as the benchmark for enemy stats, the difficulties are as follows:
Easy
Enemy damage and HP is reduced by 20%.
Normal
Standard difficulty; enemies have no bonuses or penalties.
Hard
Enemy damage increased by 20%. Some enemies gain new attacks.
Epic
Enemy damage is 40% higher than normal. Many enemies have new attacks and stat bonuses.
Epic Battle Fantasy 3
Easy
Enemies have 70% of their normal HP and damage.
Normal
All stats are normal.
Hard
All enemies do 130% of their normal damage.
Epic
All enemies do 160% of their normal damage, and some foes gain new bonuses (e.g. Green Slimes begin battle with the Poison ailment, regenerating HP every turn).
Adventure Story
This Epic Battle Fantasy spinoff may have changed genres from turn-based RPG to action platformer, but the difficulty levels are the same as the main series. However, the main differences are enemy HP and damage, due to the simplified battle system (NOTE: Values are approximate - needs confirmation!):
- Easy: Enemy damage and HP are 50% lower. Falling into a pit inflicts 5 HP damage to Matt.
- Normal: Standard difficulty. Falling into a pit inflicts 10 HP damage to Matt.
- Hard: Enemy damage and HP are 50% higher. Falling into a pit inflicts 15 HP damage to Matt.
- Epic: Enemy damage and HP are twice as high. Falling into a pit inflicts 20 HP damage to Matt.
Epic Battle Fantasy 4
Unlike the previous games, EBF4 introduced the ability to change the difficulty mid-game via the "Difficulty" option in the "Options" menu. This makes getting some Medals (specifically, the ones requiring players to defeat certain bosses on Epic difficulty) somewhat less of a pain - unfortunately, the changes between difficulty levels have also become more drastic than ever before. The game contains a total of 5 difficulty levels:
- Easy: Enemy stats are scaled at 50% according to in-game description.
- Normal: Standard difficulty; enemies have no bonuses or penalties.
- Hard: Enemy stats are scaled at 150% according to in-game description. Some enemies also gain new abilities or bonuses.
- Epic: Enemy stats are scaled at 200% according to in-game description. All extra enemy abilities and bonuses from Hard is also applied.
- Endless: An unique difficulty level unavailable for selection and is forced in the Endless Battle section of Battle Mountain. It is referred to in-game as the Hard difficulty, and uses a similar set of stat modifiers.
Stat Modifiers
- The game uses 3 separate sets of stat modifiers to govern the game difficulty: one for Attack and Magic Attack, one for HP and one for Limit Break charging speed. In Endless difficulty, the enemies also receive a small modifier to Evade.
- From level 33, the Attack/Magic Attack modifier is applied a second time, stacking on top of the original one. This cause the enemies to receive a significant damage boost on Hard and Epic difficulty, but a severe damage nerf on Easy difficulty.
- Endless difficulty takes the Limit Break charging speed modifier of whatever difficulty being selected in game.
- Defence, Magic Defence, Accuracy and all other non-combat stats do not have stat modifiers.
| Stat Modifier Statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | Normal | Hard | Epic | Endless | |
| Attack/Magic Attack (Level 1 to 32) | 0.5 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Attack/Magic Attack (Level 33 onward) | 0.25 | 1 | 2.25 | 4 | 2.25 |
| HP | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1 |
| Evade | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.9 |
| Limit Break charge speed | 1.2 | 1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | Variable |
Additional Differences
Hard
Various extra skills and bonuses are applied to the enemy. Below is a short list of examples:
- Enemies with elemental absorption often spawn with a status effect that regenerates them every turn (e.g. Flame Sprites have Burn, and Sludge Slimes have Poison).
- Yellow Jellies, Thunder Sprites, and Thunder Elementals come into battle with the Charged status, allowing them to use their most powerful attacks from the get-go.
- Undead Bears and White Clays begin battle with Regen status.
- Black Clays begin battle with Brave status.
- Godcat's battle forms will use Limit Breaks at low HP (Absolute Zero for The Creator, Supernova for The Destroyer).
- The Destroyer gains Berserk status after its biting attack.
Epic
All extra abilities and bonuses gained by enemies in Hard Mode also apply in Epic Mode. Some medals in EBF4 can only be achieved in Epic Mode:
- Epic mode bosses:
- Lumberjack - Defeat the Mighty Oak on Epic Difficulty.
- Rock Miner - Defeat the Crystal Golem on Epic Difficulty.
- Electrical Engineer - Defeat the Praetorian on Epic Difficulty.
- Extreme Gardener - Defeat the Rafflesia on Epic Difficulty.
- Cat Person - Defeat Godcat on Epic Difficulty.
- Epic mode mini-bosses:
- Worm Control - Defeat Sand Worm on Epic Difficulty.
- Lo And Behold - Defeat Beholder on Epic Difficulty.
- Unprotected - Defeat Protector on Epic Difficulty.
- Dragon Slayer - Defeat Zombie Hydra on Epic Difficulty.
- Epic mode Battle Mountain challenges (IN-PROGRESS):
- Trees Go To War: Defeat Armored Oak on Epic Difficulty
- Die for Diamonds: Defeat Diamond Golem on Epic Difficulty
- Hardware Upgrade: Defeat Praetorian MK-II on Epic Difficulty
- End of the Rainbow: Defeat Rainbow Rafflesia on Epic Difficulty
- Shadow Huntress: Defeat Dark Anna on Epic Difficulty
- Dark Seductress: Defeat Dark Natalie on Epic Difficulty
- Captain of Death: Defeat Dark Matt on Epic Difficulty
- Fallen Comrade: Defeat Dark Lance on Epic Difficulty
- Foe Rush: Complete the Enemy Marathon on Epic Difficulty
- Miniboss Rush: Complete the Miniboss Marathon on Epic Difficulty
- Boss Rush: Complete the Boss Marathon on Epic Difficulty
- Mega Boss Rush: Complete the Superboss Marathon on Epic Difficulty
- Dark Boss Rush: Complete the Dark Player Marathon on Epic Difficulty
