Crimson Moon How to Change Difficulty
To change difficulty in Crimson Moon, use the War Table in Sanctus Clypeus when you're preparing to start a new run. The catch is that you cannot change difficulty between individual missions in the same run, even if the game has just told you that a harder difficulty was unlocked.
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How to Change Difficulty
New Difficulty Not Showing
Can You Change Difficulty Between Missions?
Difficulty Levels
Higher Difficulty Rewards
When to Raise Difficulty
Hellish Difficulty
War Table Difficulty Fix
How to Change Difficulty in Crimson Moon
End your current run and return to Sanctus Clypeus, then interact with the War Table and begin setting up Mission 1. Difficulty is selected as part of starting that new run, using whichever difficulty levels you've unlocked so far.
It is not a normal gameplay setting that can be changed from the pause menu. Once you deploy, the chosen difficulty applies to that run until it ends.
If you're also trying to swap the equipment you permanently unlocked from previous Hunts, do that while preparing the same new run. My Crimson Moon how to change loadout guide covers the separate Loadout Crystal process.
New Difficulty Unlocked but Not Showing?
This is where Crimson Moon's run structure becomes misleading. You can finish a mission, receive a notification that you've unlocked another difficulty, walk back to the War Table, and still see no way to select it.
That can be completely normal.
If the War Table is offering Mission 2 rather than Mission 1, you haven't started another run yet. You're continuing the one that began with Mission 1, and its difficulty has already been set.
The newly unlocked setting becomes relevant when that run ends and you're preparing to start again from Mission 1.
This distinction is especially easy to miss because returning to Sanctus Clypeus looks like the sort of hub break where most games would let you reconfigure everything. Crimson Moon instead treats consecutive missions as pieces of the same larger run.
Can You Change Difficulty Between Missions?
No. Moving from Mission 1 into Mission 2 does not give you another difficulty selection, and the same principle applies as the run continues.
You therefore can't clear an easier Mission 1, return to Sanctus Clypeus, and then turn Mission 2 up to a harder setting for better rewards. Likewise, if the current difficulty is proving too much, there isn't a mid-run option to lower the next mission while preserving that run.
You need to begin another run for the War Table to offer a fresh difficulty choice.
If you want out early rather than continuing, Crimson Moon also gives you ways to end a run without simply waiting to lose every remaining life. Once the run is actually over, Mission 1 becomes the starting point again and your pre-run options reset.
How Many Difficulty Levels Are in Crimson Moon?
Crimson Moon has six difficulty levels in total. You don't begin with the complete set available, with harder options opening as you progress.
That progression is why a difficulty unlock can appear after completing content even though you aren't immediately allowed to use it. Unlocking a tier and starting a run on that tier are two different events.
One confirmed later setting is Hellish, which is also tied to one of Crimson Moon's achievements and trophies.
Do Higher Difficulties Give Better Rewards?
Yes. Higher difficulties increase the risk of a Hunt but also improve your opportunities to obtain higher-rarity equipment.
That makes the difficulty selector part of Crimson Moon's progression economy rather than simply an accessibility choice. Stronger permanent equipment lets you survive harder runs, harder runs can produce better equipment opportunities, and anything worth preserving can then strengthen future starting loadouts.
There is still an efficiency tradeoff. A difficulty that technically offers better loot isn't necessarily better farming if you're consistently dying before reaching the parts of the run where you can take advantage of those rewards.
I would value how far you can reliably progress over simply choosing the highest number available.
When Should You Increase the Difficulty?
The unlock notification itself isn't the best signal. I'd increase difficulty once your current setting has become consistently manageable.
If you're regularly clearing missions, surviving with enough of your Life Pool intact, and finding that normal encounters no longer put much pressure on the run, moving upward gives you a better reason to keep improving your permanent collection.
If Mission 1 is still repeatedly ending your runs, there is little upside to forcing the next tier immediately. Levels, permanent upgrades, purified equipment, better Boon options, and simply learning attack patterns can all make the same difficulty considerably easier on later attempts.
Your starting weapon also matters more as incoming pressure rises. My Crimson Moon best weapons ranked guide covers the strongest current weapon options, while the Crimson Moon best builds guide covers complete starting setups.
What Is Hellish Difficulty?
Hellish is one of Crimson Moon's harder difficulty settings and is worth knowing about even if you're not planning to push difficulty immediately because it has a trophy tied directly to it.
The Hellish trophy only requires completing one District Mission on Hellish difficulty or higher. You do not need to complete an entire run on Hellish and you do not need to clear every District at that setting.
Because of that, I'd leave the trophy until your permanent progression is strong enough that you can target a District you're comfortable with rather than turning Hellish into an unnecessary early-game wall.
For the rest of the achievement requirements, my Crimson Moon trophy guide covers the full Platinum roadmap.
War Table Has No Difficulty Option
Before treating this as a bug, check the mission number.
If the War Table only lets you begin Mission 2 or another later mission, the missing difficulty selector is expected. Your current run is still active and its difficulty was selected when that run began.
If you're back at Mission 1 after the previous run has genuinely ended, that's when the War Table should once again function as the setup point for your available difficulties.
If a difficulty you know you've unlocked is still missing while you're configuring a fresh Mission 1, then the normal run restriction no longer explains it. Restarting the session is a sensible first troubleshooting step, particularly given the launch-period reports of other Sanctus Clypeus interfaces occasionally behaving incorrectly.
The easiest way to diagnose the issue is therefore not to ask whether you just visited the hub, but whether you're starting Mission 1. If you are not, you're probably still locked into the previous run's difficulty.
