Windrose sets world difficulty at world creation, and the setting applies globally across all biomes. The difficulty cannot be changed after the world is created, making the initial choice an important one. Four presets are available plus a fully custom option.
The Four Presets
Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
Calm Waters | Reduced enemy damage and pressure; for casual and exploration-focused play |
High Seas | All modifiers at 100%; the intended balanced experience |
Storm's Edge | Enemies hit harder and have more health; tougher challenge |
Captain's Choice | Fully custom, with individual modifiers adjustable up to 500% |
Captain's Choice Custom Modifiers
The Captain's Choice setting exposes individual tunable modifiers, letting players design bespoke difficulty profiles. Confirmed modifiers from community research of server configuration options include:
Modifier | Range | Details |
|---|---|---|
MobHealthMultiplier | 0.2 to 5.0 | Scales enemy HP |
MobDamageMultiplier | 0.2 to 5.0 | Scales enemy damage |
CombatDifficulty | Easy / Normal / Hard | Aggressive AI toggle |
ShipHealthMultiplier | 0.4 to 5.0 | Scales enemy ship HP |
ShipDamageMultiplier | 0.2 to 2.5 | Scales enemy ship damage |
BoardingDifficultyMultiplier | 0.2 to 5.0 | Scales boarding enemy difficulty |
Coop_StatsCorrectionModifier | Scaling | Adjusts enemy stats for co-op party size |
Coop_ShipStatsCorrectionModifier | Scaling | Adjusts enemy ship stats for co-op |
EasyExplore (bool) | On / Off | Disables most map markers for Immersive Exploration |
CoopQuests (bool) | On / Off | Auto-shared quest progress for all party members |
Enemy Level Scaling
Within any difficulty setting, enemy levels scale by island/area rather than per dungeon. Enemies on the second island are level 6 while players may still be level 3, making travel to harder biomes a significant risk-reward decision. The starting Coastal Jungle is tuned for gear tier 1-5, Foothills for tier 6-10, and Cursed Swamps for tier 11-15 regardless of difficulty setting.
Recommended Choices
First playthrough: High Seas - intended balanced experience
Casual play: Calm Waters - focus on exploration and base building
Challenge run: Storm's Edge - tougher combat without full customization
New Game Plus feel: Captain's Choice with higher multipliers - 2x to 3x enemy HP and damage for experienced players
Immersive exploration: Captain's Choice with EasyExplore off - disables most map markers
Co-op Considerations
The Coop_StatsCorrectionModifier and Coop_ShipStatsCorrectionModifier automatically scale enemy difficulty based on how many players are in the session. Larger co-op parties face proportionally tougher enemies. This keeps the challenge consistent across solo and multiplayer play. Groups of 4 typically see a modest scaling; the 8-player maximum sees a more significant boost.
World Creation Reminder
The difficulty setting cannot be changed after world creation. If you want to experiment with different difficulty profiles, create a new world (your character progress carries between worlds). This is one of the most important decisions at world creation alongside difficulty selection; consider which modifiers align with your intended playstyle before confirming.
See Also
Procedural Biomes - biome progression
Combat - combat mechanics
Multiplayer - co-op details
Dedicated Server Hosting - server configuration