Note:
- Achievements relating to difficulty. Include Artifacts. Fill information.
The Difficulty Mode selection screen.
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| — Guide to Minecraft Dungeons: A Handbook for Heroes |
The term difficulty refers to a mechanic in Minecraft Dungeons that influences the balance by affecting the challenge of gameplay.
Difficulty modes[]
There are three sequential difficulty modes.
- Default
- Adventure
- Apocalypse
Defeating the Arch-Illager atop Obsidian Pinnacle and completing it on a difficulty setting opens the next map.
On higher difficulty modes, mobs are harder to defeat, more numerous, and enchanted mobs occur more often with new enchantments. However, equipment of higher power is rewarded to heroes as they traverse higher difficulties, alongside with new gear and artifacts drops and increased experience from mobs. Heroes can switch between unlocked difficulty modes at any time from the Select Mission Map, retaining all their equipment, and can re-play accessible missions at lower difficulty modes.
The three difficulty modes are depicted by a skull icon that appears more menacing at higher difficulty. They also have their own color, mob, and sound cue to represent the difficulty in the Difficulty Mode selection screen, with Default using blue (a chicken jockey mob and a chicken sound), Adventure with pink (a necromancer mob and a vindicator sound), and Apocalypse with red (a redstone golem mob and a ghast scream sound).
Difficulty exclusive equipment[]
Difficulty influences the equipment drop pool for missions. As the difficulty increases, some equipment that was already available in default appear in more locations and new equipment that cannot be obtained in Default become available.
At Adventure difficulty, the following equipment becomes available:
At Apocalypse difficulty, the following equipment becomes available:
Threat levels[]
The threat level selection slider for Apocalypse difficulty.
The higher the threat level, the higher the minimum and maximum power of weapons, armors, and artifacts that can drop during and after the mission. The number of enemies and the damage they inflict in a mission also increase.
For each threat level, a recommended power level is assigned to provide guidance to heroes. When opening the Threat Level Panel for a mission, the game positions the slider at a recommended threat level for the hero based on the mission's recommended power and the heroes power. This practice is known as dynamic game difficulty balancing. In a multiplayer game, the game instead uses the average power of all heroes present to determine a recommended threat level.
Minimum Threat Level for Obsidian Pinnacle at Adventure Difficulty is shown to be Adventure IV. Players cannot enter the mission at a lower Threat Level than the minimum.
Some missions have a set minimum threat level. The only mission with no adjustable threat level is Squid Coast, the tutorial mission, which is always set at Default I and is inaccessible when set to Adventure or Apocalypse difficulty modes.
| Difficulty |
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| Threat level | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII |
| Recommended power | 1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 22 | 27 | 33 | 33 | 39 | 45 | 51 | 56 | 62 | 68 | 68 | 74 | 80 | 86 | 91 | 97 | 103 |
| Difficulty Scale[note 1] | 1.0x | 1.7x | 2.7x | 4.1x | 5.5x | 7.4x | 9.9x | 9.9x | 12.8x | 16.4x | 21.1x | 28.6x | 38.8x | 52.4x | 52.4x | 67.3x | 86.4x | 100.9x | 151x | 204.9x | 277.6x |
Apocalypse Plus[]
Apocalypse Plus is an extension upon the existing Apocalypse difficulty mode that aims to be, especially at its most difficult state, an "impossibly hard"[1] challenge for players and encourage the use of "highly optimized"[2] equipment setups.
Consisting of 25 threat levels appended upon Apocalypse VII, sharing the threat level slider, Apocalypse Plus applies stat enhancing modifiers to mobs and permit equipment classed as rare rare to drop more frequently, in addition to increasing the maximum equipment power obtainable.
Heroes unlock the first three Apocalypse Plus threat levels after completing any mission at Apocalypse VII. To gain access to the next triplet of threat levels, the hero must complete a number of boss missions at the higher end of the accessible triplet. The number of boss missions required increases, up to a maximum of 7, with each threat level Triplet. Each boss counts only once per threat level.
Boss missions include: Pumpkin Pastures, Soggy Swamp, Redstone Mines, Fiery Forge, Desert Temple, Obsidian Pinnacle, Treetop Tangle, Overgrown Temple, Frosted Fjord, Lone Fortress, Gale Sanctum, Abyssal Monument, Broken Citadel, and ???.
| Threat Level | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +10 | +11 | +12 | +13 | +14 | +15 | +16 | +17 | +18 | +19 | +20 | +21 | +22 | +23 | +24 | +25 |
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| Recommended power | 109 | 114 | 120 | 125 | 131 | 136 | 142 | 148 | 153 | 159 | 164 | 170 | 175 | 181 | 186 | 192 | 197 | 203 | 208 | 214 | 219 | 225 | 230 | 236 | 241 |
| Difficulty Scale[note 1] | 379.5x | 474.3x | 592.9x | 741.2x | 1019.6x | 1297.6x | 1650.9x | 2099.7x | 2669.8x | 3393.7x | 4312.6x | 5478.9x | 6958.8x | 8836.3x | 11217.5x | 14237.1x | 18065.3x | 22917.9x | 29067.7x | 36860.1x | 46731.9x | 59235.8x | 75071.0x | 95121.5x | 120492.1x |
| Reroll for rares | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| More enchanted mobs | 3.0x | 3.1x | 3.1x | 3.2x | 3.2x | 3.3x | 3.3x | 3.4x | 3.4x | 3.5x | 3.5x | 3.6x | 3.6x | 3.7x | 3.7x | 3.8x | 3.8x | 3.9x | 3.9x | 4.0x | 4.0x | 4.1x | 4.1x | 4.2x | 4.2x |
| Mob damage | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.5x | 1.5x | ||||
| Mob health | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.5x | 1.5x | ||||
| Mob speed | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.5x | 1.5x | 1.6x | 1.6x | 1.6x | 1.7x | 1.7x | 1.7x | 1.8x | 1.8x | 1.8x | 1.8x |
| Mob stagger resistance | 1.5x | 1.9x | 2.2x | 2.6x | 2.9x | 3.3x | 3.6x | 4.0x | 4.3x | 4.7x | 5.0x | 5.4x | 5.8x | 6.1x | 6.5x | 6.8x | 7.2x | 7.5x | 7.9x | 8.2x | 8.6x | 8.9x | 9.3x | 9.6x | 10.0x |
| Number of different boss missions to complete at X threat level |
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History[]
| Minecraft Dungeons | |||||
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| Dungeons Beta | Default and 6 (I-VI) threat levels are accessible. | ||||
| Beta Update April 3 | Changed difficulty of Default V and Default VI to be higher. | ||||
| 1.1.1.0 | Adventure, Apocalypse, and their 6 respective threat levels are accessible. | ||||
| 1.3.2.0 | Added Threat level VII to all difficulties. | ||||
| Changed Obsidian Pinnacle minimum threat level V -> IV. | |||||
| 1.4.3.0 | Fixed menu sound effects not playing when selecting threat level VII. | ||||
| 1.5.0.0 | Added Apocalypse Plus threat levels. | ||||
| Changed Daily Trial difficulty to be lower and provide better rewards. Mob enchantments are now significantly scarier[more information needed]. | |||||
| 1.6.0.0 | Added Threat Level Slider to daily trials. | ||||
| 1.7.2.0 | Changed difficulty-emeralds scaling: At the end of Apocalypse VII, 33% less emeralds from salvage compared to before but 100% more emeralds from emerald loot sources like mobs, pots, piggy bank, and chests. | ||||
| 1.7.3.0 | Partially fixed Apocalypse Plus prompt appearing after every completed mission, now appears at camp upon every game reload.[3] | ||||
| February 17, 2021 | Apocalypse Plus alterations for update MCD:1.8.0.0 explained in Dev Blog. | ||||
| 1.8.0.0 | Changed Apocalypse Plus: threat Levels 20 -> 25, previous 20 threat levels condensed into 10, mob revival removed, frequency of tier 2 and 3 mob variants reduced, difficulty curve to be more difficult early on but easier toward the end, every third threat level requires completing one or more boss missions to unlock, gear guaranteed to have three enchantment slots partway through Apocalypse Plus. | ||||
| Threat Level | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +10 | +11 | +12 | +13 | +14 | +15 | +16 | +17 | +18 | +19 | +20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended power | 109 | 112 | 114 | 117 | 120 | 123 | 125 | 128 | 131 | 134 | 136 | 139 | 142 | 145 | 148 | 150 | 153 | 156 | 159 | 161 |
| Difficulty Scale[note 1] | 339.4x | 379.5x | 467.2x | 546.1x | 633.9x | 732.2x | 842.7x | 967.4x | 1109.2x | 1271.2x | 1457.8x | 1673.9x | 1926.0x | 2221.9x | 2571.5x | 2986.6x | 3482.1x | 4076.2x | 4790.9x | 5651.2x |
| Reroll for rares | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| More enchanted mobs | 3.0x | 3.2x | 3.3x | 3.4x | 3.5x | 3.6x | 3.7x | 3.8x | 3.9x | 4.0x | 4.1x | 4.3x | 4.4x | 4.6x | 4.7x | 4.9x | 5.2x | 5.4x | 5.7x | 6.0x |
| Mob damage | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.5x | 1.6x | 1.7x | 1.7x | 1.8x | 1.9x | 2.0x | ||
| Mob health | 1.2x | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.7x | 2.0x | |||||||||||||||
| Mob speed | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.6x | 1.6x | 1.7x | 1.7x | 1.8x | 1.9x | 2.0x | 2.1x | 2.2x | 2.3x | 2.4x | 2.6x | 2.7x |
| Mob stagger resistance | 1.5x | 1.9x | 2.3x | 2.7x | 3.0x | 3.3x | 3.6x | 3.8x | 4.1x | 4.4x | 4.7x | 5.1x | 5.5x | 5.9x | 6.4x | 7.0x | 7.6x | 8.3x | 9.1x | 10.0x |
| Chance for mobs to revive | 5% | 6% | 7% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 11% | 12% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 16% | 18% | 20% | 22% | 25% |
- ↑ Relative to power level 0
Achievements[]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Treason | Defeat the Arch-Illager on Apocalypse difficulty. | — | 100G | Gold | |
| Post Post-Apocalypse | Complete Obsidian Pinnacle on Apocalypse Plus 5 difficulty. | — | 50G | Gold | |
| Abomination Domination | Complete Overgrown Temple on Adventure or Apocalypse difficulty. | — | 50G | Gold | |
| Lone Champion | Complete Lone Fortress on Adventure or Apocalypse difficulty. | — | 50G | Gold | |
| Taming the Storm | Complete Gale Sanctum on Adventure or Apocalypse difficulty. | — | 50G | Gold | |
| Trial by Fire | Complete all secret Nether levels on any Apocalypse difficulty. | Complete Nether Fortress, Crimson Forest and Soul Sand Valley on Apocalypse 1 difficulty or higher. | 50G | Silver | |
| Glow and Behold | Complete the Radiant Ravine secret mission on any Apocalypse Plus difficulty. | — | 50G | Silver | |
| Turn the Tide | Complete Abyssal Monument on Apocalypse difficulty. | — | 10G | Bronze |
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Oct 29th 2020 Developer Q&A at the official Dungeons Discord Chrispy: "Balancing is hard, and is a work-in-progress. Apocalypse 20 was intentionally "impossibly hard," to give players a goal to work towards. We welcome feedback."
- ↑ Oct 29th 2020 Developer Q&A at the official Dungeons Discord Dragonene (MansOlson) " The intention was to make Apocalypse +20 really hard to give players something to keep fighting for if they want to. It's the one mode and difficulty where we're encouraging people to play highly optimized builds, and to try their very hardest. I don't think it necessarily caters to everyone, but I'm hoping it's interesting for players who want a real challenge.."
- ↑ MCD-4879