Difficulties

See also: Enemies

Difficulties are a number of customizable options which affect the mechanics and behaviors present in the gameplay of ULTRAKILL. Each difficulty is found in the Difficulty Select screen, with a small descriptor attached that lets the player know what challenges the difficulty possesses.

There are six difficulties in ULTRAKILL split across three different categories:

• Accessible^[?] difficulties consist of Harmless and Lenient.
• Hard^[?] difficulties consist of Standard and Violent.
• Very Hard^[?] difficulties consist of Brutal and ULTRAKILL Must Die.
  

The intended difficulty for most new players is Standard, but all difficulties are available to be played on a new save file or at any point otherwise.

Difficulties affect a number of mechanics such as the player's health/stamina system, environmental hazards, enemy speed and behaviors, and boss health. Depending on the difficulty, these factors can be made either easier or harder to play around and combat. The changes each one introduces are compared relative to Standard, as it is intended to be the baseline for the game's mechanics.

The completion of level challenges, Soul Orbs, and weapon unlocks always carry over between any difficulties on the same save file. Level ranks unlocked on a specific difficulty, however, are not shared to other difficulties, and are specific to each. Best runs, starting waves, and all other leaderboard statistics in The Cyber Grind are also separated based on difficulty. Additionally, Prime Sanctums can only be unlocked on or below a difficulty where the player possesses the required level ranks, and regular level progress is only unlocked on or below the difficulty where a level is completed.

Difficulty Characteristics

All difficulties are compared against Standard unless stated otherwise.

Accessible^[?]

Accessible^[?] is the first category of difficulties. Compared to higher difficulties, the mechanics present in these difficulties are simplified, and intended primarily for those who prefer a less stressful and less challenging experience in their gameplay.

In these difficulties, Hard Damage is not present, and many enemies have reduced speeds and simpler attacks.

Harmless

Absurdly slow enemies and attacks.

Damage is still high, but even a mountain could dodge them.

Recommended for players who want a stress-free experience.

Harmless is the lowest difficulty in the game, and generally the least challenging. It features major changes to the player's health and stamina system, greatly reduces the speed of most attacks or behaviors, and removes some enemy attacks to simplify combat.

General Changes

• The player has 200 maximum health by default.
• Hard Damage is not present.
• Stamina regenerates much faster (0.7/sec faster, totaling to 1.4/sec).
• Enemy movement and attacks are reduced in speed by 50%. (Applies to all enemies and bosses unless stated otherwise)
• Hell Orb projectiles move at a reduced maximum rate of 32.5 units/sec.
• Environmental hazards deal one-fifth of their normal damage to the player.

Enemy Changes

Enemy Changes
Enemy	Difficulty Changes
Filth	Attacks have a cooldown of 0.4 seconds. Filth move at a max speed of 10 units/sec, accelerate at 15 units/sec², and turn at 400 °/sec. While readying a lunge during a Bite, Filth can only turn at 360 °/sec.
Stray	Strays move at a max speed of 5 units/sec.
Schism	Only the center 3 projectiles are shot from their barrage. Schism projectiles are no longer linked together in their arc. Schisms move at a max speed of 5 units/sec.
Soldier	Soldiers no longer block explosions. Projectile Blasts fire in a cone of 2°. Soldiers move at a max speed of 7.5 units/sec.
Stalker	Sand Explosions deal no damage.
Insurrectionist	Attack cooldowns are 1 second longer. Insurrectionists swing and extend their arms 50% slower while attacking. Insurrectionists do not use their Stomp attack. Insurrectionists do not produce shockwaves.
Ferryman	Attacks are 33.3% slower. Ferrymen no longer predict their target's movement in melee. Ferrymen no longer use their Lightning Bolt attack. Roll cooldowns are 4 seconds longer.
Drone	Drones do not dash. Drones dash 75% slower. Drones suicide bomb 50% slower. Drone projectiles move 57.14% slower.
Streetcleaner	Maximum duration of flamethrower burst is halved.
Mindflayer	Beam attack moves 35% slower.
Sentry	Sentries do not kick the player if they are too close.
Malicious Face	Malicious Faces only fire 3 hell orbs per barrage.
Hideous Mass	Hideous Masses do not use their harpoon. The vertical shockwave from their clap is very small.
Virtue	Virtues are unable to enrage. Virtues do not move sideways.

Boss Changes

Boss Changes
Boss	Difficulty Changes
V2	Shoots only one Revolver shot at a time.
The Corpse of King Minos (Hand)	Slam shockwaves travel at 30 units/sec. Attacks are 35% slower.
The Corpse of King Minos	The Corpse of King Minos does not use their Black Hole attack. Parasites no longer use their Homing Projectile attack. Projectiles' initial velocities are 50% slower Parasites' attack cooldowns last 50% longer. Attacks and Slam cooldowns are 35% slower.
V2 (2nd)	Shoots only one Revolver shot at a time. Only throws one coin at a time. Coins have weaker lock-on.
Minotaur	Acid attacks deal 3 Damage per tick.
Big Johninator	Big Johninator moves and attacks significantly slower. Rocket Barrage only fires one rocket, and has an increased cooldown. Landmine Drop takes far longer to occur. Malicious Blast charges significantly slower.
1000-THR "Earthmover"	Laser grid is much slower. 1000-THR "Earthmover" does not summon their Homing Orb attack. Self-destruct timer starts at 100.
Flesh Prison	Flesh Prison only summons 5 Flesh Spawn (6 below half health), and they do not dash sideways. Flesh Prison only recovers 3.5 HP from consumed Flesh Spawn. Flesh Prison only summons 35 Seeker Orbs per barrage (50 below half health). Flesh Prison's Divine Beams are smaller. Flesh Prison does not use their Black Hole attack.
Minos Prime	Upon running out of stamina, Minos Prime has to wait 4 seconds before attacking again. Minos Prime no longer gains additional stamina in his second phase. His dropkick and ground slam explosion radius is smaller. No shockwave is produced from his ground slam or rider kick.
Flesh Panopticon	Flesh Panopticon only summons 3 Flesh Spawn, and they do not inflict Hard Damage. Flesh Panopticon only recovers 7 HP from consumed Flesh Spawn. Flesh Panopticon only summons 11 Hell Mortars per barrage (16 below half health). Flesh Panopticon's Divine Beams are smaller. Flesh Panopticon does not use their Black Hole attack.
Sisyphus Prime	The Explosion attack only summons the smaller explosion. Sisyphus Prime does not create any shockwaves. Phase 2 does not add more stamina to Sisyphus Prime. Sisyphus Prime's cooldown after running out of stamina is twice as long.

Lenient

High damage but slower attacks and passive enemies.

Tension is still high, but damage is easier to avoid.

Recommended for players who want a less strict gameplay experience.

Lenient is the second lowest difficulty in the game, and as such is still strict, but less challenging than normal. It features small changes to the player health and stamina system, as well as somewhat reducing the speed of certain enemy attacks and behaviors.

General Changes

• Restarting from the same checkpoint 3 or more times grants the player 101 health on the next restart, and sets their maximum health to 200.
• Hard Damage is not present.
• Stamina regenerates somewhat faster (0.35/sec faster, to a total of 1.05/sec)
• Enemy movement and attacks are reduced in speed by 25%. (Applies to all enemies and bosses unless stated otherwise)
• Hell Orb projectiles move at a reduced maximum rate of 48.75 units/sec.
• Environmental hazards deal one-half of their normal damage to the player.

Enemy Changes

Enemy Changes
Enemy	Difficulty Changes
Filth	Attacks have a cooldown of 0.3 seconds. Filth move at a max speed of 15 units/sec, and turn at 400 °/sec. While readying a lunge during a Bite, Filth can only turn at 720 °/sec.
Stray	Strays move at a max speed of 7.5 units/sec.
Schism	Only the center 3 projectiles are shot from their barrage. Schism projectiles are no longer linked together in their arc. Schisms move at a max speed of 7.5 units/sec.
Soldier	Soldiers no longer block explosions. Projectile Blasts fire in a cone of 3°. Soldiers move at a max speed of 11.25 units/sec.
Stalker	Sand Explosions deal no damage.
Insurrectionist	Attack cooldowns are 0.5 seconds longer. Insurrectionists swing and extend their arms 25% slower while attacking. Stomps are 14.29% slower.
Ferryman	Attacks are 11.1% slower. Ferrymen no longer predict the player's movement in melee. Ferrymen no longer use their Lightning Bolt attack. Roll cooldowns are 2 seconds longer.
Drone	Drones dash far less often. Drones dash 50% slower. Drones suicide bomb 20% slower. Drone projectiles move 28.57% slower.
Mindflayer	Beam attack moves 15% slower.
Sentry	Sentries do not kick the player if they are too close.
Malicious Face	Malicious Faces only fire 3 hell orbs per barrage.
Hideous Mass	The vertical shockwave from their clap is very small.
Virtue	Virtues are unable to enrage. Virtues move sideways far less often.

Boss Changes

Boss Changes
Boss	Difficulty Changes
V2	Shoots only two Revolver shots at a time.
The Corpse of King Minos (Hand)	Slam shockwaves travel at 60 units/sec. Attacks are 15% slower.
The Corpse of King Minos	The Corpse of King Minos does not use their Black Hole attack. Parasites no longer use their Homing Projectile attack. Projectiles' initial velocities are 25% slower Parasites' attack cooldowns last 25% longer. Attacks and Slam cooldowns are 15% slower.
V2 (2nd)	Shoots only two Revolver shots at a time. Only throws one coin at a time. Coins have weaker lock-on.
Minotaur	Acid attacks deal 7 damage per tick.
Big Johninator	Big Johninator moves and attacks somewhat slower. Rocket Barrage now fires two rockets. Landmine Drop takes longer to occur. Malicious Blast charges somewhat slower.
1000-THR "Earthmover"	Laser grid is somewhat slower. 1000-THR "Earthmover" does not summon their Homing Orb attack. Self-destruct timer is 80 seconds.
Flesh Prison	Flesh Prison only summons 7 Flesh Spawn (8 below half health). Flesh Prison only recovers 7.5 HP from consumed Flesh Spawn. Flesh Prison only summons 35 Seeker Orbs per barrage (50 below half health).
Minos Prime	Upon running out of stamina, Minos Prime has to wait 3 seconds before attacking again. No shockwave is produced from his ground slam or rider kick.
Flesh Panopticon	Flesh Panopticon only summons 3 Flesh Spawn (4 below half health). Flesh Panopticon only recovers 15 HP from consumed Flesh Spawn. Flesh Panopticon only summons 11 Hell Mortars per barrage (16 below half health).
Sisyphus Prime	Sisyphus Prime does not create any shockwaves. Phase 2 does not give Sisyphus Prime more stamina. Sisyphus Prime's cooldown after running out of stamina is 50% longer.

Hard^[?]

Hard^[?] is the second category of difficulties. They are the usual intended first-time experience for players, and introduce many of the more challenging mechanics that get expanded upon further in Very Hard^[?] difficulties.

These difficulties are where enemy attacks and behaviors start becoming faster and more dangerous, and where Hard Damage is first found.

Standard

Normal enemies and high damage.

Attacks are easy to avoid, but carelessness will result in a swift death.

Recommended for first time players.

Standard is the third difficulty present in the game, and it is the one intended for most new players. Attacks and behaviors are strict and can be quite challenging, but can be played around. This is the first difficulty to introduce the mechanic of Hard Damage, temporarily reducing the player's maximum health whenever they take damage. Hard Damage can dissipate more quickly the more style the player has.

Standard is the primary difficulty in the game, and is what the game is balanced and based off of.

General Characteristics

• The player has a maximum of 100 health by default. This does not increase outside of the use of Red Soul Orbs.
• Hard Damage is present. Hard Damage fills 35% of any normal damage taken.
• Stamina regenerates at its normal rate of 0.7/sec.
• Enemy attacks and behaviors are at their normal speed.
• Hell Orb projectiles move at their normal maximum rate of 65 units/sec.
• Environmental hazards deal full damage to the player.

Violent

Fast and aggressive enemies and high damage.

Quick thinking, mobility options and situational awareness are essential.

Recommended for players who have already gotten used to the game's pace and mechanics.

Violent is the second highest difficulty currently present in the game. It is more challenging compared to Standard, but retains many of the same mechanics and does not have many major changes to enemy behavior. It is intended most for players who are new to the game but looking for a greater challenge, or those who already have more experience with the game's mechanics.

General Changes

• Enemy movement and attacks are increased in speed by 25%. (Applies to all enemies and bosses unless stated otherwise)
• Hell Orb projectiles move at an increased maximum speed of 87.75 units/sec.
• Getting hit adds one extra second to Hard Damage's regeneration cooldown.

Enemy Changes

Enemy Changes
Enemy	Difficulty Changes
Filth	Attacks have a cooldown of 0.1 seconds. Filth accelerate at 60 units/sec², and turn at 2600 °/sec.
Stray	Initial attack cooldowns are 0.5 seconds faster and subsequent attack cooldowns are 1 second faster. Strays move at a max speed of 12.5 units/sec.
Schism	Initial attack cooldowns are 0.5 seconds faster and subsequent attack cooldowns are 1 second faster. Schisms move at a max speed of 12.5 units/sec.
Soldier	Projectile Blasts fire in a cone of 10° and shoot 6 projectiles. Soldiers move at a max speed of 18.75 units/sec.
Stalker	Sand Explosions replace all missing health with Hard Damage before adding additional Hard Damage.
Insurrectionist	Attack cooldowns are 0.5 seconds shorter. Insurrectionists swing and extend their arms 25% faster while attacking. Stomps are 14.29% faster. Stomp explosions are 50% larger and faster when the Insurrectionist is Radiant. Cannonball impact explosions are 51.52% larger and faster.
Ferryman	Attacks are 11.1% faster. Ferrymen use their Vault Swing attack instead of their Vault. Lightning Bolt cooldowns are 2 seconds faster. Rolls no longer have a cooldown. Lightning Bolts follow their targets 50% faster.
Drone	Drones dash 50% faster. Drone projectiles move 28.57% faster.
Streetcleaner	Streetcleaners can fire their flamethrower continuously.
Mindflayer	Enrages and teleports more frequently when at half health and under.
Guttertank	Cannot slip if they successfully land a melee hit when standing on Gasoline.
Malicious Face	At half health, Malicious Faces enrage and start firing two beam attacks quickly in succession.
Virtue	Virtues enrage after three attacks. Virtues can enrage even if blessed.

Boss Changes

Boss Changes
Boss	Difficulty Changes
The Corpse of King Minos (Hand)	Has 3 stamina at phase 1, 4 stamina at phase 2 and 5 stamina at phase 3.
The Corpse of King Minos	Black Holes do not collapse upon phase transition. The Corpse of King Minos uses their Black Hole attack in their second phase. Homing projectiles turn at 200°/sec.
Gabriel, Judge of Hell	Summons his Spiral Swords attack around himself when transitioning to second phase, and upon every second taunt thereafter.
V2 (2nd)	Coins fire faster and more accurately.
Gabriel, Apostate of Hate	Summons his Spiral Swords attack around himself when transitioning to second phase, and upon every second taunt thereafter.
1000-THR "Earthmover"	Laser grid rotates significantly faster. Begins firing homing orbs immediately instead of at half health.
Flesh Prison	2 Flesh Spawn (3 below half health) are replaced with Malicious Spawn. Flesh Prison summons 3 Divine Beams at a time (4 below half health). Divine Beams are larger in radius.
Minos Prime	Minos Prime has 10 stamina on his first phase, and parrying his dropkick no longer cancels it. In his second phase, he gains infinite stamina and his melee attacks can no longer be parried.
Flesh Panopticon	1 Flesh Spawn (2 below half health) are replaced with Malicious Spawn. Flesh Panopticon summons 3 Divine Beams at a time (4 below half health). Divine Beams are larger in radius.
Sisyphus Prime	The Clap attack and the Sumo Combo always create a shockwave, even when parried. Sisyphus Prime has 8 stamina in phase 1 and 16 stamina in phase 2.

Very Hard^[?]

Very Hard^[?] is the third and most challenging category of difficulty options. These difficulties introduce a number of traits designed to force the player to reconsider enemy encounters and be constantly aware of their situation.

Compared to Hard^[?] and Accessible^[?] difficulties, they are much more unforgiving and punish the player much more greatly for mistakes mid-combat, with high speed and devastating power.

Brutal

Extremely aggressive enemies and high damage.

A full arsenal and extensive knowledge of the game are expected. Any slip-ups are punished harshly.

Recommended for players who already have considerable experience with the game and are looking for a fresh challenge.

Brutal is the fifth difficulty and currently the highest present in the game. It features great changes to enemy movement, speed, and behaviors, and is intended primarily for those who already have experience with the game's mechanics, and possess all or most obtainable weapons. It is also the first difficulty that introduces the player to bosses with greater health.

General Changes

• Enemy movement and attacks are increased in speed by 50%. (Applies to all enemies and bosses unless stated otherwise)
• Hell Orb projectiles move at an increased maximum speed of 87.75 units/sec.
• Getting hit adds one extra second to Hard Damage's regeneration cooldown.
• All bosses have their health increased by 50%.

Enemy Changes

Enemy Changes
Enemy	Difficulty Changes
Filth	Attacks have a cooldown of 0.1 seconds. Filth accelerate at 120 units/sec², and turn at 9000 °/sec. Filth use their Jump attack. When fighting the player, Filth attempt to predict where they will be in 0.2 seconds upon lunging during a Bite. Filth move forward at 50 units/sec while biting.
Stray	Initial attack cooldowns are 0.5 seconds faster and subsequent attack cooldowns are 1 second faster. Strays move at a max speed of 12.5 units/sec. Attacks attempt to predict the player's momentum.
Schism	Initial attack cooldowns are 0.5 seconds faster and subsequent attack cooldowns are 1 second faster. Schisms move at a max speed of 12.5 units/sec. Can rotate their attacks to aim at the player more accurately.
Soldier	Projectile Blasts fire in a cone of 10° and shoot 6 projectiles. Soldiers move at a max speed of 18.75 units/sec. Soldiers roll and crouch before doing an attack, charging while rolling (Does not happen underwater). Soldiers jump off high ledges to get closer to the player. Soldiers block 100% of damage from standard explosions while grounded.
Stalker	Sand Explosions replace all missing health with Hard Damage before adding additional Hard Damage. Does not die when performing a Sand Explosion attack.
Insurrectionist	Attack cooldowns are 1 second shorter. Recovers from being downed twice as fast. Attack cooldown is 1 second upon spawning. Insurrectionists swing and extend their arms 25% faster while attacking. Stomps are 14.29% faster. Stomp explosions are 50% larger and faster when the Insurrectionist is Radiant. Cannonball impact explosions are 51.52% larger and faster.
Ferryman	Attacks are 11.1% faster. Ferrymen use their Vault Swing attack instead of their Vault. Lightning Bolt cooldowns are 2 seconds faster. Rolls no longer have a cooldown. Lightning Bolts follow their targets 50% faster. Lightning Bolt attack does not stop its summoning while the Ferryman executes other actions. Can perform Lightning Bolt attack at close range.
Swordsmachine	Staggered for significantly less time when changing phases or after enraging. Can rotate towards the player while shooting their Shotgun to accurately aim. Can punch the player using the same attack patterns as they do with their sword while said sword is thrown. Each punch does 10 damage to the player. Can perform ranged attacks even when enraged.
Drone	Drones dash far more often. Drones dash twice as fast. Drone projectiles move 28.57% faster.
Streetcleaner	Streetcleaners can fire their flamethrower continuously. Fire attack has a larger area of effect, and can now be aimed upwards.
Mindflayer	Enrages and teleports more frequently when reaching half health. Immune to the friendly fire damage of their own projectiles unless parried. Beam tracking is more accurate and efficient.
Sentry	Fires two shots in quick succession after charging.
Gutterman	Enrages for 10 seconds when shield is broken, or when parried. While enraged, Gutterman cannot be parried.
Guttertank	Cannot slip when their punch attack is dodged, unless standing on top of Gasoline.
Malicious Face	Enrages at half health and starts firing two beam attacks quickly in succession. Fires 10 projectiles in their barrage at a greatly increased fire rate and with slightly random spread.
Cerberus	Dashes twice in a row, with the second dash being indicated by a blue flash. Sends out a second smaller shockwave immediately after the first when performing a stomp.
Hideous Mass	Can now shoot their harpoon when enraged. Harpoon now has 3 health instead of 2.
Virtue	Virtues enrage after three attacks. Virtues can enrage even if blessed. Beam attack is performed in quicker succession. Beam attack lingers for much longer. Virtues move sideways far more often.

Boss Changes

Boss Changes
Boss	Difficulty Changes
V2	Grounded movement no longer becomes 10% slower when the player’s health is below 33. Can dash.
The Corpse of King Minos (Hand)	There are no cooldowns between attacks.
The Corpse of King Minos	Black Holes don't collapse upon phase transition. The Corpse of King Minos uses their Black Hole attack in its second phase. Black Holes move 50% faster. Homing projectiles turn at 200°/sec. In their second phase, The Corpse of King Minos punches twice in a row before the cooldown.
Gabriel, Judge of Hell	Summons his Spiral Swords attack around himself when transitioning to second phase, and upon every second taunt thereafter. Uses his Storm Swords attack to surround the player. Can attack with any angle using his spear.
V2 (2nd)	Coins fire faster and more accurately. Grounded movement no longer becomes 10% slower when the player’s health is below 33. Can dash.
Gabriel, Apostate of Hate	Summons his Spiral Swords attack around himself when transitioning to second phase, and upon every second taunt thereafter. Uses his Storm Swords attack to surround the player.
Minotaur	Acid attacks last twice as long.
1000-THR "Earthmover" Defence System	All defence system components are active immediately from the start of the fight.
1000-THR "Earthmover"	Laser grid rotates significantly faster. Laser grid contains an additional, stationary set of lasers with no gaps. Begins firing homing orbs immediately instead of at half health. Self-destruct timer is 50 seconds.
Flesh Prison	3 Flesh Spawn (4 below half health) are replaced with Malicious Spawn. Flesh Spawn and Malicious Spawn attack much more frequently and move more erratically. Flesh Prison summons 4 Divine Beams at a time (5 below half health). Divine Beams are larger in radius.
Minos Prime	Minos Prime has 15 stamina on his first phase. Parrying his dropkick attack no longer cancels it. In his second phase, he gains infinite stamina and his melee attacks can no longer be parried. His attack pattern is now highly varied and he uses his Snake Throw much more often. His ground slam and rider kick have significantly less delay between call-out and attack.
Flesh Panopticon	2 Flesh Spawn (3 below half health) are replaced with Malicious Spawn. Malicious Spawn moves much more erratically. Flesh Panopticon summons 4 Divine Beams at a time (5 below half health). Divine Beams are larger in radius.
Sisyphus Prime	The Clap attack and the Sumo Combo always create a shockwave, even when parried. Clap and Sumo Combo cause delayed explosions upon completion of said attacks on his second phase. Sisyphus Prime has 10 more stamina in Phase 1. Sisyphus Prime gains infinite stamina in his second phase. Sisyphus Prime no longer taunts his opponent.

ULTRAKILL Must Die

ULTRAKILL Must Die is an upcoming, unreleased difficulty. It is expected to be the hardest present in the game.