To understand
Uncharted 4’s difficulty settings, you should first understand that the game is designed in such a way that the more you struggle through an area (resulting in multiple deaths), the more the game implements incremental stages of assistance to make the challenge a little easier. This assistance complements the game’s difficulty setting. For example, the stages of assistance could be triggered after 6, 9, and 12 deaths, and possibly after 4, 6, and 8 deaths on an easy difficulty setting.
Each stage of assistance tweaks certain aspects of combat to make the task progressively easier. These include changes such as reducing enemy accuracy and enemy rate-of-fire, or increasing ally rate-of-fire, etc. Here is an overview of what is adjusted in gameplay, depending on what stage of assistance is implemented.
Details of Auto Assistance Stage 1
After struggling through an area and dying multiple times, the first stage of assistance will activate. These are the slight changes you can observe:
- Enemy Accuracy slightly reduced
- Time between enemy grenade throws slightly increased
- Time until enemies attempt to flank increased
- Enemy shotgun damage reduced
- Enemy shotgun delay between shots increased
- Enemy sniper target acquisition time increased
- Enemy sniper fire time once locked on increased
- Enemy grenade launcher delay between shots increased
- Enemy RPG delay between shots increased
- Time before ally can apply lethal force reduced
- Time before ally can melee lethally reduced
- Ally melee damage increased
- Time between Checkpoints reduced (45 seconds)
Details of Auto Assistance Stage 2
A second stage of assistance activates if you still continue to struggle through an area (that is, die a few more times). This stage further increases those features that were increased in Stage 1 and further decreases those that were decreased. These are the additional changes you can observe in Stage 2 of game assistance:
- All of Stage 1 assistance features slightly increased or decreased (accordingly)
- Ammo drops increased
- Enemy allies can no longer interrupt player melee to save each other
- Enemies can only land two combo melee hits and enemy melee damage is reduced
- Enemies can no longer melee you when grappled and your melee damage is increased
- Minimum stomps to kick you off a ledge increased to 3
- Enemies can no longer execute a double armbar (holding Drake by both arms and allowing other enemies to melee you from the front)
- Time between Checkpoints further reduced (30 seconds)
Details of Auto Assistance Stage 3
A third and final stage of assistance activates if you still continue to struggle through an area. This stage further increases and decreases (accordingly) the features from Stages 1 and 2. The additional changes applied in Stage 3 are as follows:
- Enemies can no longer shoot bursts while suffering hit reactions
- Allies can no longer be grappled
- Enemies can no longer execute melee combos or counter your melee
- Time between Checkpoints further reduced (15 seconds)
- Combat Checkpoints can now trigger after you kill any six enemies