STAR WARS Zero Company Difficulty and Permadeath
Understand the published Risky, Dangerous, and Extreme challenge range, the optional Permadeath rule, and what still needs an in-game check.
Zero Company publishes a difficulty range from Risky to Dangerous to Extreme, and StarWars.com says you can adjust the difficulty outside combat. Permadeath is optional: turn it off while learning if you want injuries without permanent campaign loss.
What Permadeath changes
When an operator’s health reaches zero, they go down and can be rallied, but they gain an injury. The official guide says three injuries result in death when Permadeath is enabled. That makes a downed specialist a campaign-management problem, not only a lost turn.
How to choose a learning setting
- Start without Permadeath while you learn AP, cover, Overwatch, and the objective rules.
- Use the mission’s published difficulty label to judge risk relative to your current squad condition.
- Treat injured operators in The Den before sending them into another difficult mission.
- Raise the challenge later if you want higher stakes; there is no official universal best setting.
EA and StarWars.com do not publish enemy multipliers, a complete difficulty table, or a single optimal setting. Check the current in-game menu after updates. Source: official beginner guide, checked 2026-08-29.