Fancy a bit of a challenge? Game of Thrones: Kingsroad lets you fiddle with the difficulty yourself. This is a thoughtful nod to players who'd rather soak in the world and story of Westeros than grind through combat and levelling. Crank it down, and you'll find the going considerably easier.

Naturally, though, the harder the difficulty, the more valuable the content and rewards become. So, it's no surprise that most players opt for the highest setting once it's available. To that end, KookminTree has compiled the benefits of each difficulty level and some handy tips.

Before you ramp up the difficulty, finish your side quests.

In Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, the difficulty adjustment feature is called 'World Difficulty Selection'. The difficulty levels unlock sequentially as you progress through the main quests, with each stage opening up after you clear a 'Limit Break Dungeon'. These dungeons pit you against bosses you've already faced in the main story – familiar foes that shouldn't prove *too* taxing, given you've beaten them once.

As a side note, we'd recommend clearing out any remaining side quests before you tamper with the difficulty. While the combat gets tougher on higher settings, the rewards for side quests remain the same. So, it's far more practical to blitz through them on a lower difficulty and snag those rewards.

Gear Tiers Ascend with World Difficulty

As you crank up the World Difficulty, the tiers of gear you earn as rewards naturally follow suit. Naturally, the stats on this gear are also boosted. Roughly speaking, increasing the tier by one level is akin to upgrading your gear's rarity by two steps. This means a Tier 1 Legendary item might offer performance comparable to a Tier 2 Rare item.It's worth noting that once your tier increases, you can no longer use materials for crafting, forging, or refining gear from previous tiers. Therefore, it's most effective to use any gathered materials immediately rather than hoarding them.

World Boss 'Drogon'

Players at 'Trainee' difficulty or higher can participate in the Drogon appeasement event. This event runs every two hours starting from noon and offers a chance to acquire up to Legendary-grade accessories based on your contribution. Your 'World Boss Reward Count' can accumulate up to seven times and resets once daily, so don't forget to join in.

As a bit of lore for you, Drogon is the dragon belonging to Daenerys Targaryen, a prominent character from the original story, famously known as the 'Mother of Dragons'. At one point in the original narrative, Drogon goes missing. In the game, this period is used to craft a story where he's ventured to the continent of Westeros, hence his appearance as a World Boss.

The Roguelike 'Beyond the Wall Expedition'

The Beyond the Wall Expedition is available from 'Infantryman' difficulty onwards. It's a roguelike experience where you create your own progression path by selecting stages and rewards, aiming to clear the final stage. Upon completing an expedition, you'll earn 'Honor Points', with additional rewards provided weekly via a separate 'Weekly Pass'.

We highly recommend repeating the Beyond the Wall Expedition immediately after reaching Infantryman difficulty. The 300 Honor Points you get from completing expeditions can be used to purchase a Legendary accessory. While the slot is random, securing a Legendary item is incredibly useful in the early game.

2-Player Co-op Content: 'Elite Hideout'

Elite Hideout is a co-op challenge where two players team up to take on 'Faction Hideouts' scattered across the field. Available from Infantryman difficulty, both the challenge and the number of enemies are significantly increased. On top of that, players will have to contend with punishing effects like lightning strikes and increased incoming damage.

However, the reward lineup is quite spectacular. For each stage cleared for the first time, you'll receive materials from the final tier, accessory chests that can yield up to Legendary grade, and more. Furthermore, rankings are determined by clear time, with additional small rewards like Dragon Gold given to those within a certain rank.

'Worm Path', Comprising 30 Stages

You can attempt the Worm Path from 'Trainee' difficulty. Each completed stage unlocks the next, and fulfilling stage-specific challenges grants additional rewards. As the stages progress, the combat becomes dramatically more difficult, so we recommend tackling this after you've adequately developed your character.

That said, it's a good idea to obtain the reward for Stage 10 relatively early. The completion reward, 'Family Support Board: Siege', is an item that can boost your 'Prowess' by over 1,000, depending on your current equipment.

The Appearance of 'Recommended Regions' and 'Challengers'

As the difficulty increases, the game will recommend two regions each day. Field content within these recommended regions will offer bonus rewards for 24 hours. Therefore, if you plan on spending RP, it's more efficient to tackle these areas first.

Meanwhile, spending RP in certain regions earns you 'Challenge Points'. Once these Challenge Points reach their maximum, a 'Challenger' will appear in that region. Challengers offer a variety of rewards, including 'Scholar's Scrolls', with a chance to drop additional goodies, so don't miss out. Incidentally, you cannot earn Challenge Points on the default World Difficulty.

'Avengers' Appear in Each Region

From 'Trainee' World Difficulty onwards, interacting with specific locations will trigger an ambush by the 'Faceless Men', an assassin group from the original series. This is accompanied by a QTE (Quick Time Event) battle. Defeating these foes rewards you with 'Braavos Coins'. Ambushes can only be initiated once per day; once completed, they won't occur in other regions. The amount of Braavos Coins received can vary depending on your success in the QTE. Braavos Coins are used to purchase progression materials in the [Shop] - [Exchange] - [Braavos Coin] tab.