Difficulty levels compared¶

Jagged Alliance 2 has four campaign difficulty levels — Novice, Experienced, Expert and INSANE — and in 1.13 almost everything they change is data, not code. The numbers live in one file, Data-1.13\TableData\DifficultySettings.xml, and this page tables every meaningful field in the current game data so you can see exactly what you are signing up for — and where to change it if you disagree. The XML tag is listed for each row; the file itself documents every tag in a long comment block at the top.

You pick the difficulty on the campaign setup screen — see new-game options for everything else on that screen. Note that the Save Anytime / Iron Man selector and the Bobby Ray's quality selector are separate choices, not part of the difficulty level.

How the file works

DifficultySettings.xml contains five <DIFFICULTY> entries selected by <uiIndex> 0–4. Index 0 is a placeholder named "Not Used!"; indices 1–4 are Novice, Experienced, Expert and Insane. The file's own warning: do not create new entries — "there is still hardcoded stuff that will make use of the old 4 difficulty levels". Modify the level you want to play instead. Even the names and the confirmation dialogs on the new-game screen come from this file (<Name>, <ConfirmText> — Insane's reads "Deidranna WILL kick your ass. Hard.").

The levels at a glance¶

Novice — a reduced enemy army (70% garrisons), enemies that shoot worse and ambush less, a slow-thinking Queen, and the most starting money. Your mercs and militia get an accuracy bonus under NCTH.
Experienced — full-strength garrisons and an unmodified enemy; you and your militia still get a small early accuracy bonus. The closest thing to "as designed".
Expert — 150% garrisons, a quarter of enemy groups upgraded to elites, a faster and more alert Queen, and enemies with an accuracy bonus while yours is gone.
INSANE — twice the default army with an unlimited reserve behind it, elite-heavy groups, a hyperactive Queen who prefers attack over defense and never gives up on a town, a third of Novice's starting cash — see the warnings below.

Your side: cash, progress and safety nets¶

Effect	XML tag	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Starting money	`StartingCash`	$45,000	$35,000	$30,000	$15,000
Kills per campaign-progress point	`NumKillsPerProgressPoint`	7	10	15	60
Unhired A.I.M./M.E.R.C. deaths allowed	`MaxMercDeaths`	2	4	6	8
Enemy loot damaged on drop, up to	`LootStatusModifier`	0%	20%	40%	60%

Progress from kills. Campaign progress drives what the enemy fields against you (see strategic war and item progression). Kills are one of its ingredients: one point per 7 kills on Novice, per 60 on Insane. The kill contribution is capped by GAME_PROGRESS_MAX_POINTS_FROM_KILLS (default 25) in Ja2_Options.INI — so on Insane a body count barely moves the needle at all.
MaxMercDeaths is not about your mercs: it caps how many not-hired A.I.M. and M.E.R.C. mercenaries may die while away on outside missions (MERCS_CAN_DIE_ON_ASSIGNMENT in the INI — see recommended settings).
LootStatusModifier damages equipment dropped by dead enemies by a random amount up to the listed percentage — on higher difficulties the same kill yields worse loot.

Enemy numbers¶

Effect	XML tag	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Initial garrison strength	`InitialGarrisonPercentages`	70%	100%	150%	200%
Minimum enemy group size	`MinEnemyGroupSize`	3	4	6	12
City counterattack, soldiers per group (4 groups)	`CounterAttackGroupSize`	6	10	15	24
Troops converted to extra elites	`PercentElitesBonus`	0%	0%	25%	50%
Extra troops 2 sectors from Meduna	`PopulationLevel2`	no	yes	yes	yes
Extra troops 3 sectors from Meduna	`PopulationLevel3`	no	no	yes	yes
Mortar carriers per side in one battle	`MaxMortarsPerTeam`	1	1	1	2

The counterattack row is the famous Drassen counterattack (and its siblings on other towns): the trigger is an INI setting (TRIGGER_MASSIVE_ENEMY_COUNTERATTACK_AT_DRASSEN, AGGRESSIVE_STRATEGIC_AI in [Strategic Event Settings]), but the size comes from this file — four groups of CounterAttackGroupSize, so 24 soldiers total on Novice up to 96 on Insane. Battle plan: starter tips; full anatomy: early-game walkthrough.

The Queen's reserve¶

Everything the enemy sends at you is paid for from a central troop pool — the strategic layer is explained on the strategic war page.

Effect	XML tag	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Unlimited troops	`UnlimitedPoolOfTroops`	no	no	no	yes
Troops at game start	`QueensInitialPoolOfTroops`	150	200	400	8,000
Maximum reserve size	`QueenPoolMaxSizePerDifficultyLevel`	150	200	400	8,000
Training interval in days (0 = simple schema)	`QueenPoolIncrementDaysPerDifficultyLevel`	0	0	0	0
Recruits trained per batch	`QueenPoolBaseIncrementSizePerDifficultyLevel`	60	120	180	240
Recruits as % of sector population per day	`QueenPoolRecruitPercentPerDifficultyLevel`	1%	2%	3%	4%

With the shipped value of 0 for the training interval, the game uses the simple schema: when the reserve drops below the batch size, it is topped up by one batch and the strategic AI sleeps for a while — the max-size and recruit-percentage tags are ignored (the file documents this). On Insane the pool is flagged unlimited, which makes all the pool-management tags moot: you cannot win by attrition.

Enemy soldier quality¶

Effect	XML tag	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Bonus APs for enemy soldiers	`EnemyAPBonus`	0	0	0	5
Admins upgraded to troops in moving groups	`UpgradeAdminsToTroops`	no	no	no	yes
Admins upgraded to troops in garrisons	`UpgradeGarrisonsAdminsToTroops`	no	no	yes	yes
…all admins upgrade past progress	`AlwaysUpGradeAdminsToTroopsProgress`	40%	30%	20%	10%
Random level variance (down / up)	`LevelModifierLowLimit` / `LevelModifierHighLimit`	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0
Enemy XP levels uncapped	`AllowUnrestrictedXPLevels`	no	no	no	yes
Enemy morale can't drop below "worried"	`EnemyMoraleWorried`	no	no	no	yes

The AP bonus is not scaled to your chosen AP system (the file warns about this): 5 extra APs is huge on the 25-AP scale, minor on the 100-AP scale. See AP & BP tuning.
Admin upgrades slowly remove the easy yellow-shirt kills from the map; the progress threshold means that even on Novice all admins become real troops from 40% progress.
The level caps are hardcoded per difficulty: enemy combatants max out at experience level 6 (Novice), 7 (Experienced) or 8 (Expert), while Insane has no limit — the AllowUnrestrictedXPLevels override lets easier modes roll enemies up to level 10 too. The variance tags (all zero by default) let modders randomize soldier levels around their map-defined values.
The morale floor on Insane means enemies never panic outright — see tactical AI for how enemy morale drives behavior.

Accuracy modifiers (NCTH only)¶

These fields only have an effect when NCTH is enabled; under OCTH they do nothing. Positive numbers make the shooter better.

Who	XML tags	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Enemy soldiers (aim / base)	`CthConstantsAimDifficulty`, `CthConstantsBaseDifficulty`	−30	0	+20	+50
Your militia (aim / base)	`CthConstantsAimDifficultyMilitia`, `CthConstantsBaseDifficultyMilitia`	+20	+10	0	0
Your mercs (aim / base)	`CthConstantsAimDifficultyPlayer`, `CthConstantsBaseDifficultyPlayer`	+20	+10	0	0

The aim tag modifies the CTH gained from spending aim clicks, the base tag the CTH from attributes, condition and weapon handling; in the shipped data both always carry the same value. The player bonus is temporary: it applies in full at 0% campaign progress and fades linearly to nothing at 30%.

Strategic AI tempo and awareness¶

How fast and how alertly the Queen runs her war — context on the strategic war page.

Effect	XML tag	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Starting alert chance	`EnemyStartingAlertLevel`	5	20	60	80
Alertness decay while chasing you	`EnemyAlertDecay`	75	50	25	10
Auto-success battles during full alert	`NumAwareBattles`	1	2	3	4
Queen decision interval (minutes)	`BaseDelayInMinutesBetweenEvaluations`	480	360	180	90
…random variance (minutes)	`EvaluationDelayVariance`	±240	±180	±120	±60
Grace period after you take a sector	`GracePeriodInHoursAfterSectorLiberation`	144 h	96 h	48 h	6 h
Destroyed patrol stays gone for	`GracePeriodInDaysAfterPatrolDestroyed`	16 d	12 d	8 d	2 d
Queen prefers attack over defense	`AggressiveQueenAi`	no	no	no	yes
Queen wakes after your first battle	`StrategicAiActionWakeQueen`	no	no	yes	yes
Days checked for player activity in a sector	`UpdateLastDayOfPlayerActivity`	1	1	2	2
Queen gives up attacking a town after	`QueenAttackLosingControlOfSector`	4 losses	8 losses	12 losses	never (0)
Chance your squads get ambushed, modifier	`ChanceOfEnemyAmbushes`	−15	+5	+12	+25
Alerted soldiers radio for help	`RadioSightings`	no	yes	yes	yes
Every enemy radios for help	`RadioSightings2`	no	yes	yes	yes

A high alert decay value makes enemies lose interest in you quickly, so the small Insane number (10) means they stay on your trail. The grace period after liberating a sector is your window to train militia before the Queen may even consider a counterattack — six days on Novice, six hours on Insane. The ambush modifier feeds into a chance calculation described in the INI (ENABLE_CHANCE_OF_ENEMY_AMBUSHES and ENEMY_AMBUSHES_CHANCE_MODIFIER in [Tactical Difficulty Settings]); a Scouting-trait merc in the squad can prevent ambushes entirely.

Reinforcements during battle¶

Effect	XML tag	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Enemies may reinforce an attacked sector	`AllowReinforcements`	yes	yes	yes	yes
…including into Omerta	`AllowReinforcementsOmerta`	no	yes	yes	yes

Enemies from adjacent sectors arriving mid-battle at the map edge is a per-difficulty switch here — on at every level — but the delays and unit counts are INI settings, and you can turn the whole thing off by editing this file: see recommended settings. Only Novice spares you reinforcements pouring into Omerta on day one.

Creatures (Sci-Fi mode)¶

These fields govern the crepitus infestation, which only exists in Sci-Fi mode (ENABLE_CREPITUS = TRUE in the INI; never in Realistic mode). See know your enemy for the creatures themselves.

Effect	XML tag	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Minutes between spread cycles	`CreatureSpreadTime`	510	450	390	150
New creatures per cycle	`QueenReproductionBase`	6	7	9	15
…random bonus per cycle	`QueenReproductionBonus`	+0–1	+0–2	+0–3	+0–5
Head-start spread cycles at quest start	`QueenInitBonusSpread`	1	2	3	5
Sector population chance modifier	`CreaturePopulationModifier`	0	0	0	0
Extra chance to attack towns	`CreatureTownAggressiveness`	−10	0	+10	+50

On Insane the hive spreads more than three times as often, with bigger broods and a strong appetite for attacking towns at night.

Fixed strongholds: underground sectors and weapon caches¶

The XML's underground fields are inactive in a default install

DifficultySettings.xml contains seven Sector… tags (SectorJ9B1NumTroops, SectorJ9B2NumCreatures, SectorK4B1NumTroops, SectorK4B1NumElites, SectorO3B1NumTroops, SectorO3B1NumElites, SectorP3B1NumElites) — but the file says they are only used when no initunderground.lua script exists, and the current game data ships that script in Data-1.13\Scripts. So in a standard current install the underground garrisons below come from the Lua script, not from these XML tags. (The script's numbers match the XML formulas almost exactly.)

Garrisons of the special underground sectors, per initunderground.lua (ranges include the script's random rolls; values are set once when the campaign starts):

Sector	Garrison	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
J9-1	troops	8	11	15	20
J9-2	creatures	4–5	6–7	8–9	10–11
K4-1	troops + elites	8–10 + 5–6	10–12 + 6–7	12–14 + 7–8	14–16 + 8–9
O3-1	troops + elites	8–10 + 5–6	10–12 + 6–7	12–14 + 7–8	14–16 + 8–9
P3-1	elites	8–10	10–15	14–20	20

What these places are is spoiler territory — the late-game walkthrough covers them sector by sector.

Hidden weapon caches are small treasure sectors guarded by regular troops. Their guard count is set here — WeaponCacheTroops1 through WeaponCacheTroops5, one per possible cache, all with the same value per difficulty (1/2/3/4), which the game turns into 6 + 2 × value guards: 8 on Novice, 10, 12, and 14 on Insane. Locations and the roll that decides which caches exist are covered (with spoilers) on the secrets page.

Odds and ends¶

Effect	XML tag	Novice	Experienced	Expert	Insane
Bloodcat ambush sectors	`BloodcatAmbushSectors`	1	1	0	0
Air raids hunt for dive targets	`AirRaidLookForDive`	no	no	yes	yes
Turns a destroyed power generator stops the fan (UB only)	`NumberOfTurnsPowerGenFanWillBeStoppedFor`	2	2	1	1

The file's own comment block marks the first two with a literal "?". Verified in the source: AirRaidLookForDive is used by the air-raid event (in early-game raids the plane flies a fixed strafing pattern unless this is set). Bloodcat ambush chances and pack sizes are actually defined per sector and difficulty in TableData\Map\BloodcatPlacements.XML — we could not find current code that reads the BloodcatAmbushSectors flag, so treat it as legacy.

What difficulty does not change¶

Everything in Ja2_Options.INI applies identically at every difficulty — the level you pick never touches it. Notably:

Flat enemy combat bonuses — ADMIN/REGULAR/ELITE_CTH_BONUS_PERCENT, ..._DAMAGE_RESISTANCE and ..._EQUIPMENT_QUALITY_MODIFIER in [Tactical Difficulty Settings] (despite the section name, these are global knobs; see the options tour).
Enemy gear. What enemies carry is driven by campaign progress and item coolness, not by the difficulty level directly — see item progression. Difficulty only slows one progress ingredient (kills) and pre-damages the drops.
Interrupts and vision. DifficultySettings.xml contains no interrupt or sight-range fields; the interrupt system plays by the same rules on Novice and Insane.
Autoresolve. No per-difficulty autoresolve fields exist in the file; the auto-resolve bonuses for your mercs are flat INI settings (MERCS_OFFENSE/DEFFENSE_IN_AUTORESOLVE_BATTLES_BONUS).
Zombies. Zombie toughness is its own INI setting (ZOMBIE_DIFFICULTY_LEVEL), independent of campaign difficulty.
Enemy traits, drop rules, save modes, AP system, NCTH/OCTH, Tons of Guns — all separate INI settings or new-game options.

Difficulty effects outside the file¶

The XML warns that hardcoded difficulty behavior still exists. Cases verified in the current source:

The retreat "free pass". Retreating from a battle normally costs every fleeing merc morale — unless the odds were hopeless. The threshold scales with difficulty: the enemy force must be stronger than (2 + difficulty) × your remaining strength — more than 3× on Novice, 4× on Experienced, 5× on Expert, 6× on Insane (Strategic Town Loyalty.cpp). Details and the other consequences of running away: retreat & defeat.
Enemy XP level caps of 6/7/8/unlimited, described above.
Supply convoys (if enabled) get harsher with difficulty in code: on Expert/Insane they only run to towns fully under enemy control but deal a country-wide loyalty hit on arrival, and a convoy that makes it home pays larger rewards into the enemy war chest — nothing at all on Novice (Strategic Transport Groups.cpp; see strategic war).
Per-difficulty character profiles. With USE_DIFFICULTY_BASED_PROF_DAT = TRUE (the default), the game loads its character-profile database from per-difficulty files — the current data ships Prof_Novice… through Prof_Insane… variants (further split by the Tons of Guns setting) in Data-1.13\BinaryData, so NPC loadouts can differ by difficulty.

Playing on INSANE: what the data says¶

Know what you are signing up for

Insane is not just "more enemies". The data points that change the strategy, not merely the fights:

Attrition cannot win. The troop pool is unlimited (UnlimitedPoolOfTroops = 1). Every other difficulty lets you bleed the army dry; Insane never runs out. You win by taking and holding ground.
Kills barely advance progress (60 per point, capped at 25 points) — your campaign progress will come from mines and sector control, and enemy gear scales with that progress regardless of how carefully you snipe.
The Queen answers in hours, not days: decisions every 90 ± 60 minutes, a 6-hour grace period on liberated sectors, and she prefers attacking you to defending herself (AggressiveQueenAi). She also never writes a town off — QueenAttackLosingControlOfSector = 0 means unlimited counterattacks.
Every fight is against a crowd: minimum group size 12, 200% garrisons, half the extra troops converted to elites, up to two enemy mortars on the field, +5 APs and +50 NCTH accuracy — while you get $15,000, no accuracy help, loot that arrives 0–60% damaged, and a +25 ambush modifier.
The Drassen counterattack alone is 96 soldiers.

Editing the file¶

DifficultySettings.xml is a normal 1.13 TableData XML: back it up, edit values in place (never add or remove <DIFFICULTY> entries), and keep the numbers within the ranges documented in the file's comment block. Two things to know:

<StartingCash> only matters when starting a new campaign.
If you want a difficulty between Experienced and Expert (or an even madder Insane), editing an existing entry is the supported way — the recommended settings page walks through the common tweaks, such as disabling battlefield reinforcements or changing starting cash.

Sources¶

Data-1.13/TableData/DifficultySettings.xml from the 1dot13/gamedir repository — all per-difficulty values and the tag documentation in its comment block
Data-1.13/Scripts/initunderground.lua from 1dot13/gamedir — current underground sector garrisons per difficulty
Ja2_Options.INI from 1dot13/gamedir — MERCS_CAN_DIE_ON_ASSIGNMENT, TRIGGER_MASSIVE_ENEMY_COUNTERATTACK_AT_DRASSEN, AGGRESSIVE_STRATEGIC_AI, GAME_PROGRESS_MAX_POINTS_FROM_KILLS, USE_DIFFICULTY_BASED_PROF_DAT, ZOMBIE_DIFFICULTY_LEVEL, [Tactical Difficulty Settings], reinforcement and autoresolve settings
Source files from 1dot13/source, verified against master: Ja2/XML_DifficultySettings.cpp (which tags the game reads), Ja2/GameInitOptionsScreen.h (DIF_LEVEL_EASY = 1 … DIF_LEVEL_INSANE = 4), Strategic/Strategic Town Loyalty.cpp (retreat free-pass formula), Tactical/Morale.cpp (the −5 retreat morale event), Tactical/Air Raid.cpp (AirRaidLookForDive), Strategic/Strategic Movement.cpp (bloodcat ambushes read TableData\Map\BloodcatPlacements.XML), Strategic/Strategic Transport Groups.cpp (per-difficulty convoy penalties/rewards)
Directory listing of Data-1.13/BinaryData in 1dot13/gamedir (per-difficulty Prof_*.dat files)