Before creating the world in Terraria, the initial setup takes place in a special window. In addition to setting the world’s size, name, seed, and infection options, there is a choice of difficulty. There are four difficulty levels to choose from – Normal, Expert, Master Mod and Journey. In this article, we’ll look at the difference between two critical levels – Normal and Expert.
Normal Difficulty in Terraria
Initially, it was intended that Normal would be a difficulty level for beginners who are just starting their acquaintance with the game. It is also suitable for inexperienced players new to sandbox RPGs. It is the Normal parameter of the world that is recommended when playing Terraria for the first time.
This option keeps the world setting as initially intended by the developers.
It is also worth noting that the rest of the mobs’ AI has been simplified to avoid any critical problems during the walkthrough.
Regarding the main gameplay features concerning the character, his health regeneration will occur at average speed. Upon death (if the character was not made with a hardcore setting), the player respawns quickly. Upon death, the character will only lose 50% of his coins (again, if the character difficulty setting does not provide otherwise).
At Normal difficulty, enemies drop a moderate amount of loot, a small amount of money, and the chance of unique items being dropped is tiny. The number of rewards in chests and dungeons also remains standard.
Expert Difficulty in Terraria
As the name suggests, this world setting is intended for experienced players familiar with Terraria. It is recommended to set the Expert difficulty level in case of at least one complete passage of the game and full acquaintance with its central mechanics. The developers introduced this setting to make the project more replayable and a better gaming experience with a walkthrough.
First of all, there are more intelligent AI of all mobs and the strengthening of their main parameters. For this reason, beginners are highly discouraged from getting to know Terraria at this difficulty level. It will likely result in frequent deaths, inability to progress through the game, and a poor gaming experience.
This mode complicates absolutely every aspect of the game. Regarding changes to the basic mechanics, the player will respawn for 30 seconds, the regeneration will go slower, and after the character’s death, 75% of the coins will drop out.
Ordinary mobs, as well as bosses, will be especially dangerous. In addition to enhancing AI and standard parameters, such as health, some of them will be able to apply additional debuffs. For example, the “Shock” debuff from the jellyfish or “Wild bite” from the bat. Boss behaviour has been completely overhauled, and some have new phases. Enemies can pick up the dropped coins, but you get a standard reward plus the collected money when you kill such a mob.
However, the Expert mode has its advantages as well. First of all, these are increased rewards. Drops from mobs will become more valuable, and there will be much more rewards in chests, pots, etc. The chance of dropping some items is increased.
The main advantage of the Expert in Terraria is getting access to all the content in the game. In other words, the player will be able to get, purchase, or find items that are not available in different difficulty worlds.
Expert vs Normal Difficulty in Terraria
Understanding Expert and Normal’s features, we can compare them with each other and highlight their advantages and disadvantages. Each of these two settings targets two different categories of players. While newbies are definitely advised to choose Normal, players familiar with Terraria can try Expert.
The decisive factor for many players when choosing the world’s complexity is access to all game content. Realizing that there will be no way to get specific items and rewards on Normal, players tend to choose Expert.
The fundamental difference between these two parameters is in the complexity of the gameplay. If the player agrees to fight with enhanced versions of ordinary mobs and bosses, he will choose Expert. Players who prefer calm and measured gameplay without hardcore elements should turn to the Normal difficulty mode. However, it should be noted that increased difficulty will be encouraged by the increased amount and value of loot and treasures.
Thus, we can conclude that these two settings radically change the gameplay of Terraria and are intended for two different categories of players.