STAR WARS Zero Company Difficulty & Trophy Guide

How STAR WARS Zero Company difficulty levels work

EA confirms four named levels but does not publish a numerical table for enemy health, accuracy, reinforcements, or resource changes. The practical choices below stay within the published trophy conditions and do not invent hidden modifiers.

The published wording supports stacking for Story, Normal, and Hard because each condition says “or higher.” Captain and Legend are written separately. A current launch-window roadmap reports that one Expert-plus-Beskar completion unlocks all five difficulty trophies, but that result has not yet been reproduced by multiple independent, platform-tracked runs. ^{[05] [08]}

The official guidance changed at launch

An earlier StarWars.com beginner guide says the difficulty rating can be adjusted outside combat. EA's newer combat guide, updated after release, says every choice on the Difficulty Settings screen is locked once you select Start Campaign. It specifically instructs players to create another campaign for a different difficulty, Permadeath setting, or Beskar selection. This guide follows the newer and more specific rule as of August 30, 2026. ^{[03] [01]}

Until EA reconciles those two pages, do not start an Expert or Beskar run expecting to lower the setting later. Keep the first headquarters save for cleanup, and create a separate campaign when you want different rules.

Permadeath, injuries, and Beskar Mode

Permadeath is optional. If enabled, each time an Operator is downed they suffer an Injury; after three Injuries, that Operator is Killed in Action and permanently removed. Another squad member can Rally a downed Operator during the mission, and the Medbay helps injured Operators recover after returning to the Den. Your Permadeath choice remains fixed for the campaign. ^[01]

Hawks is the exception. If Hawks is defeated, the mission fails immediately and must be restarted, regardless of the Permadeath setting. Hawks cannot be permanently removed from the roster through battle.

Beskar Mode adds a single persistent save and disables manual saving. EA describes choices and consequences as permanent under that rule. Beskar does not replace Story, Normal, Hard, or Expert; it is selected alongside a difficulty level. The Legend condition requires Expert with Beskar Mode enabled. ^{[01] [05]}

Campaign difficulty is not mission risk

Mission labels answer a different question from STAR WARS Zero Company difficulty levels. The official beginner guide uses labels such as Risky, Dangerous, and Extreme for individual assignments. These labels describe the current mission rather than changing the campaign setting.

Operations and Tactical Missions can expire. Story-critical work eventually becomes mandatory, while optional work can disappear if ignored. That matters for the Active Duty and Across the Stars trophies, so a low mission-risk label is not permission to postpone every optional assignment. ^{[03] [01]}

Trophy roadmap tied to the difficulty choice

The conservative launch plan uses two campaigns. Run the first on Normal with the Permadeath choice you want for learning, recruitment, bonds, optional missions, Zone Rewards, and Operator stories. Use a second campaign for Expert with Beskar Mode. One early guide estimates about 85 hours and classifies 20 trophies as missable; treat both figures as a launch estimate, not a settled consensus. ^[08]

EA's published summary of a Q&A held in the official EA Star Wars Discord adds several route constraints. Headquarters starts with capacity for seven Operators and can expand to 20, a standard squad has four slots, astromechs become recruitable early, optional Operations cost Intel and can expire, and New Game Plus was not available at launch. These facts explain why roster, bond, and optional-mission work should start early. They do not establish a complete Platinum route. ^[09]

Social sources do not close the remaining gap. A YouTube series labeled as an Expert, Beskar, 100% Platinum walkthrough had only three parts available at this check; another playlist consisted mainly of short, single-trophy tips. Steam players discuss extra campaigns for bonds and later unlocks, but those posts do not include matched saves and full platform tracking. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Trophies that need early planning

• Full Roster: recruit 20 different Operators in one campaign. Headquarters begins below that capacity, so Den upgrades and recruitment opportunities matter.
• Active Duty: complete 50 optional missions in one campaign. Operations can expire and cost Intel.
• Across the Stars: unlock every Zone Reward in one campaign. Track each zone before major story gates.
• Thick as Thieves and Beep Boop: reach Very High Bond for the required custom-Operator and astromech pairs.
• Hutt Roulette Prize: win the prize three times during one campaign.
• Six Operator story trophies require Trick, Luco Bronc, Kabb Iroh, Jae Kir, Cly Kullervo, and Tel Vokkara to finish their personal arcs.

All 53 trophies and achievements

The tables combine the public Steam descriptions with the complete PS5 list. PS5 has 44 Bronze, 6 Silver, 2 Gold, and 1 Platinum trophy; 29 are marked secret. The grouping follows the action required, so story spoilers remain together while campaign-management tasks are easier to scan. ^{[05] [06] [07]}

Completion and difficulty

Story missions

Operator stories

Bonds

Combat challenges

Headquarters, roster, and equipment

Cleanup before the final sequence

Check Full Roster, Active Duty, Across the Stars, Hutt Roulette, bonds, and Operator stories before starting the final sequence. Low-probability shots, high-ground kills, and the four-astromech squad can be attempted during optional missions without tying them to a late story checkpoint.

Keep the final headquarters save and several earlier decision saves from the first campaign. Difficulty stacking, post-story access, and missed relationship choices still need broader platform verification. For a second campaign, STAR WARS Zero Company difficulty levels should be chosen only after confirming that you are ready for Expert, Beskar's single save, and the route's permanent consequences.

This combined difficulty and trophy guide was last verified on August 30, 2026. If campaign time is the deciding factor, check campaign length; for roster capacity and deployment limits, use the squad-size guide.