Which difficulty to pick, and what each one really changes

Four presets exist: Story, Fair, Challenging and Duelist. There is no simple ladder from easy to hard here, since the toughest preset actually reduces enemy health. Before committing a thirty-day run to one, it pays to understand what each preset genuinely alters.

Story weakens and slows enemies while granting Coen additional stamina. Fair serves as the default setting: every stat for both combatants rests exactly where the designers intended. On Challenging, enemies grow more aggressive and harder-hitting, and Coen's stamina is reduced.

Duelist breaks the pattern. Its enemies carry less health than Fair's, yet they attack far more aggressively, strike much harder, and Coen has far less stamina to respond with.

Reduced enemy health combined with far greater enemy pressure does not make an easier setting — it makes a briefer one. Engagements conclude rapidly regardless of the victor, and one badly timed block can finish a fight, since there is not enough stamina left to survive a second mistake.

Players who relish defensive play will find that trade-off the most compelling option available. Those who want space to recover should pick Challenging, which maintains the pressure while granting enough stamina to weather mistakes.

On Story, Fair and Challenging, the game indicates the correct blocking direction and signals when the window for a perfect block opens. Duelist strips away both forms of guidance.

Moving up to Duelist is therefore not a stat shift you can overcome by levelling — it amounts to a reading test. You must spot the attack direction from the animation itself rather than from the UI. Try several Challenging bouts while deliberately ignoring the indicators before making your choice.

On Story, blood can be drunk straight from the inventory at any moment. All other presets force you to feed using Voracious Bite or to use a blood vial slotted ahead of time. On an initial run, that convenience outweighs the combat differences.