Editing Game Settings (section)

== Difficulty ==
* Esquire (Easiest)
* Baron
* Viscount ''(Default)''
* Earl (Normal)
* Marquess
* Prince
* Duke
* Grand Duke
* King
* Emperor (Hardest)
From a developer (Tandis) on the [https://steamcommunity.com/app/2021880/discussions/0/4852155152090980599/#c4852155152092141274 steam forums] on the 21st Sep 2024:
<blockquote><small>''The way AI works in Ara is a bit different from what is typically seen.''

''AI does get bonuses and penalties based on the difficulty level but also it plays differently based on these difficulty levels.''

''For example, at lower difficulty levels the AI tries to simulate what beginner players might do such as forget to place an Amenity or a Supply or not build up armies in quite the optimal way. Whereas at the higher levels, the AI is pretty good at min/maxing.''

''That said, we will be looking to do a lot of additional tuning of the AI once actual strategy masters get their hands on it and start doing terrible, terrible things to not just the AI but in multiplayer.

''Maybe we should have a shirt that says "Because of me, they had to put out a patch!" ;)''</small></blockquote>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Difficulty QOL Table
!Difficulty
!Player QoL
!AI QoL
|-
|Esquire
|80
|30
|-
|Baron
|70
|35
|-
|Viscount
|60
|40
|-
|Earl
|50
|40
|-
|Marquess
|50
|45
|-
|Prince
|50
|50
|-
|Duke
|45/40/45/40/45
|60
|-
|Grand Duke
|40
|70
|-
|King
|40/30/40/30/40
|75
|-
|Emperor
|30
|80
|}
Build Rate and Economy also differs for AI on difficulty.

Players will start off with different bonuses and resource access depending on difficulty.