When you start your first play-through in Borderlands 3, there are two difficulty options available. These are ‘Normal’, and ‘Easy’. You will unlock other difficulties after completing the game for the first time.
Even though you have to choose the difficulty at the start of the game, it’s still possible to change it at any point. Meaning if you are struggling, you can lower it down a level until you beat the enemies causing you stress.
You can find out how to change the in-game difficulty below. For more Borderlands 3 Guides & Best-of content for PS4, PC and Xbox One, make sure to check out our dedicated area here!
Changing the Difficulty
Firstly, we need to get to the actual difficulty settings. Start by opening the main menu (by pressing ESC on PC or START on Console) and choose the ‘Options’ button. Next, choose ‘Gameplay’.

One of the first options that you can see and change is ‘Difficulty’, found under the ‘General’ tab. Here, you can choose the difficulty you want to play at. You can come back here at any point and switch it back too if you want.

To the side, the dialogue box states ‘This option only modifies your personal difficulty, and will not affect other members in your group’. Meaning if you are playing with friends, it won’t change their difficulty settings.