Survival and resource settings.
AETHUS difficulty and modifiers
There is no single difficulty menu. Game Modifiers change Air, Vitality, Carry Weight, and (since patch 1.029) Resources, and you can change them during a save. Steam, the Xbox page, and a walkthrough all describe that. The tier names Easy, Forgiving, Standard, Challenging, and Hard appear in one walkthrough only.
Official patch 1.029 adds Resources to the settings, so the older three-axis descriptions are incomplete. Tier names and the suggested Standard/Standard/Forgiving profile are from one wiki, and achievement eligibility is attributed to the earlier Leyren guide record.
Resources modifier added in 1.029
Official 1.029 patch notes add Resources, a setting for resource drop rates. This is one originating publisher source, checked 2026-10-28. Older three-setting descriptions omit this addition; no numerical multiplier is asserted.
Vitality and a cautious setup
Hotfix 13 cut negative vitality decay by 50%, and by another 50% inside the outpost. Hunger, thirst, and temperature are the drains named in the notes. A walkthrough suggests Air Standard, Vitality Standard, and Carry Weight Forgiving for a first save. That is one person's opinion. If you want more pressure, raise vitality. Exact multipliers are not published, so this page has no percent table beyond the hotfix.
Questions
Do modifiers disable achievements?
One 100% guide says they do not. Steam does not print that line. Treat it as single-source.
Are there console commands?
None are published by the developer. This site does not host or link a trainer.
Related
Sources
- Steam News API — Readable 2026-10-28. One originating publisher source; official patch/announcement text, not independent corroboration.
- Steam store — Game Modifiers in the feature text.
- Steam news — Hotfix 13 vitality decay.
- Xbox store — Same modifier description on the console page.
Last checked: 2026-10-28. Send corrections to [email protected].