Citizen Sleeper 2: Mastering Safe, Risky, and Dangerous Modes

Title Change: Upgrading Your Journey in Citizen Sleeper 2: A Comprehensive Guide to Difficulty Settings

Citizen Sleeper 2 has raised the bar from its predecessor by introducing a range of challenges for players, allowing them to personalize the level of intensity for their adventure. The new stress and death mechanics add an extra layer of complexity, yet some players might be puzzled about the three difficulty settings available in Citizen Sleeper 2 and how they impact gameplay. To alleviate any confusion, we’ve put together this detailed guide.

In an earlier conversation with Game Rant, the creator of Citizen Sleeper 1 mentioned that the game doesn’t typically end due to failure. However, this changes in Citizen Sleeper 2’s highest difficulty setting, where permanent death is introduced for the first time. This implies that the new version will feature a more challenging structure with permadeath as a significant aspect. Here are all the other details you should know.

All Difficulty Levels in Citizen Sleeper 2

In Citizen Sleeper 2, you’ll encounter three game difficulty settings: Easy, Challenging, and Extreme. As their names imply, Easy is the most straightforward option, offering a comfortable experience. The Challenging setting is similar to the standard mode in other games, providing a balanced challenge. Lastly, the Extreme setting is the toughest, featuring permanent character death.

Difficulty Levels & Added Challenges

Difficulty	Challenge
Safe	Broken Dice count as 1 Stress Tolerance is higher Death is disabled
Risky	Broken Dice cannot be used Stress Tolerance is decreased Death causes permanent damage
Dangerous	Dice repairs cost more Stress Tolerance is extremely low Energy Depletion per Cycle is doubled Death is permanent

In Citizen Sleeper 2, there’s a special accomplishment linked to the game’s level of challenge. The achievement titled “A System In Crisis” is granted to players who successfully finish the game at the highest difficulty level, named Dangerous.

How Broken Dice Work in Each Difficulty

In Safe mode, whenever you shatter a die, it transforms into a number 1, causing harm to the die’s symbol rather than its container. Conversely, in Risky or Perilous modes, a damaged die becomes inoperable until it’s fixed, with the damage impacting the die’s container instead of its symbol.

When you’re in “Dangerous” mode, fixing a die becomes more expensive and resource-intensive. This means you’ll need items such as Scrap or Rare Components in greater quantities to resurrect each die, thereby making the task even more challenging.

How Stress Tolerance and Energy Work in Each Difficulty

As an avid fan, I’m excited about the prospect of Citizen Sleeper 2, where my choices shape not only the narrative but also the emotional wellbeing of my characters. In this game, high levels of stress, which can arise from decisions leading to unfavorable outcomes, become a significant factor. To manage this, there are three modes: Safe, Risky, and Dangerous.

In Safe mode, your characters have a greater ability to withstand stress, reducing the occurrence of glitches or character death. The Risky mode offers a more challenging experience, as even though stress levels remain high, your characters can still hold their ground, experiencing fewer glitches and less frequent deaths.

However, in Dangerous mode, even minor amounts of stress can have catastrophic effects on your characters, increasing the likelihood of glitches or character death. This mode is for those who seek a truly immersive experience, where every decision carries weight and the stakes are high.

Changing to the riskier setting increases energy usage per cycle twice as much. With each daily reset, you’ll begin with less energy, gradually leading to a higher demand for power consumption. However, in the safe and risky settings, energy consumption per cycle isn’t as noticeable.

Reduced capacity for handling stress could lead to encountering more unexpected difficulties or challenges, which might necessitate extra rolls of the dice when fulfilling contracts or pursuing goals.

How Death and Permadeath Differ

In contrast to its predecessor, Citizen Sleeper 2 expands upon the concept of mortality, offering players three unique methods for encountering it: Temporary Death (Disabled), Reversible Death (Revivable), and Permanent Death (Permadeath).

Disabled Death (Safe): In the easiest mode, your characters don’t die, and the story progresses regardless of how you handle challenges. This option is similar to the mechanics in Citizen Sleeper 1.
Revivable Death (Risky): In normal difficulty, dying results in a glitched die. If you keep dying, you’ll eventually accumulate up to five glitched dice.
Permadeath (Dangerous): In the hardest mode, excessive stress and energy depletion can lead to your character’s death, causing you to lose all progress and restart the game. However, you can use a save-scumming trick to reload the game and continue from where you left off on a lower difficulty.

A malfunctioning dice often results in an 80% likelihood of not achieving the desired outcome, while it has a 20% probability of producing a non-disruptive result instead.

The Best Citizen Sleeper 2 Difficulty Level for You

For your initial experience with Citizen Sleeper 2, we recommend the “Challenging” setting. This level provides a well-balanced gameplay, letting you immerse in the storyline while experiencing the tension from the stress mechanism. If you’re new to Citizen Sleeper 2 or haven’t played the original game, opt for the “Easy” mode for your first journey instead.

If you’re an experienced gamer and found that the first Citizen Sleeper didn’t provide enough of a challenge, then the Dangerous mode is designed just for you. This new mode introduces permadeath as a feature to counteract criticisms about the less demanding gameplay in the previous release.

2025-02-07 09:04