Going through Combined Arms mission.
I was playing on hard initially but got annoyed with the loading times since I kept on messing up during the first set of allies mission.
Drop it to normal - now the game is too easy...
I know in CnC remastered;
easy - AI has 50% lower HP and does 50% less damage
normal - normal
Hard - Players unit have 50% less HP and does 50% less damage.
I cant find a breakdown of what the difficulty does for the AI on the forums, can someone tell me what bonuses/negative occur at high difficulties
I assume Easy Normal and Hard are the same as CNC Remastered.
OpenRA - Combined Arms difficulty explained
What does the difficulty setting do for the AI?
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willeatpants
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2026 12:22 am
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JovialFeline
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Mon May 15, 2023 12:58 pm
Re: OpenRA - Combined Arms difficulty explained
It's more complicated than just handicaps, but I'll try. Like OpenRA missions, CA leans on using difficulty to change parts of the mission rather than only unit stats.
In base v. base missions, bot factions have some standard unit type pools from which they can build, and those can change depending on how long the mission has continued: early phase (usually but not always 0 - 10 minutes), middle (10 - 16), middle-late (10+), or late (16+). The timings can be different per faction. There are also some specialist compositions in there like anti-tank ground teams.
I'd like to avoid talking about that part in much more depth to avoid a headache, but those pools and their conditions can be tweaked by missions or replaced entirely. The gist is that you can expect enemy armies to ramp up their attacks (and "tech level" for want of a better word) sooner on higher difficulties.
There are some more straightforward changes too, like the length of mission timers, the amount of starting cash, or how long a harvester's destruction can delay the bot's next attack wave. Specific units on maps may have difficulty tags: HardAndAbove, BrutalOnly, etc. These units are removed once the map starts if they do not match the selected difficulty.
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If you'd like an example, here's a look at some parts of Crossrip from the early Allies campaign.
Handicaps
First, there are indeed some handicap things. In part, these exist so the bot keeps producing things near the demanded pace instead of easily burning all their money. These are pulled from campaign-rules.yaml.
Easy
- Most productions will take 15% more time.
- Most ground units take 20% more time to produce.
- Air units take 20% more time to produce.
Hard
- Most ground units cost 10% less.
- Defenses cost 5% less.
Very Hard
- 5% discount on most production costs.
- Most ground units cost 25% less.
- Defenses cost 10% less.
- Refineries can be built 5% faster.
Brutal
- 10% discount on most production costs.
- Most ground units cost 60% less.
- Air units cost 5% less.
- Defenses cost 15% less.
- Refineries can be built 10% faster.
USSR rebuilding Tesla Coils or Flame Towers
Easy: USSR on this map will not rebuild these.
Normal: USSR rebuilds Flame Towers.
Other: USSR rebuilds both defense types.
Helicopter troops
An enemy helicopter arrives with infantry at 12 minutes if the Soviet War Factory still survives. The drop includes 3x rifles, 1 Grenadier, 1 Rocket Soldier, and 1 Flamethrower. They unload a decent distance from the presumed player base location. This repeats after a delay calculated from the current difficulty and what the soldiers would normally cost.
The first drop's delay is affected by difficulty and may range from 18 minutes on Easy (1.5x) to 6 minutes on Brutal (0.5x). Normal does not affect the delay.
Hard and above: If we are at least 15min into the mission, add 1 rifle, 1 Grenadier, 1 Rocket Soldier, 1 Flamethrower, and a Shock Trooper to the drop.
Naval landing
A Soviet LST arrives with some vehicles at 18 minutes, west of the presumed Allied base location. The drop includes a Heavy Tank and a V2 launcher. The first drop's delay and the repeat delay are again affected by difficulty.
Easy: Skipped entirely.
Hard and above: A second Heavy Tank is added to the LST.
Startup removals
Below Hard: Units with the HardAndAbove tag are removed. These include a Tesla Coil, Heavy Tank, Katyusha, V2 launcher, and Flamethrower.
Easy: As above, but units with the NormalAndAbove tag are also removed. These include a Mammoth Tank, V2 launcher, and 4 Heavy Tanks.
Easy or Normal: Greece gets to keep their starting Ranger.
Starting money
The player starts with 6000 in cash.
Easy: This is raised to 10000 cash.
Normal: No effect.
Very Hard or above: This is knocked down to 5000 cash.
Other bits
- The tutorial messages about the Barracks, Mechanics, and Prism Tanks are only shown on Hard difficulty or below.
- The evacuation timer ranges from Easy's 4:30 and Normal's 5:00 to 5:30 on Hard or above.
- The Scrin invasion will spawn units in intervals that are based on the player's army value and the selected difficulty. The unit types spawned are also affected by difficulty.
In base v. base missions, bot factions have some standard unit type pools from which they can build, and those can change depending on how long the mission has continued: early phase (usually but not always 0 - 10 minutes), middle (10 - 16), middle-late (10+), or late (16+). The timings can be different per faction. There are also some specialist compositions in there like anti-tank ground teams.
I'd like to avoid talking about that part in much more depth to avoid a headache, but those pools and their conditions can be tweaked by missions or replaced entirely. The gist is that you can expect enemy armies to ramp up their attacks (and "tech level" for want of a better word) sooner on higher difficulties.
There are some more straightforward changes too, like the length of mission timers, the amount of starting cash, or how long a harvester's destruction can delay the bot's next attack wave. Specific units on maps may have difficulty tags: HardAndAbove, BrutalOnly, etc. These units are removed once the map starts if they do not match the selected difficulty.
----
If you'd like an example, here's a look at some parts of Crossrip from the early Allies campaign.
Handicaps
First, there are indeed some handicap things. In part, these exist so the bot keeps producing things near the demanded pace instead of easily burning all their money. These are pulled from campaign-rules.yaml.
Easy
- Most productions will take 15% more time.
- Most ground units take 20% more time to produce.
- Air units take 20% more time to produce.
Hard
- Most ground units cost 10% less.
- Defenses cost 5% less.
Very Hard
- 5% discount on most production costs.
- Most ground units cost 25% less.
- Defenses cost 10% less.
- Refineries can be built 5% faster.
Brutal
- 10% discount on most production costs.
- Most ground units cost 60% less.
- Air units cost 5% less.
- Defenses cost 15% less.
- Refineries can be built 10% faster.
USSR rebuilding Tesla Coils or Flame Towers
Easy: USSR on this map will not rebuild these.
Normal: USSR rebuilds Flame Towers.
Other: USSR rebuilds both defense types.
Helicopter troops
An enemy helicopter arrives with infantry at 12 minutes if the Soviet War Factory still survives. The drop includes 3x rifles, 1 Grenadier, 1 Rocket Soldier, and 1 Flamethrower. They unload a decent distance from the presumed player base location. This repeats after a delay calculated from the current difficulty and what the soldiers would normally cost.
The first drop's delay is affected by difficulty and may range from 18 minutes on Easy (1.5x) to 6 minutes on Brutal (0.5x). Normal does not affect the delay.
Hard and above: If we are at least 15min into the mission, add 1 rifle, 1 Grenadier, 1 Rocket Soldier, 1 Flamethrower, and a Shock Trooper to the drop.
Naval landing
A Soviet LST arrives with some vehicles at 18 minutes, west of the presumed Allied base location. The drop includes a Heavy Tank and a V2 launcher. The first drop's delay and the repeat delay are again affected by difficulty.
Easy: Skipped entirely.
Hard and above: A second Heavy Tank is added to the LST.
Startup removals
Below Hard: Units with the HardAndAbove tag are removed. These include a Tesla Coil, Heavy Tank, Katyusha, V2 launcher, and Flamethrower.
Easy: As above, but units with the NormalAndAbove tag are also removed. These include a Mammoth Tank, V2 launcher, and 4 Heavy Tanks.
Easy or Normal: Greece gets to keep their starting Ranger.
Starting money
The player starts with 6000 in cash.
Easy: This is raised to 10000 cash.
Normal: No effect.
Very Hard or above: This is knocked down to 5000 cash.
Other bits
- The tutorial messages about the Barracks, Mechanics, and Prism Tanks are only shown on Hard difficulty or below.
- The evacuation timer ranges from Easy's 4:30 and Normal's 5:00 to 5:30 on Hard or above.
- The Scrin invasion will spawn units in intervals that are based on the player's army value and the selected difficulty. The unit types spawned are also affected by difficulty.