Difficulty Level (DX)

In Deus Ex, the difficulty level (also known as combat difficult level) is a game setting that is selected by the player at the start of a new game. The player may select from four difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Realistic.

Actual effects
The sole effect of the difficulty level setting is that on higher difficulty levels, the player takes increased damage from the following damage types:


 * Shot – Damage caused by bullets and lethal melee weapons.
 * AutoShot – Damage caused exclusively by automated turrets.

Damage is increased in accordance with the multipliers listed below. Difficulty level has no effect on damage types other than "Shot" and "AutoShot." Therefore, difficulty level does not affect the damage that the player receives from other common types of damage, such as "Exploded" damage (caused by rockets, LAMs, and exploding objects), "Poison" damage (caused by tranquilizer darts), and "Burned" damage (caused by plasma bolts).

Difficulty level also has no effect on the damage taken by enemies, whether the damage is inflicted by the player or by another NPC. Therefore, enemies take the same amount of damage on "Realistic" as they do on "Easy."