How To Use Modifiers To Adjust Difficulty

Mina the Hollower is a fairly tough old-school game that is certain to test your reflexes and positioning abilities. Approaching combat and exploration with strategy and precision is the key to success, but even then, you’re likely to face challenges that will be difficult to overcome in a single try. That’s why there are a variety of difficulty modifiers available in the menu to tailor your experience.

While you can certainly adjust the difficulty to make things easier for you, those seeking a truly punishing adventure can even modify the game in ways that would leave the average player crying in the corner. The spectrum of options is so wide that you can make the game so easy that you can’t even take damage, or make it feel virtually unbeatable. However, we’ve compiled our favorite choices for balancing Mina the Hollower around what we’d consider average Easy and Hard Modes. Let’s dive in.

How To Adjust Difficulty In Mina The Hollower

To adjust the modifiers in Mina the Hollower, head into Settings > Modifiers/Assist. Here, you can navigate between multiple types of modifiers or see them all at once.

Recommended Easier Settings

There are plenty of modifiers that can make Mina the Hollower easier, ranging from improved healing and faster leveling to dramatic changes like complete damage immunity. Here are our picks for the best options to make the game feel like you’re playing on an Easy Mode.

Take 0.5x Damage – This reduces the damage you take by half. There is an option to reduce it further, but we’d argue doing so makes the game feel too easy, so it’s probably better suited for those seeking something akin to a Story Mode run.
Boss Checkpoints – This ensures that an Underlab is always present right before a boss fight, reducing the tedium of runbacks if and when you die.
Quick Heal – This allows you to heal faster so that you’re not a sitting duck when enemies are attacking you.
More Plasma – This grants you more Plasma when attacking, which lets you heal more effectively.
No Bone Loss – This makes it so you won’t lose your Bones when dying.

Recommended Harder Settings

If you prefer more of a challenge, Mina the Hollower can also be made considerably harder with modifiers that cause you to take much more damage or reduce checkpoint availability. Here are our picks for the best options to make the game feel like you’re playing on a Hard Mode.

Take 1.5x Damage – This substantially increases how much damage you take. There is an option to increase it even further, but it makes the game feel outrageously brutal and is probably best saved for the most hardcore of the hardcore players.
Boning Up 20% Slower – This increases how many Bones you need to level up by 20%, making leveling decently slower.
Less Plasma – This reduces how much Plasma you earn when attacking, which means you’ll suffer from less healing efficiency.

Regardless of how you choose to play Mina the Hollower — be it with an easier or harder challenge — the goal is to have the most fun possible with this retro journey. Pick the options that best suit your skill level and improve your experience, then get out there and have a blast.

Mina the Hollower is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.