Hard difficulty & Rock Bottom: opening priorities
1.0 offers four difficulty options after scenario selection. Rock Bottom removes the opening resources; stacking the two increases pressure.
Quick answer
1.0 offers four difficulty options after scenario selection. Rock Bottom removes the opening resources; stacking the two increases pressure.
On this page
Read your selected settings
Use the difficulty screen in your build to compare modifiers. The developer explicitly suggests combining the hardest option with Rock Bottom for a challenge. Old demo references to a single hardcore mode do not describe the full release menu.
A conservative opening plan
Protect the next bill before buying speculative stock. Favor goods you can inspect and sell immediately; avoid tying up the whole balance in a production chain. Check whether a bounty or a supplier relationship has greater value for this run. Neither reporting every criminal nor keeping every criminal is universally optimal.
Separate one-off income from a business
A reward can save an opening but does not pay the following week automatically. Record repeatable sales and their input costs. Use the planner with a slow-sales estimate before you scale. Waste-hauling offers also consume storage and night actions; treat disposal as part of their cost.
Avoid legacy exploits
Do not budget around farming Security reputation by displaying and then hiding contraband: the developer removed that reward. Insurance and services have real costs, so read their current terms before selecting them.
Sources & version scope
Sources reviewed October 29, 2026. Official patches establish the changes they describe; earlier community reports are not independently tested in 1.0 here.
- Official 1.0 launch announcement ↗
- Official Rat Wrangler patch ↗
- Community reference · earlier-build observations ↗