How difficulty works
Each War Table mission can be played at one of six difficulty levels. The official description ties a harder selection to both greater danger and better reward opportunities, including improved access to higher-rarity equipment.
Difficulty is chosen as part of mission planning, so it is not a permanent save-file commitment. That makes it useful as a progression lever: learn an objective and its boss at a manageable setting, then revisit it when the purified armory and permanent upgrades are stronger.
When to raise it
Raise difficulty when the current mission can be completed consistently without consuming most of the shared life pool. A failed hunt can forfeit completion bonuses, consumables, and some unbanked resources, so nominally better drops are not automatically better progress if attempts rarely reach the next gate.
Co-op and reward claims
The store describes dynamic difficulty scaling, and the support guide confirms that co-op is considered when balancing a run. However, the sources do not publish a complete numeric table for enemy health, damage, or drop percentages. Treat exact community multipliers as provisional unless they appear in current patch notes or official documentation.