Difficulty Levels — Shadow of the Tomb Raider eGuide

Smart and Resourceful (Easy): Provides the simplest gameplay, with aim assist enabled, weaker enemies, and plenty of hints.
Rite of Passage (Normal): The default difficulty, with fewer hints, stronger enemies, and no aim assist. Base Camps are unlit, making them tougher to see from a distance.

One with the Jungle (Hard): Ramps up the difficulty by removing health regeneration in combat, and hints for traversal and puzzles. Tougher enemies have an easier time locating Lara. Survival Instincts is disabled, making the game extremely tough for those who haven’t completed it.
Deadly Obsession (Very Hard): Really tests a player’s skills. Better-armed and -armored enemies have increased health and damage, requiring more thought and skill in combat. In addition, you must return to a Base Camp to save your game. Each Base Camp requires hardwood to activate.

For three of the difficulties, settings can be changed for Combat, Exploration, and Puzzle separately before you start a new game, and in the in-game Options menu.

Deadly Obsession can only be selected when beginning a new game, and it’s all-or-nothing; you can’t mix it with other difficulties.

The overall difficulty is decided by averaging the selected individual settings. For example, if Combat and Exploration are set to Hard and Puzzle is on Normal, you end up with One with the Jungle. If Combat is Easy, Exploration is Normal, and Puzzle is Hard, the overall setting is Rite of Passage.

Difficulty	Combat	Exploration	Puzzle
Easy	Aim assist enabled. Ammunition boxes are plentiful. Enemies have lower health and do less damage. Enemies have illuminated silhouettes.	Obvious white paint on critical path. Longer saving grab timer. Base Camps are lit.	Lara gives direct hints on next action to perform. Interactable objects are highlighted in Survival Instincts. Objects necessary to progress highlighted in blue during Survival Instincts. Longer window of opportunity for timed mechanics.
Normal	Aim assist disabled. No ammunition boxes. Enemies have normal health and damage. Enemies have illuminated silhouettes.	Discreet white paint on critical path. Normal saving grab timer. Base Camps are unlit.	Lara gives general hints on the next action to perform. Interactable objects are highlighted in Survival Instincts. Normal window of opportunity for timed mechanics.
Hard	Aim assist disabled. No health regeneration in combat. No ammunition boxes. No hit marker on reticle. Enemies have increased health and do more damage. Enemies locate Lara more quickly. Enemies are not highlighted in Survival Instincts.	No white paint on critical path. Reduced saving grab timer. No Survival Instincts during exploration. Base Camps are unlit.	No hints given by Lara. No Survival Instincts. Shorter window of opportunity for timed mechanics.
Very Hard	Aim assist disabled. No health regeneration in combat. No ammunition boxes. No hit marker on reticle. Enemies have increased health and do more damage. Enemies locate Lara more quickly. Enemies are not highlighted in Survival Instincts.	No white paint on critical path. Reduced saving grab timer. No Survival Instincts during exploration. Base Camps are unlit and require resources to light. Game only saves at Base Camps	No hints given by Lara. No Survival Instincts. Shorter window of opportunity for timed mechanics.