Difficulties are variants of the default game that affect how it is played. There are five main difficulties in Final Stand 2, ranging from Easy to Impossible. Two additional game modes, Career and Mutation, function differently from the main five. Each difficulty modifies zombies' stats as well as the rewards, such as cash, XP, mods, etc. Some difficulties even alter certain perks, the day/night cycle, etc.
Easy
Easy is the easiest difficulty of the game so far, Zombies are weaker too and have less health compare to other modes. It offers zombies with nerfed stats and lesser mod chance and EXP, you won’t been affected certain status effects. This mode is basically a free win for anyone given that the team does not mess up big time."Designed For New Players"
Picture of Easy difficulty.
- Unlocked at Level 0
- Earn 75% XP and 25% less mods
- Nights are 40% faster
- Zombies deal less damage on early nights
- The first boss has reduced health
- Zombies:
- Deal 50% less damage
- Have 33.33% less health
- Move 10% slower
- Give 25% more cash
Tips
- This difficulty is generally meant as a tutorial difficulty to the player and it is not recommended to invest your time to play this difficulty as it does not give you good rewards nor having badges and awards for the difficulty.
Normal
Normal is the standard difficulty of the game, providing a baseline for difficulty and rewards. That being said, it is not the baseline for how fast nights last, having a 40% faster clock compared to Nightmare/Impossible difficulty."The Original Final Stand 2 Experience"
Picture of Normal difficulty.
- Unlocked at Level 0
- Normal XP gain and default mod drop rate
- Nights are 40% faster
- Zombies deal less damage on early nights
- The first boss has reduced health
- Default zombies
Tips
- Completing wave 30 on Normal can be a challenge but it is doable with even minimal skill and teamwork.
- Be aware of any new threats that may appear, and attempt to adapt to any weaknesses your team has.
- Normal difficulty on most maps can be soloed without perks.
Hard
Hard mode steps up the difficulty a notch, buffing both zombies and rewards. It is also the first difficulty to evolve uncommon and special zombies as well as remove enemy damage scaling and boss health penalties."For Those Who Want To Be Challenged"
Picture of Hard difficulty.
- Unlocked at Level 0
- Earn 25% more XP and 25% more mods
- Nights are 20% faster
- Zombies:
- Deal normal damage
- Have 50% more health
- Give 10% less cash
- Uncommon and Special zombies have evolved to level 2
Tips
- Being the highest difficulty a new player can join, the difficulty is well designed for a high-skill player to be able to win on some maps solo without perks.
- If on a tougher map, being mindful of what perks and weapons you use will start to matter, as compared to lower difficulties.
- Weaker strategies used on lower difficulties may not perform as reliably.
Nightmare
Nightmare is a significant step up, buffing the zombies to a very tough level and evolves special zombies even further. It also increases the spawn rate and maximum allotted number of zombies at any given time as well as limits the amount of active Piggy Bank perks in the game at any given time to six. Status effects will have a longer duration. Greatly improved rewards. For most players, they will struggle to conquer this difficulty, often requiring the assistance of players who have already completed the difficulty previously."For Those Who Want To Cry"
Picture of Nightmare difficulty.
- Unlocked at Level 30
- Earn 60% more XP and 60% more mods
- Zombies:
- Deal 50% more damage
- Have 100% more health
- Move 10% faster
- Give 25% less cash
- Uncommon zombies evolve to level 3 and have 25% more health
- Special zombies evolve to level 3 and have 50% more health
- Increased zombies and 25% faster spawn rate
- Special zombies appear sooner (Night 6 for Wraiths, Lurkers, and Destroyers, Night 3 for Miners and Annihilators, Night 11 for Berserkers)
- Limited to 6 Piggy Banks and the money gained is added to your debt
- Buying funds with Robux is capped, increasing every five nights
Tips
- Nightmare is where you are not expected to win every round, enemies are buffed to a high degree with enhanced stats and unique abilities.
- It is recommended to have a private match with a team to beat the game in this difficulty but it isn't a requirement.
- You should be cautious with spending money, the money given in Nightmare is low compared to all the previous difficulties.
- Wraiths and other Special zombies will spawn earlier, so prepare in advance.
- Each map now has a guaranteed type of Uncommon zombie to start off with. For example, the first Uncommon zombie on Forest will always be Boomer.
Impossible
Impossible is the hardest difficulty in the game, turning up many difficulty factors to an extreme level. Uncommon and Special zombies are evolved to the maximum level, spawning even faster, with a higher cap on how many can be on the field at once. Impossible also allows all Special zombies to spawn on night 1 and cuts the amount of active Piggy Banks at any given time to six. Impossible mode offers the greatest rewards of any difficulty. To most players, defeating this difficulty even once is a pipe dream."Your Final Stand"
Picture of Impossible difficulty.
- Unlocked at Level 50
- Earn 100% more XP and 100% more mods
- Zombies:
- Deal 100% more damage
- Have 150% more health
- Move 25% faster
- Give 50% less cash
- Uncommon zombies evolved to level 4 and have 50% more health
- Special zombies evolved to level 4 and have 100% more health
- Even more zombies and 50% faster spawn rate
- An extra random uncommon will spawn from night 1.
- All Special zombies appear on night 1 and 2 uncommons appear after every 5 nights
- Limited to 6 Piggy Banks and the money gained is added to your debt
- You cannot join an active Impossible lobby if the game has started (spectating is still possible)
- Extra Life and Express Shop upgrades are unavailable
- Purchasing extra funds with Robux is disabled
- Other difficulties increase the zombie cap by 1 per player. Impossible difficulty increases it by 2 per player (including the first player)
Tips
- Impossible is a very arduous difficulty, enemies stats are buffed to a very high amount with extremely deadly uncommon and special zombies.
- Strategies often need to be planned out in advance, with specific roles given out to every player.
Career
Career mode is a game mode that acts very differently to other game modes, allowing the player to save their weapons, upgrades and cash across different play sessions. As such, all weapons and equipment are buffed in price. Certain shop upgrades are not. The difficulty goes up every ten nights (i.e. from 1-10 the difficulty is easy, 11-20 it is normal, 21-30 it is hard, etc.) The rewards earned also increase as the difficulty increases."A Casual Final Stand 2 Experience"
Picture of Career Mode.
The day and night cycle in Career is greatly shortened.
- Unlocked at Level 0
- Obtain XP dependent on the current difficulty
- Mod Drop chances are reduced by 40%, to compensate for the faster nights.
- Zombies:
- Have 67%-250% health, dependent on the current difficulty
- Deal 50%-200% damage, dependent on the current difficulty
- Move at 90%-125% speed, dependent on the current difficulty
- Money gain is consistent across all nights
- All weapons/equipment and their upgrades save between games (with the exception of certain shop-specific upgrades)
- Zombies increase in difficulty every 10 nights
- The clock is 100% faster (double speed clock)
- Increased weapon and upgrade costs
- Donating is disabled
- Several yellow perks are banned
- Backup Weapon is also banned
Mutation
Mutation is a unique gamemode in which there is a special gameplay modifier designed to create a challenge. This mutation changes every 24 hours, cycling between 7 different mutations as of Patch 6.5.1. Mutations can be played on any map, and there is a set of world records for every map, for every Mutation. Completing a Mutation will unlock Perk Slot 11 whenever that Mutation is active for the day. Thus, completing all 7 Mutations means owning Perk Slot 11 permanently."Daily Mutation"
The Mutation game mode.
Below are the currently known mutations, ordered in chronological order. Note: No matter what difficulty is set in a Mutation, the first uncommon will always be random.
Safe Zone
In this mutation, there will be a designated "safe zone" placed on the map, indicated by two yellow translucent walls. Being outside of the designated "safe zone" will result in damage being taken. Every night, the safe zone will move.
- The difficulty is set to Hard
- Being outside of the safe zone will result in taking damage at a rate of 10% of your max HP per second, taken as ticks of 5% damage every half second.
- Body Armor can absorb some of the Danger Zone damage
- All healing effects are disabled when outside the safe zone
Supply Disruptions
In this mutation, 50% of all weapons and equipment are unavailable for purchase. Shopkeeper Shop/Player upgrades are unaffected.
- The difficulty is set to Hard
- Weapons: 50%
- Equipment: 50%
- Weapons and equipment that are unavailable for purchase will have their model missing in the display case. This also affects gamepass items.
- Mobile/Secret Shop weapon display models will always appear, but weapons not available will instead be marked as the option to purchase the weapon will say "SOLD OUT".
- Items available for purchase will vary depending on which map is active.
- Item availability can be seen here.
Turbo Mode
In this mutation, the game starts at day 2 and every night survive counts as 2. Day time is dramatically reduced. You are essentially playing only even-numbered nights.
- The difficulty is set to Hard
- Starting Day: 2
- Night Increase: 2
- Day Speed: 2500%
- Survival Money: 200%
- There is enough time to access the mobile shop and to purchase a weapon. Upgrades can still be purchased through the Laser Upgrade Station.
Encroaching Fog
In this mutation, an incredibly thick fog covers the map and grows stronger every 5 nights. Wraith spawn chance is increased, and Drench Wraiths can spawn on all maps. Shop Snipers and deployables have reduced range.
- The difficulty is set to Hard
- A thick fog covers the entire map, night vision goggles do not reduce it
- Wraith spawn chance doubled
- Drench Wraiths now spawn on all maps
- All Wraiths spawn on night 1
- Deployable range is halved
- Shop Sniper range is halved
Boss Rush
In this mutation, the game starts at night 5, and surviving the night sends you to the next blood night. (Skips to wave 10, then 15, etc.)
- Starting cash increased to $10000.
- The difficulty is set to Hard
- Survival money starts at $20000 on Night 5, then increases by $10000 every blood night.
- Surviving the night XP and Mod chance is reduced by 50%
Deflation
The game starts on night 21, and players start with $250000.
- The difficulty is set to Hard
- There is no way to gain additional money.
- Donating is disabled.
- Surviving the night XP and Mod chance is reduced by 25%.
Chainsaw Massacre
There's a lot of berserkers.
- The difficulty is set to Nightmare
- 50% of all Zombies are replaced by Berserkers
- The maximum number of zombies alive at once is cut to 65%.
- Spawn rates are cut in half.
- Berserkers now spawn on night 1.
Event-Exclusive Mutations
Some events are only active during a specific time of the year. As of 6.4.0, there are only three event-exclusive mutations, only active near Halloween.
Vampirism
Health regen is disabled and you slowly lose health during the night. Regain health by dealing damage.
- The difficulty is set to Hard
- Your attacks Lifesteal at 5%.
- Health regen is disabled.
- You take 5 damage every 5 seconds. This damage increases throughout the game, maxing out at 30 damage every 5 seconds at Night 30.
Trick or Treat
Zombies have a chance to drop candy on death. Picking up candy provides you with a random effect.
- The difficulty is set to Impossible
- A zombie has a 20% chance to drop a random candy which provides a random effect, either instant or a temporary buff.
- Candy effects can range from earning money, making you invincible, restoring your ammo, giving you infinite ammo, doubling your damage, guaranteed critical hits, and giving you super speed.
- Since 6.3.1, there is now a 50% XP penalty while playing this mutation.
Unhead Undead
All common zombies are replaced with Headless Zombies.
- The difficulty is set to Nightmare
- Headless zombies replace ALL common zombies. Everything else is unchanged.
- You start off with 5000 money.
Table statistics
This table sums up extensive changes between game modes.
| Zombie health|damage|speed|money|EXP multiplier | Mods multiplier | Starting money | End of round bonus starting in Wave 1 | Zombies spawn rate | Uncommon and special zombies evolvement level | Clock speed | Enemies dealing less damage early | The first boss has reduced health | Zombie cap starting in Wave 1 | Piggy Bank in-game allowed | Purchasing money using Robux | Donating | Late Joining | Guns and upgrades saving | Level unlocked | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 67%|50%|90%|125%|75% | 75% | $1,250 | $1,250 | 100% | 1 | 140% | ✓ | ✓ | 3 | ∞ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | 0 |
| Normal | 100%|100%|100%|100%|100% | 100% | $1,000 | $1,000 | 100% | 1 | 140% | ✓ | ✓ | 3 | ∞ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | 0 |
| Hard | 150%|100%|100%|90%|125% | 125% | $900 | $900 | 100% | 2 | 120% | ✕ | ✕ | 3 | ∞ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | 0 |
| Nightmare | 200%|150%|110%|75%|160% | 160% | $750 | $750 | 125% | 3 | 100% | ✕ | ✕ | 5 | 6 | Limited | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | 30 |
| Impossible | 250%|200%|125%|50%|200% | 200% | $500 | $500 | 150% | 4 | 100% | ✕ | ✕ | 6 | 6 | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | 50 |
| Career Mode | 67% - 250%|50% - 200%|90% - 125%|100%|75% - 200% | 45%-120% | $0 | $1000 | 100-150% | 1 - 4 | 200% | ✕ | ✕ | ? | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | 0 |
| Mutation | Hard, Nightmare or Impossible values depending on the Mutation | 62.5%-160% | Mutation- dependent | Mutation- dependent | Mutation-dependent | 2 - 4 | 100-120% | ✕ | ✕ | 3-6 | ∞ | ✓ | Mutation- dependent | ✓ | ✕ | 0 |
Strategies
See Challenges/Strategies for strategies regarding the Mutation mode.
Trivia
- Easy, Hard, and Nightmare modes were added during the 2.0 update on October 13th, 2017. It introduced two new perk slots which could be earned by beating Hard Wave 30 and Nightmare Wave 30, increasing the maximum number of possible perk slots from 4 to 6.
- Impossible Mode was added in the 2.3 patches on March 15th, 2018. The same patch introduced mods whereas one mod slot is unlocked by beating Impossible Wave 30.
- Career Mode was added to the game in the 3.2 Update on March 1st, 2019.
- Daily Mutation Mode was added to the game in the 6.1 Update on April 26th, 2023. The reward for completing the daily mutation gives you Perk Slot 11, only available to use if you have already completed the current Mutation that is active.
- On February 10th, 2024, 2 new mutations were added to the game, those of which being Supply Disruptions and Turbo Mode.
- Career mode is the only way to earn respec tokens without paying Robux, aside from completing awards.