Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 Difficulty

Do not invent a sixth name

Third-party pages disagree on HP columns and reward multipliers. This wiki prints the five names and the rules that are actually documented: friendly fire, ability-on-ally hits, limited ammo boxes, and a denser high-threat mix. Daybreak’s Day-1 notes confirm they rebalanced enemy density on higher difficulties — that is a density pass, not a license to paste a spreadsheet.

Insane is a gate, not a flex

Some launch-window writeups assume Extreme / Insane follow the first-game “clear campaign first” pattern — this wiki marks the exact gate TBA until the live slider is captured. The beginner guide already tells you not to treat Insane as the first-drop slider. Intense is where you prove crouch; Extreme is where ammo boxes start to bite; Insane is where a standing Smartgun over a Medic’s back ends the run.

The next section is what those high tiers actually change — not a fake percent.

Friendly fire is guns and skills

The sequel does not only punish a stray Pulse Rifle. High-tier notes are explicit: abilities can also hit allies. Marauder Blast Cannon and Titan Rockets, Duelist cluster grenades, Specialist Grenadier mixes, and a Paladin Blast Cannon on Insane are how a “good” kit becomes a wipe. Machinist sentries are the named exception that deals no friendly fire. Your rocket is not that exception.

Ammo is a timer, not a souvenir

Limited ammo boxes mean the hold point is the crate. Primary magazines still run dry; the infinite sidearm exists so you are never unarmed, not so you can skip restock. Fight the swarm at the box, top off, then push. Health kits remain one-carried-at-a-time in first-drop notes — greedy double-picks leave a downed Marine with nothing.

Once those two rules are real, the slider is a decision, not a prestige toggle.

Intense is the teaching exam

Casual and Standard exist so you can miss a crate and still finish. Intense is where launch-window class guides turn friendly fire on. If you cannot crouch the front Marine without thinking, Extreme will not teach you — it will delete the Duelist in front of your Smartgun. Raise one step after a clean clear, not after a lucky extract.

Do not raise for a fake reward percent

This wiki will not print an XP or loot multiplier. If a site ranks Insane as “+40% drops,” ignore it. Raise because the Fireteam already owns crouch, ammo, and rescue — then read how to actually play the top slider.

Front crouches, back shoots

Crouch is not stealth. The Marine closest to the door drops profile so the Pulse Rifle and Smartgun behind them are not a teammate’s cause of death. Do not become a sitting duck for Runners and Crawlers — crouch to hold, stand to rotate. Four bodies stacked in a corridor is how a sequel gunline becomes a first-game wipe.

Spacing is the fourth-Marine tax

The first game was a three-stack. Four seats means one extra back that will shoot whoever strafes across the choke. Hold separate angles. Do not walk in front of a crouched ally during a swarm. AI fill will not call “crouch” for you.

Horde adds Challenge Cards on top of the same slider. That is a second multiplier, not a different rulebook.

Cards are a second slider

Public Horde notes: rounds are five escalating waves with an option to continue for better rewards, and selected cards all apply. Wave tables stay TBA. A high-risk card on Insane is two multipliers. If the Fireteam is still learning crouch, cut the cards before you cut the squad.

The kit still has to match the tier

Difficulty does not pick your class. Extreme with four heavies and no Medic is still a rescue hole. Scene kits live on builds; this page only needs you to stop treating Horde as a reason to jump two sliders.

Do not farm a fake multiplier

If a page promises Insane XP percents, close it. Raise one step after a clean clear, crouch the gunline, then pick a kit that does not cook the Marine in front.