As you progress through Deskrawl Idle ARPG, the game gradually takes you through 11 different regions, each with stronger enemies, new maps and a boss waiting at the end of the region.
Normal difficulty is where you’ll start, but eventually you’ll unlock Nightmare and then Inferno. These difficulties aren’t simply harder versions of the same game. Enemies become significantly stronger, while you also gain better experience, Gold, item levels and access to loot that doesn’t exist on Normal.
In this guide, I’ll break down all 11 regions, the enemy levels you’ll encounter, how the difficulty unlocks work, exactly how much stronger Nightmare and Inferno are, and what special loot you can start finding at each difficulty.
Deskrawl Idle ARPG Difficulty Guide – Nightmare, Inferno
The world of Deskrawl currently contains 11 regions and 70 maps in total.
Maps unlock in order as you progress through the world. The final map of every region contains a boss, giving you an important progression checkpoint before moving forward.
The enemy levels below are based on Normal difficulty.
| Region | Enemy Levels | Maps |
|---|---|---|
| Kings Woods | 1–10 | 7 |
| Spire Hill Crypt | 11–16 | 4 |
| Spire Hill Crypt Lower | 17–19 | 3 |
| Kings Woods South | 20–28 | 7 |
| Tazan Wastes | 28–34 | 7 |
| Tazan Isles | 34–40 | 7 |
| The Barrens | 40–46 | 7 |
| The Crimson Vale | 46–52 | 7 |
| Veldak Highlands | 52–58 | 7 |
| The Defiled Keep | 58–64 | 7 |
| The Cinder Crown | 65–70 | 7 |
Kings Woods
Enemy Level: 1–10
Kings Woods is the starting region and where you’ll spend the earliest part of your adventure.
It contains 7 maps and introduces you to the basic combat and progression systems.
The final map has the region’s boss.
Spire Hill Crypt
Enemy Level: 11–16
The Spire Hill Crypt comes next, with enemies ranging from Level 11 to 16.
There are 4 maps in this region, with the final map leading to its boss.
Spire Hill Crypt Lower
Enemy Level: 17–19
This is a smaller section containing just 3 maps.
Despite having fewer maps than most regions, it bridges the gap between the early-game Crypt and the higher-level areas that follow.
Kings Woods South
Enemy Level: 20–28
Kings Woods South contains 7 maps and brings enemies into the Level 20–28 range.
This is where the game starts moving further into its mid-game progression.
Tazan Wastes
Enemy Level: 28–34
Tazan Wastes contains another 7 maps.
Enemies range from Level 28 to 34, making it the next major step after Kings Woods South.
Tazan Isles
Enemy Level: 34–40
Tazan Isles continues the progression into the higher 30s and eventually reaches Level 40 enemies.
It contains 7 maps, with the final map featuring the region boss.
The Barrens
Enemy Level: 40–46
The Barrens is where enemies begin reaching the mid-40s.
It contains 7 maps and serves as an important transition toward the later-game regions.
The Crimson Vale
Enemy Level: 46–52
The Crimson Vale contains Level 46–52 enemies across 7 maps.
By this point, your equipment, abilities and build become increasingly important because enemy strength continues climbing.
Veldak Highlands
Enemy Level: 52–58
Veldak Highlands pushes enemy levels from 52 to 58.
There are 7 maps to clear before reaching the region’s boss.
The Defiled Keep
Enemy Level: 58–64
The Defiled Keep contains 7 maps with enemies ranging from Level 58 to 64.
This is one of the final regions before you reach the Level 70 endgame area.
The Cinder Crown
Enemy Level: 65–70
The Cinder Crown is the final region.
Its enemies range from Level 65 all the way to Level 70, and its final map contains the boss required to progress into the higher difficulties.
Deskrawl Difficulty Levels
Deskrawl has three main difficulties:
- Normal
- Nightmare
- Inferno
Each difficulty increases enemy strength while also improving the rewards you can earn.
The important thing is that you don’t simply choose Nightmare or Inferno whenever you want.
You have to defeat the final boss of the previous difficulty first.
Normal Difficulty
Normal is the base difficulty.
There are no additional difficulty bonuses applied to enemy health or damage.
| Stat | Normal |
|---|---|
| Enemy Health | ×1 |
| Enemy Damage | ×1 |
| Bonus Experience | ×1 |
| Bonus Gold | — |
| Item Find | — |
| Item Levels | — |
| Boss Materials | ×1 |
Normal is essentially the baseline against which Nightmare and Inferno are measured.
How to Unlock Nightmare
To unlock Nightmare, you need to:
Clear the final boss on Normal difficulty.
Once you’ve defeated the final boss of The Cinder Crown on Normal, Nightmare becomes available.
Nightmare then gives you significantly stronger enemies, but also improves several of the rewards you receive.
Nightmare Difficulty
Nightmare increases enemy health to 3.5× the Normal value.
Enemy damage also increases to 1.35×.
That makes Nightmare a substantial difficulty increase, so simply switching over without upgrading your character can make progression much slower.
However, the improved rewards are a major reason to move up.
| Stat | Nightmare |
|---|---|
| Enemy Health | ×3.5 |
| Enemy Damage | ×1.35 |
| Experience | ×1.5 |
| Gold per Map Level | +0.5% |
| Item Find per Map Level | +0.5% |
| Item Levels per Map Level | +1 |
| Boss Materials | ×1.5 |
The Gold and Item Find bonuses scale with map level.
At Map Level 70, the +0.5% bonus per map level reaches +35%.
That means high-level Nightmare maps become much more rewarding than their lower-level counterparts.
Black Mist Gear
Nightmare also introduces one of the most interesting pieces of equipment progression in Deskrawl.
Starting in Nightmare, Legendary equipment has a 0.2% chance to drop shrouded in Black Mist.
These items can appear both:
- As world drops
- Among vendor wares
Black Mist equipment isn’t simply another rarity. It has its own special properties and becomes an important part of the higher-end gear system.
If you find one, you’ll need the appropriate service to lift the Black Mist.
How to Unlock Inferno
Inferno is the final difficulty.
To unlock it, you need to:
Clear the final boss on Nightmare difficulty.
So the progression is straightforward:
Normal → Defeat Final Boss → Nightmare → Defeat Final Boss → Inferno
You can’t skip directly from Normal to Inferno.
Inferno Difficulty
Inferno takes the difficulty jump even further.
Enemy health is increased to 6× the Normal value, while enemy damage reaches 1.8×.
At the same time, the reward bonuses become substantially better.
| Stat | Inferno |
|---|---|
| Enemy Health | ×6 |
| Enemy Damage | ×1.8 |
| Experience | ×2 |
| Gold per Map Level | +1% |
| Item Find per Map Level | +1% |
| Item Levels per Map Level | +2 |
| Boss Materials | ×2 |
The +1% Gold and Item Find bonus per map level can reach +70% at Map Level 70.
Inferno also gives +2 item levels per map level, compared with +1 in Nightmare.
So although the enemies are much tougher, the reward scaling is designed to make Inferno the main high-end farming difficulty.
Divine Equipment
Inferno introduces Divine equipment.
These items can finally appear both:
- As world drops
- Among vendor wares
Divine gear is part of the endgame equipment progression, so reaching Inferno opens up an entirely new level of loot.
Set Runes
Another important Inferno-exclusive reward is Set Runes.
These only drop in Inferno.
If you’re interested in building around set bonuses and pushing your endgame character further, Inferno is therefore an important milestone.
Mythic Rift
The Mythic Rift also requires Inferno difficulty.
This means Inferno isn’t just about getting stronger equipment. It also unlocks access to additional endgame content.
Difficulty Can Only Be Changed in Town
One small detail that’s easy to overlook:
You can only switch difficulty while you’re in town.
You can’t change from Normal to Nightmare or Nightmare to Inferno while you’re actively out farming a map.
So if you’ve just unlocked a new difficulty and want to try it, return to town first.
Normal vs Nightmare vs Inferno
Here’s the easiest way to compare the three difficulties:
| Normal | Nightmare | Inferno | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enemy Health | ×1 | ×3.5 | ×6 |
| Enemy Damage | ×1 | ×1.35 | ×1.8 |
| Experience | ×1 | ×1.5 | ×2 |
| Gold Bonus/Map Level | — | +0.5% | +1% |
| Max Gold Bonus at Map 70 | — | +35% | +70% |
| Item Find/Map Level | — | +0.5% | +1% |
| Max Item Find at Map 70 | — | +35% | +70% |
| Item Levels/Map Level | — | +1 | +2 |
| Boss Materials | ×1 | ×1.5 | ×2 |
| Black Mist | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Divine Equipment | — | — | ✓ |
| Set Runes | — | — | ✓ |
| Mythic Rift | — | — | ✓ |
Deskrawl’s progression is structured around a clear path through 11 regions and 70 maps, eventually taking you from Level 1 enemies in Kings Woods all the way to Level 70 enemies in The Cinder Crown.
Normal is your starting point, while Nightmare and Inferno provide the game’s harder endgame difficulties and significantly better rewards.
The key unlocks are simple: defeat the final Normal boss to unlock Nightmare, then defeat the final Nightmare boss to unlock Inferno.
Nightmare introduces the chance for Legendary gear to appear in Black Mist, while Inferno takes the loot system another step forward with Divine equipment, Set Runes and access to the Mythic Rift.
Just remember that difficulty can only be changed in town, and the best farming difficulty is ultimately the one your character can clear efficiently while still taking advantage of the improved rewards.