arcade is the best to fell the game

You can't stop random spawning does not matter the difficulty. I'd suggest playing on advanced cuz you'll be able to see the random enemy clouds and feel the tactical side of the game.

Arcade and Regular is useless. This game is about gaining tactical advantages. Unless you're downed in seconds, you won't seek for a different approach and rely on the particular tactic.

Playing on arcade does not make you "inferior" or something. You can play at any mode that you want. But higher difficulties will help you force the tactics out of you and you'll start to enjoy and like the game. This is the real essence of GRWL.

Lastly, extreme is for four kinds of players.
1. Brave and the Bold.
2. Tactical and stealthy.
3. Slow, immersive, tactical, stealthy.
4. MADD-DOGG.
If you're either one of them go ahead and try extreme. You'll enjoy it. In ghost mode you'll require all of them.

On my non-ghost run, I started at Regular and just switched to "Tier" mode when offered the chance. If you do that the game will forcibly increase difficulty as you climb the tier levels. I enjoyed that run as it gave me time to figure out the game and have confidence that I could handle the extra difficulty as I played.

The major difference is that at some point, even if you upgraded your bullet resistance skill, you'll die to just a single burst from pretty much any enemy forcing you to be much more cautious when engaging (ie, if you're caught out of cover by someone and you don't take him out before he locks on, you're dead).

This is where the game forces you to compensate by really using your squad and rebel support when you can't avoid a firefight - explicitly tell your squad to Fire when you want them to engage even as you're trying to find cover, and call in rebel reinforcements (Hire and Diversion flank a bit away from your position). Also use the rebel ability to scout the area to speed up identification of enemies (particularly after the difficulty bump takes away the red "mist" that would hint at non-identified enemy presence.

With most shooters I have a look around at first on low level to get a feel for the mechanics but quickly switch to hardest mode, to learn not to be stupid, easiest mode and being a bullet sponge sets you up with bad habits.
I would be the above mentioned #3 kind of player.
I'm doing the daily challenges so I don't get a choice anyway.

only extreme. that is only one immerisve enough from basic settings.
i play ghost mode solo almost all the time, but with ui, rebels and extensive drone usage.
mistakes matter, have to be very careful, planning entrances and exits, planning routes and actions ahead.
with AI teammates and sync shot, explosive drone there is no reason not to play extreme, for how easy cheese is still possible. on not extreme there is no even reason to use things like flashbangs, mines, flare gun and other tricks what gives great immersion.
but nothing beast extreme, solo, ghost mode combination. amazing game, best of its kind in this setting.

also i play duo with daughter on extreme ghost mode. excellent experience.

ps. but to get used to game, missions, enemies i advise just extreme and delay ghost mode after those things are done once or more. knowing way around anti aircraft units, explosives, stealth mechanic, spotting is essential before dive deeper.

If you're new to the game I would suggest Advanced. It makes it a bit more challenging and you get to know each mission. Not all missions are the same and you can run into surprises whenever you need to follow someone without having a vehicle nearby.

If you've completed the game (few times) you know what to expect and can try Extreme but you won't see where enemies are, or (re-)spawn. Game does like to cheat at times by placing NPCs at locations you cleared before and since clouds are gone you won't notice. To get to Tier 1 there are few missions you can repeat that are 'safe' to play.

Ghost Mode isn't that hard if you know the missions and how to complete them without being seen. Either one shot a target or use the explosive drone to destroy things. There are only few missions where you can't avoid a fight. And in case you do get into a fight, be sure to stay close to a vehicle so you can safely leave the area.

BRAH JUST SAY DIFFICULTY, NOT BIBLE

Originally posted by Echolecter:

Game does like to cheat at times by placing NPCs at locations you cleared before a

And they are using an anti-cheat and denuvo to stop cheating and pirating.

Yea I just cleared a room and then I turned back a gunner just spawned out of nowhere.

I played the older R6/GR games so I started at Extreme and kept it there. I only change it lower for daily challenges when difficulty is not specified. The faster/louder you want to play the lower the difficulty you will need. So if you are not adverse to getting killed in only a couple shots or like to play more like real ghost operatives would then I suggest extreme. Ultimately I suggest the difficulty that has the best challenge/fun balance for you.