Yes—you can disable Permadeath when creating a STAR WARS Zero Company Campaign. The important restriction is that EA Help says you cannot change that choice after the Campaign starts; selecting a different Permadeath setting requires a new Campaign. Hawks still has a separate mission-failure rule.
Downed operators and injuries
EA’s combat explanation describes an operator being Downed when health runs out, gaining an Injury in the process. A teammate can use Rally to return them to the fight. When Permadeath is enabled, the third Injury makes an ordinary operator Killed in Action and removes them from the squad.
That makes an operator’s injury state important even when the current fight still looks recoverable. Do not read a Rally opportunity as proof that previous injuries have been erased. Review the state shown by the game and avoid treating every downed operator as an identical situation.
Turning permanent losses off
Choose Permadeath on or off on the Difficulty Settings screen before selecting Start Campaign. EA Help says the selection applies to that Campaign and cannot be changed later. If you already started with it enabled, the supported route to turn it off is New Campaign, not a hidden mid-campaign switch.
The four named difficulty levels are Story, Normal, Hard and Expert, but Permadeath is a separate campaign option. Disabling permanent losses does not remove AP, cover, Downed, Rally or Injury management. Follow the rules displayed by the selected Campaign instead of assuming that “off” means instant recovery.
Beskar Mode and saving
Beskar Mode is another separate Campaign modifier. EA Help says it limits the Campaign to one save and disables manual saving, making choices and consequences permanent in that save. Turning Beskar Mode off also requires starting a new Campaign.
Do not use “Permadeath,” “difficulty” and “Beskar Mode” as interchangeable terms. Permadeath governs ordinary operator loss; Beskar governs the save structure; the four difficulty labels tune the broader challenge. Review all three before committing to the Campaign.
Why Hawks is different
If Hawks dies, the mission fails and must be restarted. Hawks is the campaign protagonist and is required on story missions. Do not interpret the optional permadeath setting as a promise that a story mission continues without Hawks.
This distinction also matters when reading squad advice: a reserve can replace an ordinary operator in a later deployment, but it does not remove the protagonist requirement from a story mission.
Treatment and reserve planning
At The Den, regular Medbay beds heal injuries over one Cycle. Bacta treatment provides immediate healing, and treatment costs Credits. A tactical mission advances the Cycle, so review recovery needs before choosing the next deployment.
A useful planning choice is whether to pay for immediate treatment or field a reserve while someone recovers. It depends on your resources and available operators, not a universal rule to spend or save every time. The base-building guide covers facilities and construction timing; the squad-size guide explains the reserve roster.