Normal
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- "Hordes of aliens vie to destroy you, but nerves of steel and a quick trigger finger give you a solid chance to prevail."
- — Description from Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Halo: Campaign Evolved.
Normal is the default difficulty setting present in mainline games within the Halo franchise.
Summary[edit]
Normal is not too hard, but correspondingly not as easy. Enemies will behave more competently than they did in Easy, and they can deal a reasonable amount of damage. Players are expected to put forth the effort and think on their feet. While Normal mode represents strength, firepower, and health for Master Chief, Elites, and all other Covenant and Marines, Heroic accurately depicts intelligence, enemy accuracy, and enemy numbers.
The icon for the Normal difficulty setting is represented with a shield that has the Marathon Logo encrusted into the center. Over the shield is a UNSC machete from right to left; in Halo 3: ODST, the knife is replaced with an M7S SMG.
Halo Wars and Halo Wars 2 are some of the only Halo titles to not include achievements for completing the campaign on Normal.
General differences[edit]
Elites, Brutes, and Hunters are the more challenging enemies the player must prioritize on taking down first. The most dangerous threats at close range are Elites with Energy Swords and Brutes armed with Gravity Hammers. From a distance, the player must also watch out for Hunters with their Fuel Rod Cannons, Brutes armed with Brute Shots, and Jackal Snipers. Grunts can easily be dispatched of. However, they will seldom throw Plasma Grenades and can potentially overwhelm a careless player in groups. But if the Elite or Brute leading them is slain, they will often flee in terror. Drones will come in swarms, but they are manageable if the player can engage them properly. Jackals can easily be dispatched if the player can utilize the weakness on their shielding. However, precautions should be made on Majors, as will often rely on charging their Plasma Pistol shots to disable the player's shields.
When the player encounters the Flood, the biggest threats to consider are Combat Forms armed with Rocket Launchers and Shotguns. The Shotgun and Energy Sword are generally the best weapons to take down the Combat Forms and Carrier Forms, while the Assault Rifle, SMG, and the Plasma Rifle can dispatch swarms of Infection Forms. As the Flood often comes in large swarms, it is best to avoid getting surrounded or cornered, as that will lead players to get killed quicker.
Sentinels will often come in swarms of at least 2 to 3. In clusters, they can easily drain the player's shields. But if the player can access plasma weapons, they can quickly eliminate them.
Marines are well-balanced as allies. They can dispatch a file of Grunts, Jackals, and Drones with minimal effort. And in squads, they can easily prevail against lower ranking Elites and Brutes. However, they will not fare well if facing against higher ranking Elites and Brutes, and Hunters. To maximize the Marines' effectiveness and survival, the player must prioritize on engaging the stronger enemies while letting the Marines focus only on the weaker ones. Alternatively, the player must often provide allies with the appropriate weaponry to efficiently take out such stronger enemies.
Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: Anniversary[edit]
Difficulty values[edit]
| Difficulty setting | Normal value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Health | ||
| Enemy Damage | 1 | Enemy damage multiplier |
| Enemy Vitality | 1 | Enemy maximum body vitality scale |
| Enemy Shield | 1 | Enemy maximum shield vitality scale |
| Enemy Recharge | 1 | Enemy shield recharge scale |
| Friend Damage | 1 | Friend damage multiplier |
| Friend Vitality | 1 | Friend maximum body vitality scale |
| Friend Shield | 1 | Friend maximum shield vitality scale |
| Friend Recharge | 1 | Friend shield recharge scale |
| Infection Forms | 0 | Toughness of infection forms (may be negative) |
| Ranged Fire | ||
| Rate of Fire | 1 | Enemy rate of fire scale |
| Projectile Error | 1 | Enemy projectile error scale, as a fraction of their base firing error |
| Burst Error | 1 | Enemy burst error scale; reduces intra-burst shot distance |
| New Target Delay | 1 | Enemy new-target delay scale factor |
| Burst Separation | 1 | Delay time between bursts scale factor for enemies |
| Target Tracking | 0 | Additional target tracking fraction for enemies |
| Target Leading | 0 | Additional target leading fraction for enemies |
| Overcharge Chance | 1 | Overcharge chance scale factor for enemies |
| Special Fire Delay | 1 | Delay between special-fire shots (overcharge, banshee bombs) scale factor for enemies |
| Guidance vs Player | 0.5 | Guidance velocity scale factor for all projectiles targeted on a player |
| Melee Delay Base | 0 | Delay period added to all melee attacks, even when berserk |
| Melee Delay Scale | 1 | Multiplier for all existing non-berserk melee delay times |
| Grenades | ||
| Grenade Chance Scale | 1 | Scale factor affecting the decisions to throw a grenade |
| Grenade Timer Scale | 1 | Scale factor affecting the delay period between grenade thrown from the same encounter (lower is more often) |
| Placement | ||
| Major Upgrade (normal) | 0.25 | Fraction of actors upgraded to their major variant when mix = normal |
| Major Upgrade (few) | 0.1 | Fraction of actors upgraded to their major variant when mix = few |
| Major Upgrade (many) | 0.5 | Fraction of actors upgraded to their major variant when mix = many |
General differences[edit]
This section is a stub. You can help Halopedia by expanding it.
Specific differences[edit]
- The Pillar of Autumn: A unique version of Johnson's speech plays.
Halo 2[edit]
Difficulty values[edit]
| Difficulty setting | Normal value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Health | ||
| Enemy Damage | 0.7 | Enemy damage multiplier |
| Enemy Vitality | 1 | Enemy maximum body vitality scale |
| Enemy Shield | 1 | Enemy maximum shield vitality scale |
| Enemy Recharge | 1 | Enemy shield recharge scale |
| Friend Damage | 0 | Friend damage multiplier |
| Friend Vitality | 1 | Friend maximum body vitality scale |
| Friend Shield | 1 | Friend maximum shield vitality scale |
| Friend Recharge | 1 | Friend shield recharge scale |
| Infection Forms | 0 | Toughness of infection forms (may be negative) |
| Ranged Fire | ||
| Rate of Fire | 1 | Enemy rate of fire scale | <