Normal

"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 and Halo 2

"Face firm resistance from competent, determined enemies, but burn through enough ammo and you will eventually triumph."

- Description from Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST

Normal is the default difficulty rating on Halo: Combat Evolved, 2, 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo Wars. It is ranked second in the list of four difficulties.

Summary
Normal is not too hard, but not too easy. The enemies will not cower as much, and a few Grunts will throw Plasma Grenades. Normal mode has the most realistic strength for Master Chief, Elites and all other Covenant and Marines, though intelligence, enemy accuracy, and enemy numbers are the most realistic in Heroic. Although the strength of the Master Chief is reasonable in Heroic, the strength of the Master Chief is slightly stronger than the Elites, hence, this is disputably the most realistic mode.

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 Close Quarters Combat Weapon System from right to left.

The most dangerous thing at close range is an Elite with an Energy Sword, and from a distance is a Sniper Jackal with a Beam Rifle. Grunts are still very easy to dispatch of and will more often than not run if the Elite with them is killed, which is also fairly easy. Drones and Jackals (with the exception to snipers) are the second easiest to kill, even with their unique capabilities. Elites, Brutes, and Hunters are around the same overall in difficulty to kill. It mainly depends on the player's weakness as to which enemy is harder to kill.

On the Halo 2 level, Regret, where you have to kill the Prophet of Regret, his gravity beam will drain around one third of your energy shield. He is fairly easy to kill when you jump on him and start punching him. Only if you stay on him for a considerably long time, he will teleport away. The Honor Guards protecting him will not do much damage, unless they have Energy Swords.

When you encounter the Flood, most plasma weapons are average and most human weapons are a bit better. The most effective weapon is the Energy Sword, which will kill a Combat Form in one hit. The second most effective is the Shotgun. The Flood's unarmed attacks are not that worrying on their own, but if large groups attack you or you get hit from behind, then you have an extremely good chance of being killed.

Trivia

 * On Halo 3, Normal difficulty or higher is required for you to collect skulls.
 * In Halo 3: ODST, the Combat Knife on the difficulty shield icon is replaced with an M7S Caseless Submachine Gun.

Related Links

 * Campaign Complete: Normal