Heroic

"Your enemies are as numerous as they are ferocious; their attacks are devastating. Survival is not guaranteed."

- Description from Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2.

"Fight against formidable foes that will truly test your skill and wits; this is the way Halo is meant to be played."

- Description from Halo 3.

Summary
Heroic is the second-hardest difficulty in Halo campaign mode.

The icon for the Heroic difficulty setting is represented with a shield that has the Marathon Logo encrusted into the center, over the shield is two UNSC Standard Issue Combat Knives crossed over each other.

Heroic pits and throws you against the Covenant, who now are now slightly smarter, and their weapons inflict more damage per hit than their predecessor Normal counterparts. Otherwise considered Hard in other games. Among the features the player enjoys in Heroic mode are...


 * Health meter is weaker. Hits do more damage.
 * Shields are only 75% their "Normal" capacity.
 * Increased Shields and health for enemies.
 * Many Minor Elites are replaced by Major Elites. Major Grunts are more frequent as well.
 * Enemies are smarter in tactical actions, thus harder to kill.
 * Marines have reduced effectiveness and are weaker.
 * Ultra Elites and Ultra Grunts appear ever so often and for the Elites, they normally dual wield. Zealots also begin to take the place of Ultras.

All of these wrap up into a nice gameplay option for more experienced players, who find Normal boring, and Legendary too hard. This difficulty may be deemed the most realistic by some players, however this is not to be stated as a fact, as each player has their own comfort zone regarding difficulty.

In Halo 3, Heroic was intended for those who have played the prior games, and multiplayer, resulting in an increased skill amount. This increase means that those who found normal comfortably in Halo, will find Heroic just right for Halo 3, according to Frankie.

Trivia

 * Every difficulty shield icon has the Marathon symbol on it.
 * Heroic difficulty is considered the "True Halo Universe" by most of the Bungie employees and creators, seeing that it mirrors reality of the Halo world in many ways.
 * The only difference of the difficulty is that the enemy is smarter, meaning they fire on average with the ability to flank and move. Unlike other difficulties, its more realistic combat.

Related Links

 * Easy
 * Normal
 * Legendary
 * Campaign Complete: Heroic