Legendary: Difference between revisions

{{Status|Gameplay}}

{{Quote|You face opponents who have never known defeat, who laugh in alien tongues at your efforts to survive. This is suicide.|Description from ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', ''[[Halo 2]]'', and ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''}}

{{Quote|Tremble as teeming hordes of invincible alien monsters punish the slightest error with instant death... again and again.|Description from ''[[Halo 3]]'', ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', and ''[[Halo 4]]''{{Ref/Note|The ''[[Halo 4]]'' description is the same wording, however it ends with an [[wikipedia:exclamation point|exclamation point]] rather than a [[wikipedia:full stop|period]].}}}}

{{Quote|Your enemies outnumber you greatly and are hunting you down. Can you survive their onslaught?|Description from ''[[Halo: The Master Chief Collection]]''}}

{{Quote|Death around every corner. Reload often.|Description from ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''}}

{{Quote|Face insurmountable odds and an overwhelming enemy force. This is what legends are made of.|Description from ''[[Halo Wars 2]]''}}

'''Legendary''' is the highest and most difficult setting of [[Campaign]] gameplay in every ''Halo'' games to date, aside from the informal "[[Mythic (difficulty)|Mythic]]" difficulty which is Legendary with all [[Skull]]s active in ''Halo'' games that feature them. The Legendary difficulty is also featured in [[Firefight]], [[Skirmish]], and [[Spartan Ops]] games.

[[File:Halo 3 - Legendary Symbol.png|thumb|The original Legendary shield.]]

In the original ''Halo'' trilogy, legendary difficulty is symbolized by an [[Sangheili|Elite]] skull with a bullet pierced on the cranium, two crossed [[Combat knife|combat knives]] and a shield bearing the ''[[Marathon]]'' symbol, though the symbol is not visible behind the skull. In ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', the symbol is adjusted to a [[human]] skull with two crossed [[M7S Caseless Submachine Gun|Suppressed SMGs]] in front of the same shield with the ''Marathon'' symbol, now slightly visible behind the skull. In ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' and ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'', the original legendary symbol returns, but these games, along with future titles, lack the ''Marathon'' symbol on the shield. In ''[[Halo 4]]'', the shield and the combat knives have been redesigned while the skull of a [[Promethean Knight]] replaces the previous skulls.

Legendary is regarded as a significant challenge, even for veteran players. Overwhelming enemy firepower, superior enemy numbers, and increased enemy intelligence make up most of the challenge, but several specific changes, varying throughout games, also add to the difficulty. Most allies are practically useless aside from creating distractions. The player must play cautiously and conservatively to succeed, but even with appropriate tactics and practice, the player will die very often and may require some luck to succeed. The increased difficulty does not come without rewards; many details, such as pieces of dialogue, cutscenes, and music, can only be heard or seen on Legendary; in particular, most Halo games feature an additional scene in the ending cutscenes, which is only shown on Legendary, often referred to as "Legendary Endings". ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', ''Halo 3'', ''Halo 3: ODST'', ''Halo: Reach'', ''Halo 4'', and ''Halo 5: Guardians'' feature such endings. Several [[achievement]]s, [[challenge]]s, [[commendations]], and [[Halo Waypoint#Awards|career awards]] reward players for accomplishing various tasks on Legendary difficulty in addition to the achievements for simply completing every mission on Legendary.

==''Halo: Combat Evolved'' and ''Halo: Anniversary''==

In the first ''Halo'' game, the differences between Legendary and other settings is relatively numeric. The player does not face unique or different enemies yet they face many more enemies who are tougher to defeat and endure. Many of the same strategies that work on other settings work on Legendary in this game except that the player has to be extremely careful of his/her own weaknesses. This is where the [[Noob combo]] comes in handy, with use of the [[Type-25 plasma pistol|Plasma Pistol]] and [[M6D magnum|M6D Magnum]].

*Extremely weak [[health]]. One [[melee]] from an enemy in front of the player will often prove fatal.

*Player shields and enemy shields recharge faster - twice as fast as when on Normal difficulty.

*'''[[Sangheili]]:''' Twice as many Sangheili appear as on the Normal difficulty. [[Sangheili Major]] are encountered at a ratio of about one of every three Elites encountered, improving enemy forces. An area that had two [[Sangheili Minor]] on Normal should have four to five Elites on Legendary with one or two of them being Majors. Their shields can take 28 rounds from an [[MA5B assault rifle|Assault Rifle]] before lowering.

*'''[[Unggoy]]:''' Twice as many Unggoy appear than on the Normal setting. Around half of the Grunts encountered are [[Unggoy Major]].

*'''Firing Rate :''' All enemies fire their weapons much faster and more accurately. In particular, [[Kig-Yar]] will fire long streams of 10-15 shots with high accuracy. Kig-Yar will also charge their plasma pistols much more often proving deadly in combat.

*'''Agility :''' All enemies move much faster and will rarely allow a player to stick them with [[Anskum-pattern plasma grenade|grenades]]. Sangheili will often do their dodging maneuver immediately if hit, making it very difficult to make consistent hits on them to drain their shields.

*'''[[Flood]]:''' The Flood are now armed 90 percent of the time. Their deadly melee attacks will drain shields by half. Many more of them wield [[M90 shotgun|Shotguns]] and [[M41 SPNKR|Rocket Launchers]] than before. Only a couple of Infection Forms can completely drain your shields, and an explosion from a Carrier Form can kill you instantly if your shields are completely or partially drained.

*'''Allies:''' [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] are virtually useless. They will constantly get stuck with grenades and most are easily killed by the enemy's increased rate of fire. Their returning fire only inflicts minimal damage on enemies. Their AI is increased significantly, still to little effect.

===Specific differences===

*'''[[The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Combat Evolved level)|The Pillar of Autumn]]:'''

**The player does not go through the controls section at the beginning of the level, the game assuming that anyone choosing the highest difficulty level has gone through it before. Instead, they will wake up and leave the cryo section immediately. This also occurs on Heroic difficulty.

**[[Avery Johnson|Johnson]]'s speech changes in the beginning of the level.

**The player has immediate access to the [[motion tracker]] and [[M9 frag grenade|Frag grenades]].

**Upon entering the loading bay, 4-6 Sangheili Zealots will ambush the player and the Marines in addition to the standard waves of Unggoy and Kig-Yar which pass through the hallways. There will also be a couple of [[Mgalekgolo]].

*'''[[343 Guilty Spark (level)|343 Guilty Spark]]:'''

**The shotgun is no longer available early on in the game. The only way to pick it up is to kill a [[Flood combat form]] that was holding one or from one of the dead Marines from the third room with an energy bridge.

*'''[[The Maw]]:'''

**The player only has five minutes to get to the [[GA-TL1 Longsword|Longsword]] fighter after destroying the ''Pillar of Autumn''{{'}}s engine core as opposed to the usual six minutes.

**The player will get to see the non-canon [[Hugging Elite|secret ending]].

===Awards===

In ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'':

*The [[Living Legend]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary.

*The [[Bro Hammer]] achievement is awarded for completing any level [[Cooperative play|cooperatively]] on Legendary.

*The [[Overshields are for Sissies]] achievement is awarded for completing the level ''[[The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Combat Evolved level)|The Pillar of Autumn]]'' on Legendary without picking up an [[overshield]].

*The [[Walk it Off]] achievement is awarded for completing the level ''The Pillar of Autumn'' on Legendary without picking up any [[health pack]]s.

*The [[Speed Reader]] achievement is awarded for completing the level ''[[The Library]]'' on Legendary in 30 minutes or less.

*The [[Leave It Where It Lay]] achievement is awarded for completing the level ''[[Two Betrayals]]'' on Legendary without picking up any other weapons.

*The [[Never Tell Me the Odds]] achievement is awarded for completing ''[[The Maw]]'' on Legendary with at least one minute remaining on the countdown.

==''Halo 2''==

In one of the [[Bungie]] Updates, [[Frank O'Connor]] describes ''Halo 2''{{'}}s Legendary as:

{{Article quote|A whole new sick twist on game difficulty. Legendary includes bizarre stuff like perma-death for [[Cooperative play|Co-Op]] players, meaning that you can't hopscotch like you can on other difficulty levels. Once a player dies on Legendary, both players are hurled back to the last checkpoint. It's brutal. Also, that place where you encountered two grunts and a flowerpot on Normal? Well now they're hunters, high-ranking, [[Type-1 energy sword|Sword]] carrying Elites and they're all PMS-ing. Seriously, sticking your head around a corner on level two can get it shot clean off.}}

*Both players have "linked lives". That is, when one of the players dies, both are sent back to the last checkpoint regardless of whether or not only one of them died (Possibly to prevent players from easily reaching the status of beating Legendary on their profile or to enhance it with the general knowledge of the above statement). This effect is similar to enabling the [[Halo 2 skulls#Iron|Iron Skull]].

*Enemies will tend to use more powerful weapons earlier in the game or more often, such as [[Sangheili Ultra|Ultras]] and [[Sangheili Zealot|Zealots]] with [[Type-1 energy sword|Energy Swords]], [[Unggoy]] with [[Pez'tk-pattern fuel rod gun|Fuel Rod Guns]] and [[Type-33 needler|Needlers]], and finally [[Jiralhanae]] with [[Type-25 Brute Shot|Brute Shots]].

*The [[Thel 'Vadam|Arbiter]]'s [[active camouflage]] lasts only five seconds and takes ten seconds to recharge.

*Elite Ultras are now a very common sight. The player will encounter up to four in some parts of the game. They have the most powerful energy shields in the game and can survive four head shots from a [[Sniper Rifle System 99C-Series 2 Anti-Matériel|Sniper Rifle]] or a [[Sulok-pattern beam rifle|Beam Rifle]].

**Melee attacks from Heretic Elites are glitched, so the player will not take any damage from them. This can be used as a saving grace in otherwise bad situations. '''''This does not apply when a Heretic Elite is holding an Energy Sword'''''.

*Enemies normally have upgraded weapons. For example, Jiralhanae that usually had [[Kewu R'shi'k-pattern plasma rifle]]s would now carry [[Vostu-pattern carbine]] or have the deadly Brute Shot equipped.

*One shot from a Brute Shot will have the same power as a shot of the rocket launcher on [[Easy]] difficulty.

In [[Halo 2 (Windows Vista)|''Halo 2'' for Windows Vista]]:

*The [[Legend (Halo 2 achievement)|Legend]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary.

*The [[Hired Gun (achievement)|Hired Gun]] achievement is awarded for killing an opponent who has the Legend achievement in multiplayer.

In ''[[Halo: The Master Chief Collection]]'':

*The [[Legendary Anniversary]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary.

*The [[Monopolized]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary in under 3 hours.

*The [[He's Running a Marathon...]] achievement is awarded for watching the [[Gravemind]] cutscene on Legendary in classic graphics.

===General differences===

*Shields are 50% their Normal power and a few hits even from a Plasma Pistol will drain them completely.

*Enemies are much more resistant to damage. (E.g. The player needs three body shots or two headshots for a fully shielded [[Jiralhanae Captain|Jiralhanae Captain]] to take it down instead of one headshot or two body shots with a sniper or beam rifle).

*Headshots are the only means to get a quick kill on enemies like Jackals and Grunts, aside from assassinations.

*Nearly all enemy forces are promoted by one rank. This can be changed with the effects of the [[Halo 3 skulls#Thunderstorm|Thunderstorm Skull]], which promotes enemies even higher. In addition to this promotion, Brutes will not carry [[deployable cover]]s.

*Enemy numbers double or sometimes triple in the case of Flood encounters.

*Enemy AI improves dramatically, enemy vehicles will be significantly harder to hijack and enemies will be nearly impossible to stick with grenades.

*Kig-Yar Snipers, one of the rarer enemies in ''Halo 3'', will appear with greater frequency, though not nearly as much as in ''Halo 2''. Similar to ''Halo 2'', being shot by a Kig-Yar Sniper armed with a beam rifle results in instant death.

*Enemies fire much faster and more accurately, and toss grenades more often and with greater accuracy.

*Turrets, such as [[Rizsheda-pattern Shade|Shades]], are frequently encountered, even in places in which they did not appear in lower difficulties. Gunners will also fire more aggressively.

*Jirlahane will wield Brute Shots more often. They will fire them faster and more accurately. They will also frequently go berserk.

*The "linked lives" system from ''Halo 2'' is removed but can be achieved with the [[Halo 3 skulls#Iron|Iron Skull]] activated.

*Almost all Sentinels have shields, including allied ones.

*In single-player mode, the Arbiter is next to useless and will frequently be knocked out for prolonged periods. He will also take cover a lot more and so reduce his outgoing fire. However, he becomes a powerful ally if wielding an Energy Sword when fighting the Flood, especially in the level [[Floodgate]].

===Specific differences===

*''Halo 3'':

**In the level ''[[Arrival]]'', there are five different random dialog lines for Johnson which are exclusive to Legendary difficulty.

**The [[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminals]] have a different narrative on Legendary, changing from the story of the [[Didact]] and the [[Librarian]], to the story of [[Mendicant Bias]].

**The ending cutscene of the level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]'', following the game's [[Halo 3 credits|credits]], has a Legendary-only scene [[Requiem|foreshadowing]] ''Halo 4''.

*''Halo 3: ODST'':

**In the level ''[[Prepare To Drop]]'', a photo of the [[Rookie]]'s girlfriend can be seen in his [[Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle|drop pod]].

**In the ending cutscene of the level ''[[NMPD HQ]]'', blood sprays out of [[Kojo Agu|Romeo]]'s chest.

**The ending cutscene of the game, at the end of the level ''[[Coastal Highway]]'' and after the [[Halo 3: ODST credits|credits]], has a Legendary-only scene.

===Awards===

**The [[Campaign Complete: Legendary (Halo 3 achievement)|Campaign Complete: Legendary]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary.

**The [[Vidmaster Challenge: Annual]] achievement is awarded for completing the level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]'' on 4-player Legendary LIVE [[Cooperative play|Co-Op]], with Iron Skull and everyone in [[Type-32 Rapid Attack Vehicle|Ghosts]].

**The [[Campaign Complete: Legendary (Halo 3: ODST achievement)|Campaign Complete: Legendary]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary.

**The [[Vidmaster Challenge: Classic]] achievement is awarded for completing any level solo on Legendary, on LIVE, with no shots fired or grenades thrown.

**The [[Vidmaster Challenge: Deja Vu]] achievement is awarded for completing the level ''[[Coastal Highway]]'' on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron Skull, and no Warthog or Scorpion.

**[[Veronica Dare]] is awarded as a playable [[Firefight (Halo 3: ODST)|Firefight]] character for completing the campaign on Legendary.

 

*Enemies are always upgraded with at least one or two upgrades and attack the player's base earlier and with more units.

*When facing Flood units, player infantry units get infected at a faster rate.

 

*Beating the game on Legendary unlocks additional dialogue at the end of the last cutscene, played after the level ''[[Escape (Halo Wars level)|Escape]]'' and the [[Halo Wars credits|credits]].

 

*The [[Detour The Great Journey]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary.

*The [[One and Done]] achievement is awarded for scoring the winning point in a game of [[Keepaway Mode|Keepaway]] against Legendary A.I.s.

 

* In ''Halo Reach'', enemy AI and numbers will be scaled according to the number of players (i.e. the more players there are, the more enemies there are and the more intelligent each enemy AI is).

* Shade turrets fire and turn several times faster than physically possible by the player.

* [[Sangheili General]] appear more often, usually wielding Covenant heavy weapons.

* [[Sangheili Minor]]s seldom appear; less than five are encountered in the entire campaign, with the exception of Banshee pilots.

 

* When playing the level ''[[The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Reach level)|The Pillar of Autumn]]'' on Legendary, [[Jacob Keyes|Captain Keyes]] refers to [[Catherine Halsey]] by her first name, while he uses her last name on lower difficulties.

 

* The [[A Monument to All Your Sins]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary solo.

* The [[Game, Set, Match]] achievement is awarded for completing a [[Firefight]] set on Legendary without dying.

* [[Carter-A259|Carter]]'s helmet is awarded for the player's [[Avatar (Xbox 360)|Avatar]] for completing a level on Legendary without dying.

 

[[File:Halo 4 - Legendary symbol.png|150px|thumb|The ''Halo 4'' Legendary shield.]]

* The player will get an extended cutscene in ''[[Epilogue (Halo 4 level)|Epilogue]]'' if the entire campaign is cleared on Legendary.

* Enemies deal more damage and are more resistant to damage, with Elites taking at least [[seven]] direct headshots from a [[M395 DMR|DMR]] to lose their shields.

* More [[Promethean Knight]]s are featured, especially higher-ranking ones.

* [[Crawler Snipe]]s are more dangerous as their built-in [[Z-750 binary rifle]]s almost always kill the player in one hit, regardless of where it hits.

* Promethean Knights' and [[Promethean Watcher]]s' shields recharge much faster.

* Knights also throw [[Z-040 pulse grenade|Pulse Grenades]] even more often.

 

** Playing on Legendary allows access to two [[Incineration Cannons on Forerunner|Easter]] [[Hidden weapons caches on Forerunner|eggs]] allowing the player to spawn nine [[Z-390 incineration cannon|Incineration Cannon]]s and two Forerunner heavy weapons caches for use in the mission, respectively.

** A new Legendary-exclusive easter egg allows the player to [[Gravity Hammers on Shutdown|spawn]] four [[Gravity hammer (fiction)|Gravity Hammer]]s for use in the mission.

* '''[[Midnight]]''':

** A Legendary-only easter egg allows the player to [[Secret Gravity Hammer on Midnight|spawn a second Gravity Hammer]] for use in the mission.

 

* The [[Lone Wolf Legend]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary solo.

* The [[A Legendary Episode]] achievement is awarded for completing all chapters in ''[[Spartan Ops]]'' [[S1/Departure|Episode 1]] on Legendary.

* The [[Crimson Alone]] achievement is awarded for completing a ''Spartan Ops'' chapter on Legendary solo.

* The [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark VI|Mark VI armor]] and the [[Visor color#Halo 4|Legendary visor color]] are awarded in [[Infinity (mode)|''Infinity'' multiplayer]] for completing the campaign on Legendary.

 

[[File:Halo 5 Guardians - Legendary symbol.png|150px|thumb|The ''Halo 5: Guardians'' Legendary shield.]]

While playing on [[cooperative play|co-op]], it is highly recommended to pick characters with precision weapons (e.g. DMR) as their starting primary weapon as part of their starting loadout, like [[Frederic-104]] or [[Holly Tanaka]], as precision weapons are more useful than fully automatic weapons in most cases.

 

* Enemies deal more damage and are more resistant to damage. Two shots from an enemy wielding a [[Z-250 lightrifle]] will down a player.

* [[Promethean Crawler]]s' tracking shots from their built-in weapons exhibit virtually pinpoint accuracy.

* [[Armiger Soldier]]s use slipspace translocation even more often to confuse or avoid players and throw [[Z-400 splinter grenade|Splinter Grenades]] more often.

 

* The player will get a secret ending after the credits if the [[Guardians|final mission]] is completed on Legendary.

** The [[Flaming knives on Osiris]] easter egg becomes available. If successfully triggered, it will result in an oversized Promethean Knight and [[Warden Eternal]] spawning in the final room, as well as the player getting the ''[[Prophets' Bane]]''.

* '''[[Blue Team (level)|Blue Team]]''':

** Jackal Snipers will spawn in the reactor room. In addition, Elites will be seen manning the [[Shea'p-pattern plasma cannon|Plasma Turrets]] instead of Grunts.

** In the hangar bay, several [[Sangheili Warrior|Elite Warriors]] armed with [[Gespu-pattern fuel rod gun|Fuel Rod Cannons]] will spawn.

** The [[Halo 5: Guardians skulls#Iron|Iron]] skull becomes available to unlock in this mission by shooting down the pursuing [[Phaeton]] towards the end of the level.

* '''[[Genesis (level)|Genesis]]''':

** Near the [[Gateway]], there is a dead [[Promethean Crawler]]. If the player [[Corpse humping|teabags]] this Crawler 117 times in the same spot, [[031 Exuberant Witness]] will be able to shoot gauss beams, extending her combat capabilities, which then makes her useful in the double Warden Eternal boss fight at the end of the mission.

 

* The [[Lone Wolf (achievement)|Lone Wolf]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary solo.

* The [[Tank Still Beats Everything]] achievement is awarded for surviving Genesis all the way to the first Warden Eternal fight with the [[M820 Scorpion|Scorpion]] still intact on Legendary.

* The [[Harbinger (achievement)|Harbinger]] achievement is awarded for completing [[The Breaking]] on Legendary without all members of [[Blue Team]] dying.

 

* Enemies are always upgraded at least one or two levels.

 

**The [[Comrades in arms]] achievement is awarded for earning a gold medal on any mission (Except for the Prologue) on co-op on Legendary.

**The [[You've got a case of the Birley]] achievement is awarded for winning a 1v1 Skirmish match against Legendary AI, after recycling your base in the first five minutes.

*In ''[[Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare|Awakening the Nightmare]]'':

**The [[Banished Prowess]] achievement is awarded for completing any level of the ''Awakening the Nightmare'' campaign on par time, on Legendary, with a scoring skull active.

 

*The [[A True Test of Legends]] achievement is awarded for completing the campaign on Legendary.

* The ''[[Marathon]]'' symbol was present on every difficulty shield icon, but has disappeared in ''Halo: Reach'' and following games.

* ''Halo 3'' and all subsequent FPS ''Halo'' games keep track of whether the player has finished Legendary on Solo or Co-op.

* Legendary was the title for the most expensive editions of ''[[Halo 3 Legendary Edition|Halo 3]]'' and ''[[Halo: Reach Legendary Edition|Halo: Reach]]''.

* The second ''Halo 3'' map pack is named the [[Legendary Map Pack]]. (Aptly named, for the previous map pack was the [[Heroic Map Pack]] and the next one was [[Mythic Map Pack]]).

* In ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', if [[The Silent Cartographer]] is played on any difficulty higher than [[Easy]], the guitar version of [[Rock Anthem for Saving the World]] will play after the transmission with ''[[Echo 419]]'' after accessing the [[Silent Cartographer|Cartographer]].

* In ''Halo 2'', Legendary is the only difficulty in which the player can find the hidden skulls, except for the [[Halo 2 skulls#Blind|Blind Skull]] and the [[Halo 2 skulls#Assassins|Assassins Skull]]. However the Assassins Skull does not give the player the effect when not on Legendary.

* The Legendary symbol is visible several times in ''Halo Wars'', on Sergeant Forge's and Red Team's armors.

 

File:H3_LegendaryMapPack_Banner.jpg|Promo of the Legendary Map Pack for ''Halo 3''.

File:H3ODST Achievement Campaign Complete Legendary.png|Campaign Complete: Legendary achievement in ''Halo 3: ODST''.

File:HR Achievement Game, Set, Match.png|Game, Set, Match achievement in ''Halo: Reach''.

File:ACH34.png|Tying Up Loose Ends achievement in ''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''.

File:ACH44.png|Tsantsa achievement in ''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''.

File:Halo 4 - Legendary shield reveal.jpg|The reveal of the Legendary shield in ''Halo 4''.

File:TheLegendof117Achievement.png|The Legend of 117 achievement in ''Halo 4''.

File:Milestone 100.png|Career Milestone 100 on Halo Waypoint.

==Notes==

[[Category:Difficulties]]