Difficulty Settings & Modifiers in Halo: Campaign Evolved

This article explains the available difficulty levels and gameplay modifiers in Halo: Campaign Evolved, including how they affect gameplay and how to change them.

Difficulties

Halo: Campaign Evolved includes the four traditional difficulty levels found across Halo campaigns:

  • Easy: Your foes cower and fall before your unstoppable onslaught, yet final victory will leave you wanting more.
  • Normal: Hordes of aliens vie to destroy you, but nerves of steel and a quick trigger finger give you a solid chance to prevail.
  • Heroic: Your enemies are numerous as they are ferocious; their attacks are devastating. Survival is not guaranteed.
  • Legendary: You face opponents who have never known defeat, who laugh in alien tongue at your efforts to survive. This is suicide.

Difficulty level is chosen after selecting New Game under any campaign mode. 

How Difficulty is Represented

In addition to the four difficulty levels, each difficulty is represented by four horizontal bars on the right of the screen:

  • Damage Received
  • Enemy Aggression
  • Number of Enemies
  • Enemy Health

As the selected difficulty increases, increases in the bars provide a visual generalization of how gameplay changes from Easy to Legendary, providing a better understanding of what difficulty is being chosen.

Gameplay Options & Difficulty Modifier Presets

Included in Halo: Campaign Evolved is a Friendly Fire toggle, Difficulty Modifier Presets. Players can adjust individual gameplay traits to fine-tune the difficulty and experience.

Please note that using Difficulty Modifiers may prevent earning certain achievements. 

Friendly Fire

When friendly fire is turned on, AI allies and co-operative players can take damage from your attacks. When it is turned off, your attacks will not harm allied units and players.

The Fireteam Leader's selected setting determines friendly fire behavior for the entire Fireteam. 

To turn friendly fire on or off:

  • Open Settings using the Menu button (XBOX controller), Options button (PlayStation®controller), or F1 (Keyboard).
  • Select Gameplay.
  • Under the General section at the top, toggle Friendly Fire.

Changes to the friendly fire setting only apply when starting a new campaign. If you change this option and resume a current campaign save file, it will not take effect. 

Difficulty Modifier Presets  

There are four modifier presets available. Each preset can be customized and saved with unique settings, then selected using the Modifier Preset setting.  

To enable a modifier preset:

  • Open Settings using the Menu button (XBOX controller), Options button (PlayStation®controller), or F1 (Keyboard).
  • Select Gameplay.
  • Under the General section at the top, select Modifier Preset.
  • Select one of the four preset options. Available traits can be customized and saved for each preset by selecting the corresponding numbered preset below. 

Modifying Presets

SupportSafety_Media-15-GameplayModifiers.png
An in-game settings screen for modifying Preset 01 showing the following traits: Damage Resistance, Shield Recharge Rate, Damage Modifier, Melee Damage Modifier, and Ammo. 

Each preset comes with five player traits to adjust: 

Achievement Notice

Using difficulty modifier presets prevents you from earning certain achievements and Trophies.  

To earn all Achievements and Trophies, turn off any difficulty modifier presets:

  • Open Settings using the Menu button (XBOX controller), Options button (PlayStation®controller), or F1 (Keyboard).
  • Select Gameplay.
  • Under the General section at the top, select Modifier Preset.
  • Select None.

Please note that all players in your Fireteam must also have presets turned off. 

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