The Campaign of Halo 5: Guardians can be played on one of four difficulty levels. The walkthrough was written for Heroic difficulty (the way it’s meant to be played), but also features tips for helping players complete missions on Legendary.
Easy
When playing on the easiest difficulty setting, you’ll enjoy incredibly powerful shields and face the lowest number of enemies. This is a great way to get familiar with Halo 5:Guardians and breeze through the missions without much trouble.
Normal
Normal difficulty is suitable for those who are familiar with first-person shooters, but not specifically familiar with the Halo franchise. Your shields aren’t as strong and your enemies are more plentiful and challenging to defeat, but you still won’t have much trouble completing the adventure.
Heroic
Halo veterans should start with Heroic difficulty, which provides an even playing field in terms of balancing the strength of your shields with the amount of hostile fire you’ll be facing. Expect to encounter more enemies during larger battles, and to face more numbers of dangerous foes like snipers. Fundamentals like keeping close to cover and picking the right weapons for the battle at hand become vitally important during Heroic play.
Legendary
The highest difficulty setting, Legendary is borderline unfair at times. The enemies you face are battle-tested and willful, and they occur in greater numbers. They can withstand far more punishment before falling, while your shields falter at the faintest hint of fire. Powerful foes like snipers are lethally accurate, and even lowly Crawlers can get the better of you if you aren’t careful. Slow and tactical take on a whole new meaning when playing on Legendary. Refer to the walkthrough for advice in beating the tougher spots of each mission.