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A close-up of a headshot in Halo 3. The weapon used was a Sniper Rifle. The remains of the crippled shielding and blood from the exit wound are clearly visible.
A headshot is a shot fired at an enemy's head. Headshots, when fired from a headshot-capable weapon, will instantly kill an unshielded target. Due to the size of a target's head relative to the size of their body, headshots are relatively difficult to perform. They are typically performed with scoped weapons. It should be noted that while any shot to the head could be (informally) called a "headshot", headshot-related awards (like medals) are only given if the headshot is a fatal shot. That is to say, a kill will only count as a headshot kill if the headshot was the killing shot.
Damage System
A headshot will instantly kill an unshielded opponent, but does not do any extra damage to shields. That is to say, a shielded opponent will take the same amount of damage no matter where they are shot.[1] Shooting a shielded opponent in the head does exactly the same amount of damage as shooting them in the foot.
The reason that Sniper Rifle and Beam Rifle headshots can instantly kill a shielded opponent is because Sniper and Beam Rifles do more than enough damage to drain an opponent's shields and cause slight damage to Health as well. If the shot hits the head, the "leftover" damage is inflicted on the newly unshielded opponent's head. Indeed, any damage inflicted upon an unshielded head will kill the victim immediately, provided that the damage was inflicted by a headshot-capable weapon. For example, in Halo 3, 12 bullets from a Battle Rifle does a total of 72 damage. A player has 70 shield points, so 3 and 2/3 of the shots (11 bullets total) are used for the shield and the remaining bullet does the fatal headshot.[2] A sniper round does roughly 80 damage, 70 of which is used for the shield and 10 of which go for the body, which means a kill in the case of a headshot. In Halo: Reach, the damage system has been altered where damage applied on a shielded enemy would result in a headshot.[3] In order to successfully produce a headshot, the player has to eliminate the enemy's shield, though the only exception to this would be the sniper rifle.[3]
Aiming
Scoring a headshot on a multiplayer enemy is relatively straightforward, as the head is clearly identifiable and almost always visible.
Face painting is an effective technique when going for a headshot, as is the act of leading one's target. Watching the Reticle on the HUD is also useful; in all Halo first-person shooter games after Halo: Combat Evolved, a small red dot will appear at the center of the reticle when aiming at an enemy's head.
Headshot-capable weapons
Not all weapons in the Halo series are headshot-capable. It is entirely possible to shoot an opponent in the head with a headshot-incapable weapon, but the hit will not count as a headshot. This is most likely due to balancing reasons, so no automatic weapons are headshot-capable (except for the Needle Rifle), since it will always take one headshot on an unshielded foe to kill it, no matter what the damage is (0 is an exception). Without balancing, headshots can be achieved without good aim.
UNSC Weapons
Pistols
Battle Rifles
- BR55 Service Rifle (Halo 2)
- BR55 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle (Halo 3)
- BR85 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle (Halo 4)
Designated Marksman Rifles
- M392 Designated Marksman Rifle (Halo:Reach)
- M395 Designated Marksman Rifle (Halo 4)
Covenant Weapons
Carbine and Needle Rifles
- Covenant Carbine (Halo 2, 3, ODST, 4)
- Type-57 Carbine (Halo 5)
- Needle Rifle (Halo: Reach)
Forerunner
Light, Binary and Boltshot Rifles
Halo 4 and 5
- Z-250 Directed Energy Engagement Weapon (Light Rifle)
- Z-750 Special Application Sniper Rifle (Binary Rifle)
- Z-110 Directed Energy Pistol/Exotic (Boltshot)
Trivia
- In Halo 3's campaign or matchmaking, players can unlock the Headshot Honcho Achievement by getting ten headshots with a Sniper Rifle. Additionally, scoring headshots in Halo 3's meta-game will earn more points.
- In Halo 3: ODST, the Achievement, Boom, Headshot, is unlocked by killing 10 opponents with headshots with the M6C/SOCOM.