Editing Headshot

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{{Disambig header|gameplay mechanic|medal|Headshot (medal)}}

[[File:Halo_3_Picture_2.jpg|thumb|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 presicion weapon, will instantly kill an unshielded target. Due to the size of a target's head relative to the size of their body, however, 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 was a fatal shot. That is to say, a kill will only count as a headshot kill if the headshot was the killing shot.

Headshots 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.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p54yFedYHb4 '''YouTube:''' ''Halo 3: Shot Location Damage Experiment'']</ref> 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 shots from a Battle Rifle does a total of 72 damage. A player has 70 shield points, so 11 and ²/₃ of the shots (35 bullets total) are used for the shield and the remaining bullet does the fatal headshot.<ref>{{Cite BWU|13233|02/08/08}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Interview">[http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/03/31/exclusive-interview-on-the-halo-reach-sandbox.aspx '''GameInformer''': ''Exclusive Interview On The Halo: Reach Sandbox'']</ref> 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.{{Ref/Reuse|Interview}} In ''Halo 5: Guardians'', headshots with weapons such as the [[MA5D assault rifle]], the [[M739 SAW]], and the [[M20 SMG]] do extra damage, though they don't kill instantly.

*[[Type-27 beam rifle]]

*[[Type-31 Needle Rifle]]

*[[Type-50 particle beam rifle]]

*[[Type-51 carbine]]

*[[Type-57B carbine]]

* 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 [[Campaign Scoring|meta-game]] will earn more [[Campaign_Scoring#Style_Multipliers|points]].

* In ''Halo: Reach''{{'}}s [[Firefight]] mode, AI enemies can headshot you.

* In ''Halo 5: Guardians'', headshots cause a different hit marker to signify increased damage.

** This critical damage red marker will also be shown when an target is hit in their weak spots, like a [[Promethean Knight]]'s cores, a [[Mgalekgolo|Hunter]]'s exposed orange flesh, or the core on the [[Warden Eternal]]'s back.