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[------Legendary Difficulty Guide------]
[ Version 2.7 ]
[ By ]
/== ==\
|| DeusExMachina (on Neoseeker) ||
|| MrWalkthrough (on GameFAQs) ||
|| Deus_Ex_Machina (on Bungie.net) ||
|| Trigintillion (on Xbox Live and Xbox.com) ||
|| Anton Bovin (in, you know, that world outside the Xbox?) ||
\== ==/
________________________
"The Great Journey waits for no one, brother. Not even you."
-Prophet of Truth
/========================================
//
/
/Contents:
//
/
/1. Intro
/ 2. Storyline
3. Characters
4. Difficulties
5. Weapons
/ -Human Weapons
/ -Covenant Weapons
-Sentinel Weapons
/6. Enemies
// -Covenant
/ -Flood
-Sentinels
/7. Artifacts
/ 8. Vehicles
/ -Human Vehicles
/ -Covenant Vehicles
/9. Other tips
/ 10. Walkthrough
/ -I. The Heretic
/ -II. Armory
-III. Cairo Station
-IV. Outskirts
-V. Metropolis
-VI. The Arbiter
-VII. Oracle
-VIII. Delta Halo
-IX. Regret
-X. Sacred Icon
-XI. Quarantine Zone
-XII. Gravemind
-XIII. Uprising
-XIV. High Charity
-XV. The Great Journey
/11. Secrets
// -Skulls
/ -Secret Swords
-Others
/12. How to Contact Me
/ 13. Version History
14. Legal
15. Thanks to...
16. Final Word
/
/
/========================================
//
/
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_______________________[ 1. Intro]________________________________________
Welcome, my name is Anton Bovin; this is my fifth guide. The other
guides I wrote were for the games called Evil Twin: Cyprien’s Chronicles,
Myst III: Exile, Worms: Forts Under Siege, and, of course, the sacred Halo.
First thing I should point out and you should know: don’t get scared
away by the big “Legendary Difficulty Guide” title. This guide is intended
for Legendary, but can successfully be used for any other difficulty. In
fact, I strongly suggest you pass another difficulty first, because it’s
not a good idea to start trying to pass Legendary without a head start on
the guns and tricks of the game.
I’m planning on making this guide more complete than the ones I saw on
the Internet by adding a walkthrough. Yes, the ones that are only
walkthroughs have walkthroughs, but I think this is one of the only two or
three complete Legendary guides that contains one plus a complete
collection of tips for vehicles, enemies, and weapons.
You might find the walkthrough unclear about precisely where to go and
the number of enemies in each area, but I’ll include the vital parts.
There are some huge spoilers outside the walkthrough, so play the game
first if you care.
I’ll try not to make things sound too easy. In other words, I won't
tell you to run into an area full of Elites, kill them all, and then move
on to another part. I’ll describe the places I had trouble with in detail
so that you don’t have too much trouble.
Note that the game plays differently each time. Don't expect the
gameplay of your game to be exactly like mine.
This guide is for single player, so I'll assume that you, like me,
don't have the option of co-op. Otherwise, you might avoid some dilemmas,
as it would seem that I'm trying to be in several places at once. I hear
that co-op is very good to have, but I don't.
Almost anyone who has ever read a video game guide before knows that
some authors have the habit of wasting their time by listing the exact
number of enemies in every area. I'm not going to do that. Usually. I think
it's completely useless and unnecessary as most of the time I'm busier
killing the enemies than counting them.
To generalize everything I've said so far: I made this guide to be as
universal as possible. Of course, I had to overcome some paradoxes and
contradictions to do so. For example, I insist that everyone pass one of
the easier difficulties before moving on to Legendary, but I'm giving
weapon and story details as though the reader is new to Halo 2. Hopefully
you'll find what you're looking for here. Also, I'm prone to using big
words which may not be on an average person's level of comprehension (told
you!).
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_______________________[ 2. Storyline]____________________________________
Halo
The story is set in the future, in the year 2552. Humankind is tired
of living on Earth due to overpopulation and decided to build an engine
that will transport spaceships at the speed of light to other planets. They
built it and started going to those other planets. Everything seemed to be
going all right when all contact with the colony called Harvest was lost.
The human government sent the ship Argo to see what happened. Argo was
never seen again. That was a cue for the United Nations Space Command to
send a fleet of warships to Harvest. One surviving ship returned and
reported that an alien warship was in the colony’s orbit and had
obliterated the population.
The war went on for thirty years during which humans got a
transmission from the aliens, which revealed that they called themselves
the Covenant and for some reason they didn’t like humans and decided to
kill them.
It so happened that because of this, the humans didn’t like the
Covenant either, so they decide to board a Covenant ship and find their
home world. They put the boarding party on the ship called the Pillar of
Autumn, but before they could organize, the Covenant destroyed Reach, the
last human citadel against the aliens. The Pillar of Autumn had to make a
blind jump to a random location in space to try to lure the Covenant away.
They arrived near a huge ring-like artificial planet near a gas giant,
Threshold. Now they have to land there and discover what it hides...
Halo 2
Master Chief, the protagonist of Halo, survived and returned to Earth.
But there’s one problem: the Covenant has found Earth and is doing their
best to kill all humankind. And Master Chief is the one to defend it. He’ll
have to fight on Earth, in space... and shortly somewhere else. I won’t
spoil it for you.
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_______________________[ 3. Characters]___________________________________
Master Chief-good guy number one. He’s a cyborg, but technically he’s
a human with artificially improved bones and muscles inside the MJOLNIR
Mark VI armor. He’s not the usual guy with limited health, but he’s got a
rechargeable shield that, when damaged, recharges in a couple of seconds.
Unlike the first Halo, he doesn’t have any health other than that, or at
least no indicator of it. If the shield is depleted, he’ll take only a few
shots before dying. That’s especially true of Legendary. For more details
on how the SPARTANS originated, read The Fall of Reach.
Arbiter-good guy number two. From the beginning he’s obviously a
dedicated human exterminator, but then he really gets ticked off at the
Hierarchs of the Covenant and starts fighting against them. He’s pretty
much identical to the Master Chief, except being an Elite. Even the HUD is
a carbon copy of the Chief’s, except its purple color and the Active
Camouflage meter.
Sarge Johnson-he’s a more or less major character, and he does put a
lot more flavor and language into the storyline. He’ll typically be in and
out of the gameplay and he’ll normally carry powerful guns like the Sniper
Rifle and the Beam Rifle. And he'll be immortal.
Marines-they’ll help you a lot, but they usually get killed off at the
start of every major battle, especially those long sieges on some places
filled with enemies. Too bad that you can’t give them any commands, or you
could stop them from pointlessly charging into the place and getting ripped
apart. They will be smarter now, driving vehicles with you at the gun or
vice versa. And if you care to listen, they’ll occasionally warn you about
snipers and such. But they’re still mediocre drivers and will occasionally
get stuck in places where it’s very hard to get stuck. It’s better than
nothing, though. They will usually serve as cannon fodder/sacrifices and
will be an acceptable source of ammo.
Prophets-there are three: Truth, Mercy, and Regret (in order of
survival). They’re the leaders of the Covenant. They come with some sort of
hovercraft that seem to be equipped with a Prophet-Hunter Fuel Rod Cannon,
though Regret is the only one that actually used it. You’ll see or hear a
Prophet, usually Truth, almost every time you watch a cutscene inside High
Charity.
Lord Hood-my guess is that he’s an admiral, but no word on why he’s
called that. He doesn’t seem to be wearing a hood...
Tartarus-he’s a Brute. In both ways. He’s mean, nasty, ugly, and
pretty strong. Tartarus seems to come directly from the Norse mythology:
the god Thor carried a hammer, like Tartarus; and Tartar (as I remember)
was some infinitely deep chasm mentioned there. I may call him something
like “the Monkey” or “Mr. Mohawk”.
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_______________________[ 4. Difficulties]_________________________________
This guide is for Legendary, but since I recommend playing at least
one of the easier difficulties first, I’ll include a full description of
them. I will start each description with the phrase provided by the game.
Easy
-“Enemies cower and fall before your unstoppable onslaught, yet final
victory will leave you wanting more.”
Easy is the easiest difficulty and you can literally run through,
shooting the Covenant and generally having a good time. In my opinion, this
is the best place to get started, but because the difficulty increases
exponentially (i.e. the enemies’ strength and the damage they do to you is
doubled each time you go to a harder difficulty), some people reasonably
argue that it’s better to get started with Normal rather than Easy. But if
you trust my opinion, start with this.
Normal
-“Hordes of enemies vie to destroy you, but nerves of steel and a quick
trigger give you a solid chance to prevail.”
This is remarkably more difficult than Easy, but the description says
the truth: be patient, fire at everything that moves that’s not a human or
another ally, and if you get killed too much, figure out a new way to do
things. Always sneak up on enemies if you can, and use cover to dodge enemy
fire. Use grenades to clear up areas that you’re finding hard to clear from
where you are.
Heroic
-“The enemies are as numerous as they are ferocious; their attacks are
devastating. Survival is not guaranteed.”
This is a challenge. You’ll have to pick the strategy you will use,
not just run into an area full of enemies and start emptying your guns into
them. Do it and you will probably die. Always take cover and allow the
shield to recharge. Reload your guns. Backtrack to a previously cleared
area to get grenades, new weapons and ammo. Get back to the enemies. Flank
them if possible. Use a nearby object as cover, throw in a grenade or two,
and start shooting.
Legendary
-“You face enemies who have never known defeat, who laugh in alien tongues
at your efforts to survive. This is suicide.”
This in-game description doesn’t leave me much to clear up. Like it
says, this is suicide. You will be dying a lot, but if you have enough
determination and patience, you might actually make it to the end of the
game in one piece. If your life expectancy is too low, rethink your
options, start using different guns to see how good they are against the
enemies you face, and of course, be as careful as possible. And never
expect to finish any part of the game quickly. Halo 2 is literally
saturated with those checkpoint-less places where you have to sit in one
place and patiently pepper the enemies with fire from your guns, where any
indiscretion can mean you losing hours of progress. Always count for at
least an hour at a time of sitting at the console.
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______________________________[ 5. Weapons]_______________________________
“Speak softly and carry a big stick”
-African proverb
Human weapons
The Human weapons are the ones I prefer to stick with. Although
they’re not the best in some situations, they’re normally the most useful
ones in the long run. The arsenal has changed a lot: some weapons have been
added, some have been removed, some have been improved, and Halo’s most
useful gun, the Pistol, has been stripped down to include only its basic
functions. Each description will have some stats in the beginning (the
numbers might be slightly off) and a verdict at the end.
-SMG
Accuracy: not too good, but a lot better than the late Assault Rifle
Clip size: 60 rounds in each clip
Ammo capacity: 180 in each SMG, plus those in the clip
Power: amazing in the right hands, otherwise pretty good
The new Assault Rifle. The SMG is much smaller and can be
dual-wielded, unlike its Halo cousin. It’s much better, too, but there are
not as many of them as I would’ve liked.
If you’re going to use it, make sure you have a good gun behind
you--this uses up ammo like there’s no tomorrow. It’s much easier if you’re
using two of them at once, but the ammo goes twice as fast too.
Plasma Rifles are good weapons when double-wielded with an SMG. In
fact, a Plasma Rifle and an SMG form a scary combination. On Easy, enemies
can literally go down by the dozen from this kind of firepower.
This is good on Grunts. Even a Black Grunt can be killed after a
second or so from two SMGs.
Don’t use this on Flood unless you have to. They’re very hard to kill
with SMGs and if that wasn’t enough, they sometimes get up afterwards. It’s
just a waste of ammo. But if there’s a lone half-dead Flood nearby and
you’re low on ammo, but there’s an extra SMG lying around, it’s just not
practical to use you own guns.
It’s much more accurate than the Assault Rifle. This enables you to
use it for medium range jobs instead of the point-blank-only assassinations
the Assault Rifle limited you to.
An SMG is not much use when used without a Plasma Rifle of at least
another SMG. In most places, it just takes too much time to kill something
with only one SMG without dying yourself.
If you have an SMG and some Spores around you, it’s not very
convenient to use your own guns when you can pick up the SMG.
Try not to dual-wield a Needler with an SMG. Neither does much damage
alone and an SMG and a Needler won’t do much damage together, either.
When you’re dual-wielding two SMGs, make sure you don’t reload if you
might be attacked at any moment (unless you’re about to be forced to
reload). It takes too long and you can’t stop it without dropping one of
the guns--pressing Y will stop it, but you’ll drop an SMG, and meleeing
will also make you drop an SMG.
This is a pretty good method of killing off Drones/Bugs from close
range. But if you meet more than two or three that closely, the SMG won’t
help you anyway.
Okay, I know that this is heresy, sacrilege, blasphemy, irreverence,
derision... deep breath... condescension, disparagement, et cetera, but I
suggest you not dual-wield SMGs (and especially not use them without
dual-wielding) in any situation where they’re not the best weapon
available. For instance, one or two SMGs are definitely not the best weapon
when you’re trying to fight Elites or, say, Hunters.
//=== Overall: 8/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: pretty good. Certainly better than the Assault Rifle. SMGs work
||pretty well at close range but use them for medium and long range only
||if you get desperate enough.
\\========================================================================
-Battle Rifle
Accuracy: depends on your aiming ability and the target, otherwise you can
fire it with pinpoint accuracy
Clip size: 36 rounds per clip
Ammo capacity: 108 rounds plus those in the clip
Power: pretty good when it comes to Grunts
Second trademark weapon of Halo 2. It’s not available in most levels,
and when you can actually use it, there’s not usually much ammo for it.
You might call it the second Pistol. It’s pretty much identical to
Halo’s Pistol--great for sniping and has about the same amount of ammo. The
only two differences: it’s a rifle and it fires three rounds instead of
one. That doesn’t deplete ammo as fast as you might think, as long as
you’re not fighting some big enemy.
It often takes down a Grunt with only one shot, as long as that’s a
lucky shot (headshot). Aim for the head whenever you’re attending to a
Grunt.
Sometimes you can use this successfully on an Elite, if the latter
doesn’t have very good cover. When it’s standing in the open, pepper it
with bullets until the shield lets up. Then it should die very quickly.
I’ve seen an Elite expire after only one or two bullets (once its shield’s
depleted). This can also get you killed if you get too carried away and
don’t notice your own shield.
The Battle Rifle is not one of those universal any-range guns. Of
course, if you get good enough with it you can use it at any range, but I
prefer medium to long range sniping.
It’s perfect for getting rid of Sniper Jackals--one headshot will be
guaranteed to kill one and if you hit it somewhere else, it won’t take long
either. The only problem is that you have to catch them off guard before
they catch you off guard--one shot from the Beam Rifle is lethal to you and
one shot from the Battle Rifle is not necessarily lethal to them.
This is much better on Shielded Jackals. For some reason I find that
they’re much easier killed with the Battle Rifle than the Sniper Jackals
are. Maybe it’s because I don’t have to stay out of the way, as their
Plasma Pistols are not the best guns I’ve ever seen.
Again, it’s great for sniping Grunts. Have you noticed that they
sometimes carry those Plasma Cannons of theirs before setting them up? If
you use the Battle Rifle to quickly kill a Grunt before it has a chance to
set up its cannon, you’ll eliminate the danger of an Elite of another Grunt
using it.
Despite the fact that the Battle Rifle seems to be the descendant of
Halo’s Pistol, it doesn’t work very well against Flood.
The range is pretty much unlimited, even though, like in every other
gun, the reticle stops lighting up red if the target is a certain distance
away. Sometimes the enemy is very far down and can’t get to you, while you
can snipe it with the Battle Rifle. An example of this situation is on
Cairo Station, in the hangar just before the second venture outside. If the
huge elevator starts descending with enemies on it, you can climb the tiers
on the side of the room and snipe those enemies with the Battle Rifle.
Sentinels are not a very good target for the Battle Rifle--like almost
every other gun, it has its ups and downs. Its inability of shooting down
Sentinels (very effectively) definitely qualifies as a down.
If you don’t have any other weapon that’s good against Bugs, use the
Battle Rifle. Pesticide would probably work better, but around three Battle
Rifle shots will kill any Bug.
//=== Overall: 8/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: I liked the Pistol and I certainly like the Battle Rifle. Carry
||it whenever possible unless you’re about to pass an important checkpoint
||and you know that there will be no Battle Rifle ammo in the near future
||or that it won't be of any use any further.
\\========================================================================
-Shotgun
Accuracy: very bad if the reticle’s not red
Clip Size: 12 shells before you have to reload
Ammo capacity: 36 shells plus those in the gun
Power: much worse than Halo’s Shotgun. Does almost no damage if the
reticle’s not red
The Shotgun is still a scary gun, but I’d give a lot to make it more
like Halo’s Shotgun--more power and range.
It’s still often my weapon of choice against the Flood--if I don’t
have an Energy Sword. Halo’s Shotgun was by far the most useful weapon in
Halo (aside from the Pistol) and I could shoot two Flood from thirty meters
away and permanently kill them. Here, a point blank shot sometimes doesn’t
do the job.
This is good for mass Spore-killing. If they’re concentrated in one
place, you can take most of them out with one shot. Seeing that Spores are
now much harder to get with a melee attack, the Shotgun is one of the best
ways of doing this.
It’s good against Elites. One or two point blank shots will kill a
healthy Blue Elite, and not many more will kill a Silver Elite.
If the reticle is not red when you point it at an enemy, try to get
closer before shooting. It’s normally a waste of ammo to try to kill
anything from that distance.
Most Sentinels usually go down from one or two Shotgun shots. If you
don’t have a Sentinel Beam, a Carbine, or a plasma weapon nearby, use a
Shotgun to easily dispose of the thing.
Most Grunts die after one straight-on Shotgun shot. Some might need a
bit more. Main reasons why you sometimes don’t kill a Grunt with only one
shot: you were turning while you fired, or you were shooting it from too
far away.
Not all Jackals are easily killed with the Shotgun. A Sniper Jackal
will kill you long before you kill it, and the Shielded Jackals are, well,
shielded, so the shield blocks most of the shot.
When there are some Flood Bombs around, the Shotgun is my gun of
choice against them. Yeah, the Energy Sword kills a Bomb instantly, but it
requires me to be rather closer to the Bomb than I prefer. When shot with
the Shotgun, most die outright and only few stay long enough to take a
second.
The twelve shells are a lot more than you might think--it takes... I’d
say about 30-40 seconds to empty all twelve shells. But I wouldn’t mind if
it held more of them due to the decreased damage it does.
Very effective against Bugs. One point blank shot is almost guaranteed
to get rid of one.
//=== Overall: 7/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: well... depends on how you use it. The Shotgun is definitely far
||worse now than it used to be, but it’s still a weapon superior to most
||others.
\\========================================================================
-Pistol
Accuracy: as it now has no scope, pretty bad
Clip size: 12 rounds
Ammo capacity: 48 rounds plus those in the clip
Power: depends; if the power is like Halo’s Pistol, very good against some
enemies
I can’t say much about the Pistol, mainly because I never use it. It’s
been cut down on functions and by doing so, Bungie made me real angry. You
see, the Pistol was among the most useful weapons of Halo and having it
deprived of the scope and the ammo capacity decreased more than three times
made it just a waste of a weapon slot.
If the power of the Pistol is still the same, I can guess that it can
down a Hunter with one shot to one of the weak spots, and kill some enemies
(Grunts, Jackals) with one headshot. But I haven't tested this yet.
The ammo can be depleted so fast in some situations that you won’t
notice how it’ll just disappear. What I mean is, the Pistol can be fired
very fast and seeing that each of the total of five 12-round clips can be
fired in about five seconds, the whole thing can fire for only about 30
seconds before running out of ammo.
//=== Overall: 2/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: the result of the worst messing with a weapon I’ve ever seen,the
||new Pistol is only for those situations where you’re completely out of
||ammo and don’t have any other choice but to use it.
\\========================================================================
-Sniper Rifle
Accuracy: perfect as long as the target’s not moving
Clip size: 4 rounds (???)
Ammo capacity: 20 rounds plus those in the clip
Power: very good with pretty much every enemy except the Flood
The great weapon for people like me who like to stay out of sight and
range while effectively killing the enemy.
The clip size is one of my main complaints. Just four rounds are not
enough if you’re trying to kill some big enemy like one of the most elite
Elites.
One of the best qualities of the Sniper Rifle is that it has,
literally, “side effects”. Even if the bullet doesn’t hit the target but
passes close to it, it does some damage.
The size of the reticle makes it very, very hard to hit anything
without spending a few seconds on aiming. That goes for the occasions when
you might try to take down an Elite with a Sniper Rifle if you meet it at
close quarters. Unless you’re comfortable with the Sniper Rifle at any
range, the Elite will kill you very fast.
Don’t try this on Flood. If you don’t want to waste about ten to
fifteen rounds on a single Flood. After about that long, some Flood will
explode and release a Spore. And that’s more trouble.
When you see some Hunters and you happen to have a Sniper Rifle, aim
for the head. If you don’t hit its neck in the first shot, it’ll throw back
its head and the second shot will hopefully go through the neck. Well, of
course, if the Hunter doesn’t see you, you can aim straight for the orange
spot on the back.
The Sniper Rifle takes down a Bug in one shot, but you’ll have to get
that shot into the Bug in the first place. This will probably work only if
the Drones don’t know that you’re there or if they’re flying toward you
from some far-away place.
This doesn’t necessarily kill a Grunt with one shot anywhere to the
Grunt, so aim for the head. It won’t do to waste two rounds or more on each
Grunt that might be around.
A Sniper Rifle can get rid of an average Guard with two or three
shots. That also goes for the smaller ordinary Elites. Each round jerks an
Elite back and gives you some more time to adjust your aim if necessary.
But if you only have a limited view of the Elite you’re sniping, the shot
might throw it into cover, wasting your round.
Jackals are not very easy to get rid of with a Sniper Rifle. A shot to
the notch in a Jackal’s shield will cause the alien to move the shield to
the side and this gives you room to aim for the head. But this window is
very small and doesn’t usually give you much opportunity to aim properly
before you shoot. A good way to keep a Jackal from getting back behind the
shield is another shot to anywhere to its body (if you have enough ammo to
spare).
I noticed that Sniper Rifle shots are deflected off the armor of
Wraiths and Scorpions. That is very, very, very (!) useful when you have a
Sniper Jackal or a Sniper Rifle-wielding Flood around and you have to fight
another enemy. This allows you to lay off the Sniper until you’ve dealt
with the other foe. Naturally, don't get out of the Wraith or Scorpion.
The melee attack is moderately fast. Just so you know.
//=== Overall: 9/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: the Sniper Rifle is great if sniping is your thing. Although the
||Sniper Rifle is not available in all places, you can usually use it very
||effectively.
\\========================================================================
-Rocket Launcher
Accuracy: good with vehicles; extremely bad with anything else
Clip size: 2 rockets
Ammo capacity: 6 plus those in the clip
Power: very powerful
The Rocket Launcher is now the best weapon for vehicles you can’t get
close to. It has a new ability: homing. When you have an enemy vehicle
within range, just aim at the target, hold the right trigger till it locks
on, and let go. The rocket usually hits the target.
Remember that a rocket is lethal to you. Make sure that you don’t
shoot at anything close to you. Also, don’t pilot vehicles when there are
Rocket Launcher-wielding Flood in the area.
This works on almost everything equal to or bigger than a Ghost. That
includes Sentinel Tanks, Wraiths, Phantom Cannons, and even Phantom
turrets. But as it doesn’t do any damage to Scarabs, the tracking system
doesn’t work on them.
I'll mention it later, but this is more general. There's a hidden oink
when you're dealing with an enemy in a Wraith. If you shoot a rocket at a
Wraith, it hurts the driver. So, you might be able to kill the driver of a
Wraith using rockets.
Watch the ammo. There’s very little of it, and it should be spent only
on the bigger enemies and vehicles. Of course, if there are a lot of
enemies in one place and you’re planning to toss the Rocket Launcher, it’s
kind of irrational to waste ammo from other guns.
When you have a Flood behind the stick of a Wraith, you don’t always
need to jump on top of the Wraith to take it. It sometimes works to shoot
rockets at the Wraith until the driver dies. That will leave the Wraith
slightly battered, but it’s your best option if you don’t have any
grenades.
The Rocket Launcher is your best weapon against Banshees. Two rockets
kill a Banshee, but you need enough cover to hide while you’re shooting at
the Banshee. If it somehow happens that you don’t have enough cover, run
sideways while facing the Banshee and fire the rockets when they’re ready
to be shot.
Don’t give the Rocket Launcher to fellow Elites. They fire it about
every sixty seconds, and that’s not enough.
When you have a Scorpion and a couple of Marines with Rocket
Launchers, you can usually push through anything, like the bridge in
Metropolis.
When you’re around Marines with Rocket Launchers, make sure you stay a
good distance away from them--they usually don’t look where they’re
shooting and tend to blow themselves up, along with you.
If you have some spare rockets and an enemy Phantom nearby, don’t
hesitate to take down its cannons with the rockets. It’ll be easy to do and
will get rid of a few nasty enemy cannons.
Don’t ever try to hit an Elite with a rocket unless it doesn’t know
that you’re there. any Elite will be able to dodge a rocket and kill you in
the process. And you don’t want that.
I've recently tried the Rocket Launcher on a Hunter on Easy difficulty
(it's excruciatingly hard to have a Rocket Launcher while facing a Hunter
on Legendary), and I was impressed. If the power is proportional, then it
would take one or two rockets at most to kill a Hunter on Legendary.
//=== Overall: 6/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: use this only on vehicles and turrets; it doesn’t work on
||anything else.
\\========================================================================
-Machine Gun
Accuracy: very good at medium range
Power: perfect against minor Covenant
The Machine gun is available on the Warthog and the Scorpion. It’s
more or less useful on the Warthog (although you don’t get to use it much),
but the Scorpion Machine Gun... let’s just say that it’s an unnecessary
piece of metal to slow down the tank.
If a Grunt ever gets caught in the reticule of your Warthog Machine
gun reticle, you can be sure that there will be a lot of blue liquid
flying. The Grunts are simple to mow down with the Machine gun, even if
you’re surrounded. If you’re going to dispose of some Grunts, make sure you
do it fast--they tend to hide.
Elites are about as easy to kill with the Machine gun. A few seconds
will do, as long as the Elite doesn’t have any cover. If it does, then
don’t even try to kill it. Concentrate on more accessible targets.
I’ve never tried it on Flood and you probably won’t either, without
going to considerable lengths to get it. As far as the Machine gun on
Scorpions goes, it’s useless. The Cannon is a much better option.
Just for the sake of doing some more completely insignificant damage,
hold down the left trigger while you’re targeting an enemy with the
Scorpion's guns. This won’t make a difference if that enemy is a Flood, and
it certainly won’t matter if it’s a Ghost.
Machine guns exist in the form of turrets, but those are rare.
//=== Overall: 6/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: it’s strange how much the gun in the Warthog is different from
||the one on the Scorpion. When you get to use the Warthog Machine gun,
||especially on infantry, do it.
\\========================================================================
-Frag Grenade
Accuracy: all depends on how you throw it; usually not very good
Power: kills you in one hit; enemies are luckier
The grenade. It doesn’t do nearly as much damage as you might expect
it to (they probably have better grenades now, so it looks like the
grenade-making business has degenerated over five and a half centuries),
but if you get caught in the explosion... well, just don’t get caught in
it.
Frag Grenades don’t give you many clues as to where they’re flying,
but the ones that do exist are: 1) it lights up the surroundings with a
pretty hard-to-see yellow glow, 2) makes a very noticeable sound when it
hits any surface, and 3) if you have a Frag Grenade under your feet and
don’t know it yet, you will soon.
Frag Grenades have short fuses, so count on that if you’re planning to
drop a grenade somewhere nearby. Don’t drop one at your feet and expect to
be able to escape while luring that mob of Flood onto the grenade.
The Frag Grenade can be bounced off walls into convenient places. If
you’re hiding behind a corner while there’s a half-killed Elite on the
other side and your shield doesn’t let you get out there and finish it,
throw a grenade and enjoy.
If you don’t want to waste a Frag Grenade, don’t throw one at some
narrow space where it can easily fall off. It’s very hard to get a Frag
Grenade to go exactly where you want it to go, so throw them only when
there’s something to stop it or enough space to let it bounce around and
still do damage.
Hunters are much more affected by grenades now than they were in Halo.
In fact, when you don’t have a Fuel Rod Cannon, a Brute Shot, or a sniping
weapon while fighting a Hunter, the Frag Grenade is my weapon of choice.
Frag Grenades are also effective on Flood. Throw one at a hoard of
them and watch them standing there, unaware of the grenade. Flood often get
blown apart by Frag Grenades, or they might just die. It’s tougher with
Flood with shields--they’re more resilient.
Don’t use Frag Grenades on anything other than Hunters and Flood
unless you have some to waste--those are the only enemies who don’t jump
out of the way once a Frag Grenade comes into range.
//=== Overall: 7/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: good weapon of mass annoyance. Frag Grenades are more or less
||powerful, but the accuracy has a lot to improve.
\\========================================================================
-Gauss Gun
Accuracy: could be very good if the Warthog’s not moving; otherwise it’s
hard to aim
Power: pretty powerful, especially against minor Covenant
This is installed on some very rare Warthogs. Actually, the only place
where you can use a Gauss Gun (outside multiplayer) is Metropolis, so it’s
like the Scorpion in Halo: available for only a fraction of one level.
Some people say that one shot is lethal to a Ghost. Now you have an
excuse to laugh at them. One shot from the gun is not lethal to a Ghost,
even on Easy.
Try to aim at the base of a vehicle if you’re going to shoot it. If
it’s a Warthog or a Ghost, the gun will probably turn it over, or at least
push it. If it’s a Wraith, there’s more surface area at the bottom, so
you’ll be less likely to miss.
//=== Overall: 9/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: pretty good, but you’re not allowed to use it much.
\\========================================================================
-Cannon
Accuracy: can be very good depending on how it’s aimed
Power: very powerful; possibly the most powerful (legal) weapon in the game
This is installed only on the Scorpion, which is just as well--you get
to use it a lot more than in Halo.
The Cannon’s reticle gets red when pointed at an enemy, but only at a
very limited range. But when it’s not red, you can still use it. What
really surprised me is that the Rocket Launcher miserably loses to the
Cannon when it comes to Banshees. You see, the Rocket Launcher’s range (and
tracking ability) is even more limited than the Cannon’s. But while the
rockets’ slow speed is compensated for by the tracking, the Cannon
projectiles are very fast and are easy to aim. All you need is to be able
to see the target. So that guarantees a few Banshees easily shot down from
far away.
If it’s at all possible to have a Cannon when facing Ghosts, have one.
One shot or so per Ghost and you’re done.
When around Flood, be careful not to get too close. They tend to jump
on top of the tank and sit there, meleeing your shield to pieces. If you’re
unlucky enough to have a Flood on your tank, get out immediately and
confiscate the Scorpion. If you have passengers, it’s made slightly
easier--the Flood will probably start annoying the passengers before it
gets to you. Why am I saying this? Because it’s very important that the
Flood don’t get a hold of your Cannon. If one does and you’re more than ten
meters away, then you’re toast. They’re usually much more accurate with the
Cannon than you can possibly be--I’ve experienced one shooting me out of
the air right in mid-jump.
//=== Overall: 9/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: very powerful and handy to have. If you have a Scorpion nearby,
||take it.
\\========================================================================
Covenant weapons
Covenant weapons are pretty different from human ones. Some are
energy- or plasma-based. Only one works like the old human projectile guns.
Many Covenant guns have human counterparts. Although some overheat, in some
cases it’s better to have an overheatable gun than one that you have to
reload every five to ten seconds. What’s more, if you time your shots from
an overheatable gun properly, you might be able to use it constantly,
without pausing to overheat or reload. Much of the time, I certainly prefer
Covenant guns over the human ones.
-Plasma Rifle
Accuracy: very good at medium range, from long range the shots spread out
and it’s hard to hit anything. But the shots don't really have any set
range, so you can use this on weaker enemies from far away if you have the
ammo
Ammo capacity: 100 units of charge * 4 shots per unit = A LOT of ammo
Power: dual Plasma Rifles are very powerful, but a Plasma Rifle used alone
doesn’t do much damage
I consider this, along with the Carbine, the signature Covenant weapon
of the game.
The Rifle has many advantages, mainly that it’s very, very hard to
empty of its ammo. The original 100 units of charge now last for twice as
long, seeing that every four shots take one unit of charge, and this gives
you twice as much ammo as you did in Halo (where a unit of charge equaled
two shots). It’s pretty powerful, so you can use it to take down enemy
shields before stepping in with a human gun.
If you’re going to use a Plasma Rifle, fire it in short, three second
bursts. That almost guarantees that it won’t overheat. There are two ways
of telling the amount of heat: one is the indicator in the top right-hand
corner of the screen. If you tend to look directly down the Rifle, you
might want to use the indicator built right into the gun. The indicator
takes the form of a circuit-board-like thing/decoration on the side of the
Rifle (towards the front). As the gun picks up heat, the circuit board
starts picking up some color, starting at the front. When the color reaches
the back of the decoration and completely fills it up, the gun starts
dumping the heat. It takes about five seconds and is usually pretty nasty.
Remember that you can dual-wield this gun. Some recommended, or at
least potentially useful, combinations:
-Plasma Rifle-Plasma Rifle--very good in all situations. Two Plasma Rifles
are very nice to have, especially when you’re dealing with Sword Elites and
the smaller Covenant.
-Plasma Rifle-SMG--this is, as I mentioned before, a scary combination. It
affects the enemy ranks more significantly than almost any other weapon.
Almost any type of Covenant goes down after you introduce this combo to
them.
-Plasma Rifle-Plasma Pistol--if you can concentrate on two differently used
guns at once, you might like this. Personally, I can’t make this combo work
for myself because I can’t always manage to think about using these two
guns individually.
Just know that, whatever you do, don’t dual-wield a Needler with a
Plasma Rifle. Needlers take a long time to cause any real damage when
dual-wielded, let alone when you only have one Needler. And one single
Plasma Rifle won’t do much damage either.
When you don’t have a more appropriate weapon (A.K.A. SMGs), use dual
Plasma Rifles to dispose of Bugs. It’s very effective, maybe even more so
than SMGs. The thing that makes it so good against Drones is the range. SMG
bullets only go a very limited distance. Plasma from this gun travels a lot
further and with much more accuracy.
Plasma Rifles exist in two types: the standard Elite type and the
Brute Plasma Rifle. The latter is, of course, used by the Brutes and seems
to be designed to be more ceremonial than for actually fighting. Brute
Plasma Rifles are red and are apparently smaller than the Elite ones.
They’re also much more ineffective--they overheat very easily and lose ammo
about twice as fast.
Dual Plasma Rifles are my preferred weapons for close-up Sentinel
fighting. Really, you can dispose of about three or four before they have a
chance to kill you.
Brutes are very tough and I know that two of them take about fifty
units of charge to get rid of, as proven in Uprising level.
//=== Overall: 9/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: the Plasma Rifle is a very good gun; use it whenever you feel
||you need to, namely when you have Elites, Grunts, Jackals, or Sentinels
||to get rid of, if you don't have something more powerful or effective.
\\========================================================================
-Plasma Pistol
Accuracy: overcharges are pretty accurate at short range, normal shots are
accurate at almost any range
Ammo capacity: 100 units of charge, two shots per unit and about fifteen
units per overcharge
Power: normal shots do very little damage, but overcharges can take down
just about any shield
There are not many positive things I can say about this. Mainly, I
hate this gun:
1) The only dual-wielding combo (that uses a Plasma Pistol) that I can use
is dual Plasma Pistols. But that doesn’t work very well either--as the
normal shots are pretty much trivial, the best option is overcharges.
Because two overcharges waste too much ammo, I want to charge up only one
Pistol. Now, so that the other one doesn’t go to waste, I usually want to
fire it. Here’s another dilemma--it’s hard to fire one Pistol normally
while having to concentrate on the second one, which has to be held and
released. I don’t blame you if you didn’t get this, but just trust me--try
this once and you probably won’t like it.
2) Again, the power. Normal mode shots are very weak; overcharges can take
down about any shield, but they also take down your ammo supply just as
effectively.
Overcharges: big blobs of green plasma that home in on the target.
They’re very effective on shields and sometimes Sentinels, but that’s about
it. If that wasn’t enough, they only home while the target is within range.
If not, the overcharge flies in a straight line and rarely hits anything.
Jackals sometimes use overcharges, especially if you hide for too
long. Be careful around them, or at least don’t get too close. Of course,
always have cover available in case you happen to see a large green thing
flying towards you at an impressive speed.
Bugs with Plasma Pistols are exceptionally nasty. Get caught by a
couple of them in the open without a Plasma Rifle or an SMG, and consider
yourself fried.
I’m not completely sure, but I think that if you shoot the Beam Rifle
out of a Sniper Jackal’s hands, it draws a Plasma Pistol. Not that it’s too
much of a threat, just watch your six for Sniper Jackals that might have
survived.
//=== Overall: 4/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: my personal opinion is that Plasma Pistols are mostly useless
||unless temporarily used to take down some particularly annoying Elite’s
||shield.
\\========================================================================
-Carbine
Accuracy: very good
Clip size: 20 rounds
Ammo capacity: 72 rounds in your pocket plus those in the clip (well, in one
place you get an exception with more than 72 rounds)
Power: perfect for headshots (kills some enemies in one headshot), otherwise
not so good
I think that this is the successor of the late Pistol. The properties
of both are pretty much identical--both have clips, both shoot a round per
shot, both are usually used for sniping, and both are good for headshots.
First of all: headshots. One headshot from the Carbine can take out
Grunts, Jackals, and, most importantly, Brutes. Well, a number of headshots
are needed to kill a Brute, but hey, it’s better than body shots. Also, I
noticed that when you’re targeting a head, or at least an enemy's weak
spot, a tiny red dot (pixel-sized) appears in the center of the reticle.
It’s not much, but can help when you’re trying to execute a Brute or
something from far away.
I can’t honestly say that this is good on Bugs, but it’s better than,
say, the Battle Rifle. Use it if you don’t have anything better.
By the way, don’t get tricked by that red dot when you’re dealing with
a Shielded Jackal. Instead, use your common sense. You should, of course,
realize that if you’re targeting the shield and you see the red dot, the
only thing you’re going to hit is the shield.
There's an extremely handy trick you can use when fighting the Flood
with the Carbine. It's pretty simple: shoot for the chest. The red dot that
appears in the center of the reticle clearly says that that's a weak spot.
It makes sense, really--that's where every Combat Flood's Spore is lodged,
so it only takes one or two shots to kill one.
As most other weapons, the Carbine’s range is not limited to only the
distance at which the reticle becomes red. No, it’s not guaranteed to hit
anything if you’re out of range, but it’s a very good gun either way.
Somehow, it’s very easy to aim even if you’re far away.
Sentinels are pretty easy to down with a Carbine, especially the
unshielded ones. Their Sentinel Beams’ range is limited, so you can
sometimes take a few down from far away without even using cover.
Shielded Jackals are a bit of tough spot with a Carbine. Their only
vulnerability is the notch in their shields, which is not much of a target.
But when you do hit the notch, the Jackal in question will jerk back and
expose itself to more Carbine rounds. Have fun.
Don’t discard the first Carbine you see because of its looks. Yes, I
admit they're ugly, but it’s about the best gun available, so use it.
It takes quite a bit of ammo to down an Elite’s shield. But usually
this is the best choice--it doesn’t pay to get close to any kind of Elite.
After the professional sniping weapons (Beam Rifle, Sniper Rifle), I
think this is the best weapon against Sniper Jackals. For some reason,
Carbine rounds often seem to find the head.
I don’t know how, but Carbines are for practically any range, from
close quarters to very long range.
//=== Overall: 10/10 =====================================================
||Verdict: probably the best weapon in Halo 2, the Carbine deserves a round
||of applause and very frequent use.
\\========================================================================
-Needler
Accuracy: depends on the range and whether the enemy is moving much;
ranges anywhere from zero to perfect
Clip size: 30 rounds
Ammo capacity: 90 rounds plus those in the clip
Power: individual needles do almost no damage; combined, they produce a
large and powerful explosion
Well, Needlers are not always my choice, but having a gun that can
detonate an enemy with half the force of a Plasma Grenade is useful.
Needlers have odd range issues. There is a certain range (pretty
close) where the needles home almost perfectly. Then follows medium range,
where enemies can easily dodge the needles. After that follows semi-long
range, at which range the needles home very well also (if enemies are
standing far enough away, they won’t dodge the needles as much). Notice
that as long as the reticle is pointing in the general direction of the
enemy, the needles will home even if the target’s out of range.
It takes about six needles to start a big explosion. That severely
hurts most enemies. It’s even better with friendly Elites who carry dual
Needlers--they can fire incessantly, which causes some big damage.
Try not to use Needlers against fast enemies. They can easily dodge
the needles and then make you see your mistake. A list of enemies needles
do work on: Grunts, Elites, berserk Brutes that are running at you, Brutes
that don’t know that you’re there, sometimes Sentinels, and I think it
works on Flood--the latter don't realize that needles are a health hazard
and run at you no matter what.
The only way I suggest you use Needlers is dual-wielding. A Needler
alone doesn’t do that much damage and it takes twice as long to start an
explosion as the dual Needlers could. Besides, two Needlers can let you
collectively store twice as much ammo as one Needler.
Needles seem to bounce off vehicles, or at least if the vehicle is
shot at head on. Try to avoid doing that.
Note that if you’re shooting at an enemy at point-blank range (and I
mean point blank; you have to be almost in contact with the enemy), your
own needles could do damage to you. Well, I’m not implying that this
happens that often; personally, I usually don’t live long enough to get
that close to an enemy.
If you’re hiding behind a corner, still be careful when an enemy is
firing needles at where you were a few seconds ago. The needles usually
seem to be shot at an angle that will have them ricochet back at you.
Sometimes, an occasional needle might still have its homing ability after
bouncing off the wall. I suggest you hide behind a second corner if
possible.
The melee attack is less vicious-looking this time, but it’s still
accompanied by the weird swinging noise.
The crystalline spikes on the top of a Needler are the indicator of
the ammo you have left, kind of like the circuit board thing on a Plasma
Rifle. The more the spikes are sticking out, the more ammo you have in the
clip. If you have some ammo, as you shoot the needles slowly retract into
the gun. The reloading time is very short, just wait for Master
Chief/Arbiter to tip the gun forward and stick out some more needles.
//=== Overall: 5/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: normally useless, though it’s good in some situations, say when
||a Brute is charging at you. It’s handy for disposing of tough enemies who
||happen to be close.
\\========================================================================
-Fuel Rod Cannon
Accuracy: depends on the distance; the slow projectiles are hard to aim at
long range
Clip size: five rounds
Ammo capacity: 25 fuel rods, plus those in the clip
Power: very powerful
Now, finally, you get to have a hand-held Fuel Rod Cannon
(YAAAAHOOOOO!!!). It’s still carried mostly by Grunts, but you can give it
to other allies.
Well, don’t get me wrong, Fuel Rod Cannons exist in four types:
Hand-held Fuel Rod Cannon- this is the type that’s carried by Grunts. The
projectiles are relatively slow and have a hard time hitting anything
faster than a Hunter from long range. Actually, a Grunt with a Fuel Rod
Cannon can sometimes be more dangerous than a Hunter--the often
catastrophic splash damage can make cover useless.
Hunter Fuel Rod Cannon- this is carried by Hunters, so you can’t use it.
This particular kind fires a two-second-long stream of plasma, which can
easily kill the Chief if he’s exposed to more than half of it. Hunters are
very accurate with it; take cover if you ever see a Hunter.
Prophet-Hunter Fuel Rod Cannon- long name, isn’t it? This breed is pretty
much identical to the Hunter Fuel Rod (right down to the sound), but is
installed on the Prophets’ hovercraft and the plasma is, for some reason,
orange. Because of the color, some people call these Flamethrowers. I don’t
know. Maybe it was intended to be a flamethrower. But I would’ve thought
the Covenant were above using something as primitive as flamethrowers. The
only place where you have to experience this gun is Regret level.
Banshee Fuel Rod Cannon- the Fuel Rod Cannons installed on Banshees are the
only type of Fuel Rod that’s identical to the one in Halo. In the on-screen
manual (those directions that sometimes appear in the center of the
screen), it’s referred to as the “Banshee bomb”. Well, this kind is a large
projectile of plasma that can destroy just about anything. It’s even
accompanied by the old Fuel Rod Cannon sound from Halo--I mean that
smashing-glass sound.
Hunters just happen to be very affected by Fuel Rod Cannon fire. I’ve
seen a single Fuel Rod shot kill a Hunter, though I’m pretty sure that the
Hunter was previously damaged. It’s kind of hard to test this, as you don’t
get to see many Hunters on Legendary while having a Fuel Rod Cannon. If you
want to test this, you can go to Gravemind level and check.
The Fuel Rods on Banshees are very powerful too. Shoot one at a Ghost
and see (a good place with a few Banshees and many, many Ghosts is the
bridge at the start of Metropolis. You can jack a Banshee just as you pass
the first Wraith (look in Secrets section)).
Not that you get to use Banshees a lot, but no more than a couple of
shots at an enemy Banshee can lay it down for good.
The projectiles on the hand-held Fuel Rod Cannon are very slow, so
take the enemy movement into account when you’re going to shoot something
far away.
So far I haven’t found anything that’s completely immune to the Fuel
Rod Cannon, except Regret and his shield.
If you don’t know this, Fuel Rod Cannons have scopes. That helps
slightly when you’re trying to go for long distance.
Note that due to the very fast firing rate, you can put out a whole
clip in a few seconds. Very useful when you need to apply a number of
rounds into a target as fast as possible.
//=== Overall: 8/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: well, I would call the hand-held Fuel Rod Cannon the heavy gun
||of the day in the legal hand-held gun category. The ammo is well above
||the Rocket Launcher’s and Fuel Rod Cannons are available slightly more
||often than Scorpion Cannons. Still, I wouldn’t mind more ammo and
||projectile speed.
\\========================================================================
-Beam Rifle
Accuracy: about the same as the Sniper Rifle--potentially perfect
Ammo capacity: 100 units of charge; about 6 units per shot. That’s 17 shots
at most
Power: headshots usually mean instantaneous death
This is about the same as the Sniper Rifle, so I’ll be brief, although
it does have some advantages over the latter.
Big advantage: no clips. That means that all the ammo is loaded and
ready to go, so, provided you don’t overheat, it’s possible to fire
constantly until the charge runs out.
I’ll assume that you’ll always be using the scope when using the Beam
Rifle. Look at one of the edges of the scope (I’m not sure which; I think
it’s the right). There, you’ll see the heat meter. When you fire one shot,
the meter will rise considerably. The second shot, if fired less than a
second after the first, will bring it over the top and the gun will start
dumping the heat. So, try not to get it overheated at the second shot
unless the target is going to die of two shots.
Elites get visibly shocked by Beam Rifle shots, so once you hit it
once, you’ll have time to adjust your aim to shoot the Elite a second time.
The same goes for Jackals once you hit the notch in one’s shield, but the
window is considerably smaller than the one with Elites.
The reticle is even less noticeable than the one of the Sniper Rifle
(about two pixels). That makes it even harder to shoot at close range.
That, and the slightly lessened ammo capacity, is about the only thing it
has that’s worse than the Sniper Rifle.
Like the Sniper Rifle, the Beam Rifle rounds can go through more than
one enemy. That way, you can get rid of two small enemies (Grunts, perhaps
Jackals) with only one shot.
Combat Flood are very hard to kill with the Beam Rifle. It takes
somewhere around the entire stock of a Beam Rifle’s ammo to kill one. And
after get enough shots into the Flood, they sometimes explode and release a
Spore. Don’t use the Beam Rifle unless you have too many Beam Rifles or no
choice.
Wraiths are immune to Beam and Sniper Rifles. The rounds just bounce
off the hull. This is useful when dealing with Sniper Jackals.
//=== Overall: 9/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: Beam Rifles are usually more effective (not to mention much less
||rare) than Sniper Rifles. They’re usually my preferred sniping weapons.
\\========================================================================
-Energy Sword
Accuracy: the uppercut can get you across a short distance way faster than
you could walk it; otherwise you hit whatever gets near the blade
Ammo capacity: a maximum of 100 units of charge. Different amounts of this
are spent, depending on the enemy
Power: one hit is not lethal to most enemies, but it does take away a lot of
health
This is the dream of any Halo fanatic. And finally you have it. The
Energy Sword is a close-range killing machine preferred by some of the
higher-ranked Elites and, of course, me.
There’s a trick to using the Sword, which is its uppercut attack. Not
only is it powerful and looks cool, it can also have the character fly
across a couple of meters much faster than the speed you could get there at
without it. The uppercut is simple to use, really. Get the reticle on an
enemy and start moving toward the enemy until the reticle becomes red. When
it does, squeeze the right trigger. You’ll automatically pull up next to
the enemy and hit it with an actual uppercut attack, which seems to be more
powerful than your normal swing of the Sword. Be careful when you’re
performing an uppercut because it has a tendency of leaving you disoriented
for a second. It’s sometimes an issue when you’re surrounded. Also, don’t
use this on enemies in turrets. For some reason I don’t know yet, you can
miss many times in a row even if you’re standing right next to the turret.
There’s a weird and, in my opinion, rather useless feature known as
Sword canceling. I can’t fathom what practical use this has, but it’s kind
of amusing anyway. When in the middle of the swing, press X to cancel it.
To see this properly, start repeatedly pressing the right trigger and at
the same time mashing X into the controller. The result: the character
swings the Sword at at least twice the normal rate, but it doesn’t do any
damage.
Flood don’t take much ammo, which is very good, considering the
numbers they tend to come in. Flood corpses (as they’re technically all
corpses anyway, I’ll point out that I’m talking about the ones lying on the
ground, not the ones that can still walk) take very little ammo to destroy,
which is why I recommend you destroy them before a Spore settles into the
Flood. Why I’m telling you this is that live Flood with Spores inside them
take more ammo to kill than the bodies on the ground. There are some more
dos and don’ts of this in the Flood part of my Enemies section.
Don’t get in the way of an enemy Sword just because you figured that
as your Sword can’t always kill an enemy in one blow, theirs won’t either.
One hit of the Sword is normally lethal to you.
Most Flood are killed by a single Sword hit, but that’s not true of
all Flood. Some are shielded and some are just so tough that it takes more
than one swing. A big advantage of the Sword when it comes to fighting
Flood is that it gives you two options: either die or blow the Flood apart.
It always destroys the Flood and takes away some future Spore’s chance to
use the body.
Energy Sword ammo is spent only when the Sword kills an enemy. If you
hit one but don't kill it, the ammo is unaffected. I don't use this, but
you could theoretically use the Sword without wasting ammo by weakening
enemies with it first and then finishing them off with other guns.
//=== Overall: 10/10 =====================================================
||Verdict: as perfect as a melee weapon could get; it’s my preferred weapon
||when I need to fight at close range.
\\========================================================================
-Brute Shot
Accuracy: horrible
Clip size: four rounds
Ammo capacity: 12 grenades plus those in the clip
Power: barely acceptable
This is a kind of a grenade launcher carried by some Brutes. It’s okay
for getting rid of some enemies, but the accuracy is, well, atrocious.
Brute shots are not very powerful, yet I grudgingly admit that they
have some rare advantages. For example, the grenades can bounce off walls
and even if you miss in some narrow space, the grenade could bounce at the
enemies you missed.
Back to the accuracy. I’m not kidding when I say that you could miss
even when the gun is sticking straight into the face of an enemy. I don’t
know how it could possibly be this inaccurate.
Never shoot this at a flying enemy. That’s a waste of your ammo (the
rounds have some drop on them) and what’s more, it gets their attention if
you’re hiding.
The clip size and even the overall ammo capacity are way too small for
comfort. That, and the difficulty of actually having all sixteen rounds on
you at one time, amount to another significant drop in prestige.
The melee attack is one of the few advantages. I think it’s about as
powerful as a hit with an Energy Sword. At least there’s something good
about it.
The when the grenades explode, it pushes things, which you can use to
your advantage. Get the Sputnik and you’ll be throwing enemies overboard on
a regular basis.
If you’re ever fighting a Brute, know that it takes four grenades or
more to take it down. Miss one and I suggest you empty the rest, then
proceed to use another gun on the Brute.
The splash damage is pretty wide, so keep your distance when you’re
shooting at an enemy.
//=== Overall: 3/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: good only for its melee attack.
\\========================================================================
-Wraith Mortar
Accuracy: very bad
Power: good, which compensates for the accuracy; Mortar rounds tend to throw
things
Mortars are only installed on Wraiths. It’s a good thing that they’re
not very common because enemies can be much more accurate with these than
it’s possible to be for an actual person.
The rapid firing rate is one of the two advantages over the Scorpion’s
Cannon. You can fire about two Mortar shells in the time it takes to fire
one Cannon round.
The second advantage is that it’s an indirect-fire weapon. That allows
you to fire over obstacles. But again, it’s very hard to aim, especially
due to the very limited range of vision.
More about the range of vision: this is a real pain. It doesn’t allow
any close-range fighting because the shells just go over the target and
there’s no way you can stop that. The best thing to do is to use Scorpions
whenever you can, or just limit the Mortar use to long-range jobs.
The massive splash damage often throws vehicles. Use that to knock
them off cliffs or at least to deprive the driver of his vehicle.
//=== Overall: 5/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: the inaccuracy and limited range of vision are about the only
||disadvantages of the Mortar, but they’re enough to bring it crashing down
||to the murky depths of my least-used-gun list, next to the Brute Shot,
||the Plasma Pistol, and the Scorpion Machine gun.
\\========================================================================
-Plasma Cannon
Accuracy: depends on the kind of Plasma Cannon you use, but all are pretty
accurate
Power: some are powerful, some are not
These are very similar to Plasma Rifles. They come in three types:
Dual Plasma Cannons (Wraiths, Ghosts, Banshees)- these are about the
equivalent of two Plasma Rifles put side-by-side on a vehicle, although
they don’t overheat or have any ammo limit.
Spectre Plasma Cannon/Spectre turret- this is very different from a Plasma
Rifle or the other vehicle-mounted Plasma Cannons--there is only one gun on
each Spectre instead of two. This is very weak, but it’s also very accurate
at long range, as long as you can aim properly--I mean that the shots don’t
spread out that much, if at all. It also makes a somehow imposing noise.
Portable Plasma Cannon- this kind is very small (seeing that a Grunt can
carry it and set it up). It’s usually operated by Gunner Grunts, but
sometimes an Elite, or even you, may man one of these. This is like a
Plasma Cannon taken off a Ghost or Banshee--it makes the characteristic
Plasma Rifle noise and the shots look like Plasma Rifle shots. The gun
itself even looks kind of like a Plasma Rifle. These are very weak--a
couple of melee attacks at most are enough to break one down. If you want
to prevent some future Grunt from using a certain Plasma Cannon against you
from behind, I suggest you disable it with those melee attacks. Also, if
you need a couple of shots to finish off a particularly insistent Elite,
feel free to use this for a couple of seconds--the Elite in question won’t
let you use it longer. And, if you don’t want to dispose of some other
half-dead small enemy and don’t feel like using your ammo, this is a
possibility.
//=== Overall: Ghost, Banshee, Wraith-8/10; Spectre-6/10; Portable-6/10 ==
||Verdict: the Plasma Cannons on Wraiths, Ghosts, and Banshees are pretty
||good against everything; the Plasma Cannon on Spectres are fine for
||certain tasks; Portable Plasma Cannons are okay for certain things like
||short-term disposal of small enemies. Again, Plasma Cannons on vehicles
||are especially effective.
\\========================================================================
-Phantom Cannon
Accuracy: relatively good, if the target is not moving too fast
Power: works very good on you, otherwise I think it’s fine
Phantom Cannons come in three breeds:
Actual Phantom Cannon- these are actually installed on Phantoms. When I
happen to see one, the word “incinerator” inevitably boards my normally
Halo 2-orientedted train of thought. Look at the burned surroundings near
a place where a Phantom saw an enemy--you’ll see why. The contrast of this
gun on Easy and Legendary is phenomenal. On Easy, it does practically no
damage. On Legendary, you have to be exposed to it for just a couple of
seconds before you buy it.
Phantom turret- this is a turret that fires projectiles similar to the
Phantom Cannons. Not that this is the worst weapon in existence, but if I
have to resort to using it, I can honestly say I’ve seen better times. It’s
a lot more powerful than the Portable Plasma Cannon (not to mention that it
can turn 360 degrees), but the projectiles are slow and are not fired very
fast. An advantage this has over the other turrets is that it has a shield
in front of it protecting the gunner.
Shadow Phantom turret- this is a Phantom turret installed on top of a
Shadow. It works in about the same way as the Phantom turret, but with only
one slight quirk--there is only one place where you actually get to use it,
and you have to kill off the enemies near the Shadow to use it, so there
won’t be any fun in shooting the walls just for the sake of taking the
opportunity to use this particular gun.
//=== Overall: Phantom-5/10; turret-4/10; Shadow turret-5/10 =============
||Verdict: not the best nor worst weapon, but if I have a chance to use
||anything else, I’ll happily take it.
\\========================================================================
-Scarab Cannon
Accuracy: very good even at long range
Power: awesome
I really shouldn’t be mentioning it due to it being a well-kept
secret, but I just couldn’t resist as I’ve just recently gotten it. If you
want it, you’ll have to visit the Secrets section of the guide and find out
how to find it.
To escape some unnecessary question marks and head-scratching: I’m not
talking about the big contraption on Scarabs. I’m talking about a genuine,
hand-held Scarab Cannon. I’ve rated the “most powerful-ness” of the other
guns independently from this gun because it’s, again, secret (by the way, I
didn’t tell you this). Another reason is that the other guns are really no
match for this monster.
The Scarab Cannon, for one thing, fires rounds equal in power to a
Cannon shot. And it does it every half-second. That means an obliterated
Wraith or any other vehicle, you name it, in two seconds or less.
Another thing is that the Scarab Cannon has infinite ammo and never
overheats. That allows you to pulverize huge areas in seconds. Just be
careful not to become epileptic.
The splash damage can be very damaging (to you) if, say, you shoot a
Ghost speeding toward your person. The splash damage itself is kind of
weird--apparently it starts in the center of the explosion and spreads
outward until it suddenly stops. That way, there’s a fixed distance at
which you can fire and a certain distance at which you can’t.
//=== Overall: 11/10 =====================================================
||Verdict: without a doubt the best weapon in existence, and if it’s not,
||then it’s certainly by far the most powerful.
\\========================================================================
-Plasma Grenade
Accuracy: depends solely on the person who throws it
Power: powerful
This is the Covenant version of the Frag Grenade. Just about the only
advantage it has over the Frag is the fact that it sticks to any enemy (or
friend) it hits.
If you want to avoid any accidents while throwing Plasma Grenades
(when you suddenly experience a sizzling blue object somewhere on your
person), remember that a Plasma Grenade’s ability to stick doesn’t
disappear once it hits a surface. It stops only once the grenade has
settled. So don’t throw a Plasma Grenade at the ceiling, or you can expect
a resounding and slightly blue death.
Plasma Grenades kill most enemies in one explosion. Grunts go down
like flies; Elites are slightly tougher, but anything weaker than a Gold
Elite will die after a Plasma Grenade explodes on it. Gold and Silver
Elites can take slightly more to finally buy it.
Hunters are more or less affected by grenades now, or at least it
makes them pour their orange... stuff... onto the surroundings. Stick about
six or seven Plasma Grenades onto a Hunter and hopefully it’ll die. Now you
have to worry about the second one. Nice going.
Don’t try Plasma Grenades on Bugs or anything else that flies. They
can easily dodge them and then start annoying you with whatever they have.
//=== Overall: 9/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: very good, but it could do with a shorter fuse. Well, I guess
||Bungie didn’t want to make it too perfect.
\\========================================================================
Sentinel weapons
These are only installed on Sentinels and Sentinel Tanks. They’re
mostly weak (against anything other than yourself) and are pretty rare. You
can actually use only one, and it’s one of the weakest, so I usually
consider them not worth bothering with. It's a wonder how Sentinels
actually manage to qualify as enemies with weapons this weak. Well, I guess
that's because all the damage enemies do to you is amplified.
-Sentinel Beam
Accuracy: relatively good
Power: bad. Very bad
This is the one you can use. Frankly, I suggest you use these only if
you’re cornered by a Sentinel Tank, a couple of Wraiths, and enemy Ghost,
and several Flood, with no weapons nearby.
This piece of Flintstonian technology (probably Fred's cigarette
lighter) is really a piece of trash used to make the game look more
interesting. My main complaints: practically nonexistent ammo which drains
remarkably fast, and the fact that Sentinel Beams overheat after about
three seconds of use.
Sentinel Beams exist in two types: normal Sentinel Beams and Gold
Sentinel Beams. I think the normal kind is carried by the most ordinary
Sentinels (steel-colored and no shield) and the Gold kind seems to be
wielded by every other type of Sentinel. Or maybe the type of the Beam
depends directly on the color of the Sentinel carrying it.
I know it once helped me finish off a certain stubborn Sentinel Tank
that refused to submit to the human guns that were all that was available
at the time. That’s about it. Sentinel Beams work properly only on
Sentinels and Sentinel Tanks.
//=== Overall: 2/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: take it if you don’t have anything else; if you do have
||something else, glare at the Sentinel Beam and walk away.
\\========================================================================
-Sentinel Tank artillery
Accuracy: apparently, pretty good
Power: powerful on Legendary
This is a kind of ballistic weapon used by Sentinel Tanks on just
about everything. It’s basically a long stream of bombs that are fired in
an arc at the target. They’re very effective against you on Legendary, so
find cover from any Sentinel Tanks that might be in the vicinity.
//=== Overall: 2/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: would have been good if only you could actually use it...
\\========================================================================
-Sentinel Tank Needler
Accuracy: none if you manage to find cover in time; otherwise the massive
numbers of needles make this weapon hard to avoid
Power: weaker than the Covenant Needler, and combining the needles doesn’t
start an explosion
Sentinel Tanks use this on minor targets. It’s basically very small
red needles that stick to whatever they hit. The damage is minimal, and as
you usually have good cover when fighting Sentinel Tanks, this is an easy
weapon to avoid.
//=== Overall: 1/10 ======================================================
||Verdict: wouldn’t use it even if I could.
\\========================================================================
OOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO OOO
OOO OOO
OO OO OOO
O OO OOO
OOO
OOOOO OOO
OOOOOOOOOOO
_______________________[ 6. Enemies]______________________________________
"Great spirits have always faced violent opposition from mediocrities."
-Albert Einstein
One thing you have to remember: every race is every other race’s
enemy. If there are two races that have sore feelings at each other in one
place, wait for them to finish deciding whose bad feelings are the
strongest, and then come out and deal with the winner. Sit fights out if
you can so that you don’t have to waste your own nerves and ammo.
Covenant
These come in different shapes and sizes, and all of them will do
everything within their power to kill you and everything else they don’t
like. The Covenant are very numerous in Halo 2, but you don’t always have
to fight them. One more thing... I’ll make this sound smart: every life
form with a Covenant origin and an ability to speak English often employs
psychological warfare tactics. Now in actual English: they never skip an
opportunity to call you names. Oh, well, at least they do it in a somewhat
lame way. For example, Elites will sometimes call you a “cur” and Grunts
tend to imply that you should be scared. You can put in some earplugs,
which should help you concentrate on the game.
-Elites
Introducing... your main Covenant enemy. When they’re fighting on your
side, they’re pretty helpful (unlike those Marines). When they’re fighting
against you, there will be some serious sweating to do.
Elites exist in a number of types, in the approximate order of
toughness:
Blue Elites- these are the weakest Elites (which doesn’t mean that they’re
weak--quite the opposite). They, like any other kind of Elite, can carry an
array of weapons (again, many more than Marines), which can really help
when you need some diversity in what your allies are doing. Generally, an
average Blue Elite goes down after two shots of so from a Beam- or Sniper
Rifle. This breed can be more or less easily killed with a Carbine,
assuming that the Elite doesn’t have cover.
Jet Pack Elites- this type of Elite always carries dual Plasma Rifle and can
fly (sort of the Covenant counterpart of the Heretic Leader). They’re a
serious health hazard, especially when met up close. The dual Plasma Rifles
can kill you in a matter of seconds. Your best hope is to keep your
distance and use some sniping weapon (even a Carbine or Battle Rifle if
necessary) to take them down from that distance. Just never get trapped by
a Jet Pack Elite in some hole in the wall because they can usually find
some kind of way to get to you without too much risk to themselves. Jet
Pack Elites can be considered the nastiest Elite type out there.
Red Elites- slightly more annoying than their Blue comrades. The sniping
numbers are about the same--two or three shots to kill. Red Elites are
relatively easy targets, although just a bit harder to kill than Blue
Elites.
Honor Guards- they’re about equal to Red Elites, only they’re dressed in
exceedingly ornate orange armor (some are dressed in silver). They guard
the Prophets, so you won’t see them much.
Heretic Elites- they look distinctly technological, with wires and cables
coming out of their armor. They seem to have wing-like things on their
backs, although the only one I’ve seen fly is the Heretic Leader, and he
didn’t use wings. Otherwise they’re pretty much the same as Blue or Red
Elites.
Invisible Elites- these Elites are equipped with a full-time Active Camo.
Now they unfortunately have shields, so that makes them still harder to
hurt. They’re usually visible as a blur in the air (a la Predator), but
that depends on the lighting and the background color. Sometimes, an
Invisible Elite can be really invisible, which occasionally allows them to
sneak up on you, though that doesn’t happen often. Also, some have only
temporary Active Camo, like the Arbiter, only longer. They activate that at
points where they were programmed to do so, thereby letting you have the
advantage of knowing in advance if there are any hostile Invisible Elites
nearby. Sometimes they carry Energy Swords. Kind of irrational, isn’t it,
to arm an Invisible Elite with an extremely visible Sword, which paints a
big bull’s-eye on the Elite.
Gold Elites- these are no longer the main character in any sane gamer’s
nightmares, although I still wouldn’t want to come within a mile of a Gold
Elite. They’re killable with some smart strategy and an overwhelming amount
of luck. You can take on a Gold Elite with just an SMG and a Plasma Rifle
(as long as it’s carrying an Energy Sword), although I prefer to get rid of
threats like this from a distance with some big gun. If the Elite is not
carrying an Energy Sword, then you have two options: use the aforementioned
big gun, or try to precision-throw a Plasma Grenade at it. Either way,
you’re risking being slaughtered by said Elite, so be careful.
Silver Elites- well, these are taking the place of the Gold Elites in Halo.
Silver Elites are ridiculously strong. I once emptied two whole SMG clips
at a Silver Elite, point blank, and it still took a melee attack or two
before I put it out of its misery with some more SMG fire. Possibly that
was an anomaly or some glitch, but nevertheless it happened. Sniper Rifles
don’t work because the Elite will easily survive all four rounds with some
shield left over, and then find cover while you’re reloading. Beam Rifles
give you slightly more hope because you don’t have to reload. Certainly
don’t even try anything Carbine-like or weaker. If you can sneak up on an
enemy White Elite, you can toss it a Plasma Grenade, or just melee it in
the back. I noticed that some Silver Elite seems to accompany the Arbiter
in all the easy parts, and he seems to be the Elite counterpart of the
Sarge--always invincible and usually carrying powerful weapons. Also,
Silver Elites seem to be the only Elites who can carry more than one
weapon. That is, once you do enough damage to an enemy Silver Elite, it
sometimes drops its gun and takes out an Energy Sword.
Elites can pilot just about everything, and in most cases you can
extract the Elite from the vehicle it’s piloting and then use the vehicle
to kill off the Elite. It’s usually not very easy due to the necessity to
get close to the vehicle in the first place. But take advantage of this
whenever you can.
Elites are tough. They often find cover and repair any damage done to
their shield, even if you manage to do some.
Elites can dual-wield guns, but be careful when trading with those
rare Elites--once you take two dual-wielded guns from an Elite, you can’t
get it to hold two guns again. It’ll have to do with one. I suggest you
just avoid swapping weapons with those Elites unless you, for some reason,
have no choice.
They can use any gun, but try not to give them a Rocket Launcher or a
Fuel Rod Cannon. They very rarely fire them and usually have to do with
melee attacks. On the other hand, they’re remarkably effective once armed
with Energy Swords. If there are some Swords lying around and there are
some ground enemies nearby (especially Flood), don’t hesitate to arm your
Elites with Swords.
If, on Legendary, you find yourself mandible-to-mandible with an enemy
Elite, you can consider yourself dead--their melee attacks are so powerful
that they can put down your shield and usually kill you with one hit.
-Grunts
Grunts never fail to remind me of some small dogs that run at every
casualty. To quote my description of them in my Halo guide: “These aliens
are small, short, stupid, dog-like, suicidal,” and about the weakest
enemies you get to face.
Use their tendency to run away after a comrade is killed to your
advantage. That gives you time to concentrate on bigger, or at least more
annoying, enemies, or at least shoot the Grunts in the back. It can help
you out when you’re in a tough spot. Also, remember that they don’t run
forever. Sometimes they gather some of their almost nonexistent courage
back and start shooting at you. Keep an eye out for that.
Grunts, like your average enemy, come in several types:
Yellow Grunts- they’re the weakest Grunts out there but can still be a pain.
I think they only carry Plasma Pistols, but that doesn’t necessarily make
them a small threat. A couple of shots can destroy your shield. Well, at
least they don’t fire overcharges.
Red Grunts- they’re slightly tougher than yellow Grunts, and they seem to
sometimes carry Needlers. All Grunts are equally cowards, so expect them to
run away like any other type of Grunt.
Gunner Grunts- these have green armor and operate Portable Plasma Cannons.
What’s surprising is that a Gunner Grunt can actually carry and set up its
own Plasma Cannon. Note, though, that if you dispose of a Grunt if it
hasn’t set up its Cannon, the gun will fall on the ground and there’s
nothing you can do to set it up again. Gunner Grunts have a definite
weakness, and that’s the fact that when one is sitting at its Plasma
Cannon, you’re usually free to get rid of it from behind. Well, it’s not
that simple because if the Grunt realizes that its Cannon can only turn
about 150 degrees, it gets out from behind the Cannon and starts using its
own personal gun, which seems to always be a Plasma Pistol.
Heretic Grunts- they look very different from Covenant Grunts because of
the two bluish tanks on their backs instead of that weird and functionless
ridge on their Covenant cousins, but are still about the same. Heretic
Grunts carry Needlers, which is kind of annoying--whenever you meet this
kind of Grunts, your Covenant comrades always carry the weaker Plasma
Pistols. But look on the bright side--you can always arm your own friends
with dead heretics’ Needlers.
Black Grunts- I’m not sure if they even exist, but I think they do. If I’m
right, they can carry Fuel Rod Cannons, Plasma Pistols, and Needlers, and
are pretty annoying. Again, there’s a bright side, which is that without
them you wouldn’t have any of the hand-held Fuel Rods.
Grunts also usually have Plasma Grenades, which can, with some help
from you, backfire on that Grunt's side. For example, when a Grunt is
getting ready to throw a grenade and you manage to kill it at that precise
moment, the Grunt will drop the grenade, so it will stay where it was, in
that case near the late Grunt. If there were any enemies near the alien,
they might get killed or at least wounded by the explosion. Another thing
about them throwing the grenades--the distance a Grunt throws a grenade
depends on how far trough the process it was when you killed it. In other
words, if you kill it at one point, it’s going to have just enough strength
to throw it a certain distance. If you kill it slightly later, then it’s
going to have more strength, thereby throwing the Plasma Grenade further.
Who knows, maybe you can get lucky enough to get the grenade onto some
Elite standing in front of the Grunt.
-Jackals
Jackals are rat-like Covenant that tend to be a big annoyance. There
are a couple of types:
Shielded Jackals- technically, these are two types, but as you don’t meet
them often I decided to merge them. They’re Jackals with shields that
always carry Plasma Pistols. Their shields indicate how strong they are, in
this case the green-shielded Jackals are weaker than the ones with yellow
shields. A good way to kill them is to either snipe the notch in a Jackal’s
shield through which it’s shooting, or use a melee attack to make it lower
its shield, opening it up to more melee attacks or bullets. My preferred
method is to use a sniping weapon (preferably the Carbine or Battle Rifle
because they have more ammo than the Sniper or Beam Rifle) to shoot at the
notch, then take the second I get to aim and shoot the exposed Jackal
somewhere in the general head area. Even if the round doesn’t hit, the
Jackals should once again lower the shield, which gives more time to aim.
Sniper Jackals- this type is extremely annoying because, for some reason,
they usually see you long before you see them. That, and one single Beam
Rifle shot being fatal to you on Legendary, contributes to them being one
of your worst enemies. Discovering them is a trial-and-error thing, when
you go into an area and die enough to know where the shot came from. Then
it’s just having the luck to be able to successfully get rid of that
Sniper. A single Sniper Jackal can take quite a while to find. Just be
patient and look for it. By the way, they don’t have shields, so if you
somehow manage to catch one off-guard, you’ll be able to give it a headshot
no matter what the angle. And in case you don’t know, you can shoot the
Beam Rifle out of a Sniper’s hands. If you do, it’ll draw its Plasma
Pistol. But well, they’re not much of a threat without a Beam Rifle. It
also helps that they often carry Plasma Grenades. Let me know if you know
for sure exactly why they have them.
If you want to dispose of some closely grouped Jackals with a Plasma
Grenade, make sure you don’t throw the grenade at a Jackal’s shield. That
way, it bounces off and is usually wasted. Worst case scenario: the grenade
bounces off the shield and lands right next to where it started, maybe on
you. Try to throw grenades at Shielded Jackals’ feet so that they can’t
bounce back. Not that it changes much, as Jackals normally jump away at the
last possible moment.
Unfortunately, you only get one or two friendly Jackals during the
entire game, and that’s at the beginning of Sacred Icon, where the
Sentinels usually kill the Jackals.
If you can, try to confine Jackals to small spaces so that you can
either melee them constantly or just throw a grenade and watch them trying
to get out, which will hopefully be impossible because of the size of the
space. A good place to try this out is Metropolis level. When you enter the
underground highway, you’ll pass through the first half-closed blast door.
You’ll have to fight through a section of the highway, then pass another
blast door, and go into the sewers. Just before that second door, get onto
the walkway on the right side of the road. You’ll notice that there’s a
large rectangular prism/box on that walkway, forming a passage with the
wall. Now you can lure enemies in there, not necessarily Jackals, and throw
as many grenades at you want. I suggest you not do this on Legendary
because you’ll be quickly overwhelmed.
If you could have more Jackals on your side, I would have recommended
to give them Carbines. Otherwise, I suggest you leave the only friendly
Jackals you get with their original guns.
-Drones
I have several names for them (Bugs, Flying Pain in the Fanny,
insects, and so on), but they’re essentially insect Covenant that fly
around and annoy their enemies with their guns.
Try to take Bugs out from a distance because I personally need a
miracle to survive a close-range encounter with more than two or three of
them. They fly in packs and are very hard to hit, which takes a lot of ammo
and nerves. If you happen to have an immortal ally close by, stand aside
and let that ally deal with the Bugs. I think the only place where you can
actually do this is in the half-ruined building at the beginning of
Outskirts level.
Again, Bugs are very hard to hit. If you’re trying to get rid of a
swarm of them using a Battle Rifle, you probably don’t stand a chance.
From a distance, they’re pretty easy to hit because they’re usually
flying straight at you, which gives you an almost stationary target. Use
those rare moments to shoot them with some powerful sniping weapon, Beam
Rifle being the best option. This can be done on Delta Halo. When you clear
the big swampy place, you’ll pass through a canyon and emerge onto a rock
ledge, from where you should have a grand view of the lake, and see a
platform below you and a huge building slightly to your left. At some
point, some Bugs will start flying at you from that building. Now you can
use a Beam Rifle to snipe those Bugs from where you are. That should be
relatively easy.
Drones sometimes carry Needlers. Those are slightly less annoying
because at least you can hide from the needles. This doesn’t exactly apply
to Plasma Pistols.
SMGs are the best non-Beam Rifle weapons against Bugs. If you’re
unlucky enough to have to fight them close-up, then SMGs (or, maybe, Plasma
Rifles) are your best option.
-Hunters
These are big monsters with big guns and big shields. To be honest,
Hunters are more like vehicles than actual on-the-ground enemies. They’re
tough, tougher than any other enemy that can walk, but have their own
weaknesses.
The main weakness is their speed. Even at full speed, a Hunter can
only move slightly slower than you. That makes them susceptible to Frag
Grenades or other slow weapons, Fuel Rod Cannons for example.
When running from a Hunter, try to zigzag because the range of their
Fuel Rod Cannons is impressive, which makes it easy for them to hit you,
even from a distance.
If you’re running away from a Hunter and it’s just behind you, it
won’t try to melee you with its shield. But that’s not a big consolation,
seeing that it’s very hard to outrun a Hunter. Try to use the close range
to aim at, and shoot, one of its weak spots. That will hopefully slow it
down enough for you to clear the Hunter and throw a grenade at it.
If you somehow get behind a Hunter, I suggest you do your best to get
away from it because they have a bad habit of unexpectedly turning around
and meleeing you. That’s often fatal.
For some reason, when you finally get a few friendly Hunters, they
usually die quickly, as opposed to the long sieges you have to conduct to
get rid of even a couple of Hunters in the previous parts of the game.
A pretty hard-to-execute strategy of killing Hunters with Beam Rifles,
but useful nevertheless, is using the Rifle to kill the Hunter head-on.
Ever noticed that a Beam- or Sniper Rifle shot kind of jolts a Hunter
backward? Well, it also exposes the “soft spot” on a Hunter’s neck. Just
aim for the neck and pull off two shots in rapid succession. If you’re
lucky, the first shot will shock the Hunter and the second will go into the
neck. A Sniper Rifle seems applicable for this task, but Beam Rifles can
fire two shots almost simultaneously. And it doesn’t help that you might
find out just as you fire the first shot that you only had one round in the
clip. On the other hand, the two shots overheat the Beam Rifle, so you
can’t squeeze off a third if you missed.
If you somehow happen to have a Rocket Launcher when facing a Hunter,
use it. If the power on Legendary is consistent with its power on Easy
(where I recently used a Rocket Launcher on a Hunter), then they should be
a piece of cake.
-Brutes
Brutes are, in both ways, pretty brutal. They resemble brown gorillas
that were for some reason given guns.
The most brutal aspect of Brutes is their tendency of going berserk in
tight situations. Examples of those situations: when the Brute is the last
or almost last Brute left in the area or when the Brute is hurt enough.
Believe it or not, a berserk Brute without its gun is far more dangerous
than a calm Brute with its gun. Evade those if you possibly can, and use
something explosive like Needlers to get rid of the Brute.
When headshooting a Brute, notice its helmet. That's going to take
some damage from the shot, but a hit will knock it off. Very detailed,
isn't it?
I noticed another Brutal aspect, which is that they, for some reason,
sometimes use human guns. The only human weapon I've seen a Brute use is a
Shotgun, but if you get to the armory on Uprising, you'll see a number of
Shotguns, a Rocket Launcher, helmets, Frag Grenades, and even some very
human canned food, all apparently stashed in that armory by the locals.
Very interesting...
Beam Rifles don't work very well, but their long range compensates for
that. This is, again, noticeable on Uprising.
Brute Shots don't work very good either. A single Brute can take at
least four Brute Shot grenades.
Carbines are about the best weapons against Brutes. Headshots take
some time, but are relatively easy.
After you depose a Brute from its position as owner of a Ghost, it'll
take some time to actually kill the Brute with the Plasma Cannons. You can
try to drive over the Brute, but that doesn't always work. And you can just
run away and see what comes out of it.
Swords work, but I can't say anything better. Try to have a Sword for
close-up Brute fighting, but you're probably screwed if it comes to that.
The only situation when you're forced to fight Brutes up close seems to be
the fight just before you enter Delta Halo's Control Room.
Flood
This is a parasitic race found on the Halos. I usually act on the
principle that the Flood are by far my worst enemies, so I deal with them
first.
-Combat Flood
Stay away from these Flood if possible, especially if they or you are
in vehicles. If you see a vehicle that a Flood hasn’t yet piloted but is
about to, and there’s another Flood that’s going to board that vehicle even
if you kill the first one, probably the best thing to do is to blow up the
vehicle, even if it means destroying the wheels you could use for yourself
later.
The Combat Flood can wield weapons and use turrets, although for some
weird reason they can’t fire weapons while running. That’s a big advantage
for you. You can wait for some lone Flood to run at you across an
indefinite distance without firing a shot, then blow it to pieces with your
Energy Sword.
By far the best weapon against Flood is the Energy Sword. The normal
Combat Flood are instantly killed with one swing. The shielded ones can
take two.
The bad thing--one of the bad things--about Flood is that the corpses
are reusable. In other words, once you “kill” a Flood, but the corpse is
still in one piece, another Spore can get into the body and you’ll have a
new Flood on your hands. If you have an area that you either know will be
besieged by Spores or just has some Flood corpses lying around that could
potentially be appealing to Spores, try to destroy the corpses. Depending
on the amount of time you have, you might destroy the corpses with a Sword
or just melee them to pieces with other weapons. The latter is
time-consuming and the noises are not exactly pleasant, but it saves Sword
ammo. If you choose to use the Sword, know that the ammo it takes to
destroy a Spore-less corpse is much less than the amount of ammo it takes
to kill a live Flood.
Definitely don’t try to melee a living Flood to death. It’s
excruciatingly hard and it’s really just impossible on Legendary. If you
want to see just how hard it is, get to the Famine skull (Oracle level) and
start meleeing the Flood around it with some weapon other than a Sword. It
takes several minutes to melee one of them to death. Now consider that
these particular Flood are permanently paralyzed or something and that an
actual Combat Flood will put up a good fight before it lets you hit it.
You’ll die before you hit it twice.
Make absolutely sure that you keep Scorpions away from any Flood that
might be in the area. They’re very good with the Cannon. I’d once seen a
Flood shoot me out of the air with one, all because I somehow let it near a
Scorpion I left nearby.
If you’re in a slow vehicle, especially a Wraith or Scorpion, stay
away from Flood. They often jump on top of your vehicle and swing their
tentacles around the place until you die. This is slightly easier when you
have allies because the Flood tend to go after your allies first. That
gives you time to pry the Flood off the vehicle.
If at all possible, when you have ally Elites and are dealing with
Flood, arm the Elites with Swords. They’re very efficient with them,
probably more so than the Xbox controller could ever allow you to be.
-Flood Spores
The Spores are the prime Flood. They get into a host body and make it
into a Combat Flood or a Flood Bomb. They’re nasty, but usually don’t pose
any overly big threat.
In case you don’t know, when they jump at a shielded enemy, they kind
of pop, slightly impacting the shield. If the enemy is not shielded, they
stick to it and do something, I really don’t want to know what, (looks like
they're sucking something out of the enemy) that does even more damage.
Note that Spores now do a lot more damage to your shield than they did
in Halo. Try to avoid contact whenever you can.
The Sword is the best weapon against Spores if you don't want to waste
ammo from your guns. It’s far more accurate than melee attacks with other
weapons and Spores don’t take any Sword ammo. If you’re in a tight spot,
wave your Sword at the Spores and see what happens.
SMG work fine, especially if the Spores you need to get rid of at the
moment are in one place. Just shoot at the place and the Spores will die
off like flies.
-Flood Bombs
Bombs, as I’ll call them in the future, are living containers where
Spores are grown. When they come near an enemy, they explode, releasing a
few Spores (it’s kind of weird that the explosion can almost kill you, yet
the fragile Spores seem alive and happy).
When you see a Bomb, either run or blow it up with your guns. Unless
absolutely necessary, don’t come near one--the explosion is very powerful.
If you choose to detonate one with a gun of your own, try to do it
when the Bomb is around other enemies. That way they can be damaged as
well. Do your best not to use the Sword on Bombs--it sometimes throws them
away, but it sometimes doesn’t. If not, then the resulting explosion will
be very painful.
Grenades and other explosions throw Bombs out of the way instead of
detonating them. Sometimes they bounce around a bit before detonating. Make
sure that one doesn’t land next to you.
Always look around whenever you might meet a Bomb because they don’t
make any noise until they blow up, and when you find out, it’s kind of too
late.
Sentinels
These are Forerunner guards left on the Halos. Their weaponry is
basic, but their large numbers often win them fights (only against your
enemies, hopefully).
-Sentinels
These are the actual Sentinels. They’re flying machines equipped with
Sentinel Beams. As always, the Beams are a lot more powerful in their hands
(so to speak) than in yours.
Don’t stand under or near a Sentinel when it goes down--Sentinels
usually explode when they crash-land, which takes a chunk out of your
shield.
Sentinels are most easily brought down by Sentinel Beams. You can
salvage a Beam from a dead Sentinel to use against them. But the Sentinel
Beam is a horrible weapon otherwise, so I suggest you use other guns. Dual
Plasma Rifles are about as effective, if not more so, than Sentinel Beams.
Sentinels come in three types: normal Sentinels have the usual
Sentinel Beam (red in color) and are kind of steel-colored. Upgraded
Sentinels are the same as the normal kind, but they have shields. Gold
Sentinels have shields and carry Gold Sentinel Beams (the actual beam is
blue).
In Sacred Icon, Sentinels are created in special chutes (those
hexagonal or octagonal things in the wall with a light at the bottom). You
can shoot a chute with your guns to blow it up, which can take away the
possibility of a number of potential Sentinels.
-Sentinel Tanks
Sentinel Tanks are gigantic mechanical flying monsters. They carry
Artillery and Sentinel Tank Needlers, and can be a significant health
hazard.
Something you’ll probably discover in Quarantine Zone: never get under
a Sentinel Tank in a vehicle. Sometimes they try to grab your vehicle, lift
it into the air, and start banging on it with their limbs. Not fun. This
causes some big damage, which you should avoid unless you’re playing
kamikaze for some reason.
Watch the artillery as the range is very long. Stay out of the way if
you’re in a vehicle, and you’d better find some cover if you’re on foot.
OOOOOOOOOOO
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O OO OOO
OOO
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_______________________[ 7. Artifacts]____________________________________
This section describes most of the things you find in the environment.
And I don’t mean everyday things (corpse, rock, wall, and so on). I mean
things that can actually affect the gameplay in some unusual way.
-Storage crates
These are the crates the Covenant stores weapons in. Some don’t
contain weapons, but can still be used as, say, barricades against some
enemy siege. The latter use is worth taking a close look at. In some
instances, you can wedge yourself between a crate and a wall, and thus have
a very defendable “fort”, especially from those enemies that don’t look for
you, but wait for you to come out. Sometimes you can even form real forts
by meleeing several crates into rows (like in the detention center on
Gravemind level). Of course, a grenade can usually blow apart any crates
you spent ten minutes carefully meleeing into place, but this can give you
a good chance to shield yourself against any enemy fire on the unwelcome
side of your cover. And this has hidden advantages, too--you can build the
fort with crates containing weapons, so that when you own weapons empty
you’ll be able to pick up new ones without even moving.
-Skulls
These are multiplayer oddballs scattered around the campaign. They’re
Easter Eggs that give you special powers, or tamper with the ones you
already have, like your HUD. For more info on the Skulls, including a list
of them and a walkthrough on how to get each one, visit the Secrets
section.
-Over Shield
I think that this is a multiplayer-only item, but it can still be very
useful. Basically, an Over Shield looks like a transparent cube with a
yellow spherical thing hanging in its center. Over Shields give you two
extra layers of shield, although they seem to drain by themselves, without
help from other players. I heard that Black Eye skull can give you a free
Over Shield if you use the skull’s effects long enough, but I can’t say
I’ve proven it yet.
-Active Camouflage
Here I mean the multiplayer-only pick-up item, not the default
Camouflage in the Arbiter’s armor. This one looks like a transparent
pyramid with a blue sphere in the center. It gives you significantly more
camouflaged time than the Arbiter’s Camo or Envy skull, and firing shots
doesn’t automatically turn it off--it just makes you slightly visible for a
couple of seconds before you become invisible again. And even then, it
takes a lot of shots to make you completely visible, about five seconds
straight of firing a rapid-fire weapon. This Camo doesn’t completely shield
you, though, like all the other ones. You’re still visible as a kind of
blur in the air.
-Destroyed vehicles
I’m not mentioning pilotless vehicles because they can still be
destroyed. These, on the other hand, don’t have anything to lose. They can
sometimes shield you from incoming fire and if the vehicle is (was, I
should say) large, it could provide full-time shelter. Just make sure you
stay away from some Covenant vehicles for about twenty seconds because of
their habit of exploding a second time.
-Covenant explosives
These are like octagonal prisms cut diagonally somewhere near the
middle. They have something blue and glowing in the center and are for some
reason scattered around the levels for no apparent reason. They explode
when you do enough damage, so make sure that you don't stand near one if
you have any damage done to your shield. If and enemy ventures close to
one, you might be able to use a sniping weapon to detonate the explosive,
but you could probably damage the enemy more by putting the rounds straight
into the enemy.
-Weapon capsules
Weapon capsules are pods that Pelicans sometimes drop to supply you
with weapons. You get to see weapon capsules only on Delta Halo and Regret
levels.
-Sentinel chutes
These are roughly octagonal chutes in the walls (Sacred Icon and
Quarantine Zone only) that deposit Sentinels everywhere. Sentinel chutes
can be destroyed by sufficient firepower (dual Plasma Rifles work
exceptionally well), but there are usually dozens of them in one place. I
suggest you just take cover or run away whenever you see the chutes.
-Pistons
These objects are found exclusively on Sacred Icon. They're
rectangular-prism-ish vertical slabs of metal with holo panels on them that
you can shoot and by doing so raise the piston. Once you open a piston, you
always have to jump down into the hole and into the next area. On the
easier difficulties, you have the luxury of opening pistons by pressing X.
Now, on Legendary, raising pistons is gun-only.
-Levitated platforms
These are sometimes used by Sniper Jackals to gain extra accuracy and
height. And sometimes they're just floating around for you to use. They're
essentially platforms that you can get on top of by walking into the
miniature grav lift in the center.
OOOOOOOOOOO
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_______________________[ 8. Vehicles]_____________________________________
Vehicles play a big part in the game. While they’re rarely required by
the storyline, it's sometimes very hard to pass the game without them. Note
that, if you somehow don’t know, you can jack vehicles. Vehicle-jacking
manual: get close to a slow-moving or stationary vehicle, jump at it, hold
X when you get to just the right point, and you will hopefully cling to the
vehicle and the character will do his thing. Sometimes you’ll just kick the
driver out of his seat, like in Ghosts, and sometimes you’ll have to melee
the top out of the vehicle and throw a grenade in there, like in a Wraith
or Scorpion.
Human vehicles
It’s kind of hard to compare these with their Covenant approximations
(still proud) because they’re so different. I can’t really say which is
better, either, for about the same reason--they’re sometimes the most
useful vehicles under the circumstances and sometimes they’re junk to fill
up the game. Human vehicles are not as maneuverable as I would have liked,
but the big firepower often makes up for that.
-Warthog
Ah, the good ol’ ‘Hog. This 26th century Hummer (I may call it an
LRV--light reconnaissance vehicle) carries a big gun in the back, usually a
Machine gun, which you even get to use while a friend is driving. That
friend can even be AI.
Warthogs are not as maneuverable as I would have wanted them to be,
but it’s still enough for some quick getaways. And maybe just ramming
enemies with your bumper. In Outskirts you have to perform a drive-through
assault on the highway tunnel, where the bumper is the essential weapon.
Bad thing is, Flood seem to like Warthogs as well. And their driving
is pretty good. For those cases, I suggest you pack a Cannon or at least a
Mortar.
Warthogs almost always have Machine guns, but at least one ‘Hog in the
game has a Gauss Cannon. That’s a certain Warthog on Metropolis. Outside
Legendary, you can even use it without buying the farm.
If you have a friend in the back of the Warthog, you can usually
circle enemies and have that friend constantly shoot those enemies. The
Flood also seem to use this tactic, so watch for that.
If an enemy Warthog drives in front of you and you happen to be inside
a Wraith at the moment, you can boost straight into that Warthog and ram it
away from yourself. Then you can proceed to use the lengthened range to
fire your Mortar at the Warthog. This is even better when the LRV drives
between you and some chasm--you can drive it straight off the edge.
The speed is impressive. Back to the highway in Outskirts--the Warthog
was probably the best vehicle for that. There was one point there, where
you had to drive the vehicle off a ramp and into the air. It launched so
high that I accidentally killed a Bug that got in the way--and the Bug was
almost touching the ceiling.
Choose the weapons that the passenger carries carefully. For example,
make sure that, if one Marine has an SMG and the other has a Sniper Rifle,
that the one with the Sniper Rifle gets into the passenger seat. Or, if
you’re dealing with enemy vehicles or turrets, have a Marine with a Rocket
Launcher ride shotgun.
Just to have this in your memory: you can use Warthogs to get higher
ground. I mean, just stand on top of a Warthog and jump to wherever you
need to. I’m not sure if this can do any good anywhere, but it might. This,
of course, applies to other vehicles.
Look at the walls in the multiplayer map Headlong--on one or two of
them is a big picture of a Warthog with the appropriate caption, but the
vehicle is, for some reason, yellow. Well, not that I would have liked to
have a yellow Warthog, but that would have still been a pleasant variation.
But, well, an army LRV must be exorbitant.
Notice that if you ram things in a Warthog, as in all other vehicles,
your shield takes damage. Try not to crash into walls or any other solid
objects unless you have to.
-Scorpion
The human tank. Scorpions are relatively common now, at least far more
common than they were in Halo.
The Cannon is the most important advantage you have on the Scorpion.
Use it well. The weapon tends to throw objects, including vehicles. If you
want to get the most out of this, get the Sputnik, start up Metropolis,
grab the nearby Scorpion, and lay your path of destruction across the
bridge.
If you have to resort to this, you have the option of driving over
enemies and sometimes even vehicles with the Scorpion. This is not
effective, but it’s an option in some tough spots.
Don’t even think of getting near a Flood on foot while you are in a
Scorpion. This vehicle is permanently slow-moving and therefore permanently
available for jacking. The Flood are especially efficient at it. They can
set jumping records just to get your tank. Well, that’s unlikely, but still
sends quite a bit of electricity down the Arbiter’s pain neurons. First, if
they get close enough, the Flood lands on top of your tank and starts
meleeing the top of the tank until the occupant either gets out or dies. If
you have allies on the tank, the Flood often gets them before it tries to
kill you. The only way to get the thing off the vehicle is to get out and
kill it somehow.
Watch for Rocket Launcher-wielding Flood when you’re in a Scorpion.
That’s simply because a Scorpion is a huge target. It would be hard to miss
even if the rockets couldn’t home.
The Cannon is really long-range, so you don’t have to drive your
Scorpion close to a threat, especially seeing how slow it is.
It’s important to know that the Scorpion now doesn’t have to go only
where the camera is pointed. That’s a huge plus. Just tilt the left
thumbstick in the direction where you want to go and use the right
thumbstick to aim wherever you need. This is especially useful on the
bridge in Metropolis.
You always have the option of pushing vehicles and maybe even enemies
into chasms using a Scorpion.
Covenant vehicles
These are a lot more diverse than human vehicles and are used a lot
more. Covenant vehicles can be easily distinguished from the human ones by
their ability to hover and the overwhelming amount of purple color. They
use energy or plasma weapons and are much more common. Covenant vehicles
usually explode a second time after being destroyed.
-Ghost
Ghosts can be considered the Covenant equivalent of Warthogs. They’re
fast and are good for quick getaways or drive-through parts of the game.
The main problem is that Ghosts leave most of the driver exposed. That
directs a lot of shots straight at your shield. Not that it’s a big
advantage if you’re the one doing the shooting, but you being behind the
stick often results in you having an empty shield.
About ten seconds after being downed, Ghosts explode a second time,
which is why I never recommend being near one for a few seconds after you
destroy it. Theoretically, Ghosts can be used as bombs if you manage to
hurl one at an enemy. But the timing, the physics involved, and just
precision-throwing the Ghost, are too hard, at least for me. Besides, the
explosion is too weak to be worth bothering with. I could probably get a
bigger explosion out of whatever I would have to use to move the Ghost
wherever I would need to move it in the first place.
Ghosts’ Plasma Cannons are improved now due to the increased firing
rate. As they don’t overheat, they can be fired constantly. You even have
the option of drawing on walls with them.
Ghosts are fast and maneuverable, which is very good in those
instances when you need to get away or just drive through enemy ranks.
What’s more, the new boost function makes it one of the fastest vehicles in
the game. But the boost has its disadvantages too--like the worsened
maneuverability and the increased damage if you hit a wall. You can circle
enemies and shoot them with the Plasma Cannons. Well, sometimes enemies can
turn as fast as you can circle them, so some variation in the direction of
your circling helps.
A Ghost can be destroyed by a good Cannon shot, but the shot has to go
straight into the Ghost. If the Ghost just got caught in the explosion,
it’s likely to survive. A Fuel Rod Cannon shot (from a Banshee) has been
proven to work well, but it’s not often that you get to see a Ghost while
in a Banshee. In fact, I think you have to cheat, or at least bypass some
intended limits, to get a Banshee in an area with Ghosts.
Plasma Cannons can’t work when you’re using the boost. But not that
you really need them anyway without the proper ability to target.
After boosting a Ghost (as in jack), you usually have to get rid of
the driver because they almost always survive you kicking them out of the
driver seat. Unless, of course, you somehow happen to kick him out so that
he flies over some cliff, drop-off, or chasm. That best-case scenario
doesn’t usually work, though, due to the usual absence of Ghosts near
chasms and the very small probability that you happen to steal the Ghost in
exactly the right place.
Be very careful around other objects and small debris on the ground.
If you’re not careful, the Ghost can turn over and maybe even land you in
the middle of, maybe, a number of enemies.
Wherever Ghosts are available, they tend to be available in large
numbers, so you normally don’t have to worry about losing a Ghost or two.
I’ll point out that it’s a very bad idea to try to push a Ghost with
other vehicles. I’m not sure what will result if you push one with another
Ghost (the one you’re in will probably flip over), but anything
Spectre-sized or bigger will result in the Ghost exploding. If you’re
really unlucky, you vehicle will be trapped on top of the wreck and take
damage from the “aftershock” explosion.
If you happen to jack a Ghost from a Flood, you can immediately
dispose of the former driver by simply driving over him. The Flood will be
blown apart, making this one of the easiest ways of killing Flood.
-Banshee
The only vehicle you can pilot that can actually fly. Banshees are
useful in some places and essential to the mission in others.
Banshees are equipped with a boost, like Ghosts, and the controls are
about the same while the boost is active. Naturally, the weapons are
deactivated during the boost (Bungie wouldn't give you that advantage, of
course) and the maneuverability is very limited. But still, it gives you a
lot of speed.
It’s possible to do some tricks with the boost. Hold A and now,
tilting the left thumbstick to the side will make the Banshee roll over,
and tilting it back will make it flip over and gain some height in the
process. Both are just to add some interest because the fraction of a
second that the Banshee is not moving is more than enough for an enemy to
pull the trigger. You would be better off if you just strafe to the side or
boost out of the way.
Shooting at enemies while strafing to the side is a very good way of
fighting enemies like Phantoms, turrets, and other enemies with slow
weapons. You get this combat at its best in the Banshee part of The Arbiter
level. There, you can use this strafing technique against the Grunts with
Fuel Rod Cannons on those platforms spaced around the station. Plus, at the
end of the flight, you get to fight some turrets on a platform, which can
also be effectively defeated with this.
Enemy Banshees can easily kill you on Legendary. If you don’t have
some ally who can fight them off while you do your thing, I suggest you
boost away and get to some safe place. This particular situation doesn’t
happen very often, but there are a couple of spots where the best thing to
do is to run. One of them is the part of Oracle where you have to chase
the Heretic Leader into another wing of the station. If you linger for a
few seconds, a couple of Banshees will come and finish you off. Fly
straight toward the destination. Then there’s the part of The Great Journey
where, when you have to give Sarge cover, the road to Delta Halo’s Control
Room leads you past a few Banshees. As long as you boost straight through,
all that should be hit is the Banshee’s tail. At least I could do this very
easily.
Like Ghosts and most other Covenant vehicles, Banshees explode after
they go down. But well, I want to make sure you know that it’s VERY hard to
accidentally get hurt by a Banshee exploding. This is partly because the
area where the destroyed Banshee could land is larger than the other
vehicles’ due to the fact that they can fly, and go (and fall) to places
where other vehicles can’t. Another reason is that the explosion is weak.
Jacking Banshees is not very easy; the main issue is surviving long
enough to jump close to a Banshee. Banshee-jacking manual (I wrote one in
the intro to the Vehicles section about general vehicle-jacking, but there
are some tricks to jacking Banshees):
1. Find an appropriate Banshee. It would be good to choose one close to you
because one flying far away will have more time to incinerate you with its
Plasma Cannons before it gets close enough for jacking.
2. When the Banshee gets close to you, about one second of non-boost flight
away from the point where you currently are, face straight away from it and
jump forward--away from the Banshee.
3. If it’s not boosting when you’re right under it, you should get a message
to hold X. Comply with the message, after which you should hop onto the
Banshee and pull out the driver, who seems to always die.
-Wraith
Covenant tank. This is a huge, menacing-looking, and mind-bogglingly
slow... thing/slab of purple metal... with a large Mortar on top.
The speed is one of my biggest issues with the Wraith. It’s incredibly
slow, and the Wraith is, for some reason, the only vehicle that has a
limited boost. Well, it can recharge indefinitely, but you can use only so
much at a time--about two seconds, after which it takes about five to seven
seconds to recharge. And if you interrupt the boost while it’s still going,
you can be sure that there won’t be any extra boost left over from that
particular firing, so some of it will be wasted.
The other concern is the extremely limited range of vision for the
Mortar. Definitely don’t go trying to defeat enemies at close range because
the reticle just doesn’t go that far down. The only thing Mortars work for
is cleaning up areas far away (because of this, speed for the vehicle was
apparently considered unnecessary), with the more or less fast rate of fire
compensating for it being very hard to aim properly.
Don’t climb into a Wraith at the last possible moment and expect to
use the Mortar instantly because it takes a few seconds for the Mortar to
start working. Plus the time it takes to aim and actually hit the enemy,
you’ll lose a big piece of your shield.
As I said before, it’s sometimes possible to use the boost as a
weapon. You can usually drive straight into an enemy standing nearby, and
it’s even better to ram them off a ledge or into a chasm. This can actually
be a Wraith’s best means of defense in those cases when an enemy is
standing right next to your Wraith. It’s definitely not an option to try to
hit it with the Mortar (as you should already know, Mortars can’t aim that
low), but if you have any boost you can turn it on, hit the enemy, and draw
back, now ready to use the Mortar over the increased distance.
As you probably know, Wraiths piloted by anyone other than you have
two Plasma Cannons. Why you can’t use them and your enemies and allies can
is beyond me. I didn’t think Bungie would sink that low.
Wraiths are very bad for combat in general; even strafing--one of the
most important aspects of Covenant vehicles--is excruciatingly slow. I
suggest you not use them if there’s a choice.
-Spectre
Another vehicle very much like the Warthog. I’d even say that it takes
the Ghost’s place in that respect.
The properties of the two vehicles are pretty much the same. It’s fast
with its (infinite) boost on, it has a gun at the back, and it can carry
passengers (one driver, a gunner, and two passengers on the wing-like
things on the sides).
The only thing is ever used these for is driving through enemy-packed
areas while the gunner took shots at those enemies. Its boost can
accelerate it to almost Ghost-like speeds.
The Plasma Cannon on Spectres are very weak, but they can be used for
precision-targeting enemies over long distances, even without a scope on
the gun. Even if the range is too long, there’s a certain trick to it,
assuming the target is not moving. First, stand next to the turret, so that
the message telling you to hold X is on. Then look past the turret and,
using a weapon with a scope, target the target (pun intended). Finally,
without moving the reticle, get into the turret and open up on the enemy.
You see, I developed this because I discovered that, for some reason, the
reticle doesn’t move a millimeter if you get into a vehicle. This can help
on Uprising, in the part where you climb down a waterfall, to get rid of
the annoying Brutes and Jackals from a distance.
A big disadvantage is that the driver, whom I always recommend to be
you, is extremely exposed to anything that comes his way. This rule is
somehow broken when you’re facing Sniper Jackals. Those aliens, who can hit
you from a hundred meters away, can’t seem to be able to hit you in a
Spectre, whatever the range. I wouldn’t count on it, but it appears to
work.
The two passengers, instead of only one possible passenger on the
Warthog, can tip the table your way when things get tough. Arm them with
something other than Swords, and at the very least you’ll have two Plasma
Rifles going at the enemy, instead of one. A slight down side of this is
that the Plasma Cannon is not as powerful as the Warthog’s Machine gun.
Although the Spectre is rather slow without the boost, it’s
maneuverable. You can easily strafe and dodge out of the way and then boost
away from there. But it’s also vulnerable to uneven landscape and different
explosives, like grenades and the Mortar, which can make a Spectre flip
over.
The passengers are even more vulnerable than the driver. Under no
circumstances get into the passenger seat of a Spectre.
-Shadow
I don’t have much to say about this one. Shadows are used by the
Covenant to transport troops and vehicles, but you don’t get to drive them.
They feature a Phantom turret on top, which can give you a bad day. I’m not
completely sure, but Shadows with drivers seem to self-destruct once you
get close.
-Phantom
Not much more about this, either. Phantoms can carry troops and
vehicles, each has three Phantom Cannons (which is the only destructible
part of a Phantom), and they can fly. You can’t pilot them, but friendly
Phantoms prove to be good allies, especially on The Arbiter level.
-Scarab
Scarabs are big, somewhat spider-like mechs with Scarab Cannons and
room for a legion of Covenant to fit inside. Of course, you can't pilot
Scarabs, but on one occasion you get one as your ally. Scarabs play a big
role in the game.
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_______________________[ 9. Other tips]___________________________________
-Use storage crates and other objects in the environment for cover
To point out an obvious and unshakable truth: Halo 2 on Legendary is
all about cover. You hide someplace safe and take shots at the enemy.
Storage crates prove to be of enormous help, especially when you need to
organize some way of holding off enemies that you can’t kill any other way.
Even one storage crate, when propped against a wall and a corner, can
protect you from certain enemies. Sometimes, when there’s an area full of
enemies who don’t know you’re there yet, and you’re near a stock of crates,
you sometimes have the opportunity to melee, push, or topple the crates
into place. Of course, I’ve never seen this makeshift castle hold up to a
grenade, especially one thrown into it, but crates are indestructible and
therefore impervious to any kind of gunfire.
-In case of a significant mistake, I suggest you back up to the previous
checkpoint
If you commit one of the thousands of possible snafus, like leaving
good guns behind when you jump of a cliff and into another area, it would
be a good idea to return to the last checkpoint, unless you’ll lose a lot
of progress by doing so. In general, be careful when making significant
decisions like, say, jumping off that cliff I mentioned, because you might
accidentally checkpoint at some uncomfortable moment and lose half a level
of progress as a consequence of having to restart the whole level.
-Always move behind cover, even if you can’t see any enemies
No real specifics about this point are necessary for the fairly
obvious reason that there may be hidden enemies who can’t get a chance to
shoot at you unless you’re in a certain area where you happened not to be
until now. And once you find out about that, it’s usually too late for you
to do anything about it. The enemies that fall into this category most
perfectly are Sniper Jackals. They usually stay in one place and once
you’re sure that you’ve annihilated all the enemies in the area, they give
you a very good reason to shout “Eureka!” and die a moment later.
-Keep your distance when fighting; use sniping weapons whenever possible;
ALWAYS take cover
I guess I don’t need to explain this, either. Obviously, any sane
gamer would prefer killing an Elite from far away with a Beam Rifle than
try to melee it to death from up close. Again, take cover whenever
possible. A doorway can be improvised into good cover, though temporary,
which can save your person from certain bad things on the other side of the
doorway. Some permanent cover is a place that’s shielded from all sides,
preferably from the top also if the area contains flying enemies. It’s very
rare that you meet an enemy who ventures close enough, even if it’s a
narrow wall separating you from them, but they sometimes do so, which
causes some pain.
-Swap-carrying weapons
This is a rather simple strategy, but it's what I'm implying you
should use when I tell you to stockpile weapons somewhere. Did you ever
notice that the character throws a weapon forward when he swaps it for
another weapon? That's crucial to this trick. Simply run at a weapon, hold
X to swap for it, and the gun you swapped will fly forward. Then run at
that gun and repeat the process. Although time-consuming, this is easy and
can get you through tough spots.
-If you have to, try something radical
If (when, I should say) you get desperate enough, you might want to
try something hot-headed like running into an area full of enemies whom
you'd been picking off for the last two hours and were killed by some stray
grenade. Who knows, it might actually work. A great place for this kind of
thing is the second hangar on Cairo Station level. There, I normally
started picking off the Covenant, but was killed far too often to keep my
cool. So I discovered that if I rush into the area with the Covenant, I
could kill a surprising number of them before buying it myself. Just make
sure you had hit a checkpoint not so long ago--I don't want to be
responsible for you losing an hour or two of progress.
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_______________________[ 10. Walkthrough]_________________________________
A walkthrough is (as far as I know) not something most other Legendary
difficulty guides contain. I currently know of only one other Legendary
difficulty guide for Halo 2. I’ll try to make this as complete as possible,
but it may still not be enough. It’ll be divided by level names, section
titles, and what I consider major checkpoints.
I. The Heretic
This is basically a cutscene that shows the wreckage of Halo and the
Covenant holy city they call High Charity. Then will follow a conversation
between three Prophets and a Gold Elite, A.K.A. the Arbiter. Looks like he
was the one who commanded all the Covenant you met on the original Halo.
The Prophets will blame him for the destruction of Halo and the Council
will insist that he’s a heretic. He’ll be arrested.
II. Armory
[MAC station Cairo, suspended in space above Earth]
-One Size Fits All
You’re on the orbiting MAC gun platform near Earth called Cairo. The
Marine called Master Guns will talk to Master Chief in a manner that made
me want to kick him. He’ll run you through the diagnostics waste-of-time,
like in the previous Halo, but there it’s not done on Legendary. When you
have to look at the lights, whether you push the right thumbstick up or
down, the reticle will go in the right direction. When he turns off the
inhibitors, you’ll be able to run around. Get a feel for the controls,
which are slightly different from the ones in the first Halo, and then meet
him by the shield recharging station. Assuming you played the prequel,
you’ll know what it looks like. Step in and Guns will explain to you what
to do. When a message appears telling you to hold X, do so and the shield
recharging station will do its thing. Halfway through the process, Sgt.
Johnson (Sarge in the future) will appear. If you finished the previous
Halo on Legendary, you may have some interesting questions about how he’s
alive at all. After the "zapper" finishes doing something with your shield,
you’ll be able to move around again. Oh, and note those yellow hexagonal
things in the wall opposite the windows. When you come near one in the
future, it’ll open and reveal two guns or so. If you want some extra
dialogue from the Sarge, wait in the room and listen. If not, then walk
into the elevator. It’ll eventually move and open once again. Go out and
into the monorail in front of you. Ride to the Bridge.
III. Cairo Station
[Close to Cairo Station's bridge]
You’ll see a cutscene showing Lord Hood (Admiral, I guess) awarding
the Master Chief, Johnson, and Miranda Keyes for their feats on Halo,
though Commander Keyes will be awarded a medal for her father’s death
there. This cutscene will be kind of spliced with another cutscene
showing the Arbiter being punished by Tartarus for his “heresy”. In the end
of the Cairo part, Covenant boarding craft will arrive, so the Chief will
have to kill them off. You’ll be outside the bridge. Go down the stairs
just in front of you and take the guns on the first landing. Make sure to
dual-wield two SMGs. Then go down the stairs, along the hallway, and into
the next room.
-Home Field Advantage
This will be your first battle. If you wait for a few seconds, the
door far to your right will start being welded through by some Covenant on
the other side. Take position on the small stage-like thing on your right.
When the door is finally broken, many, many Covenant will arrive. Open fire
on them with the SMGs. The Grunts should go down pretty fast, but the
Elites will be harder to kill. Once the first party is killed, some
reinforcements will arrive. Finish them off also. It’s just a matter of
luck here, whether they focus on you or not. Hide behind what little cover
you have (one of the poles at the edge of the platform) and when the
shield’s recharged, come out and fight. Note that your shield takes longer
to recharge than it takes to reload two SMGs, so reload while hiding.
Eventually the Elites and Grunts will stop pouring out and you will be able
to proceed. Go into the tunnel the aliens originally came through and turn
right. There will be some more Covenant at the end of the tunnel, so clean
them up. Go up the stairs next to where the Covenant were. Go up and turn
left. Once through the door go left and man the Machine gun there. Be
careful to drop one of the SMGs before you use the Machine gun, just in
case Master Chief drops it over the edge and into the room below. Use the
Machine gun to kill the Elite behind one of the palm trees in front of you.
Then kill off all the Grunts you can, but watch the radar all the time.
There will be an Elite trying to sneak up on you and you don’t want that.
When you see the red dot somewhere in the vicinity of four o’clock, get out
from behind the gun and go kill that Elite. Don’t expect to kill that
particular one on the first try--you’ll probably have to hide. When the way
down the staircase is clear (sweep the lower level of the entire room with
your Battle Rifle or the suit’s scope to make sure that there are no Grunts
there), go down the stairs. Take the left at the first opportunity and go
into the tunnel inside the wall. Use it to flank some enemies if necessary,
or just to get close. They have an interesting tendency of thinking that
the place where they saw you last is going to be the one and only place
where you’ll come out. Use that to trick the Covenant that should be hiding
at the far end of the room. Use the Battle Rifle to clear the Grunts first,
as they can do some serious damage. Then kill off the Elites, and in one
corner of the room there will be an entrance to another tunnel and another
bunch of Covenant. Kill them off and proceed up the stairs.
Once at the top landing, turn right and into one of the hangars. Run
forward and take what should be your first grenades--three Frags and four
Plasma Grenades. Don’t waste a moment, and while the Covenant are
distracted by the Marine on the platform, run out onto the platform and
hide behind the shield thing at the end. It’ll more or less shield you from
them and provide an opportunity for finishing off the Covenant in the
hangar in under an hour. From here, wait for your shield to recharge if
necessary, and look out from behind the cover. Gun down the nearest Elite
with the SMGs and hide again. Don’t be surprised if you have to hide
again--the Elites in this place are very tough and no less annoying. Take
shots at them and eventually you’ll clear them out. They will be divided
into four parties: one will be already there and three waves will come from
the boarding craft that apparently smashed through the window. The first
three will be hard to kill, and the last one will verge on impossible due
to the Black Grunts and one or two Silver Elites armed with dual Plasma
Rifles. Tips to survival: first, crouch behind the shield whenever you’re
not shooting at the Covenant. Second, know that there are about 240 rounds
for the SMGs near the place where you picked up the Frag Grenades, and some
Battle Rifle ammo on the staircase on the other side of the door you
entered through. There’s not enough ammo as it is, not counting the rounds
that will miss. To retrieve some ammo, wait for the fire to stop and make a
run for it across the platform to the main walkway. To get back, wait for
the fire to stop and run across again. Whenever there are Elites between
you and the window, you can use Plasma Grenades to effectively kill them.
When they’re dead and not arriving through the boarding craft anymore, a
door will open on the end of the hangar with the Pelican in it and some
Covenant will come out. I can’t predict what kind of Elites there will be
because it seems to be completely random. Kill the Elites there with Plasma
Grenades and SMGs if necessary. But take out the Grunts first. They can be
annoying. If an Elite is facing away from you and you’re confident that the
rest of the Covenant is exterminated, you can stick a Plasma Grenade to it,
or you can just melee it in the back. Once the hangar is cleared, proceed
through the door.
Upon reaching the other hangar, peek around the corner and snipe the
Grunts on the platform above you to get rid of the two nasty Plasma
Cannons. If you want some ammo or grenades from the top level of the
previous hangar, this is what you have to do: when you pass the door
leading to the first hangar, jump on top of the nearest crate and then jump
on top of the Pelican there. Try to jump onto the nose, as it’s the lowest.
Then jump onto the walkway. For future purposes, take a Plasma Rifle and an
SMG, one in both hands. When you enter the second hangar, go right and
around the three identical crates there, and then run to the control panel
thing in the center of the room. Inch around the left side of the control
panel and throw a Plasma Grenade at the Covenant (throw it at an Elite if
you can). When you’ve thrown it, run back the way you came and into one of
the passageways going into the ground marked “MAC Storage”. Wait for the
Covenant to calm down and go back out and behind the panel. Do this until
the last party arrives, which seems to consist of several Silver Elites and
one Gold Elite with Energy Swords, at least one Silver Elite with two
Plasma Rifles, and other really bad things. Don’t despair if you get killed
too often--this part took me hours to complete. When the last party
arrives, go back to the hangar entrance and wait for the enemies to calm
down. Then come out and just look at them. If anything other than an Elite
with an Energy Sword spots you, hide. Eventually only a Sword-wielding
Elite will spot you but it won’t alert the others by running at you. Wait
for it to get close and take it down with the Plasma Rifle and SMG. Repeat
until only the Plasma Rifle Elites are left. Use the Plasma Grenade
assassination technique to kill them off. Go back to the previous hangar
for more Plasmas if there are any left, otherwise walk toward the MAC
Storage passageways, which should now be open.
-Priority Shift
The doors at the end of the passageways will be open. Don’t use up all
your Plasma Grenades because you’ll really need one soon. Use Frags and
saturation fire on the enemies on the other side of the doors to clear the
way. Then go through. Go to the left side of the room and run across. Throw
away the second gun and get ready to throw a Plasma Grenade. When the door
opens, throw the grenade at the Elite on the other side. If it misses, I
suggest restarting. When the Elite is dead, another one will come in
through the door on the other side of the room. Pick up the gun you
dropped. That second Elite will be invisible, so be careful. If a door is
open and you can’t see the glow of a Plasma Rifle in front of it, throw a
Frag Grenade at the doorway anyway, so the splash damage hurts the Elite.
Then finish it off with your guns. Otherwise use the element of surprise to
kill it. Go through the door the Elites came through. Go up the stairs and
dump the second gun onto the stairs. Master Guns will be fighting a couple
of Elites there, but the doors won’t open till he’s dead. Throw a grenade
at the Elites, pick up the gun you dumped, and proceed to finish off the
Elites. Stay as low on the staircase as possible. When the way is clear,
swap the SMG and Plasma Rifle for a Shotgun and fill up the Battle Rifle.
Hide behind the nearest metal shield in the next room. Look out around the
left side of the shield and use the Battle Rifle to snipe the Grunt on the
platform carrying a Plasma Cannon. After that, use the Battle Rifle to kill
off the Grunts left of the platform that will arrive shortly. Then slowly
kill the Red Elite with the same weapon. It’ll take a long time, but it’s
possible and even moderately easy. Fill up from the Battle Rifle on one of
the tables and go toward the shield. Run across the room and hide behind
the other shield. Then go into the passageway inside the wall. The closest
exit will lead onto the platform that the late Red Elite used to occupy.
Don’t go out onto the platform yet, but snipe the Grunts first. Then kill
off the Elite with the Battle Rifle. Snipe the Grunts near the place where
the Elite was and then snipe the one in the observatory window on your
left. After it’s vacated its post on the Plasma Cannon, shoot the other one
as well. Go across the room from the current passage and into the passage
there. The first opening will lead you out onto the second platform and the
last one will provide you with a good view of the next passage with some
more Covenant (a couple of random Elites and a bunch of Grunts), which
you’ll have to kill. If you still have a Plasma Grenade, use the
opportunity to throw that at the unsuspecting Elites, otherwise make use of
Frags. If you’re out of those also, which is very likely, sneak up on them
and make use of the Shotgun. Clear off the Grunts first, then use the
Shotgun on the Elites. It’s not going to be easy, but eventually you should
be able to lure the Elites out from under the staircase and kill each with
a couple of point blank shots from the Shotgun. Go up the stairs. If you’re
lucky, you can kill one Elite from a distance with the Battle Rifle and
another with a grenade--don’t have to use the Shotgun at all.
Once you’ve gone up the stairs and into the room there, don’t go in.
Instead, wait for the door on the opposite end of the room to open and toss
a Plasma Grenade through it. Then run back across the room, but just far
enough to have a good view of the window and some appropriate cover. When
the Grunts and Elites sit at the Plasma Cannon, snipe them for some easy
kills. They won’t move (there’s nothing you can do to make them leave), so
the Elites won’t hide to recharge their shields. Once the room is clear, go
into the observatory and toward the door. Along the way there will be some
Battle Rifles on the wall. Take the ammo (go back to the Armory for some
Shotgun ammo if necessary. Don’t worry how many Shotgun shells you used
because you probably will come back later) and go through the door. There
will be a series of doors there, so run through. You’ll arrive in a room
similar to the Bridge. Go around the crates on your left and start sniping
the Covenant there. With the Marines’ fire, the Elite will go down very
easily. But the main Covenant force in the room is further down the room.
Go forward and past the open door. You can go through, but there’s nothing
in there that you want. Go slightly past the door and wait for the Covenant
to come. If they don’t, go a bit further and wait till they come. The hide
in the doorway of that door and snipe the bad guys. Then, for the purpose
of having as much ammo as possible, you can go back as far as the Armory to
get some more. When you’re all set, go through the door the Covenant were
guarding.
-Authorized Personnel Only
Immediately hide behind the closest crate and wait for the Jet Pack
Elites to arrive. When the noise of the jets stabilizes you’ll know they
stopped. Inch around the left side of the crate and toss a Plasma Grenade
at one of the Elites. If the grenade misses, restart. Then snipe the other
one with the Battle Rifle till it dies. Notice that in space, you can jump
further. That helps. Now, drop down from the room you’re in and turn
around. Run across the stretch of concrete floor until you reach the place
with a large yellow container and only one of those rooms between you and
the door leading back inside the station. Hide inside the container and
wait for the Elites to calm down. Look outside and use Plasma Grenades on
the Elites. This is as much a matter of luck as skill, so don’t expect to
be able to do this on the first try. If you do, though, it’s great. Use the
element of surprise, as the Elites always violate one of the most sacred
rules of Halo: always move and look around. Once they look for you for a
couple of seconds, they stay in one place. This makes it very easy to sneak
up on one. The only problem here is that there are three Elites instead of
one. Be very careful. When it’s safe, go through the door at the end of the
stretch of concrete floor. Take the ammo for the Battle Rifle next to the
dead Marine and go through the next set of doors. There will be another
Marine and Bugs/Drones. Lots and lots of them. Stay in the passageway and
use the same old Battle Rifle to snipe them. Nine bullets or three shots
are almost guaranteed to kill any Bug for good. When most of them are dead,
a platform with some Elites and Grunts will arrive at the opposite end of
the room. Snipe the Grunts and then snipe the Elites. The latter will be
tough to get rid of, but you can do it with some patience. If you’re low on
ammo, take some from the dead Marine in the passageway, or the Rifles on
the wall near the other Marine that should be dead by now. Once only one of
the Elites is left, the platform will depart and you’ll be able to snipe
the leftover Elite from high up. Then descend down the ramp and through the
door.
Now you have to use the Battle Rifle sniping method of killing Elites
for I don’t know what time to dispose of the Elites there (one with one
Plasma Rifle, another with two, and a third one sitting at a Plasma
Cannon). They will be the Jet Pack type, so it makes it slightly easier to
snipe them as they don’t take cover as much or move as fast. This will take
time, but it can be done. When all three are dead, take ammo for the Battle
Rifle and go toward the dead Elites. In the center of the place there will
be a ramp going down, with two ramps going around it. Stop in front of that
central ramp and carefully go forward along one of the side ramps. If an
Elite comes up, run back and hide. Then snipe it with the Battle Rifle. The
second Elite will be probably hiding. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to
sneak up on it and melee it in the back. If not... then I guess you’ll have
to start over because any Elite is very lethal if met up close without an
Energy Sword or Shotgun. When the way is clear, go through the door. Wait
for the elevator to descend.
-Return to Sender
The elevator door will open as soon as the section title appears.
You’ll probably be expecting the door with the red lights to open, but it’s
the door on the opposite side of the elevator. When it opens, go through
and immediately throw a Plasma Grenade at the closest Elite. It shouldn’t
be able to see you yet. When that Elite is dead, hide behind the large
crate and use the Battle Rifle to snipe the other Elites. Just so you know:
there will be one or two Elites with dual Plasma Rifles, one Silver Elite
with one Plasma Rifle and a Needler (the most annoying one by far), a few
regular Elites with one Plasma Rifle, one with an Energy Sword, and one Red
Elite with dual Needlers. It’ll be hard to get rid of them all, which is
what you have to do to trigger the next cutscene. Try this: use guerilla
tactics. Inch around the side of the crate and snipe the Elites. Then, a
couple of seconds after they start firing the Needlers. But when they do,
don’t jump out too quickly. The needles home in on any enemy target that
appears, even if that target took cover previously. In other words, if you
jump out from behind the crate when there are needles flying toward you,
they’ll home in on you and could potentially do some big damage.
Snipe them until there are only a couple left. Once you’ve
accomplished a raid on the enemy from behind your crate, look left and
across the ditch in the center of the room in case some Elites decide to
flank you. They don’t do this often, but when they do, fifty percent of the
time it’s going to turn out to be lethal. There will be some Battle Rifle
ammo in the ditch and some across it. To get the ammo in it, go down and
turn left. There will be a room at the end, where there will be two of
those on-the-wall weapon racks. One of them contains SMGs and one has
Battle Rifles. It’s kind of perplexing why that Marine’s there, if not for
fighting. To get the ammo across the ditch, just go across and there will
be a dead Marine there, complete with a Battle Rifle. All right. Back to
the actual game process. Once there are one or two Elites left, go across
the ditch anyway and hide behind the crate there. This should give you a
good view of the remaining Elites. Before going there, though, take a
couple SMGs. When the Elites come out, use Plasma Grenades if you have any
left. If not, empty the SMGs into them. Eventually they’ll hide behind
those two crates there. When this happens, run behind the crates and kill
them off with the Shotgun. Wait for the cutscene. That will consist of the
Chief dragging the huge bomb to the airlock, opening the door, and stepping
outside. Then the Chief will land in a Covenant ship through a hole that
just happened to appear there at exactly the right moment and in exactly
the right place. My guess is that he landed in the ship’s fusion reactor
chamber. Then he’ll detonate the bomb and land on, out of all those ships
in the area, In Amber Clad (Miranda Keyes’s ship).
IV. Outskirts
[Outskirts of New Mombasa, Africa]
-They’ll Regret That Too
You’ll fly down from In Amber Clad in a Pelican. On the way, Cortana
will intercept a message repeating the word “Regret” and will use that
single word to deduce that one of the Covenant Prophets is on the Covenant
ship and that he’s calling for help. Then you’ll come to a sudden
obstruction in the form of a Scarab. It’ll take down your Pelican and the
Chief will be knocked unconscious. Strange that he’s the only one
unconscious while the rest of the Pelican’s crew is alive and well.
So, now you're back on terra firma. Go through that door in front
of you and down the stairs. Don’t shoot the Grunt--wait for it to turn
around and then melee it in the back. Carefully go through the next door
while shooting the Grunts and Jackals that come into view with the Battle
Rifle. Then go right and kill off the Jackals there. Now you have to take
the nearest building. Use the SMG to hurt the enemy ranks when they come
down the stairs of the building. Notice that the Sarge is an important part
of the story and is therefore immortal. He’ll be carrying a Sniper Rifle,
so you can take cover, sit down, and wait for him to get you through this
part. But that’s not necessary. So I’ll give you directions for helping the
Sarge and the other Marines out. Fight off wave after wave of Covenant
until a Phantom arrives. It's a simple-in-theory kill-everything-that-moves
strategy, and all it requires is luck and patience. Just stay on the second
level of the building while taking shots at the enemy. There’s not much you
can do about that Phantom, so hide till it leaves. Then watch out for a
Sniper Jackal. When it’s down, shoot at the enemy until the courtyard is
clear. Be careful around the Red Elites because they can really hurt you.
When all the enemies are cleared out, the gate in the courtyard will get
slowly broken out and two Hunters will arrive. Take Sarge’s Sniper Rifle
and give him your Battle Rifle. Take the Sniper Rifle ammo near the Machine
gun. Then snipe the Hunters in their weak spots. When one is dead, the
other will rush at you and will stand under your ledge. You’ll have to drop
down to kill it. It's a long process most easily accomplished with grenades
and Sniper Rifles. With the Hunter down, go through the broken-out gate.
Now you have to snipe the Jackals on the other side of the collapsed
bridge. Stay out of their sight when you’re not sniping them with the
Battle Rifle. Or you can take the Sniper Rifle that’s lying around. In the
wall you have to have your back turned to when you’re sniping the Jackals
is a crack with a large concrete block in it. Behind the concrete block is
some Battle Rifle ammo, and if you climb up the block and go into that
alcove above it, you will find a Sniper Rifle along with some ammo for it,
a Pistol, and a few Plasma Pistols. This is one of the many secret
passageways and shortcuts New Mombasa is saturated with. I’ll point them
out as you go, and a part of the level will be spent using one of those
secret places. More on that later.
Once the Jackals are finished off, swap-carry the Battle Rifle and the
Sniper Rifle across where the Jackals were. Then leave the Sniper Rifle
just as you’re about to round the second corner and use the Battle Rifle to
shoot the Sniper Jackal a few meters in front. Try to get a headshot, or
it’ll take more ammo than necessary. Then pick up the Sniper Rifle and get
behind those small green crates stacked nearby. Use them as cover to snipe
the Sniper Jackals on the other end of the alley. When enough of them are
finished off, some Bugs will appear. Use the Battle Rifle to snipe them.
There will be a couple of Sniper Jackals left, so be careful. Sweep the
rooftops and the ruins at the end of the alley before moving to any place
where you might be exposed. When it’s safe, go down the alley, but make
sure you have a Plasma Grenade. Look left all the time and you’ll
eventually come to a place where there’s a drop off and an Invisible Elite
on top of it. Throw the grenade at it and hope it hits. Then run back and
recharge your shield as it’ll probably need to be recharged. Run back to
the Elites and kill them off. Then go further along the alley. When you get
to the left turn, stop because there will be a Sniper Jackal far up the
alley there. Snipe it and another should come. Kill that too. At some point
a Jackal might appear in that passage with the hole in it that’s hanging
above the alley. Kill it if it does. Swap the SMG for a Sniper Rifle, so
that you have a Battle- and Sniper Rifle. Now it’s time for another
venture into secret places. Jump onto the square podium/platform-like thing
with the purple explosive device and a storage crate on it. Then turn
toward the alley where the last Jackals were. There will be an orange
overhang there. Jump onto that and then onto the pipe extending over the
alley. Then jump onto the overhang above the pipe and onto the roof above
it. Turn left and run and jump along the row of roofs until you reach a
place with another alley below you and a warehouse-like building (with a
hole in the roof) on the other side of it. Some Covenant will start
arriving in small dozes: a bunch of Grunts and an Elite. Here’s what you
have to do: use the Battle Rifle on the Grunts and the Sniper Rifle on the
Elites. It’ll usually take three shots from the Sniper Rifle to kill a Red
or Blue Elite (you can occasionally kill a Blue Elite with two). When the
Covenant stops arriving, or you’re out of ammo, go back to the places where
there is ammo to fill up. Note that there’s some more hidden Sniper Rifle
ammo. Just when you’re about to run past the tower that you can easily find
from many places on the rooftops, look around it. Near it should be a
balcony with clothes hanging on a line. Jump down there and take the ammo.
When on the roof of the warehouse, you’ll be able to go through the
hole in the roof. It may look like an ordinary roof damaged by an
explosion, but it’s actually a concealed tunnel to another hole in one of
the buildings, from where you’ll be able to snipe a very annoying White
Elite and a Grunt or two. But first you have to get rid of the two Grunts
that are guarding the actual hole. It’ll be more or less easy with a
grenade. Otherwise use the Battle Rifle. When it’s safe, crawl to the edge
of the opening and snipe the Silver Elite and the Grunt(s). The Elite will
probably take more than four Sniper Rifle shots. When the place is cleared,
jump down and go through the hotel entrance. Once there, take the Battle
Rifle ammo if you can find it. Proceed through the hallway. Turn on the
flashlight because if you don’t, those lights in the hallway will be very
annoying and they’ll certainly interfere with my concentration. When you
see Plasma Rifles being shot at the end of the passageway, get behind one
of the alcoves in the walls. From there, fire on those Elites and Grunts
until they’re all disposed of. Then proceed down the hall. You’ll see a
Phantom arriving. Hide so that its guns don’t hit you (if it fires them at
all) and wait for it to deposit many Grunts and a Blue Elite. Kill off the
Elite first, as it’ll unnecessarily waste a lot of your ammo in the future
if you don’t. Then kill off the Grunts. They’ll probably destroy the
Warthog by now with their Plasma Grenades. When it’s only you and the Ghost
on the ground, I recommend jacking the Ghost. Use the bridge to flank it
and then jump on top. Hold X when you’re told to, and the Chief will knock
the Elite out of the Ghost. Kill the Elite with the Plasma Cannons.
-A Day at the Beach
Go down the ramp and onto the beach. Then, swap your Ghost for the one
near the downed Pelican (you won’t be coming back, so why not take a brand
new and glittering Ghost and leave the possibly damaged one behind?). Ride
the Ghost along the shore and stop at the slab of concrete protruding into
the water. Take out your Sniper Rifle and snipe the Sniper Jackals and
Elites from where you are. Take more ammo from as far back as the courtyard
at the start of the level if you really need to go that far. But take ammo
anyway--you’re going to need it. Then ride the Ghost through the enemy
lines without letting them realize that you’re there till it’s too late.
You’ll have to drive to the opposite corner of the valley (couldn’t think
of a better word to call it) and get behind the large container. There will
be a barrier there with a Plasma Cannon on it. If there is a gunner behind
the cannon, take it down. If not, destroy the cannon anyway because for all
you know, a Grunt might come in and man it. When you decide it’s all right,
go along the tunnel and toward the next area. Don’t stop to snipe the
enemy, just ride through to the next checkpoint that’s further along the
shore. When you reach it, just wait for your shield to recharge and get on
moving: a Phantom will arrive and its cannons can end your rest very
easily. Ride through the next area and into the highway entrance. Then take
the Ghost there and continue down the highway. When you arrive at a
black-and-yellow blast door, turn left and go a bit further.
-Speed Zone Ahead
Snipe the bad guys till a Warthog arrives. Take the driver seat and
drive through the enemy lines. It’ll be tough and you’ll be killed a lot,
but it’s possible to make it. The main pain will be the debris the Covenant
will use to barricade their sentry posts. Avoiding it will be a trial and
error thing: ride through and remember where the debris actually is. I
won’t describe it because it’ll take too long and will make this guide look
more boring than one of those political speeches. Anyway, you’ll reach a
place where there’s a Shadow standing near some of that debris. Ride past
it, after which you’ll arrive at another place where the way forward is
blocked and you have to turn right. Then, another Warthog will arrive.
Yours should be in pretty bad shape now, so take the new one. Ride the
Warthog through the following tunnels, but be careful to stay out of the
way of the convoy of Shadows you’ll be following--their Phantom Cannons
will really hurt. When the convoy stops, use the Sniper Rifle to kill one
or both of the Phantom Cannon gunners. Then give the Sniper Rifle to the
passenger Marine. Eventually some Ghosts will arrive and the Marines will
kill them off pretty quickly. Then ride through the Shadows and the next
enemy outpost. Drive toward the right side and through that space in the
Shadow there. If you’re fast and lucky enough, you’ll probably make it to
the end of the highway.
V. Metropolis
[New Mombasa, Africa]
Here you’ll come to a place where a couple of Marines will be hiding
out. Then Sarge will arrive in a Pelican and deposit a Scorpion. He’ll
deliver a colorful speech about how to be brave and good.
-Ladies Like Superior Firepower
The title actually varies from difficulty to difficulty, as does
Johnson’s speech. That’s a trick that the Bungie folk seem to like using.
If you haven’t noticed, in the beginning of Outskirts, the phrase Cortana
says to wake you up is different on different difficulties.
So. Get into the “motivational device/divine intervention” and wait
for the Marines to get on (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch
Sarge’s ranting on Easy and, I think, Heroic). Then drive along the bridge.
The Marine with the Rocket Launcher will help a lot, but you’ll need to
shoot your Cannon at the enemy Ghosts. If you’re very lucky, you’ll be able
to push through without too much trouble. It’s not a very good idea to stop
because the Ghosts will keep coming and coming, so it’ll worsen your
situation. About one quarter way across the bridge, you’ll notice that
somewhere ahead a Wraith will start bombarding you. From that point on, be
on the move as the Mortar's remarkably accurate. When you reach the Wraith,
concentrate on it and then take out the Ghosts. I guess you can also jack
the Wraith, but I wouldn’t--too suicidal. When the way is clear, go past
the Wraith’s wreckage and drive down the bridge. Soon a Phantom will pass
you and start firing at you with its guns. Try to take out some of them
with your own Cannon. When a second Phantom passes, fire the Cannon at the
guns on it too, so it doesn’t kill you. Some Banshees should arrive at some
point, so kill them off. It shouldn’t be that hard. Then go further down
the bridge. Somewhere (probably before this) a couple more Marines will
join you. Yet another Phantom will fly by and fire its cannons at you. It
may be hard to see, but that Phantom will be carrying a Wraith. Take it out
to avoid a possibility of a Wraith in the future. Get rid of the Ghosts
you’ll meet on the bridge. When Cortana says something about a “welcome
party”, there’ll be three Banshees coming in your general direction. When
she says that, stop and start sniping the Banshees. It doesn’t take a lot
of practice, just aim for the place where a Banshee will be in about 1
second and fire. When the Banshees are down, proceed to the ticket
barriers. When the Ghosts come out, take them out. Go a bit further and two
Wraiths will come out of the highway entrance in front of you. Destroy
both. It won't be that hard. When you’re not shooting, hide the Scorpion
behind the ticket barriers. When you can, enter the highway and go through
the tunnel. There will be a truck with a Grunt behind it, so kill it. Then
take out the Elite further down the highway. When you see a barrier
blocking your progress, start firing your Cannon at the top, which should
clear off the Jackals there. Then get out of the tank and a Marine will
come up to you and say something. She will have a Shotgun, so take that
instead of the gun other than the Battle Rifle. So you should have a
Shotgun and a Battle Rifle. Then take the Warthog and carefully drive up
the ramp on the right. Be sure not to drive over any of the Marines. Then
park the Warthog on the other side of the blast door and get into the
gunner seat. Mow down the Covenant that should be coming from further along
the highway. Or as much of it as possible. At least make sure that you get
the Grunts. They’re not that hard to kill. When there’s nothing to shoot
anymore, go behind those trucks on foot and use grenades and the Shotgun to
get rid of the Covenant there. Then, taking cover whenever possible,
proceed down the highway. A Sniper Jackal will arrive on the ledge on your
right. Kill that as quickly as possible. Then use the nearby trucks as
cover to lay siege on the Covenant that’s further down the highway. There
will be several Elites, Grunts, and more Jackals. Many more Jackals. But
there shouldn’t be that many Snipers, only one or two, so it shouldn’t be
too bad. When there are not many Covenant left, go up onto the ledge on
your right and attack them from behind. Then, when you come too close to
the next blast door, a Gold Elite will come out, so be aware of that. It’ll
have an Energy Sword, so this is about your second chance to get one. Not
that it’ll be much use anyway. You won’t get close enough to an enemy to
use it (if you want to live). So, when the Elite is dead, proceed past its
corpse. The entrance to the sewers will be guarded by a Sniper Jackal, so
wait for the Marines to come and kill it. Then swap the Battle Rifle for a
Beam Rifle and go into the sewers. Go left and you’ll arrive at the exit.
-This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us
There will be a Sniper Jackal in front of you, so melee it in the
back. Then use your Beam Rifle to snipe the Gunner Grunt on one of those
structures in the middle of the area. Then snipe the Elites on the same
structures. Be careful not to fire three rounds at once because then the
Rifle will start overheating and you’ll find that you wasted three Beam
Rifle rounds--the Elite will have time to recharge by then. When you’re
done with the Elites, turn your attention to the pretty-looking support
beam thing. There will be Sniper Jackals on or around it, so snipe those.
It would be a good idea to withdraw into the sewer pipe entrance so that
you’re just high enough to snipe. Otherwise, you’re probably
screwed--they’ll snipe you themselves. Many Jackals will climb the platform
where the base of the support beam thing is, so take them out with the Beam
Rifle. When the current one runs out of ammo, go back to the highway and
take the one by the sewer entrance. Then, when the Jackals are dead, come
out and get down on the ground. If you missed some, it’ll become apparent
here because you’ll die. If you don’t die, go to the other end of the area
and, if possible, jack one of the Ghosts. If the Ghost pilot notices you,
then hide behind something and wait for the Ghost to find you. Then, when
it comes around that object, it should be moving slowly, so you can jack
the Ghost. Kill off the previous pilot and get rid of the other Ghost. Then
come through one of the openings the Ghosts were next to. There will be a
couple of Ghosts nearby, and a Wraith with an Elite and some Jackals on the
other side of the valley. Leave your Ghost in the previous area and come
into the next one. Lure out the Ghosts and get back. Then jack the Ghost
that comes after you and kill the pilot. Rinse and repeat till you have a
collection of Ghosts. Then snipe the Jackals and the Elite on the other
side of the valley. When it’s only you and the Wraith, pick out the most
ruined Ghost. Then ride the Ghost up to the Wraith and jack it too. Then go
back to the place with the support beam thing and take your least battered
Ghost. Go through the doorway near where the Wraith was when you jacked it.
Now you have the option of going through with the Wraith, but only if you
got one of its wings shot off. Otherwise it won’t fit. But I’ll assume that
you didn’t get the wings shot off, and went through in a Ghost.
Drive through the exit doorway and you’ll see a Warthog and a Ghost.
Try to destroy the Ghost as quickly as possible because another one will
arrive. Then go along the highway and turn left. You’ll now be on a stretch
of highway with some walkways in front of you (with some Sniper Jackals),
some Wraiths beyond that, and a dead end at the end of the road. Go along
the highway and turn left again. You’ll be in a “side passage” where you
can hide. In the middle of this stretch of road you’ll see a gateway
leading out onto the walkways. Snipe the one or two Jackals there and wait
for the Warthog to get destroyed. Then take the Ghost and go to the end of
the stretch of road. Ride out to the dead end of the main highway and hide
behind the crates in the building’s entrance. When the Wraiths calm down,
run out and jack the closest one. I think this particular one takes lots
and lots of grenades. When the Wraith is yours, go into the side passage
and wait there. Some time later a Phantom will arrive. It’ll carry two
Ghosts and you can take those down with a couple of well-placed Mortar
shots. Then concentrate on the remaining Wraith(s). It would be better to
wait for two Pelicans to arrive, so you have some distraction for the
Wraith and some extra firepower. When it’s safe, go into the building,
which should be now open. Either listen to Corporal Perez, or go past him
and up the stairs.
-Field Expedient
Listen to Sergeant Banks commenting about them sending a Spartan (is
it a bad thing or what?) and then survey the big bad Scarab destroying the
Scorpion on the ground that magically appeared there. Then head up the
stairs on the left and go through the door that should open once the Scarab
passes. Run up these stairs and turn right. Then run up those stairs, turn
left, and go through the door. Swap the gun you have that’s not the Shotgun
for a Rocker Launcher, so you should have a Rocket Launcher and a Shotgun.
Or you can swap the Shotgun for the Rocket Launcher instead of the Battle
Rifle, but it's very hard to snipe the Covenant from this ledge anyway. I
certainly recommend you retain the Shotgun in case you accidentally drop
down onto the Scarab and have to fight off legions of Covenant. Now go back
a bit and go onto the walkway perpendicular to the channel below. There
should be a crate there with a couple of rocket crates in front of it. Take
those and get back to the main walkway. Once you see some Covenant coming
out of the interior of the Scarab, fire rockets at them. When you see
another rocket crate, make sure that overall you have an even number of
rockets because you'll waste a rocket if you don’t. When the walkway turns,
don’t fire at the Covenant any more because they’ll be too far away.
Eventually the Scarab will stop and you’ll have a good shot into it. No
Machine gun this time, so you’ll have to do with rockets. When the Scarab’s
exterior is clear, a checkpoint will go off. Swap the Rocket Launcher for a
Battle Rifle, pick up some Shotgun ammo near the place where the last
checkpoint went off, and jump down onto the Scarab. Go inside and turn
right. Aim and throw a Plasma Grenade at the Red Elite at the controls of
the Scarab at the other end of the room. Then retreat up the ramp and wait
for some Covenant to come into view. Take out your Battle Rifle and prepare
a Plasma Grenade, so that in case a Grunt comes you’ll be able to shoot it
with the Battle Rifle and an Elite will be easily disposed of by the
grenade. Probably a Silver Elite will come, so throw the Plasma Grenade at
it and it will probably die. At some point an Elite with an Energy Sword
will come out. A Plasma Grenade should be enough to get rid of it, but I
wouldn’t bet on it. When no more Covenant are coming out or are triggering
the radar, wait for a couple of seconds, and go inside. There should be a
Red Elite or two at the Scarab’s controls, one of which you should have
taken out just when you boarded the vehicle, so kill the second one with
another grenade, melee attacks, or your guns. Then wait for the cutscene to
start. The Covenant will start retreating and In Amber Clad will follow. As
In Amber Clad follows the Covenant ship into Slipspace, something will
explode, thereby destroying New Mombasa.
VI. The Arbiter
You’ll see the next cutscene inside High Charity. The Elite will be
led to the Mausoleum of the Arbiter by a couple of Brutes, and the
Hierarchs will actually offer him to become the Arbiter, one of the
legendary Elites that, over all the time the Covenant existed, became
Arbiters to solve some dilemmas the Prophets had. Apparently, the Council
decided to have the Elite hung, but the Prophet of Truth decided
against it and concluded that this particular Elite should be the Arbiter.
The Elite will say that he’s already dead, and the Prophet of Truth will
enthusiastically agree. When the Prophets actually make the offer, the
Arbiter will ask what the Council will think, and then the Prophet of Mercy
(Mercy, huh?) will say that “the tasks he must undertake as the Arbiter are
perilous, suicidal. He’ll die as each Arbiter has before him. The council
will have their corpse”. Here’s another paradox for you: if he’s to
accomplish the task he has to accomplish, then how is it that he’s supposed
to do it and still die in the process? And in this case, what’s the point
of having an Arbiter in the first place? So, the Prophets will tell you
that you have to kill a heretic leader, whose “slander offends all who walk
the path”. A fleet of Phantoms will then be shown flying toward the remains
of Halo and a Silver Elite will recite a pep talk that’s obviously the
normal procedure there, as well as make an attempt to offend the Arbiter.
Then you will arrive at the Heretic Leader’s station.
[Heretic station, suspended above the destroyed Halo]
-A Whisper in the Storm
Some Elites will be next to you (howdy, cousin!) and they’ll give you
a lot more advice than those Marines. Run forward and drop down. An Elite
will be hacking a holo panel and in a couple of seconds the door next to
the panel will open. Go through and wait for the next door to open. While
you wait, the other Elites will suggest that you have a built-in Active
Camouflage. Cool! When the second door opens, press the white button to
engage the Camo. Then run forward and behind the Heretic Elite there. Smack
him on the back with the Plasma Rifle and then swap it for his Carbine.
Then wait for the Camo to recharge (the circular indicator is next to the
grenade meter; once the circle around the central section is complete, you
have a functioning Camouflage) and move up the ramp to your left (when
facing the door you came through). Turn on the Camo when you get halfway up
the ramp and use the Carbine to kill the Heretic Elite at the top of the
ramp with a melee attack. Then jump downstairs and look for sleeping
Heretic Grunts. Or they’ll be sleeping if the two Elites you killed didn’t
notice you and shoot at you. Dispose of those Grunts with melee attacks.
Then go up the ramp again and use your Carbine to snipe the Heretic Grunts
on the floor. There will be a few Elites there too, so when one of them
comes out into the open, snipe it and you might be able to kill it. When
there’s only one Elite left, sneak up as close as you can, turn on the
Active Camo, and melee it in the back. When it’s safe, make sure that one
of your Covenant Elites has your Energy Sword (swap the Sword for an
Elite’s weapon and then swap that gun for dual Needlers) and that one has a
Beam Rifle. Go down the stairs at the end of that stretch of floor you
sniped the heretics on and walk toward the cube-like barrier in front of
the next doorway. A checkpoint will go off, so now you’re safe. Inch around
the barrier and stick a few needles into one of the Heretic Grunts there.
Then your allies will take care of the rest. Look out from time to time and
needle the enemy a bit. Some more heretics will arrive in a couple of
waves, but your Needlers will take care of them. Don’t rely on your radar
too much because there will be false signatures everywhere--there will be
some enemies below you, but you can’t fight them yet. When the current room
is cleared, take some Carbine ammo from the Carbine on one of those sloping
stands in this room. There will also be an Energy Sword on another stand,
so swap the Needlers for it. Get into the elevator and activate the holo
panel.
Ahh, Sentinels. I missed them. Of course, they’re your enemy this
time. What’s worse, they’ll be on the same side as the heretics. When the
elevator gets all the way down, activate your Active Camo to be safe, and
melee the Heretic Elite on your right in the back (if the Elite is to the
left of the elevator, restart from the previous checkpoint). Then go a bit
further forward so that you’re more or less hidden by the things sticking
out of the walls. Use your Carbine to snipe the Sentinels. When your
Covenant allies open fire, join them and the heretics should go down pretty
quickly. If you don’t have any allies left, do your best to kill off the
enemy without dying. Kill the enemy till there are no more left. Hide
whenever possible. At some point, they’ll stop coming. That’s when you have
to go down toward the hangar doors and open them using the holo panel near
them. When you activate the panel, run because some Sentinels will arrive.
A Phantom will also arrive, and it’ll give you some help in disposing of
the Sentinels. The Phantom will also bring some more Covenant. After the
Sentinels are dead, some more heretics will come over. Kill those with your
Carbine and Plasma Grenades, and then wait. If no more arrive, scavenge
some ammo and drop down to the lower level. There will be an open door
under the elevator. Go through and turn left. Hopefully you have at least
one Elite left. If you do, make sure that it has a Beam Rifle. Hide behind
the pillar in the center of the tunnel and wait for some heretics to come
up the ramp on the other side. Throw a Plasma Grenade at a Heretic Elite
and then hide behind the pillar again. Activate your Active Camo and snipe
the other Elites with Plasma Grenades. Take the first chance you get to
kill the Grunt that should be there with your Carbine. There will be many
Heretic Elites at the bottom of the ramp the first heretics came up, so
snipe them with grenades too, till there are no more left. Then head down
the ramps the rest of the way until you reach the next door.
Take out your Carbine and snipe the Grunt on your left. Some Heretic
Elites will come out, but it’s a good idea to hide. Your allies, however
many you had left, will probably be killed at this point, so just hide and
let your shield recharge. When you have a fully charged Active Camouflage,
turn it on and come out. Throw a grenade at the Heretic Elites and retreat.
Repeat until you kill one Elite. When you do, the other one will probably
hide and you’ll have to look for it. Go up that ramp in front of you and if
you don’t see the Elite, activate the Active Camo. Then go down the other
ramp and the Elite might be somewhere down there. If you accidentally get
close to it, it wouldn’t hurt to stick a Plasma Grenade to it and run for
your life. When both Elites are dead, a checkpoint will go off and some
allies (a Silver Elite with dual Plasma Rifles and a Grunt) will arrive.
There will be some hidden heretics on the other side of the room, which
your Elite will expose pretty fast. When it’s more or less quiet, run up to
the enemy as close as possible and hide. There will be at least one Elite
with a Carbine and one with a Sentinel Beam, plus some Grunts with
Needlers. The Elite with the Sentinel Beam will be particularly annoying.
Dispose of it with your Camo and a Plasma Grenade. Take your time because
they probably won’t try to find you, so you’ll have plenty of time.
Eventually you’ll kill all of the heretics. Collect some ammo and, most
importantly, Plasma Grenades. There will be some in the passage leading to
the hangar. In the next passage, there will be a pillar in front of you.
Walk up to it and wait on its right side. A Heretic Elite will come out in
front of you. Throw a grenade at it and hope it hits. Otherwise, restart so
you don’t have to waste ammo on that Elite. There will be more passages
leading down, so clear those. Use the radar, but don’t rely on it too
much--there will be more false signatures there, some inside a wall. When
you reach the next door, you’ll hear some Sentinels. Stand in front of the
door so you have a clear view of the alcove opposite the door and shoot
down the Sentinel that will arrive there in a couple of seconds. Then some
Grunts and Elites will arrive, both Covenant and Heretic. There will be a
nasty Heretic Elite with a Sentinel Beam, so kill that first. There might
be a Grunt on your left, so if it’s there, kill it. There will almost
certainly be another Sentinel flying around, so shoot it down. Then proceed
along the length of the room. When you know that there’s a Heretic Elite
somewhere in front of you, activate the Active Camo and melee that Elite in
the back. There will be some more bad guys. Dispose of those from a
distance with your Carbine and go through the next door. There will be some
heretics on the other end of the room, but they shouldn’t notice you yet.
Activate the Camouflage and throw a grenade at the Elite there. I'm not
certain, but there should be another one. If there is, recharge your Camo
and sneak up on that Elite and follow the usual smack-in-the-back
procedure. Then go through the next door, but just far enough to see the
Banshee depart (behind the window in front of you). Then retreat back
through the door and look at the ledge on your left. Some Grunts will go
along the ledge and down the ramp. Snipe them with the Carbine. Then
whatever allies you have left will rush into the room and get killed. Wait
for some Heretic Elites to come. Activate the Active Camouflage and throw a
Plasma Grenade at one of them. There will be around two, so it shouldn’t be
that hard. If they hide and you have two radar signatures with no apparent
owner right next to you, know that they’re up on the ledge above you. To
kill them there, activate the camouflage and run out. Then aim and throw a
grenade. When all the Elites are dead, run back to the door and hide. Some
Sentinels will arrive and they’ll be very easy to get rid of with a few
Carbine shots. Then go up either ramp and through the door.
-To the Hunt
Go through the next door and take a Banshee. Then someone, probably a
certain Silver Elite that you will meet throughout the game, will tell
you something about sending a Phantom to give you a hand. The Phantom will
arrive and you’ll have to just fly around the place until it finds the
place where you have to go. Now, main thing you have to do is get a Fuel
Rod Cannon. Fly up to the highest possible point and look around. There
will be eight tower-like things/protrusions/platforms/towers all around
you, but all of them will be connected to the main complex. On top of about
three of them will be some enemies, namely Phantom turrets and Grunts with
Fuel Rod Cannons. Find one of those and get up close--or just close enough
for the reticle to turn red when you’re targeting an enemy. Move sideways
and fire at the same time. After a few seconds the Grunts should be dead.
Then just land there and swap the Carbine for the Fuel Rods. If you don’t
have a full clip and 25 rounds in your pocket, try another place. Do this
until you have that much ammo for the Fuel Rod Cannon, plus a full Energy
Sword. Then just fly low and wait for the Phantom to report that it’s found
something. In my opinion, the best way to spend this time is to find the
level's skull. When the Phantom finally finds something (the first time
should be a false alarm), fly up and take a look. If it’s not some Grunts,
Phantom turrets, and a parked Banshee, go back to the bottom of the level
and wait. When it’s found something like that, again fly sideways and fire
at the place until there are no more Grunts and Phantom turrets left. Land
there and run forward through the arch. Another cutscene should start.
VII. Oracle
[Heretic station]
-Juggernaut
Look at the box in front of you. And the Spores in it. Tells you
clearly what you’ll be meeting next. Go to the other end of the room and
through the door. There will be sounds of battle, but that’s below you. For
now, go through the next door and drop down onto the floor. Then use your
Energy Sword to destroy the Flood bodies on the floor. This might seem like
a waste of ammo, but it’ll help in the future. Sometime soon a hologram
will arrive. So that you’re sure what it look like: a miniature Monitor.
Then it’ll display the Heretic Leader. The Covenant will shoot it, then
they’ll stop. The Leader will talk to you, but I suggest you just proceed
demolishing the Flood bodies. By the time you can’t find any more, the
hologram should disappear and some Spores will arrive soon. The Covenant
will dispose of them more or less quickly, and you can use the Energy
Sword.
Then a door will open and you’ll have to go through. Then there will
be the dreaded elevator. If you played Halo, this place is like when you
entered the Truth and Reconciliation for the first time. But fear not--this
place has some loopholes in it which you can use and abuse. If you played
this part on an easier difficulty, you’ll know that it starts descending
until it reaches a door at the bottom. Oh, and whatever you do, don't crack
open those green octagonal prisms that the elevator moves around. I don't
know why, but they contain Spores.
Method one: See those light green and white chutes in the walls that the
elevator takes stuff out of? There is some empty space between each chute
where you can stay. But that won’t help, since you’ll be a sitting duck.
But if you drop carefully off one of the spaces, you might be lucky enough
to have been on the one above the door you need to go through. Just so you
know: there’s a total of three areas in the walls with the chutes. One of
those places has nothing under it at all, so you’ll be guaranteed to die if
you drop down from that one; one ends in a closed door; and one ends in
the open door you need to go through. I’ve only tried this when the
elevator was probably more than halfway down, so I wouldn’t recommend
jumping down at once. Try to stay on the elevator as long as possible. As
soon as you feel you’re overwhelmed by the Flood, activate your Camo and
jump down one of them.
Update on method one: I passed the level again and this didn’t work for me
anymore. I just kept dying even if I didn’t fall to the bottommost floor, I
just died after hitting the floor of one of the niches between the chutes.
You can try this method, but I would recommend method four.
Method two: emergency tactics while on the elevator: go up those ramps and
stand on the circular ledge around the central pillar. That way the Flood
might leave you alone long enough to recharge your shield. But know this:
this method doesn’t work, at least not for me. About halfway down some
Flood with Needlers and Plasma Rifles will start arriving and those will be
almost sure to kill you.
Purely theoretical and almost positively useless method three: You can use
the Energy Sword to melee the invincible Silver Elite onto the elevator.
Not that it makes any difference as he’ll run right back the moment you
stop meleeing him. A fun thing to do is to melee him over the edge and into
the chasm. There he’ll disappear (in a somewhat spectacular way) and
reappear where he originally was--in the room where you met your first
Flood.
Method four: If you want to pass the elevator at all, lure both Elites with
the Plasma Rifles onboard and stay on the main elevator floor. There, use
the Energy Sword to give the Elites a hand with killing the Flood. This is
the method that gave me the most hope and I actually succeeded in passing
the elevator using it.
When you’re at the next door, whatever you did to get there, go
through. There will be two Flood there, so use the Sword to kill them. If
they’re still somehow in one piece (literally), use the Fuel Rod Cannon to
melee them to pieces. It’s going take some time, but it’s possible. If
there are any more Flood bodies around, melee them to pieces too. Then go
to the end of the tunnel and through the door. There will be a battle down
below, so you’ll have to stop that. Break the glass and use the Fuel Rod
Cannon to
take apart the Flood on the floor. When you’re not shooting at them, look
around to make sure that none of them jumped up onto your ledge. At some
point some heretics will arrive and hurt the Flood some more. When you’re
out of Fuel Rod ammo, you’ll have to go to the previous tunnel and take a
Carbine. Then (you should have an Energy Sword and a Carbine), go back onto
the ledge above the Flood-infested room and continue sniping. When you do
enough damage, some heretics will come and help you with the Flood in the
room. Then you’ll have to dispose of them too. When the door the heretics
arrived through is open and there’s nothing overly lethal in front of it,
go through. Some time later the previous door will lock and you’ll be able
to go through the next one.
Don’t participate in the Flood-heretic shootout unless something comes
your way. The heretics and the Flood will pretty much exterminate each
other, and the newly arrived Phantom and the troops with it will mop up.
Now go forward across the bridge and turn right. Well, you can turn left,
but I never did and won’t give instructions for it. This part will be one
of the easiest in the entire game, so I won’t go into the specifics. Main
thing: use your radar. It tells you when there are enemies around you, and
there are no false signatures here, so it’ll be more or less accurate. Use
your Active Camo and grenades to dispose of Heretic Elites when possible.
Three Sentinels will arrive about halfway up the ramps, so use the Carbine
to get rid of them. When you’re through the next door, go through the next
few doors and into a room. If you look at the door at the far end of the
room, you’ll see a shielded door with the Heretic Leader behind it. Go
toward that and a cutscene will start. The Leader will say that that
shield over the door he's behind will protect him from the storm, but
you’re gonna die. Then the Arbiter will decide that he’ll cut the cable
holding the station up in the air. When the cutscene ends, you’ll have to
get to the top of the ledges and ramps in this room and use an elevator to
go up. On the way there will be a lot of Flood and Sentinels that you’ll
have to fight. That is, you’ll have to fight them if you go up at once. But
I suggest you go back through the door you originally came through and wait
in the doorway, shooting at everything that notices you. When things are
quiet again, go up the ramps and to the top of the whole thing. There will
be a holo panel at the top which you’ll have to activate. Once you do that,
you’ll go up.
-Hey, Watch This!
This room will require a lot of luck due to the number of Flood and
Sentinels there. Now, the cable seems to be separated into three parts here
and spaced around the room. You’ll have to melee the cables to break them
(at least that saves ammo and I’m not sure if you can do it any other way
anyway). When the elevator arrives at the top, quickly jump off and run to
the edge of the room. Use your Energy Sword to melee one of the cables.
Those are the pillars that are different from the rest--they have blue
lights on them. Once the first cable is cut (it’ll fall apart and start
blowing some kind of gas when enough damage has been done), hide behind one
of the other pillars and wait for the shield to regenerate. Then run across
to one of the other cables. Use the Camo whenever possible to avoid
unnecessary attention. Melee all three cables to pieces and run back to the
elevator. Once you feel a very noticeable jerk, the station will start
falling and you’ll be able to activate the holo panel.
Going down... The moment you've gone all the way down to the previous
room, jump straight off onto the floor and head toward the door where you
last saw the Heretic Leader. It will be open now and there will be some
heretics behind it. Throw a grenade at the first Elite you see and gun down
the nearest Grunt with the Carbine. Then use the Active Camo to melee in
the back or grenade the other two or three Elites there. Then kill the
leftover Grunt and jump down the elevator shaft. Go through the door in the
next room and shoot down the Sentinel. Another will arrive, so kill that
too. Then go through the door. A Flood Bomb should explode on your left and
at least one Spore should get into the Flood corpse there. Get rid of the
Flood and go past the place where the Bomb exploded. Get about halfway to
the opposite side of the room (clockwise) and hide behind one of the
pillars. Use the Carbine to snipe the heretics near the next door. Snipe
the Grunts first because the Heretic Grunts can be a much bigger pain than
the Covenant Grunts. Then focus on the Elites. There will be one or two
with Carbines and two with Swords. If one with a Sword comes after you,
that’s better. Use grenades on those. Anyway, dispose of them any way you
want, and then go through the next door. You’ll see a cutscene showing the
Leader running away in a Banshee and the Arbiter himself taking a Banshee.
You’ll see a nav point. Fly there as fast as possible and you’ll see
another cutscene.
-Dead or Alive... Actually, Just Dead
Now you just have to go the way you came all the way to the hangar.
Kill off the Flood and Sentinels in this room (actually, stay out
altogether until you don’t hear any Sentinel fire. Then you will know that
either the Sentinels are dead, or the Flood are. Come out and kill
whatever’s left). Then go through the next door and clear that of any
Bombs. Take the door on your right and take down the Sentinels there with
the Carbine. When they’re no longer coming, go through the door, turn left,
and go along the length of the room. Once almost at the end of the room,
turn right and go through that door. Now time for some hallways. I notice
that the Master Chief is the one who has the flashlight, and he’s the one
who usually needs the Active Camo; the Arbiter has the Camouflage and he
very often needs the flashlight. Strange. So, go up the passageways. Always
look around corners before you actually go there, as there might be
something you don’t want to meet around that corner (most often, Flood
Bombs). Once in the next room, go up the ramp on your left and snipe
whatever you can from that ledge. Always look around because there might be
more Bombs there. When you feel that you’re ready, activate the Camo and
run across to the structure in the middle of the room near which all the
heretics are concentrated. Then sneak around the corner and throw grenades
or shoot Carbine rounds at the bad guys. Then, when there’s only one Elite
left, use the Camo to sneak up to it and melee it in the back. Then get rid
of the Grunts if you haven’t already and pick up ammo for the Carbine. Not
that you’ll need it anymore, but just in case. The other gun might just as
well stay a Sword. Or you can swap the Carbine for two Needlers. Your
choice. Then walk around the place to pick up Plasma Grenades if you don’t
have four already--you’ll need them. Go through the next door and up the
passageways. Go through the door at the end of the passageways.
So here’s the first boss fight in both Halos. In the hangar you’ll
meet the Heretic Leader ugly face-to-ugly face. Then you’ll meet the hated
Monitor. When he gets ready to tell the Arbiter about Halo’s purpose, the
Leader will ruin all the fun by trying to kill the Arbiter with his Plasma
Rifles. Then he’ll launch two of his holograms, which will actually inflict
damage. Once you can move, throw a Plasma Grenade, hide behind the stone
thingy on your left, and then run past in and onto one of the conveyers.
Then run past the conveyer and hide behind the next pillar. There should be
a Plasma Rifle behind the pillar, so swap the Carbine for that. Then, when
it’s safe (or at least less dangerous than usual), go closer to the hangar
doors and hide behind pillars whenever you stop. The Heretic Leader and his
holograms will be patrolling the hangar, so use the radar to tell if
they’re close. When you can, activate the Camouflage and run up the ramp,
which you should be close to by now. Once on the top level, hide and wait
for the Active Camouflage to recharge. Then run toward the elevator again.
Do this until you reach the elevator. Oh, and if you’re seen during the run
toward the elevator, then you’re pretty screwed, so be careful. Go behind
the shaft and there you should be safe--I guess Bungie didn’t program the
Heretic Leader to go behind the elevator due to how hard it is for you to
get there. When you’re there, swap your Sword for the newer Sword. Then
wait for the Heretic to calm down. He should eventually settle in front of
the elevator, but just off the second level’s floor, so he’ll be hovering
above the first level. Now simply activate the Camouflage and throw a
grenade at him. I noticed that one grenade doesn’t kill him all the way, so
when you throw it, start shooting the Plasma Rifle at him.
A second method: when the first cutscene ends, throw a grenade at the
holograms and then run to the left as in the first method. Then you have
the option of hiding out in the alcoves the conveyers lead to and peppering
the Heretic with firepower and grenades. The other option is hiding behind
one of the pillars and doing the same thing. This doesn’t work for me very
well, so I would recommend the first method.
Anyway, once you kill the Leader, the Monitor will be caught by
Tartarus and taken away on a Phantom. You’ll leave too.
VIII. Delta Halo
[Above the lake on Delta Halo]
-Helljumpers
You’re on another Halo. Commander Keyes will drop you onto the surface
and tell you to take a landing zone. Of course, either the whole Halo is
soaked with Covenant, or you just happened to be dropped into an area where
there are so many Covenant that I could walk across their corpses to the
end of the level. But you’ll have to make the corpses first, so that’s why
I’m writing this walkthrough. Go up the ramp in front of you and turn 90
degrees to the left. There will be a Phantom turret there, so use the
Rocket Launcher to destroy it. So you don’t have to waste time reading the
instructions on the screen: while pointing the reticle at the turret (it’ll
change when you do so), hold the right trigger until it’s clearly locked
onto the turret. Then let go of the trigger. The rocket should fire and the
turret is history. Then quickly withdraw down the ramp. When there are no
Plasma Grenades around, come back out and use the SMG to roast the Grunts
up there nice and brown. They won’t come without a fight, so you will
probably need to hide once or twice. When the Grunts are cleared off, look
slightly to the left and look at the top of the ruined building. There will
be a turret on top of it. If you can’t see it, walk to the right a bit till
you can. Get rid of the turret with the Rocket Launcher. Then go back down
the ramp and swap the Rocket Launcher for one of the Marines’ Battle Rifle.
Go back up the ramp and turn to where the Grunts were. You should see a
very small canyon and a bridge passing over it. Then, if you turn a bit
further to the left, you’ll see a hill and a view of the ruins to the left
of it. On the side of the hill, there will be something ledge-like. Climb
onto that and use the Battle Rifle to snipe all the enemies that are more
or less “snipe-able” with the Rifle, namely the Grunts and Jackals. Then,
when there are only the Elites left (for which you’ll need the Marine with
the Rocket Launcher), turn around and go through the canyon I mentioned
before. Then go toward the ruins and into the building. From there, you
should be able to kill off the Elites with the help of the Marines. When
there are no more Covenant left, scavenge some Battle Rifle ammo and some
SMG ammo if possible. Then go into the canyon. At the entrance closest to
the building, look left and you should see a series of ramps leading up
onto the bridge going across the top of the canyon. That’s an excellent
place for sniping, not to mention that most enemies don’t even come close
to the bridge. When the first Phantom arrives, it’ll drop some troops.
Snipe the smaller ones and then use grenades or anything else at your
disposal (melee attacks in the back, sniping Elites with the Battle Rifle,
an all-out attack on the ruins) to get rid of the Elites. Then a couple
more Phantoms will arrive. Do the same for the first of those, but the last
Phantom will carry some Invisible Elites (one with a Sword and two with
Plasma Rifles). If you don’t have their undivided attention already, get it
with a couple Battle Rifle shots. When the Elite with the Sword comes,
you’ll just have to kill it off with the SMG while it’s running around
under the bridge. Then get rid of the other Elites with the Battle Rifle.
They’ll be unexpectedly easy to kill. You’ll know that there are no more
Covenant when Cortana tells you to “hold here until the Pelican arrives”.
Then the Pelican will arrive and drop off a Warthog along with two Marines.
Swap some guns so that you have a more or less full Battle Rifle and a
Sword, and one Marine has a Sniper Rifle and the other has the Rocket
Launcher. Do some more swapping if necessary to get the full Battle Rifle.
Make sure that the Rocket Launcher Marine rides shotgun and the other rides
in the gunner seat of the Warthog.
Then go near the canyon entrance and turn left. There will be a
passage in the hills there, so drive the Warthog in there. When you reach
the next area, your passengers will have to kill off the Sniper Jackals
there. To save the Warthog, drive over one of them yourself. Then ride past
and into another place. There will be a large structure there that
essentially serves to move the bridge. Go to the corner serving as an
intersection of the road you're now on and a ramp leading toward the
structure, and then turn left. Here you should have a clear view of the
structure’s front. Face the Warthog that way and go forward about halfway
to the structure. Then sharply stop and start going backward, so that the
Marine with the Rocket Launcher faces the Phantom turret on a ledge on the
front of the structure. Then stay near the front of the structure and wait
for the Ghosts to come. Wait for the first one to go down, then the next
one, then the next one. And they’ll keep coming... and coming... and
coming... for a total of about eight or ten. If they suddenly stop coming,
go around the structure and make some more come out. When you’ve gone
around the structure, waited for a minute, and they don’t come, get out of
the Warthog and go inside the structure through the front entrance. Turn
left, go forward a bit, then turn right, through the doorway, and right
again. Go until you reach another door leading to the bridge control room,
with a hologram of Regret in the center. Stand in front of the door just
long enough to attract attention. Then hide and get out your Sword. The
Covies should come out one by one, so use the Sword to kill them off when
they do. The Elite will go down after a couple hits. After a surprisingly
easy massacre (cleaning up the room, if you want), check that the room is
clear and go across to the holo panel under the window. The bridge will
come down.
Get out of the structure the way you came. Your Sword won’t have much
ammo left, so swap it for a Plasma Rifle. Make sure you take the Marine out
of the Warthog’s driver seat before he/she hurts him/herself. A Pelican
will arrive with a Scorpion, so get in. Wait for the Marines to get in and
drive forward a bit. Then turn your Cannon to the right, but not the whole
tank. You will see that across the chasm there are a couple of Wraiths. Aim
for one and fire. Then retreat behind the building if they start using
their Mortars. Rinse and repeat until the Wraiths are destroyed. Note that
you won’t see a Wraith exploding from this far away. You'll have to come
closer. The only clue pointing out a destroyed Wraith is a blue explosion
when it’s had one shell too many. When it’s safe, go forward, turn right,
and start going toward the bridge. But always keep an eye on your left
side, or the lake. While you’re driving toward the bridge a Banshee will
come, so use the Rocket Launcher Marine and your Cannon to get rid of the
Banshee. Two more will come after the first one, and by the time you’re
safe, the Marines will probably be dead. And if it occured to you to try to
jack one of the Banshees, don't waste your time. The Banshee-jacking
feature is disabled for this and the next levels. Now, go across the
bridge. When you’ve almost reached the other side, retreat to the middle of
the bridge and wait. Two Ghosts will arrive from the cave entrances near
the Wraiths’ wreckage. Use the Cannon to take out the Ghosts from a
distance. Then go toward the cave entrance they came through. Two more
should come out, so get rid of those too. Go through the entrance and turn
right. It won’t make a difference if you go up the ramp or not, but I would
suggest staying on the floor. There will be a few Ghosts further down the
road. When you reach a waterfall, take out all the Ghosts bothering you at
the moment and look left. There will be an alcove in the wall with some
Covenant in it. A few shells will clear them out. Then go past the alcove
and turn left. Get rid of any Ghosts that might be there and use the Cannon
to clear out any Plasma Cannons on the far end of this stretch of road.
Then go to the end, turn left, and go forward. When you turn left again
there will be some Jackals that you’ll have to deal with. A couple of
shells will do fine. The turn right and drive the rest of the way to the
next area.
-You Break It, You Buy It
Go to the edge of the ledge and look down. There will be a pool
further up the valley with a couple of Phantom turrets next to it. Destroy
those turrets and turn left. Then go forward and down the ramp. There will
be a few Ghosts there, so get rid of them and go toward the other side of
the place. Drive through the columns and clean up the rest of the area.
There will be a doorway somewhere in the wall, so go through. When you’re
far enough down the ramp, some Ghosts will arrive behind the wall to your
left. Get their attention with a Cannon shot. Then take out the Ghosts.
They won’t go easily, so I suggest retreating a bit. Sometime soon a Plasma
Cannon will appear on the other end of the room. Take that out and then
clean up the room of any Covenant you didn’t notice yet. Then go down the
next ramp. Some Jackals will appear, so kill them. Hurry up and go down the
ramp because some Ghosts will arrive if you don’t. Then turn right and
proceed till you’ve reached a doorway leading into another ruin complex.
Stop near the exit and take out the Phantom turret on the ledge in
front of you. Then, if you have time, get rid of the closest turret on your
far left. Wait for Ghosts to come. There will be a huge number of them, but
with the tank you should be able to kill them all. When you have a window,
go past the Ghosts and to the left side of the complex, or closest to the
lake. Once there, you should have a couple more cannon fodder, or Grunts,
to deal with. But if you kill them at once, it’ll be more or less easy to
get rid of the Ghosts once you’ve got the advantage of higher ground that
the stone ramps near the Grunts provide. When there are no more enemies
near you, go to the other side of the area. There will be a ledge directly
on the opposite side of the place with some Grunts, a couple of Jackals,
and an Elite. Use the Cannon to get rid of the Grunts and the rest if
possible. If they’re hiding, go up there and finish then off manually. The
Elite will die after a successful attack with the Plasma Rifle and the
Jackals will be easy to dispose of with a few Battle Rifle shots. Then,
jump down and you’ll see capsules with weapons that the Pelican dropped.
Swap the Plasma Rifle for a Rocket Launcher and then swap the Rocket
Launcher for one of the Marines’ SMGs. Soon a lot of Covenant will come out
the center of the building you’re on. The field of stationary shields will
give you very good cover, so use anything at your disposal to kill off the
Covenant. There will be several waves of them, so don’t rush in. I suggest
you dual-wield a Plasma Rifle with an SMG as this is one of the scariest
combos I’ve come across so far. Stay as far away from the Marine with the
Rocket Launcher and don’t under any circumstances get into his line of
fire, because he might blow himself up as usual, or he might just hit you
with a rocket. When it’s quiet, go to the place where the Covenant came
from.
There will be a doorway there which you should go through. When you’re
through you’ll see a few Covenant. You can easily kill the Elite there with
your SMG and Plasma Rifle. Then kill off the Grunts and go further. To your
left there should be another Elite. Kill that and go take a Sniper Rifle.
There should be a few more Grunts in the area, and they will be easy to
dispose of with the Battle Rifle. Now look to the right of the door you
entered through (if you’re standing in front of the doorway and looking at
it). There will be a small structure/cabin there with a very narrow window
and two doorways. That will be a perfect sniping spot. There will be a
couple Jackals to the left of that window, which will also be easy to
dispose of with the Battle Rifle. The only difficulty will be the weeds
that might be in the way of your scope. So, with the Jackals out of the
way, there should be two Elites and some Jackals on that large ledge. The
Elites will have Carbines, so be careful. You’ll be able to snipe the
Elites if they come out, and that’s not that hard. Just come out of the
side entrance (adjacent to the window) and jump up and down until an Elite
sees you. then return to that structure and start sniping that Elite
through the window. It would help if you took the Envy skull from the
previous area (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, look in the
Secrets section), but I consider that cheating and take the skulls only if
I know that I won’t be using them to pass the game. So, if you didn’t take
the skull, just use the window and hope you’re lucky. The first Sniper
Rifle shot will stun any Elite, so you should be able to follow it up with
a couple more shots without a problem. Then kill off the next Elite. When
the Elites are down, there will be a couple of Jackals left, unless they
dropped down onto the floor and you killed them. They’ll be on the ledge,
so use the ramp on your left to get up there. Clean up the ledge and go to
the other end of it. There will be a passage leading to the next area. Get
rid of any Covenant there and go forward. Some more Covenant will come, so
go back to the ledge and snipe the new arrivals with the Sniper Rifle. Then
go forward and turn left. There will be a tunnel entrance. Go through.
-Off the Rock, Through the Bush, Nothing But Jackal
Melee the Jackal you’ll see in the back. Then swap your Sniper Rifle
for its Beam Rifle and start sniping the Covenant down by the waterfall.
There will be a Sniper Jackal slightly to your left, and I suggest you look
for it instead of shooting the Red Elite on that bridge-like root. The
Jackal will be on the ground to the left of the Elite. It’ll be accompanied
by another Jackal, so once the Sniper is down, concentrate on the second
Jackal so you don’t forget about it. Then turn even further left until
there are some branches and leaves in the way. There, behind the branches,
you should see a Red Elite wandering around. Kill that with two shots with
an interval of about 1.5 seconds. I don’t know why, but that seems to work
better than three quick shots. Then, when the Elite is dead, turn your
attention to the ledge on your right and directly below your level. There
will be a Sniper Jackal there. You should be able to see it if you edge
close enough to the edge of the waterfall. If you don’t see it, it’s
probably behind that cubic block of rock. To reach it, go along the ledge
on your right and look down when you’re over the block. You should see it.
A headshot with a Carbine, Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, or Beam Rifle will
kill it. And by the way, I suggest you collect all those weapons (and some
SMGs) from the previous areas and bring them to the top of the waterfall.
Then continue sniping the enemies. The Red Elite will be somewhere on the
ground, so wait for it to come out. When the second Elite is out of the
way, some Covenant reinforcements should arrive near where the first Sniper
Jackal you shot was. Kill those. When you’ve killed enough of them, some
Bugs will arrive. They won’t be hard to kill, seeing that they’ll stay
close to the ground and just let you snipe them with a Carbine, which I
suggest you use. Then, when you’re positive that there are no enemies in
the area, swap-carry your weapon stock across the ledge on your right and
drop them onto the lower level (the ledge where the second Sniper Jackal
was). Then jump there yourself. If you somehow managed to get low on Battle
Rifle ammo, there’s your chance to refill from that weapon capsule at the
end of the ledge. If you don’t need the ammo, go there anyway. From next to
the weapon capsule you’ll see that there’s another ledge under yours,
sloping underneath it. Throw all your guns down there and jump down
yourself. Then, when you’re at the end of the ledge, a checkpoint should go
off. Then you’ll be attacked by some Bugs, who will arrive from the far end
of the swamp. Four options here:
-If you can handle the Sniper Rifle as perfectly as I can handle every gun
except the Sniper Rifle, you can shoot them down from far away and laugh.
-The second option is hiding in a cave down at the bottom of the swamp.
There’s a tunnel near the foot of the waterfall which you can hide out in,
but it’s pretty suicidal, seeing that you’ll be fired at from both sides.
There’s another cave at approximately the center of the place (directly at
the end of the stream), but it doesn’t work very well either--it’s too
open.
-The third option is to run down the bridge-like root and jump to the flat
part of a hill on your left (the one with the weapon capsule). Take the SMG
from the capsule if you don’t have one already. Then head up the ramp and
go into the cave on the right. There will be a Red Elite there, so kill
that and wait for the Bugs to come. If they don’t, then lure them in. Hide
behind the stone block in the cave and finish them off.
-Last option: take out your SMGs, stay on the first ledge you were on when
the Bugs came, and just fire away.
Well, you’ll have to go to that cave anyway, so go across the
root-bridge and jump onto the flat part of that hill with the weapon
capsule. If you still have the Bugs to dispose of, swap the Battle Rifle
for the SMG and go up to the cave. If you don’t, then I suggest you stay
with the Battle Rifle. There will be a Red Elite in the cave, of which I
recommend you dispose with a couple Sniper Rifle shots and a melee attack
if necessary. Then, if the Bugs are still alive, hide behind the cubic
stone and wait for them to come. If they’re obviously not coming, then come
out and lure them in. When there are no more enemies outside the cave, go
toward the second entrance (the one you didn’t use yet). Inch around the
wall and use the Sniper Rifle to... um... headshoot the Sniper Jackal
there. Take your time because it shouldn’t know that you’re there. If it
knows, then you don’t have much chance of surviving this part anyway. When
the Jackal is dead, go swap the SMG for the Carbine laying next to the
cubic rock. Go through the first entrance, down the sloping hill right in
front of the entrance, then collect the rest of your guts, say a prayer if
you know one, and make a run for one of the stone blocks at the foot of the
waterfall. Hopefully one of the two leftover Sniper Jackals (there should
be only one left if a Sniper ran up and got killed after you got rid of the
previous one) doesn’t get you in the process. I won’t describe where each
one is because I don’t remember, but you should be able to easily find
them. There will be a Silver Elite below where that last Jackal was, so
look out for that. Once there don’t seem to be any more threats and you’ve
killed three Sniper Jackals, go back to the cave. Then come out onto the
ledge where the Jackal was and go across it until you trigger a checkpoint.
Then run back into the cave. Take the SMG you should have left in the cave.
If you don’t have enough ammo, then take the Plasma Rifle from the Elite.
Some Bugs will arrive. Kill them off, this time hiding on the opposite side
of the cubic rock. After the cave is clear of Bugs, come out and start
sniping the Covenant that came out of the tunnel on the other end of the
passage. This will be easy. Watch for the two Shielded Jackals there, so
they don’t take you by surprise when you get there. Swap the Sniper Rifle
for a Beam Rifle and go to the canyon at the end of this ledge.
Bonus secret: when one-quarter of the way across this ledge, you might
notice that there’s a ramp going down from the edge to the place where the
Silver Elite should have been. When you come down that ramp, turn 90
degrees to the left and you should see a dark passageway there. Go in and
turn on the flashlight. There will be a Marine Corp(se) there with two
Pistols next to him.
So, back to the ledge. Once you come into the canyon, it should become
apparent that there’s an Elite at the end of the passage. Two or three Beam
Rifle shots will kill it. Then go the rest of the way through the tunnel.
You’ll arrive in a large open space with one of those structures you’ve
seen from a distance. Look at the closest structure closely with the Beam
Rifle and you’ll see two Jackals patrolling one of the tiers. Shoot them
both. Then some Bugs will come. They shouldn’t be hard to snipe with the
Beam Rifle. On my first try, I could shoot down all but one. Then, as I got
better, I could easily kill all of them while they were still on their way.
Now, you can kill many of the enemies you’ll meet in the future from right
here. Turn to that tower to the left of the main complex. If you look
carefully, you’ll see a Red Elite marching along a ledge. Kill that with
the Beam Rifle. Then go down onto the platform with the weapon capsules.
There will be two SMGs there, one close to the bridge and one further away.
Swap the Carbine for an SMG and then swap the Beam Rifle for the newer one.
Come close to the SMG capsule closest to the bridge, then go past in so
that you have a view of some of the Bugs on it. Use the Beam Rifle to kill
as many as possible before they notice you’re there. Then go back to the
SMG capsule and dual-wield the SMG there. Take cover behind the nearby
rock and wait for the Bugs. Kill them off with the SMGs. Then swap the SMGs
for the Carbine you dropped and look at the tower to the right of the main
complex. There will be a couple of sleeping Grunts and an Elite wandering
around. Shoot the Elite and the Grunts with the Beam Rifle. Then descend
the nearest bridge and go through the door. There will be a couple Honor
Guards next to a hologram of Regret. If you go around the barrier a couple
of times, you’ll see that one has a Plasma Rifle and one has a Sword.
There’s a total of two Honor Guards with Swords and two with Plasma Rifles.
Throw a Plasma Grenade at the one with the Plasma Rifle. The one with the
sword will follow you, so maintain a safe distance and kill it with the
Beam Rifle. Take its Energy Sword. Then another Guard with an Energy Sword
will come and annoy you. Kill that too. Then, there will be another Honor
Guard left. Lure it into the “lobby” (in the future--entrance room, so I
don’t have to plagiarize from Tom Race's guide) of their room and finish it
off at close quarters with your Sword. Go back to the swamp and take the
Sword from the cave all the water at the bottom of the place flows towards.
Then take a Carbine and approach Regret’s hologram.
IX. Regret
[The buildings above the lake on Delta Halo]
-Testament
You’ll get two Marines, but no matter what you do, they’ll get killed.
A lot of Covenant will ambush you. Use the same technique you used on the
last Guard--lure them into the entrance room and kill them with the Sword.
There will be some Bugs in the hologram's room, which I suggest you dispose
of with the Carbine and Marines. There will also be quite a few Guards, but
it’ll be more or less easy to kill them all if you stay in the entrance
room. The Bugs will be easy to snipe from the where you are, if you come
out for each Bug a couple of times. Just stay in the entrance room.
Eventually the Covenant are going to all die from thy all-consuming wrath.
Swap the Energy Sword for the Shotgun one of the late Marines left. Then go
through the door on the ledge on your right. Now swap the Shotgun for the
Beam Rifle laying there. Turn left and look at the bridge across a piece of
the lake. If you look carefully with the Beam Rifle, you’ll see a Jackal
wandering around there. Shoot it in the head and retreat. Swap the Beam
Rifle back for the Shotgun. A few Grunts and an Elite will come after you.
Hide behind the corner and when the Elite comes, shoot it with the Shotgun
a couple of times. Now come out (but not too far out--there should be more
Snipers) and use the Carbine to get rid of the Grunts. Then swap the
Shotgun for the Beam Rifle again and hide somewhere near the doorway
leading outside. Edge around the corner and look for the Sniper Jackals.
When you’re pretty sure that there are none left, come out and hide behind
the nearest cubic rock block. Then look around and snipe the Covenant with
the Carbine and Beam Rifle. Try to reserve the latter for the Elites, but
you’ll soon get a new one anyway, so don’t be overly critical about it.
Snipe them and then go along the outside wall of the hologram’s room. Go
through the doorway at the end. If you did some poking around the room, you
probably noticed that it had two entrances and the one of them was blocked.
And here you are, on the other side of the blocked doorway. There will be a
Carbine near the rocks, so know that when you’re low on ammo. Sometime soon
a checkpoint will go off and two Sniper Jackals will appear on that other
bridge. Kill them off with the Beam Rifle. Then go onto the bridge-like
thing (so you don’t confuse it with anything else--it has two levels) where
the last Grunts and Elites were. Try to stay on the lower level as that’s
safer from Snipers and the Grunts at the other end. Kill off the Grunts
with the Carbine. There will also be an Elite to their left, so go retrieve
your Shotgun. Then go toward the place where the Elite should be. If you
see part of him poking around a wall, don’t miss your chance to throw a
Plasma Grenade. If you meet it up close and give it a surprise, you can
also throw a grenade. If times get tough, you can use the Shotgun. But I
recommend you save the ammo--there’s not much of it as it is.
When the Elite is dead, go along the partly open hallway and through
the door there. Turn right and you’ll see a ruined room. There will be some
minor enemies there, so it’s a good idea to swap the Shotgun for the Plasma
Rifle to the left of the door. Then execute the nearest Covenant. The
Plasma Rifle does the job very quickly at close range, doesn’t overheat
very fast, and takes a very long time to empty. Don’t worry too much about
the ammo because you’ll throw it away anyway. The Grunts will go down
pretty quickly, as will the Jackals once you get up close. Make sure the
room is clear, but don’t go through the next door just yet. Instead, return
to the place where you killed the last Elite and get onto the two-leveled
bridge. There should be a dead Sniper Jackal there, so confiscate its Beam
Rifle (throw away the Plasma Rifle). Go back to the ruined courtyard and go
through the next door. (Another secret: you’ll probably notice that there’s
a pile of rubble next to that door. Look at that and you’ll see that that
pile is blocking a doorway. But you can still fit through the doorway, so
do so. To your left you’ll see two Carbines and about two Plasma Grenades).
When you get through the next door, you’ll hear something hit the building.
Inch toward the exit of the room you’re in. There will be some hard-to-spot
Covenant running around that bridge you get a view of. Concentrate on
Sniper Jackals at the moment, but if you get a Jackal-free window, it
wouldn’t hurt to snipe the Elites. Then, when you can’t see any more
Covenant, go out and run behind one of the wide columns at the edge of the
open hallway. Hide behind one and look out from behind it. If you can’t see
any Sniper Jackals, move to the next one. When you’re at the last one and
haven’t had to see a red flash and Master Chief falling down, that’s a
pretty good sign that there are none left. Run out onto the platform and
take the fullest Beam Rifle you can find (I think there’s one with 100
percent charge).
When you hear a Phantom, run for your life. Then, when it drops two
Hunters, take any spot where you can snipe them and start sniping. My
favorite spot is near the end of the passage leading from the hologram’s
room. There’s a broken bridge nearby, near which you should notice a couple
of columns. They’re not particularly wide, but they should be enough to
shield you from the Hunters’ Fuel Rod Cannons. There’s an effective
technique you can use against them: point the Beam Rifle at one’s head and
fire two shots in rapid succession. This is one of the few places where
it’s okay to let the Beam Rifle overheat. The first shot will throw the
Hunter back and the second will hopefully get its neck. Two or three
successful attacks on each Hunter should effectively kill them. Then go to
the place where the corpses of the Hunters are and wait for a Pelican to
arrive. It’ll drop two Marines and some weapon capsules. There will be
plenty of Beam Rifles on this platform, so arm the one carrying the Shotgun
with a Beam Rifle. If you’ll look over the lake, you should notice that
there are two small-looking structures hanging over the water. At some
point blue lights will start glowing below each one. The right one will
move away, while left one will start toward you. That would be a gondola
full of Covenant. Take a Beam Rifle and target the one moving toward you,
as it wouldn’t hurt to take down some of the Covenant aboard it before they
do the same to you. When you see something on it, shoot, and when it docks
at your building, take down the rest of the Covenant. It’s all right to
take a break behind one of those stone flower pots and let the Marines
finish off the bad things. Then make sure the gondola is clear and look at
the weapon capsules. Swap-carry the weapons onto the gondola and stockpile
them on the raised part of the gondola--you don’t want to leave only to
discover that you left the weapons on the building. Also make sure you comb
the area for other weapons that could be useful (more Beam Rifles and that
Shotgun you got in the hologram’s room and left somewhere) and bring them
to the gondola. When you’re good to go, make sure that your Marines have a
Beam Rifle and a Sniper Rifle, and then go activate the holo panel at the
front of the gondola.
-One-Way Ticket
Somewhere halfway to the next building you’ll meet the second gondola.
There will be some Bugs onboard, as well as some Elites and Jackals. There
might be a few Grunts, I’m not sure. The Marines will do most of the hard
work, being unusually resourceful for Marines. That’s probably because of
their good guns. The Bugs will bug you so much that you’ll have to
concentrate on them when they appear. When the second gondola is empty,
you’ll continue moving along. If you don’t, then jump across and kill
whatever’s left. I suggest you take the Shotgun as that’s effective against
almost all Covenant. Then jump back across and you’ll start moving. As you
near the structure, I suggest you pick up a Sniper Rifle or a Beam Rifle if
you brought one. Look at one of the Sniper Jackals on top of that structure
(between the Phantom turrets). Sniper them and then focus on the turrets. A
shot at the top of the Grunt sticking out of the turret should kill the
gunner. Then, as you come even closer to the structure, I suggest you look
at the doorway you’re headed for. There will be a Sniper Jackal there,
along with some Shielded Jackals. Or they’ll appear soon enough. Snipe them
until dead. When you can, focus on the Phantom turrets. When the way is
clear, go inside the structure and look through the door on your left. If
you were very lucky, both Marines are still alive. Use the Shotgun and
Battle Rifle to kill off the Jackals there. They'll put up a good fight, so
be careful. When the Jackals are dead, some Bugs will arrive. Your best
hope is sniping them with the Battle Rifle from a distance and using the
Shotgun if one comes close. If the Marines survived, they’ll easily dispose
of most of the Bugs. But once the Bugs start hiding, the Marines won’t look
for them, so you’ll have to clean up the rest with your own guns. When
there are no more Covenant around, look at the empty elevator shaft in the
center of the room. There will be a piece of floor level with the top of
the hole, and that’s the side the elevator’s door is in. Wait for the
elevator to come up. When it’s coming up, select the Frag Grenades. Once
the elevator arrives, don’t be in a hurry to toss the grenade in as the
door is transparent and will bounce the grenade right back at you. So, when
you’re sure the door is open, toss in the grenade and step aside so the
Jackals in the elevator don’t see you and run at you. The grenade will
explode, and hopefully take the Jackals with it. Now you have to go inside
and use the holo panel to activate the elevator. But don’t be in a hurry to
do so because you can swap-carry the weapons from the gondola and stock
them in the elevator. Do it. There’s a secret Fuel Rod Cannon in this place
with about eight rounds. To get to it, go up the ledges in the room. At the
top, you’ll see a passage leading outside. There’ll be a sleeping Grunt
there, complete with its Fuel Rod Cannon and Plasma Pistol. While you’re
doing all this, a Pelican should arrive outside and drop off another
Marine. Equip that one with a Sniper Rifle or a Beam Rifle if one’s
available; so that if you have just that one Marine, is has either one; if
you have two, give one a Sniper Rifle and one, a Beam Rifle; and if you by
some miracle have three, give one a Sniper Rifle, one a Beam Rifle, and the
other one can carry any other powerful sniping weapon. Get into the
elevator and activate the holo panel.
Once the elevator plunges into the water, the Fuel Rod Cannon should
disappear. If it doesn’t, good for you. Maybe the Xbox can't support too
many guns in one place. Eventually it’s going to surface. Once you’re free
to go out, do so. Turn right and go through the doorway there. Look under
the stairs and you’ll see a Carbine. You might need that later. Take the
stairs and go along the hallway. When you reach a doorway, you’ll see a
room with a spectacular underwater view. There will be some Grunts there,
so I suggest you snipe the nearest ones with your Carbine. The Marines will
catch on pretty quickly and they should start sniping the Grunts. When the
Grunts hide, go down the stairs and kill them off yourself. Note that there
are one or two Carbines under the staircases of this room. Then take some
Carbine ammo from the elevator and go to the next room from the underwater
one. You’ll arrive in a room with a staircase. Go up the stairs and into a
much smaller room with a doorway leading into a very large one. Come out.
Now... I guess the easiest way to describe what to do here is to designate
walls as sides of the compass. So let’s call the very far end of the room
the north wall. If you’ve been able to get this far on Legendary, then I
hope you can figure out the rest of the directions on your own. Now, to
pass this part as safely as possible, you should be near the southeast
corner. Look around the doorway you came through and at the southwest
corner of the room. On the top level you might see something small and
Jackal-like. That, most likely, is a Jackal. Fire a couple of shots at it
and hope you get a headshot.
When you hear some Drones coming, retreat into the small room at the
top of the stairs and wait for the Covenant to come. There will be a lot of
them, and whatever Marines you might have left will rush in and probably
get killed. And you can’t do anything about that. Come out and use the
Carbine to slowly dispose of the Bugs. Be careful because a Sniper Jackal
will visit your corner of the room. When the Honor Guard is the only enemy
left there, lure it close and use the Shotgun to dispose of it. Here’s an
extra Sword. If you were very lucky/brave/macho/crazy, you will still have
a Marine or two. Take the Sniper Jackal’s Beam Rifle and look over the
room. There will be a few more Sniper Jackals and discovering those will be
just a trial and error thing. A good place for sniping will be above the
doorway you came through. If you look there, you’ll see a light fixture
which you can jump on. If you don’t want to cheat by crouch-jumping, melee
the nearby storage crate under the doorway and use that to get extra
height. When you can’t find any more Sniper Jackals, go back to the
southeast corner. Look at the east wall and you’ll see a barrier you can
jump on. Do so, and if you had all the Sniper Jackals killed, a checkpoint
should go off. Go back to the doorway and look past it at the place where
you killed the first Sniper Jackal in the room. There should be a lot of
them there. Use a Beam Rifle to kill them off. If you’re low on Beam Rifle
ammo, make sure you got rid of those Jackals and go to their corner. Take
one of their Beam Rifles and start sweeping the room for Sniper Jackal
again. It helps to get on top of those pointless-looking things
cantilevering over the center of the room. When you’re once again sure that
there are no more Jackals left, go to the west side of the room. Jump onto
that barrier connected to the wall and start jumping along the wall. When
you reach Regret’s hologram, you should see that there’s a pillar right
above it with a ring of six Plasma Grenades on it. When you clear the
pillar, a checkpoint should go off. Quickly drop onto the floor and return
to the southwest corner of the room. To avoid the Bugs’ fire, stay as low
as possible, but don’t go down onto the floor because that’s going to leave
you open to the Snipers. Once you’re out of range, go to the southeast
corner of the room through the in-the-wall system of stairs, as usual.
There, if you look down and north for a while, you should see a couple of
Honor Guards. Use the Beam Rifle to kill the one with the Plasma Rifle if
possible, otherwise dispose of the other one. They will come for you, so
find the Shotgun you dropped and swap the Carbine for it. Then wait for
them to come and use the Shotgun. There will be a substantial number of
Bugs near the north wall, so use the Beam Rifle to shoot those down. Look
at the floor of the room. There should be two Hunters there. Use the Beam
Rifle to snipe them the same way you killed the last Hunters. Then, when
the Hunters are dead, swap the Beam Rifle for the Carbine. Make sure there
are no Sniper Jackals in the room and proceed along the east wall
northward. It would be better for you not to hug the wall while going
there. I suggest you use the ramps and ledges if possible. You’ll
eventually come to a place where there are some enemies above you. Edge
around the obstacles preventing them from seeing you and use the Carbine to
snipe the Jackals there. When the Elite is the only bad thing left there,
kill it with the Shotgun. Now, make sure the room is clear and go back to
the elevator for an ammo refill. Then get back to the freshest bodies of
evidence you created and go through the door at the north end of the room.
Go through the western door and down the stairs. Behind the storage
crate you’ll see an Elite. Throw a Plasma Grenade at it. Then look at the
lower level and there will be a few Jackals. Not a problem with a few
grenades and Carbine shots. Then go back to the large room and take a Beam
Rifle instead of the Shotgun. Get back to the last Covenant you killed and
look through the next door. You’ll see a long flooded room (deja vu) with a
few Invisible Covenant in it. Use the glow of the Plasma Rifles and Pistols
and the slight warping of the background to tell where they are. Use the
Beam Rifle to focus on the Elites (the Plasma Rifles glow a whitish glow,
while the Plasma Pistols glow green) and kill them off. The Elites will be
easy to dispose of if you time your shots. Then pick off the Grunts. An
Elite with a Sword will arrive shortly from the door on the other side of
the room, so take care of that. Go down and make sure that the room is
clear. Then go to the next elevator through the door the last Elite came
through. When the whole area is clear... you guessed it. If you’re
kleptomaniac, time to put it to good use--go stockpile all the best weapons
(leftover Shotguns, a couple Beam Rifles, at least one Carbine, definitely
a couple of SMGs if you have them, the Energy Sword from the flooded room,
and a Battle Rifle) in the elevator. I understand that it’s a long and
painstaking process, but it pays off in the long run. When you’re ready,
turn on the hologram in the elevator and enjoy the ride.
You’ll arrive in another room, where you should immediately turn right
and melee that Elite in the back. Then another one will arrive, for which I
recommend you take a Shotgun and an Energy Sword. Try to take it out
(relatively) silently with a Plasma Grenade. If that fails, lure it close
and use the Sword. Then proceed down the next hallway. If that last Elite
didn’t fire a shot, there will be several sleeping Grunts around Regret’s
hologram there. Take them out whether they’re sleeping or not. Then go
back, take the SMGs, and go past the hologram and toward the next doorway.
Look through and you might see some Bugs. If you don’t, then know that
they’ll be there. Look through until you see some. Use the SMGs on them.
Guerilla tactics work very well--fire for a second, then hide and wait for
them to stop firing and for your shield to recharge. The jump out and
continue. Do this until the two Elites are the only things left. Then use
the Carbine to take one of them out. If you can’t, then you can get closer
and hide behind something. Then use the shortened range to kill it off. If
the second Elite hides, go back, take an Energy Sword and a Shotgun, and
then climb the ledges to the Elite. There will be a few Jackals there,
which will go down with a couple grenades and Shotgun shots. Eventually a
Pelican will arrive and use its Machine gun on the last Elite. While it's
distracted, use your Shotgun on it. Two Marines will drop down, so give
one of them the Sniper Rifle from the nearby capsule. Proceed down the
nearby slope and toward the next area. As soon as you can see that area,
turn right and you should see a Sniper Jackal walking around. There will be
another one walking on the bridge slightly closer. A bush should be in the
way, so wait till you see the closer one and then make a headshot. The
Marines should rush out and get themselves killed, but the best course of
action at the moment would be to stay where you are. The Marines should get
rid of the second Sniper, but watch out for that in case they didn’t. Then
come out and hide behind some nearby cubic blocks of rock. There will be an
Elite with a Carbine on the other side of the place, for which I suggest
you take a Sniper Rifle from one of the late Marines. Use that to take the
Elite by surprise (get it to fire at you, then dodge around the rock. The
Elite will be firing at the place where it last saw you, so that gives you
a window) and kill it. Then clear off the Grunt near it. A Phantom will
arrive, so hide until it leaves. Take the Battle Rifle (now you should have
a Shotgun and a Battle Rifle) and drop down on the ground. There will be
some hopefully unsuspecting Covenant between some former buildings and a
passage with columns, so use grenades if you can. When you’ve thoroughly
squeezed the juice out of the element of surprise here, inch around the
side of your cover (it would be a good idea to hide as close as possible)
and use the Battle Rifle on the minor enemies. If an Elite comes close,
shoot it with the Shotgun. There will be two Elites there, so don’t run out
and get killed if you’ve killed only one. So, when the Covenant are dead,
go past there and very carefully look at the gondola dock. There might be a
Sniper there. Kill that if you can. Then, clear the Jackals on the gondola
as best as you can. Swap-carry as many weapons as possible onto the
gondola. Make sure that you took at least one Rocket Launcher. Activate the
holo panel on the front of the gondola.
Immediately take one Rocket Launcher and a Sniper Rifle. Then go to
the rear right-hand corner of the gondola (right if you're facing the
gondola's holo panel; otherwise, left). Get halfway down the nearest ramp
and hide behind the barrier separating the edge of the ramp from the lake.
If you look above the floor of the gondola, you’ll see at least one
Banshee. Now all you have to worry about is getting rid of them as safely
as possible. That won’t be easy, but there are a few simple tips:
-Wait for a Banshee to come within the Rocket Launcher’s range before
firing. When a Banshee is within range, lock on and let go of the trigger.
-Once you get a shot, get down the ramp as soon as possible because the
Banshees can kill you very easily.
When the neighbor gondola arrives, watch out for the Grunts with Fuel
Rod Cannons that are on board. Then another issue will fly up--two Jet Pack
Elites will arrive. They will be a pain. This is another one of those trial
and error places, so you’ll be dying a number of times. Tips and warnings:
-I suggest you swap the Rocket Launcher for a Shotgun, hide somewhere, and
snipe the Elites from behind the cover. If you’re forced to get out from
behind cover and into the Grunts’ line of fire, consider yourself as alive
and happy as a Flood after a Sword hit.
-It helps to get to the front of your gondola when the neighbor gondola is
approaching and hope that you can finish off one of the Elites and maybe a
Grunt.
-Grenades won’t help you much as they’re exceedingly hard to aim at the
flying Elites.
-If you’ve tried to do this for an hour and still can’t get it, go to the
kitchen and make a sandwich. Or try rice with ketchup, Tabasco, and soy
sauce. It helps.
When at last the Elites are finished off, you’ll be free to ride the
gondola to Regret’s building. There will be many, many defenders guarding
Regret’s fortress which you have to somehow break into. The first ones
won’t be hard to kill off--snipe them with a Beam or Sniper Rifle from the
gondola while it’s far away. Concentrate on the Phantom turret gunners
first, then take out the Jackals.
-Sorry, Were You in the Middle of Something?
Whatever Covenant are left will retreat into the building. Probably
the most effective thing you can do at the moment is to take a sniping
weapon, come to the foot of the stairs, hide behind a storage crate, and
take out the Grunts operating the Plasma Cannons at the top of the stairs.
Then take any Beam or Sniper Rifle and snipe the Elites at the top of the
stairs. When you’ve looked at it from every possible angle and they’re not
coming out, swap whatever guns you have for an Energy Sword and a Shotgun,
and then come up the stairs. Hide just outside the exit, where the wall is
so thick that if you press against it, it’ll serve as pretty good cover.
There may be Elites in the closest passage, so carefully look into it. If
not, look closer and you’ll see that it has two doorways going further into
the structure. Take either one and if you see any Elites on the other side,
throw a Plasma Grenade at one. Then, if there was only one Elite, you’re
free to proceed. If there were two (which is most likely), a grenade will
get rid of the danger of them flanking you if you’re somehow forced to hide
in the passage. Kill the last Elite with your Sword or Shotgun. Then swap
the Shotgun for a weapon of choice (ahh, so many good guns for once and
you’re only allowed to carry two. I guess that’s too bad). Dual Needlers
would be a very good choice if they didn’t spend ammo so quickly. And it so
happens that by this time you probably don't have the appropriate amount of
ammo for the SMGs, if you even still have them. The best weapon for this
particular situation would be the Plasma Rifles because they have a very,
very large amount of ammo, and if you fire it in controlled doses, dual
Plasma Rifles can be the best weapon for almost anything on this level.
If there’s no threat in the room where you saw the last Elites, go
under those stairs and swap your Energy Sword for the newer one there. You
might see some Honor Guards in the doorway at the top of the stairs. The
old “pick them off and kill the boss” strategy won’t work here as there’s
an infinite supply of the Guards. You could snipe them as much as you want,
they won’t stop respawning. So, if there are no Honor Guards at the door,
run through and jump over the railing in front of you (yes, you can run
down the ramps, but I can't see the point of losing time, nerves, and your
life by doing so).
The Prophet will be at the far end of the room. To get rid of him, you
should first know that weapons won’t help. You have to board his hovercraft
thingy and punch him for as long as necessary. When he’s had enough of your
big green fist, he’ll teleport to someplace else in the room, leaving you
where you were. The problem is that if you dual-wielded a couple of guns,
one will drop when you jump on top of Regret. If it dropped too far, you
won’t have time to go and retrieve it because the Guards and Grunts will
arrive very soon, and you’ll have to run for your life. Running on the
numerous ramps and the bridge is the best way to lose them. They'll trail
after you, but the original distance between you and them should give you
enough distance to run away without taking too much damage. Just run away
up the closest ramp and then go as fast as possible to the end of the room
you originally entered through. When you’ve lured some more enemies close
to where you are, leap over the railing again (or you can try to do
something even more suicidal--run down from where you are) and run again at
Regret. Note that when you’re running, be ready to dodge to the side at any
moment because he’ll be firing his Prophet-Hunter Fuel Rod Cannon. The gun
has a big name and does even more damage when you’ve come into contact with
it. But he’s not very accurate with it, so it’s usually all right. Do the
melee attack on the Prophet as many times as you need, which, according to
my experience, should take between four and six attacks. More tips:
-There will be many Guards with Swords. To dispose of those: if you’re alone
with the Guard and have enough distance between your two persons, use the
dual Plasma Rifles. If you’re pretty close, melee the Elite with your own
Sword, then run backward as soon as possible, and attack again. If you’re
cornered and have no where to run, take out your Sword and hope for the
best.
-If you’re forced into the previous room, all for the better. You’ll have to
exterminate the Guards at the door if you want to get back into Regret's
chamber, yes, but it’ll be pretty easy. Use a Beam Rifle for the Grunts and
Guards with Plasma Rifles, and the dual Plasma Rifles for the Guards with
the Swords. If you stay there so long that you run out of Beam Rifle ammo
(there are two Beam Rifles under the stairs leading into Regret’s chamber),
you can go back to the gondola and look for leftover Sniper Rifles which
you hopefully packed with you when you were on the other side of the lake.
The one advantage of hiding in this room: if you attacked Regret
previously, he sometimes comes over. That means a very big gun to deal
with, but his proximity will be an enormous advantage.
-Remember that when you’re on top of Regret, you’re covered by his shield
and completely invincible. So if there are a lot of Covenant on the ground
and Regret teleports and leaves you on a ledge, you can easily get back to
the previous room.
-Whenever you’re in the previous room and the door to Regret’s chamber is
closed, hurry to your Plasma Rifles, pick them up, run as quickly as
possible through the door, and do your thing.
When Cortana says something about the Phantoms withdrawing, run for
your life until the cutscene starts.
X. Sacred Icon
[Inside the wall protecting Delta Halo's Library]
-Uncomfortable Silence
Here, you’ll see a cutscene from High Charity, where the Brutes are
taking the job from the Elites. The latter are not very happy and express
their feelings to the Prophets by threatening to resign. The Arbiter will
talk to the Prophets, who will explain that they questioned the Monitor
about how to activate the rings. According to Mercy, the Monitor explained
“with clarity and grace” (may raise some questions from those who heard the
Monitor speak during Halo) that they need the Index, A.K.A. the Sacred
Icon. Suffer through Mercy shouting about “salvation for all” and then
you’ll see a Phantom descending onto Delta Halo. During the trip, the
Arbiter will become very interested when he hears that the Master Chief is
on the ring. When you get dropped off, a Sentinel Tank will sneak up on you
from behind, but the Phantom will chase it away. Immediately pick up a
second Plasma Pistol and jump into the room in the wall. There's a piston
to your left with a button on it. You will barely have time to shoot it
before Sentinels will start swarming in. When you’ve opened the piston,
jump down. When you’re at the bottom of the tunnels, you’ll just have to
run through the place--there will be Sentinel chutes everywhere and the
Sentinels will easily kill you if you pause in one place for too long. When
you’re in any long room, know that the next piston is at the end of the
room. At some point, you’ll be in a passageway-like room with a ledge on
your left. If this is the right room, that ledge will contain a Plasma
Rifle. Swap your Carbine for the Rifle. Then jump down and continue along
the room. When you see a dead Brute, there should be a Carbine near it.
Swap your dual Plasma Pistols (which you should have along with the Plasma
Rifle) for that Carbine. Now, I know that you spent the previous nine
levels thinking that Carbines can’t have more than 72 rounds. Here’s an
anomaly--this one has 104! Reload, get rid of the Sentinels that are
annoying you at the moment, and continue.
Eventually you’ll arrive at the entrance to a huge room with a lot of
Sentinels floating around, along with one Sentinel Tank. In this room, if
you’ll notice, there will be four columns, each with a button under it.
There’s no point in trying to get down there and press all of them, as
that’s a waste of ammo and a considerable amount of your survival odds.
Instead, just shoot the furthest buttons. You'll know when you're
successful when the column rises out of the pedestal with the button. Then
pick off the Sentinels you can see and, using the Active Camo, jump down.
There will be a passage directly below you, so jump in there. In that
passage, you should see some corpses and a few guns. Dual-wield a second
Plasma Rifle. Come out of one of the two exits from the passage and use the
Carbine to take down the furthest column. Then go around to the other exit
and do the same to the last one. If some Sentinels come, get rid of them
with your Plasma Rifles. When all four columns are down (or, as it looks
from the way they moved, up), a holo panel will surface on the platform the
Sentinel Tank is guarding. Dual-wield newer Plasma Rifles (if there are
two) and then try to get up to the Carbine that you may have seen from the
entrance. When you’re all set and ready to move on, activate the Camo and
run to the holo panel. Activate that and the Sentinel Tank will explode for
no apparent reason. Enjoy your ride through a hollow section of the wall.
-Buyer’s Remorse
No word on who Buyer is, what he bought, or why there’s any remorse
involved. Am I missing something?
You’ll arrive in a halfway-outside room with a huge battle between a
considerable number of Sentinels (of course a Sentinel Tank), and many,
many, many Flood. Your best hope to survive this mess is not to fight at
all until one of the sides is defeated. That will, most likely, be the
Flood. To do this, go to the back of the platform you arrived on. Toward
the sides there will be some pillar-like things behind which you can hide.
When the sounds of battle die, you’ll have to deal with numerous Sentinels
coming over. Eventually they’ll stop coming, which should be your cue to
change cover. Change it until you have some cover that you can hide behind,
but still be able to look out, kill off some Sentinels, and quickly jump
back behind the cover. During ceasefires, you might want to take the
opportunity to destroy some of the Sentinel chutes. The Tank might start
firing its bombs at your cover, and that’s when it’s a good idea to
activate the Camouflage and run to another cover. When all the Sentinels in
the room are down, swap your Plasma Rifles for a Sentinel Beam, preferably
a Gold one. Empty as many as necessary at the Tank until it goes down. Take
a couple of SMGs from the dead Flood (because your Plasma Rifles should be
nearly out of ammo by now) and go through the big door in the wall that
should've opened recently. There will be a horde of Flood and Sentinels
there, so just run through. Each enemy will be too busy killing off the
other enemy to notice you. At the far right end of the room you’ll find
another piston. Go down and immediately reload. A few Flood will come from
further up the room. This will be pretty hard, but if you stay behind the
piston you might just win. The SMG ammo will probably be halfway depleted
by the time the Flood die. Go to the place they came from and you’ll come
to a room with a few Spores clustered in a corner. Open up on them while
they don’t know that you’re there, and this way you’ll be able to easily
kill all of them after only a couple of seconds of shooting. If the Spores
come after you, you can still mow them down with the SMGs. Then go down the
next piston. You’ll come into a yellow-lit room. Notice the Shotgun near
some corpses. Swap the SMGs for that. You’ll get a transmission from one of
the Marines that are also trying to get to the Index. Go along the room
until some Flood arrive. Hide and use the Shotgun and dispose of the Flood.
Watch out for the Flood with Shotguns, as those things are pretty lethal.
When the Flood are down, don’t wait for Spores to arrive, but reload the
Shotgun and run past. Now you have to make the Sprint of Faith along the
room to the next piston. Save the Active Camo for as long as possible, but
when Flood start dropping off the ceiling you’ll have no other choice. This
is just a matter of luck, so try this over and over again until you manage
to drop down the next piston. May the Force be with you.
At the bottom of the piston, you’ll find yourself in another
halfway-outside room. Run out of the alcove in the wall you’re in, and get
down into that passage in the floor. There will be a room at the bottom
with a corpse and a Shotgun. Refill your gun from that one and wait for the
fire outside to stop. Run up the ramp opposite the one you used to enter
and run into the closest alcove in the wall. If you have time to notice
this, this alcove leads to another, identical area. Activate the Camo while
you’re running through the alcove because there should be a Flood with a
Shotgun hiding there. In that second area, run down to another underground
passage, this one with a Rocket Launcher. From there, again run up the
opposite ramp and into the alcove. This alcove will contain a piston. Go
down. This room is very dark and murky, so your best signs of Flood
presence are your hearing, color of the reticle, and the radar. The Flood
there will be pretty easy to dispose of. When it’s safe, go close to the
next room, and take down the nearest Flood. Clear the nearby areas of the
things, and then run out. Lure some Flood out with a few Carbine shots (if
you kept the Carbine) and then pick them off with the Shotgun. Then run to
the end of the room, through the passage, and to the end of the series of
three rooms. In the left wall of the last room you’ll find a piston. Drop
down and jump out of the alcove you’re in. Swap the Carbine or the gun you
took in its place for the Energy Sword lying to the right of the alcove. If
you'll look over the edge of the floor, you'll see the Phantom far below.
Now activate the next piston and jump. You’ll come to another half-outside
room. You might see a Flood corpse under the piston you entered through.
Destroy that with your Sword. Then take care of the second one in the
alcove. Lure some Flood out of the main room and use the Sword to kill
them. Note that a lot of Spores will drop down from the piston. If you can
avoid them, that’s great. Otherwise use the Shotgun while they’re in a
group after dropping down the piston. When you get the feeling that it
would hurt less if you just jumped into the main room, do so and eventually
the Spores will stop coming. Take the Sword near the next piston and jump
down. At the end, run along the tunnel and through the door.
-100,000 Years’ War
You won’t have time to admire the great outdoors due to the two Flood
to your right. Get rid of them and wait for two Elites to arrive. Don’t
give them any new guns--the ones they have will be the best for the moment.
Some Flood should arrive through the tunnel spanning the chasm. Get rid of
them and go through the tunnel. On the other side, you should hear a nasty
Flood noise. Retreat to the other side of the chasm. Here, the Elites might
snipe the Flood on the other side. If you’re lucky, the enemy might even
come over and realize that your Sword is a lot more imposing than it might
seem. If you need to, lure the Flood to your side of the chasm. There will
be a few more waves of Flood. Try to maintain a safe distance and the
Elites will easily do the job. Then go through the tunnel in the wall. To
be clearer, it’s behind one of the Phantom turrets. You’ll come to another
battle between a bunch of Elites and a lot of Flood. Help them get rid of
the first Flood. When the majority of the Elites are dead, go to the edge
of the area and get onto a high-up spot. Watch the Elites get slaughtered.
I think there’s one immortal Elite there, but I may be wrong. If there is
one, I suggest you just stay out of the way until the next cutscene starts.
If all of the Elites are mortal, then wait till they’re dead and try to
flank the enemy. Then do your best to kill the Flood. When the waves stop
coming, wait for a cutscene.
XI. Quarantine Zone
[On the Library's territory]
-Objects in Mirror are Larger than They Appear
A small army of Elites will arrive to give you a hand. Quickly get
into the Spectre’s gunner seat. Some Elites will mount up and one will take
the stick. Soon some Sentinels will come with a Sentinel Tank. Get rid of
that with your Plasma Cannon and proceed to take down the other Sentinels.
Get into the driver seat of the Spectre. Your allies will be going through
a door, so follow them, and they’ll lead to another door. Go through that
and you’ll see a very large room with a lot of Sentinels, Tanks, and a
large number of Flood. Drive straight through (hang around for a minute so
that the Sentinel Tanks can disable the Scorpion further down the room) and
down the ramp on the other side of the area. That Scorpion will be there,
so avoid its Cannon if it’s still active. Boost through the next door and
through to the following outdoor area.
-Healthy Competition
Ride straight down the twisting ramp and through the next door. On the
other side of the door, get behind that rectangular prism in front of you.
A few seconds later, a Sentinel Tank will start firing at the Wraith
nearby. Its bombs should dispose of the Wraith’s driver pretty quickly.
When the Tanks are busy with other Flood, get over to the Wraith and pilot
it. Go over to the left side of your edge of the chasm and you’ll see a
tunnel going to the other side. Go almost to the end of the tunnel, but
then go back. Some Flood in Ghosts and some pedestrian Flood will come out,
so use your Mortar on them. When the Flood on the ground are blown to bits,
go back to the tunnel’s entrance and get out of the Wraith. Go to the right
and use your in-suit scope to look above the stone wall from which the
pedestrian Flood came. Somewhere on top of the wall, you’ll see another
Flood. It’ll have a Rocket Launcher, which is why you had to turn at the
end of the tunnel. Use the Wraith’s Mortar to saturate the vicinity of that
Flood with plasma. When you feel like the Flood should be dead, get out of
the Wraith and check. If it’s not, rinse and repeat until it’s safe to
proceed. When you get to the other end of the chasm, shoot your Mortar at
the area near the big upright rocks there in order to flush out any Flood
that might be hiding there--you don’t want the friendly Spectre ambushed by
the parasites. Drive across the next bridge, but when you’re almost across,
stop again and get back. Some Flood will come out (one with a Rocket
Launcher), so try to take those out from a distance. Some Ghosts may come
to be also destroyed. There will be a Wraith further down the next part of
the edge of the chasm. If you were lucky, the Sentinel Tanks that were
there got rid of the driver. If not, then I guess you’ll have to destroy
the Wraith. When there are no more enemies in the area, I suggest you go
over the narrow bridge near where the enemy Wraith was. Somewhere at the
end of the bridge a checkpoint should go off. That’s your cue to turn
around and um... glide for your life. A Sentinel Tank should come out of
the nearby chasm and bombard you. If it’s focused on you after a few
seconds, use your Mortar to get rid of it. Then repel the Ghosts coming
over and go back across the bridge. There will be some Flood there and the
ones in the Ghosts will be especially annoying. Some Sentinels will arrive
and you’ll be unusually powerless against them because of the Mortar’s
remarkable inaccuracy. When you’re done with the enemies in the area, go
into the tunnel they were guarding.
When you’re through the tunnel, you’ll come to an area guarded by a
Sentinel Tank and Sentinels, who will be obliterating a Scorpion piloted by
a Flood. You might as well give them a hand (although a finger will do just
fine) because you don’t want to risk the Scorpion noticing you. When the
Scorpion is down, go through and around the room. Hug the right wall and
you’ll eventually arrive near another Wraith. This one will probably be
slightly less damaged, so get inside and drive over to the part of the wall
that’s clearly artificial. Very close to that second Wraith will be a crack
in the wall. It may not seem like a passage, but it really is. You won’t be
able to get the Wraith much further (unless you find some glitch that
allows you to compress vehicles to your own size), so get out and go
through. You’ll find a passage somewhere in this place, which you should go
through. Run up the ramp you’ll find and you’ll see some windows to your
left. There will be a number of corpses lying around with guns near them.
For the moment, take the Plasma Rifle and use it on the Sentinels outside.
Then focus on the Sentinel Tank. It will take nearly all, if not all, of
the ammo. Because of that you should destroy the Sentinels first. If you
deplete all the ammo and the Tank is still in the air, jump down from the
end of the passage you’re in and take one of the Sentinel Beams there.
Notice the niche in the wall next to you. Jump into that and then onto the
wall to get back to the top level. Use the Sentinel Beam to finish off the
Tank. Then get rid of as many Flood as possible. Jump down and run to the
cave entrance on the opposite corner of the room. Suffer your way across
the next area and to the doorway. Once you’ve jumped a gap to the doorway,
get out your Energy Sword and prepare a Frag Grenade. Throw the grenade
through the doorway and proceed to rip the Flood apart with your Sword.
Eventually you’ll be able to go through. Turn once, but stop at the second
turn. You should see another room (deja vu again) and hear Flood noise. The
Flood will come for you, so ambush them when they round the corner. There
will be some Flood with shields, so make sure you completely kill a Flood
and that you don’t run by a Flood in an attempt to get rid of another one.
When all the Flood are lying near the corner, come out and go to the
opposite side of the room. There will be a ramp there. Go up that and look
around the corner. Walk through till you get a checkpoint. Then run back.
Some Sentinels should appear. For those you’ll need a Plasma Rifle. One of
the most recent Flood should have had one, so take it. Get back to the
doorway where you saw the Sentinels, but be careful--a Plasma Rifle used
alone doesn’t do much damage. Make full use of your Active Camouflage and
maybe even Plasma Grenades. The Sentinels will go down eventually and
you’ll be able to move on.
Take a Sentinel Beam for some Flood that should be on the ground. If
there are no Flood in sight, wait for a minute. If there are still no
Flood, start throwing all the weapons in the vicinity over the edge. When
you’ve thrown all possible weapons down (make absolutely sure that you take
a Sword, a Shotgun, and the Rocket Launcher near a nearby corpse) and if
there’s still no sign of the Flood on the ground, jump down. Take the
Rocket Launcher and leave the Sword in your pocket. Circle around the piece
of land you’re on until you have a more or less clear view of the valley
below. There will be a Wraith there, which you’ll have to destroy. It’ll
take a few rockets, but it’s pretty easy. Don’t be in a hurry to do this
because you’ll need to hide after every rocket--if the Wraith notices you,
you’re meat. Get back to the drop-off that you jumped off and hide there.
It’ll protect you from anything the Wraith has to offer. When the Wraith is
down, concentrate on the two or three Ghosts near it. Each will only take
one rocket after going to a much happier place (if the latter exists). When
you’re pretty sure that it's safe, drop down into the valley and comb the
area for stragglers. Swap the probably near-empty Rocket Launcher for a
Shotgun from the ledge. After you’re all set to go, take the Scorpion that
should be in the area, probably in a corner. Drive through the tunnel that
was near the Wraith. Now you’ll witness a big battle between one or two
Sentinel Tanks and a number of Flood. Unfortunately, the Flood will have
vehicles and will be much harder to dispose of than I would have liked.
There will be a couple of friendly Elites sweating it out somewhere in
front of you, so lure them back into the tunnel you came through. When the
battle ends, come out and get rid of the surviving side. Try to take at
least one Wraith in one piece for one of your Elites, since they won’t get
onto your Scorpion. Sweep your unending wrath through the rest of the place
and exit through a passage far to the right of where you came into the
area. Go through and dispose of the enemies there. I recommend you wait it
out and only come out when the Sentinel Tanks are defeated. There will be a
Wraith there and a lot of Ghosts. When you’re gotten rid of all of them, go
to one of the two entrances of the large structure that should be clearly
visible no matter where you are.
If you have any Elites left, they/it will make a huge difference.
They’ll just run in, kill all the Flood (with your Cannon’s help, of
course), and you’ll be free to run through to the door in the center of the
room/hallway. If the Elites don’t survive, you’ll have to remove the Flood
by hand. Again, use the Cannon to just fire nonstop at the place until you
feel that the area is clear. But whatever you do, don’t venture off the
snow. See those two big dead-end walls visible from the entrances, one per
entrance? Each has two doors in it and if you come too close, those will
open and let loose a bunch of Flood with Rocket Launchers, Sniper Rifles,
and other undesirable guns. No matter if you’re in a vehicle or not, you’ll
die if you release them. So, when you’ve cleared all the Flood in the
hallway/room, haul your gluteus maximus toward the door at top speed. When
you hear the doors open releasing those nasty Flood I talked about, just
continue running. Use the Camo when you hear that because some extra
precaution never hurts. Run through the hallway behind the door and into a
gondola-thing that will transport you to the Index.
-Shooting Gallery
Here you basically have to fight off a colossal concentration of Flood
on your gondola till you reach the Index. Main tip: just as soon as you can
move, take out your Sword, swap it for the nearby Elite’s Plasma Rifle, and
swap the Rifle for the Sword of the other Elite. That way you’ll have a
full Sword. Your other gun should be a Shotgun, so swap one of the Elites’
Plasma Rifles for that. When you pass a place with a few Flood planning to
stage an ambush on you, they’ll drop down onto the gondola. The next part
consists of you just blasting the Flood to bits. Try to stay out of the
most dangerous parts like close combat with more than two Flood, but don’t
stay out of the fight altogether--the Elites will get killed and then the
Flood will come after you. It may take a lot of time, but you’ll eventually
get it. About halfway through the ride, the remaining Elites will move to
the opposite side of the place. Make sure that one has a Shogun and the
other, a Sword. As long as that means that you don’t have to lose the Sword
yourself, that is. But there should be plenty of Swords lying around and
there definitely should be enough for everyone. It helps to get into that
pipe at the base of the gondola that the Flood keep coming out of, and
stand at the end of it. You see, the game apparently wasn’t programmed to
give you a visual explanation of how a huge contingent of Flood actually
gets into that pipe in the first place. It also apparently wasn’t
programmed to create any enemies out of thin air while you’re looking. The
result: no Flood coming out of there. That will, believe it or not, make
part of passing the gondola actually easy.
-That Old, Familiar Feeling
When the gondola docks at the top of the shaft, go out via the exit
near which you started Shooting Gallery section. Go into the structure and
run to the right. You’ll pass a legion of Flood corpses. I think there
should be some Spores, so destroy the corpses and you can proceed without
worrying about any Flood sneaking up on you. Go through the door at the end
of the hall.
You’ll see the Commander and Johnson retrieving the Index. Then the
Arbiter will attack Keyes and knock Johnson out (hey, I forgot he was the
bad guy!). Tartarus will arrive, take them as POWs, and inform the Arbiter
that the Prophets want him to reward you for your hard toil and trouble by
sending you on the Great Journey. The monkey will toss you over the edge of
the platform you’re on... And here’s where you meet Gravemind. It’ll force
you to meet with the Chief and explain that the Great Journey and
Containment are the same, show you Regret whom he somehow fished out of the
lake where you supposedly killed him, bring 2401 Penitent Tangent, Delta
Halo’s monitor, how he’s not particularly happy with the Prophets carrying
out their Great Journey, blah blah blah. The Arbiter will refuse to listen
to any sense, so Gravemind will decide to let you search for the Index
yourself.
XII. Gravemind
[High Charity, close to Delta Halo]
-Inside Job
You’ll find yourself inside High Charity. The remaining two Prophets
will have the Index. Just as you see it, the Master Chief will materialize
near one of the Grunts. The thing will drop a Needler, just for you. When
you can move, notice the Needler directly behind you. Go slightly back,
take the Needler, and hide behind the nearest column (well, I’ll call it a
column). Weave between those while going toward the back of the room all
the time. The Covenant will follow you, which you’ll have to avoid. When
you’re at the back of the room, notice that there are large alcoves in the
wall and in those alcoves are pillars. Hide behind those pillars and use
the Needlers to kill off the enemies. Be very careful to save the
needles--there will be a severe shortage of ammo. If you’re not careful,
you’ll end up hanging around the pillars without any usable guns. Watch for
the Brutes--they tend to go berserk and melee attack you without any
visible weapons. So, once you kill the current Covenant, scout the place
for useful guns. You’ll automatically pick up a second gun that’s not a
Needler. Pile your guns behind the pillar you’re hiding behind. When you
kill the second wave, some more Brutes and Grunts will arrive, so be ready
to hide at any moment. This second party will contain a Grunt with a
Needler, so that’s more ammo for you. When you run out of Needler ammo,
though, don’t run out and take the ammo--the enemies will kill you within
five seconds. Only run out to take it when there is a break between enemy
fire or waves of Covenant, or if you don't have any ammo. In the latter
case, you'll have to run out and hope for the best. For best chances of
winning this, take two Needlers, two Brute Plasma Rifles, and maybe a
couple of Plasma Pistols. Make sure you have at least two full clips (one
for each Needler) for the berserk Brutes. Using all this, eventually you’ll
defeat the Covenant. When that happens, swap the Plasma Rifle for a Carbine
and look around the room for ammo. Then go to the door at the end of the
room where you were hiding and wait for it to open.
Open the next door and get rid of the Grunts at the entrance. Look
past the barrier in front of the door and use the Carbine to deliver
headshots to the Grunts and Brutes there. Be careful with the Grunts
manning the Plasma Cannons. One of the Brutes might lose its cool, so keep
the Needlers close. When the room is clear, go to the other end and stand
on the side of the door opposite the pedestal. When the door opens, throw a
grenade at the closest Brute and use the Needlers on the other one. Get rid
of the enemies on the ground with your Carbine. Some more will arrive from
the end of the platform you’re looking at, so dispose of the Grunts before
they can set up their Plasma Cannons. Then you should be able to eliminate
at least one of the Brutes with Carbine headshots while they’re on their
way inland. One of them will have a Brute Shot; that's the one you should
aim for first. Then you'll have to kill the others. Just snipe them from
where you are till they’re all either hiding or dead. The hiding Brutes
will be easy to find. Problem is, they often find you first. Try not to
venture too far away from the door or your Needlers. Better yet, take both
Needlers with you. When the enemies on this platform are dead, carry your
Needlers to the end of the platform and drop them through the grav lift
that Cortana will tell you to step into. Then take one of the Brutes’ Brute
Shot in their place and collect the ammo for the Carbine. When you have the
Carbine full, go down the lift. While you’re traveling down, turn around
and take aim at the doorway in the wall. A few Jackals will be there, and
one will be a Sniper. Make sure you kill that first. Then hide behind the
small pedestals there and snipe the Covenant near the door. Don’t use the
Brute Shot yet because you’ll need it later. Proceed through the next room,
but stop at the door. There will be a bunch of Jackals there, which you’ll
have to kill. Grenades work fine. A better option: wait for them to look
away, then jump out, and start headshooting. After the Jackals, there will
be a Brute in the next room. A few successful headshots will kill it. Then
proceed a few meters along the room until you see some enemies at the end.
When they notice you, run back to the door and hide. When the Brute there
comes within shooting range from the door, use the Carbine to give it a few
headshots. Then get rid of the other Covenant and move on.
In the tunnel before the next room, you should notice that there are
four doors. When the enemies in the next room notice you, the door on your
right will open and let out a couple of Jackals. Shoot both before they get
a chance to shoot at you. Then look through the next door again and snipe
the enemies there. To be safe from large berserk monkeys, retrieve both
Needlers from the elevator and keep them close. When the room is clear, go
to the end and look through the next door. Before looking, though, make
sure that you have a quick escape onto the platforms on both sides of the
door. When you need a break from all the enemy fire, jump onto the
platforms and hide behind the walls. That will give you all the cover you
need at the moment. Snipe the enemies with the Carbine and have two
Needlers ready for emergencies. Then clear up the room, collect ammo for
you Carbine and Brute Shot (one or two of the most recent Brutes had Brute
Shots; you should be able to refill completely from there), and go to the
grav lift in the center of the room’s lower level. It should open and
Cortana will tell you to use it. Make sure that you took a Carbine, Brute
Shot, and four grenades. Jump through.
The detention center is pretty hard to pass and qualifies as one of
those long and patient sieges that Legendary is soaked with. You’ll land in
the center of the top level of the huge room. There will be two Brutes just
standing there looking over the room. Ignore the reflex to try to kill them
and come to the right of the nearest door. Look down and you’ll see that
the detention center is composed of three ledges going around the edge. You
should aim for the lowest level. There are two ways of doing this. One:
just jump from where you are and risk missing. On the other hand, this will
almost guarantee that you won’t get noticed. Method two: go along one of
the ramps, run to the middle of the top level, and use the grav lifts there
to get to the lowest level. I prefer the first way. Not getting noticed is
vital to what you’re about to do. Either way, get to the exact place you
saw from the top. If you got noticed, restart. When you’re at that end of
the lower level, use the Brute Shot to melee the storage crates into a
fort-like position. Make sure that you have a crate lying on its side in
front of you, and that that crate contains Plasma Rifles. Also be sure to
have an upright crate on your right to protect your person from the Brutes
on the top level. When you’re ready, get out the Carbine and snipe one of
the Jackals walking around the top level. Now put down the Brute Shot and
pick up two Plasma Rifles. When the Covenant start dropping down the grav
lifts, open up. When you’re done, there should be a lot of blue liquid
splattered on the floor. When you’re pretty sure that you killed everything
that will come down the grav lifts, look up at the Brutes you saw looking
from the top level. Use the Carbine to snipe them. When you’re done with
them and everything else that has a gun, go to the middle level. A door
should be open there and that’s the first party of Marines. Get your Brute
Shot and look through. Annihilate everything in sight. The Marines will
come out. Look outside and you should see some more Covenant coming out of
some other door. Kill those too. The Marines will get killed, so stay
behind cover and take shots at the enemy. Kill them too and go down to the
lowest level. When you go down the ramp to the room the last Marines are
in, get a Plasma Grenade ready. When the door opens, throw the grenade at
the Brute that should be clearly visible. Then use the Carbine to
assassinate the Grunts in the room. When the Marines are out, get out the
door and you’ll have to again repel very large waves of Covenant from this
exact position. They will eventually go down, but watch out for the Brutes
on the top level. Use the Carbine to snipe them once you deal with the
other enemies. Then go up to their level. There will be two Gunner Grunts
on there, with their Plasma Cannons. They won’t be able to reach you from
where they are, so take advantage of that to snipe them. Then get rid of
any berserk Brutes that might have been left there. Take all the ammo you
can find for the Carbine and Brute Shot, and then go up the central grav
lift.
When you arrive, swap the Brute Shot for the Energy Sword near an
Honor Guard corpse. Then look at the nearby crate containing Carbines.
Melee it slightly away from the wall, so that there’s just enough space for
the Chief to fit. Then come close to the open door that you should see from
where you are and open it. Throw a Plasma Grenade at one of the Elites
coming out. When the grenade hits (if it doesn’t, restart from the last
checkpoint), jump behind the crate. Some Bugs will arrive, which you should
be able to dispose of with the Carbine. If you’re hidden properly behind
the crate, they won’t try to find you too much. Now kill the Bugs--just run
out from behind the crate and fire at them. Then collect the Carbine ammo
from the crate and proceed into the next room. The moment you enter, get
onto the platform on your right. When some more Bugs attack you, use the
nearby wall (one separating the main floor from the platform) for cover. An
Elite will arrive soon and dispose of the Drones. Now, go back to the door
and use the Carbine to snipe any Brutes and Elites that might be in the
room. To be sure they're dead, look around the room. Once you’ve cleared
the room completely, go back as far as necessary and swap the Carbine for
two standard Plasma Rifles. Then open the next door. More Bugs (why, oh
why, don’t they include pesticide in your equipment?..). Hide behind the
closest wall and come out whenever the Drones stop shooting. When you do,
shoot them and they’ll easily go down. A Brute may or may not come over, so
be ready to take out your Energy Sword. Clean up the room and take back the
Carbine you dropped. Go through the next door and walk past the Hunter’s
corpse. There will be very light resistance in the next room, so wait for
only one side to remain and kill everything in sight. Go back and swap the
Sword for a Brute Shot. Go back to the room you recently cleared and go
through the door.
The next room will contain two Hunters. Ouch. First, empty your Brute
Shot into one. Then stick grenades to it until it assumes its best
form--dead. The second one will be tougher. Without the Brute Shot, your
best bet is grenades. If those fail and you can’t scavenge any more from
the last areas you visited, then just take out the Carbine and open up in
its face. To get more accuracy, crouch behind one of the “flower pots”
running down the center of the room. There will be Carbine ammo and
grenades in this room. The Carbines will be just on the other side of the
barrier in front of the door and easily accessible, but the grenades will
be hard to get without getting within a couple of meters of the Hunter. Of
course, you can just run past them and through the next door, but you’ll
get killed if you just run out there; I recommend killing the Hunters. When
you’re done, get to the next door and stand at its side. Look through and
use your Carbine to assassinate the Sniper Jackals in the area. There
should be one on your right (in the levitated platform), one on your left
(just at the edge of the cliff), and one right across the valley in front
of you, on the building. Snipe those and then get rid of any nearby enemies
that so kindly distracted the Snipers. Then go to the levitated platform to
the right of the door and take one of the Beam Rifles there. Then get onto
the platform and snipe the two Jet Pack Elites somewhere at the bottom of
the valley. Jump down the drop-off near the platform and turn right. Around
the corner, you’ll see a path going up into the hills. Follow that and go
toward the structure. Kill anything that might be there. Then go back as
far as you need to in order to get a new Sword (there’s Carbine ammo at the
top of that path). After that, go through the door in the structure and
down the hall. Outside, regard the In Amber Clad flying past. Then walk
into the light bridge transporter thing.
Once on the other side, immediately run behind that barrier leaning
against the wall straight ahead. Some Covenant will come out from the
passage on the left, so kill those off with the Carbine and Sword. Be
careful not to get out for too long. Then come all the way out. So that you
don’t die suddenly after you leave the cover: there’s a Sniper Jackal there
somewhere. Kill that before it kills you. Then go along one of the
passages. There will be a fight on the stretch of floor you’ll see. Kill
off everything with your Carbine and the Sword if they come after you. Then
take the Beam Rifle and proceed along the floor. When you hit a checkpoint,
quickly run back and wait. After a few seconds a couple of Jet Pack Elites
will fly over the wall leading to the next light bridge. You shouldn’t have
any trouble shooting them down from this far away. Now take the Carbine and
go to the other side of the wall. Once you see some Covenant there, turn
back and get behind cover. When you hear the sound of that light bridge
transporter, some Brutes will arrive. Both sides will be pretty evenly
matched, so you won’t have much to clean up once one side wins. Do so and
go across the bridge. When you pass through the doorway, you’ll see some
Bugs flying by. Don’t fight them yet, but once they pass, follow them to
the room they were going to. There will be a huge battle going on in the
next room, so the only things I suggest you shoot are the Jet Pack Elites
because, believe me, you won't want to deal with them by yourself. This
door is very awkwardly positioned, so that the only way you can recharge
your shield is with the door closed, and that doesn’t allow you to take
shots at the enemy. Next, make sure the room is clear, get ammo, and go
through the door. Walk into the light bridge transporter.
The next part will be simple. Simple, simple, simple. There won’t be
anything to stop your progress at the beginning except the many shields
stationed around the place. Walk around them and then toward another
stretch of floor with Grunts and Brutes there. Kill them with the Carbine.
Then get ammo for the Carbine and a fresh Sword if necessary (there'll be
a whopping four Swords in the area), and then walk into the next bridge
transporter. Behind the door at the other end of the bridge you’ll see a
very long hall and a few Brutes coming out the other door. You should be an
expert at sniping them by now, and you know the drill. Give them the ticket
to their Great Journey. Now go through the door they came through. There
will be a battle there between some Brutes and Elites. Don’t jump in just
yet because it’s much safer to let someone else dispose of the Sniper
there. When it’s quiet on your level of the room, come out and use the
Carbine to snipe the Grunt on the other side, as it has a Fuel Rod Cannon.
Some Brutes should come over, so make sure you have a quick escape to the
door. When they do, use guerilla tactics--jump out, lure them close, and
use the Sword to dispose of them. If you’re lucky, they’ll come in turns.
If not, then I guess you’re just not lucky. Whether this is a glitch or
not, the Brutes with weapons sometimes take four to five hits before
finding that “salvation for all” Mercy talked about. So when they’re down,
sweep the area for stragglers, and go down the path on your right. There
might be some leftover Brutes on the ground, so stay low and always have
some object nearby to use as cover. When you’ve gone up the ramp on the
other end of the valley, a checkpoint should go off and some enemies will
come from the door at the very top of the ramp. There should be two
Invisible Elites with Swords coming at you (unfortunately, even their
Swords don't make them very visible in this place) and around two Grunts.
You should be able to easily wipe out the Grunts and kill off the Elites
once they let you know where they are. Stay on the safest side of the wall
separating the two halves of the ramp and you’ll have an excellent escape
route. Then go through the door at the top of the ramp. Go around the right
side of the barrier there and you’ll see an Elite walking away. Throw a
Plasma Grenade at it and then clear up the Grunts. There will be another
Elite in the area, so be careful. When the room is empty, go past the other
barrier and into the next room. Don’t be in a hurry and just snipe the
enemies in there. Then go toward the door at the end of the room.
The door will open despite its red color and you’ll see another
circular room with a grav lift in the center. You’ll have to use whatever
little weapons you have to wipe out the Covenant there (actually you have
about fifty weapons behind you; they’re just mostly useless). They’ll be
tough. When you have about thirty Carbine rounds in the Carbine and no
Carbine ammo left behind you, go back to the hall you saw after the most
recent bridge. From there, swap-carry one of the Beam Rifles to the hideout
in front of the most recent room. Use that to finish off the Covenant in
the room. When you kill everything, sweep the room for enemies. When you’re
ready, get onto the top level and come close to the door on the other side
of the room (stay on the walkway). When you hear a door opening, run to the
door you came in through as if your life depended on it. A Brute or two and
two Jackals will come through the door you heard opening, so that should be
your cue to use the Carbine for easy disposal. When you’re done, go through
that door they came in through. There will be an enormous battle on the
bridge you’ll see, so the only thing I suggest you do is immediately take
out the Sniper there. Then proceed to kill off the rest of the bad things.
Some time later some Bugs will arrive. For those, either use your Carbine
(although the ammo is too valuable at the moment to be wasted on Bugs) or
take two regular Plasma Rifles and have considerably more fun. But make
sure to take out the Brutes first. When you’re done with all the resistance
on the bridge, including maybe some Elites further down the bridge, go down
and collect ammo. Get a Beam Rifle from one of the storage crates lying
around and carry it back to the door you originally came through. Then
start walking toward the door on the other end of the bridge. As soon as it
opens, run back to the door where you took the Beam Rifle. From there, use
the Carbine (and the Beam Rifle if necessary) to snipe the Grunts. One of
them will have a Fuel Rod Cannon, so watch out for that. In fact, try to
get rid of it first--it won’t hurt to kill it, but it will hurt not to.
Attend to the Elites and Grunts manning the Phantom turret at the far end
of the bridge (if there is one) and then come closer to the door. If you
used the Beam Rifle, swap it for a newer one and make sure you carry the
late Grunt’s Fuel Rod Cannon back to the door. For more ammo, go back to
the most recent outdoor area. If you remember, there was a Grunt there with
a Fuel Rod Cannon. Find that and take the ammo. When you’re ready, come
closer to the enemy door. When it opens again, run back to your door. If
you feel that you escaped with enough time, weave sideways along the bridge
so as not to get hit by the newly arrived Hunters’ Fuel Rod Cannons. From
the door, snipe the Hunters the same way you sniped the ones on Regret--aim
for the face and then release two shots in rapid succession. When you run
out of ammo, pick up the Fuel Rod Cannon and a use that to kill off the
Hunters. The Fuel Rod Cannon is remarkably effective against them, so once
you get rid of the other enemies, you’ll have free passage to the next
room. When you can go there, take the Fuel Rod Cannon and a Carbine with
you. There's quite a bit of ammo for the Carbine on the bridge. Take it.
When you open the door to the Mausoleum of the Arbiter, you’ll see a
pretty much empty room. Then a number of Brutes will arrive and fight the
Elites there. Meanwhile, you might as well follow Cortana’s advice and sit
it out. At some point the battle will end. If no Hunters have come out yet,
come out the door slightly and wait for them to do so. When they do, use
the Fuel Rod Cannon on them so that the Brutes can do as much damage as
possible to the Elites. Eventually one side is going to be wiped out
(probably the Brutes) and Cortana will tell you something about her picking
up two transponders from the Commander and Johnson. Briefly scout the area
if the Elites allow you to, and then run back to the door you came through.
A door at the other end of the room will open and some Elites will come
through. When they do, run to the bridge and take an Energy Sword with a
Carbine. Go back to the room and wait behind the door for some Invisible
Elites to come over. There’s no one way of killing them, but my favorite
method is this: come out and take advantage of the short window while the
Elite is throwing a grenade to present it with a grenade of your own.
That’s relatively easy and safe. When both Elites are down, try to snipe
the Elite with the Energy Sword that’s running around on the other side of
the room. Do this until it dies. Then go back as far as necessary to obtain
a Brute Shot, a Sword, and as many Plasma Grenades as possible. Then go
around one side of the room (the side that contains the Elites) and use
your weapons to execute them. Hide whenever you’re not trying to find or
fight them. When you’re done, run through the door the last Elites came
through. When you come out on the new bridge, Cortana will tell you that
you have to find Truth or something. Mission accomplished!
XIII. Uprising
[On the cliffs above the sea surrounding Delta Halo's Control Room]
-Oh, So That’s How it Is
Watch the Arbiter materialize on top of a cliff. A very high cliff.
He’ll just happen to find a Plasma Rifle lying around, so he’ll pick that
up. Now you can move. Go forward and into the small canyon. You’ll see a
Sword near some Elite corpses on your left, so walk toward that. You’ll
automatically pick it up. Go toward the corner and wait there. You’ll see a
red dot on your radar slowly moving toward you. When it stops, run around
the corner and whack the Brute, who was firing completely unnecessarily at
one of the dead Elites, on the back with your Plasma Rifle. Then go right
and wait for two Brutes to come over. Throw a grenade at the first one and
activate the Camo. Melee attack the other monkey in the back. If something
goes wrong, and it probably will, take out your Sword and swing it around
until the bad guys are exterminated. Now dual-wield two Plasma Rifles.
Stand under the arch the last Brutes came through and wait. When you hear a
Brute voice telling some more Brutes to “go see what’s taking them so
long”, quickly run back to where you started the level. You’ll notice that
there should be a ridge on one side of the path and the drop-off on the
other. Jump onto the ridge and walk to the top. From there, wait for the
Brutes to come. Look down and open up. Hide as often as necessary. The
Brutes will long to go down, but it's still rather simple with dual Plasma
Rifles. Just be patient and expect to be done in a few minutes. When the
last one goes berserk, fire at it a few times and it’ll expire pretty fast.
Good thing is, none of them will try to climb up to where you are, so
you’ll have very good cover. When the last of the Brutes are finally on the
Great Journey, go to the valley further down the path. Get rid of both
Brutes there. Then take two fresh Plasma Rifles and go up to the structure.
Some Elites will arrive to give you company. Go through the door, through
the hallways, and through the next door.
Here starts the part consisting of entering an area, dying a
centillion times, scratching you head, dying a couple vigintillion times
more, moving to a new area, and repeating this. In this area you’ll have to
defeat the enemies on the platform in front of you. Use the Plasma Rifles
from long range and the Sword at short range; they’ll die pretty fast. Now
look at the edge of the chasm. There should be a storage crate there with
Carbines in it. Take those and arm one Elite with a Sword and the rest with
Plasma Rifles. Now move toward the next ramp leading up. There may be a
Jackal there, so if it is, quietly kill it with your Sword. Then look up.
There will be ledge above you and there’s a Jackal on that ledge. Wait for
it to come unless the Elites are rushing up the ramp. In that case, follow
them and eliminate the Brutes there with the Carbine. Once you’re done,
make sure that one Elite has a Sword and the rest have Brute Shots. If
there’s only one left, then give it a Brute Shot. Proceed up the next ramp.
The ledge above it is very awkwardly positioned, so that the Brutes can
execute your Elites from above without getting shot at themselves. To make
sure that doesn’t happen, run through to the point where the path turns to
become that ledge and use the Carbine to distract the enemies. If it works,
you might have two or three friendly Elites left to help you out after this
mess is over. You’ll probably almost run out of Carbine ammo, so there’s
some along that long top ledge. With all the Brutes and Drones safely done
with, arm one of the Elites with a Sword and the rest with Brute Shots
again. Go through the door.
Run to the edge of the ledge you’re on and immediately throw a grenade
at the far right-hand corner of the room, where some Jackals should be
concentrated. Jump down and start swinging your Sword around the place.
Soon the Jackals will go down and then it’s going to be pretty easy to get
rid of the Brutes. Now collect some grenades if you haven’t already and
move on through the next door. Just so you know: this room contains three
ledges and the floor. You’re on the top ledge. The one below you has some
Jackals and the next one is full of Brutes. I understand that this is
overly macho, insane, and all that, but the best option you have to
lengthen the life span of your Elites is to kill as many enemies while they
don’t know that you’re there, then jump down and start swinging your Sword
once more. The second ledge shouldn’t be a problem, where the Jackals die
after one hit, but the Brutes on the lower ledge will jump on top of you en
masse. Just do your best. Don’t worry if the Elites die during this ledge,
but you survive--it’ll be about time for them to go. In fact, expect it.
When you’re on the third ledge, don’t jump down and start trying to cut
them to pieces. Instead, do the smart thing and stay on the ledge. Look for
a crate with Carbine ammo. You’ll need it in the future. Headshoot the
Brutes downstairs with the Carbine and then melee all the weapon crates
down to the floor. Throw all the useful weapons along with them and jump
down yourself. Swap your Sword for a newer one if it’s available. When
you’ve loaded up on everything you could carry, go through the next door.
In this room, turn right and you’ll see a couple of Grunts and a Fuel
Rod Cannon lying on the floor. Give it to one of the Grunts (preferably the
Red Grunt--it’ll probably hold up longer). Then go to the edge of the ledge
you’re on. Distract the enemies with your Carbine while the Grunt takes the
long route and starts basting the enemy to bits with its Fuel Rod Cannon.
The Grunt will die very soon, so make sure you’re ready to run straight to
the door due to the fact that a few Brutes will come upstairs. When they
do, turn on your Camo and throw a grenade at one of them. Hide in the
hallway behind the door till the Brutes go back down. Come out and continue
your coup d'etat of the room. Once the room is cleared, swap-carry your
guns and the Grunt’s Fuel Rod Cannon through the door. At the end of the
hallway behind this door, you should notice a Fuel Rod Cannon on the floor.
Pick up the ammo and continue along the following hallways.
-Step Aside, Let the Man Go Through
Before you do anything, look behind the toppled purple cylinder thing
near the humongous door. There should be another Fuel Rod Cannon there, so
take the ammo. Now open the door. Right off the bat, shoot off a fuel rod
at the Brute in front of that rock in front of the door. Hide, recharge
your shield, and start sniping with the Carbine. With the closest enemies
entering rigor mortis, come out and look to the left. If there are no
enemies in the area you see, start coming close to it until there are. Then
activate the Active Camouflage and run back. There will be a Sniper there,
so watch out. Wait in a safe place, recharge the Camo, and proceed to take
down the enemy defenses in the area. If you catch a Brute in that tunnel
separated down the middle by a rock, it wouldn’t hurt to shoot a fuel rod
at it. Try to take down the Sniper first, which I think should be somewhere
to the right of that big useless purple... thing... in the center of the
valley that you’re assaulting at the moment. If you want to live, use the
Fuel Rod Cannon. That’ll increase your chances of actually hitting the
Jackal. Get rid of the other Covenant there and swap your Fuel Rod Cannon
for the Sniper’s Beam Rifle. Take the Ghost and drive along the tunnel that
the Covenant were guarding. Once you reach the next valley, stop and look
to your left. From that huge rock in the middle of the valley, look
slightly to the right and straight up. There, you’ll see the top of the
rock wall. Take down the Sniper on the top. Take the stick of the Ghost and
proceed to just saturate the enemy with Plasma Cannon fire. Make sure that
you take apart the Phantom turret to the right of the big rock. The two
Grunts in the area will probably pilot the two Ghosts to the left of the
rock and give the enemy a very good distraction while you’re pounding the
bad guys with your cannons. The Grunts are eventually going to expire and
if you’re not lucky, the Ghosts will still be in one piece. In that case
you’ll have to deal with one or two not-so-friendly Ghosts. If you find
that you’re running low on Ghost parts, go back to that canyon you came
from and take a new Ghost. If the ground enemies are being a pain, take out
your Beam Rifle and get rid of the Brutes. Otherwise, save it for as long
as possible. Just in case. When the area is clear, go through the canyon
entrance on the right-hand side of the valley.
At the end of the canyon, use the Plasma Cannons on the Jackal walking
around the ledge running along the left side of the valley. Then drive the
Ghost up that ledge and hide behind the crates at the end. Swap your Beam
Rifle for a newer one and look through the crack between the crates. There,
you should see a small hill with a Shielded Jackal on it. Then look through
the leaves and you might see a Sniper Jackal. If you don’t, you will once
the Sniper opens up. Take out the Jackals and the nearby Brutes as quickly
as possible, then swap the Beam Rifle for a fresh one and run back down the
ledge and to the canyon exit. A Spectre with a few Brutes will arrive, so
shoot them out of it with the Beam Rifle. Make sure you don’t blow up the
vehicle--you’ll need it in the future. Then get rid of the rest of the
enemies (make sure you don't get too close because of a very unfriendly
Sniper there). If needed, you can go to the entrance of the valley and
snipe the Covenant from there. Look at one of the hills in the valley and
you’ll notice that one of them has a crate on it, and the crate contains
Beam Rifles. Take a Rifle. Then take the Spectre and drive along the next
canyon. In the next area, use the Plasma Cannon to get rid of the Jackal on
the ledge running along the left side of the place--just like last time. Go
along the area and execute the rest of the Jackals. When you’re ready, go
down the next waterfall and park the Spectre at the bottom of it. Then man
the turret and open up on the Covenant in the distance. There’s one useful
trick: get out of the turret and use a scope to focus on an enemy. Then,
without moving, hold X to get into the turret. The reticle won’t move from
the target, so you’ll be able to fire at the enemy with pinpoint accuracy.
There should be two Snipers there, which you might as well kill first. When
you’re done, get a new Beam Rifle and drive the Spectre along the stream.
There will be a couple of Jackals on top of the tree trunk hanging over the
water. They’ll be a great target for the Plasma Cannon. When you reach the
bottom of the dip in the road, kill that Jackal on the rock protruding out
of the water while it still doesn’t know that you’re there.
-Fight Club
Activate the Active Camouflage and go outward from the wall that
you’re probably hugging right now. Look at the right-hand side of the
stream, just near the drop-off. Use the Camo to take the Sniper there by
surprise and lodge a large amount of energy in its skull. The next part is
basically sniping the Brutes below the drop-off with the Beam Rifle until
you've exhausted all the Beam Rifles in the area. Then get onto the rock
that once held the first Sniper and look far to the left. You should see
some Brutes behind the bush. Swap the empty Beam Rifle for the Fuel Rod
Cannon you dropped earlier. Fire a couple of Fuel Rods and retreat. Wait
till the Wraith comes. Now go back, take a Carbine (as full as possible)
and a Sword. Also take a Ghost. Drive to that drop-off, get out of the
Ghost, and activate the Camo. Then, as quickly as possible, get back onto
the Ghost and make a grand entrance by driving off the drop-off and into
that pond. Quickly get out of the Ghost and jack the Wraith. Get inside and
dispose of the Brutes. Also take care of the other Wraith and the Sniper
near it. Then wait for the door that the Brutes came out of to open. Some
more Brutes will come. And they’ll keep coming, and coming, and coming...
and eventually they’ll stop coming. For some reason this part is stuffed
with checkpoints, which you really don’t need. When the waves finally stop
coming, get out of the tank and go along the ledge. Make sure you go into
one of the side passage things and swap the Sword for a Shotgun. Run to the
door and go through. Now here’s a gun fanatic’s dream. Take all the ammo
you need (and finally some Frag Grenades).
Go through the door and the passage. Carefully walk through the door
leading back outside and observe the opposite side of the area with your
Shotgun’s scope. When you see some Snipers there, get back to the Wraith
preferably through the armory. Ahh, I love Wraiths when it comes to this
kind of thing. Completely immune to Beam and Sniper Rifles and very hard to
take down without a Rocket Launcher or grenades. Drive it into the area
where the Sniper Jackals were and slaughter them and the nearby Brutes.
Enjoy. When you’re done, go to the exit from the armory and outside. If you
cleaned the area thoroughly, there won’t be anything there to hurt you.
Proceed along the ledge until you hear a Ghost. When you do, run for your
life back to the door. From there, use the Carbine to kill off the
Covenant. Hopefully, the Ghost will fall down from the ledge. That way,
it’ll probably face you and the head of the driver will be just above the
front of the Ghost, leaving you completely free to snipe them without them
even reacting. So fun... what’s more, once the current driver is dead,
Brutes will jump down and take his place. Hilarious, isn’t it? Anyway, when
the Covenant in the area are dead, take the Ghost (which hopefully
survived) and go along the ledge again. There will be an entrance to a
cave-like tunnel in one of the side passages. A Ghost will ride out of
there when you get close, so destroy it. Really, when you take an enemy
Ghost by surprise, it goes down very fast. Then ride along the tunnel. A
few Brutes and Jackals will come through the next door. Assassinate them
with the Cannons, or you can drive straight through. Your choice. Then go
through the door to complete the mission.
XIV. High Charity
[High Charity]
-Cross-Purposes
The Chief will land on the Phantom docks just seconds too late. Meet
Mercy and his Spore. He’ll declare that Truth is going to the Forerunner
ship in the center of the city, which is then going to depart to Earth to
kill off the last humans. The Chief will pop the Spore and admire the view
of a Flood-filled Pelican crashing in the docks. The Flood will run out and
start a fight with the locals. Use the Carbine on them (whose idea was it
to give you a Plasma Pistol to fight the Flood, anyway?). Use the first
chance you get to confiscate a Shotgun from one of the dead Flood. That’s
going to help you a lot. So you know, the second Flood that should try to
kill you will carry a Needler. If you don't have a Shotgun yet, swap the
Plasma Pistol for the Needler. That’ll be slightly more effective. Whenever
you can, swap it for a Sword. When you can’t see any more Flood, proceed
toward the stretch of floor between the door and the Pelican. Some more
Flood will come out of the Pelican and a couple of Grunts will come through
the door. Those will die reasonably fast, but take the opportunity to throw
a couple of grenades at the Flood. That’ll make things a lot easier when
you have to get rid of the leftover Flood. When there are no more Flood
nearby, sweep the area for ammo. Especially look at the entrance to the
Pelican--there should be some Shotgun ammo there. If you want to use it
later, there’s a Rocket Launcher to the right of the exit. Now go through
the door. Look around the right side of the barrier in front of the door.
You should see a horde of Brutes coming around the barrier on the other
side. There’s nothing you can do about them, just wait. I suggest you run
back and hide behind one of the upright triangular things running along the
path leading to the door. In a few seconds some Flood will come out and
happily finish the monkeys off. Be careful not to shoot the Brutes--the
Flood will easily get rid of them and then be a rather big pain. Instead,
shoot the Flood. Make sure you have a Sword and a Shotgun. Then proceed
through the door, along the room, and into the grav lift. Here, the first
thing you should do is to swap one of your weapons for one of the Beam
Rifles lying nearby. Run through the next door. Run out onto the platform
in front of you. Focus on the fight on that thing coming out of the wall
far to your left. Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill!!! Anyway, when the Bugs are down,
concentrate on the Flood. They’ll die pretty easily (or maybe it seems so
because of the very large amount of Beam Rifle ammo in the area), after
which you’ll be free to check the room for enemies, pick up the weapon you
dropped, and go onto the transporter on the left part of the platform.
After that, use the second transporter (they take a couple of seconds to
activate, so expect that) and run along the platform where you should
arrive. Across the second light bridge, and through the door. There will be
an obstacle in the doorway in the form of some Flood, so execute them with
a grenade and your Sword. Run through the tunnel.
-Please, Make Yourself at Home
Now you have to sprint through the following rooms--don’t fight if you
know what’s good for you. The first room will hold a few Flood. No
surprises there. Run through and into the next room. There will be some
Covenant there, which should be your cue to hide, especially as some very
murderous Flood will come from the previous room any second. Hide behind
the wall separating the main room from a side passage, which should be on
your left. Wait for the Flood to come and dispatch of the Covenant. When
the sounds stop, check your radar and run along that side passage, through
the door, into the next room, and outside. Here, run along the walkway
you’re on and into the passage somewhere in the middle of the walkway. Wait
there for your shield to recharge, then run out the other side and along
the second half of the walkway. There will be a door at the end. It kind of
helps to toss a grenade in there first in order to get rid of some future
issues with the Flood waiting behind it. Run along the passage and toward
the door at the end of it. Look through the door and lure the Spores there
toward you. Get rid of them and go through. There will be a couple of Flood
wandering around: one with a Plasma Rifle and another with a Shotgun. Lure
them close also, and cut them down with your Sword. Run along the walkway
and through the door. Make sure you run fast because there will be some
nasty things behind you. I’m not completely sure what kind of things; I
just know that it’s necessary to run away. On the other side of the door,
turn left and activate the elevator.
-Sanctified
Here are the Prophets’ private quarters. There will be some homicidal
Covenant on the other end of the room, while the rest of it will be
enthusiastically invaded by Flood. Don't fight unless you're suffering from
ITFS (Itchy Trigger Finger Syndrome). Stay on the elevator; activate it
whenever times get tough. To emphasize the important part--whenever a Flood
notices you, press the button. Make sure you press X thoroughly: the
elevator takes a few seconds to activate and you might get carried away and
press X once more to be sure that the elevator is going down. You see, if
you activated the elevator on the first try and press X again, it cancels
the “down” command and stays on the top. In this case, consider yourself a
corpse. I suggest you stop somewhere close to the top and rapidly cancel
the “up” and “down” commands, so that you can stay at one height and not go
down or get the elevator lodged at the top. When the Flood are down, wait
for a few minutes in case some more are coming. Then go back down, swap
your Sword for the Carbine that was lying at the foot of the elevator, and
ascend on the elevator once again. Use the very limited amount of ammo in
the Carbine to get rid of the remaining Covenant. When you’re done with all
the enemies in the area, the door on the other end of the room will be
open. Go through and into the large circular room. Swap your near-empty, or
probably completely empty, Carbine for the Beam Rifle near a dead Sniper
Jackal near the huge window. If you don't go through the open door leading
to the grav lift at once, Cortana will open it herself. Go up on the lift.
-Once More, With Feeling
Last room. Right from the start, zoom in on the other side of the area
and assassinate the Sniper Jackal there. If you didn’t follow my advice and
didn’t take a Beam Rifle, you’ll have to extract a Carbine from one of the
Brutes. Do whatever you have to to kill it. I just know that running up to
it and hoping to survive isn’t an option. From the grav lift, run around
the room and to the other end where the Sniper was. I suggest you run
around the left side because it’s somewhat easier to run right through the
battle there than be in the way of another mob of Flood whose closest
victim happens to be you (which will happen if you run around the right
side). Run onto the very end of the platform (I think that there's some
kind of a circle marking the place) and wait a couple of seconds for the
final cutscene of the level to start.
XV. The Great Journey
[On the ground by the Control Room]
-Your Ass, My Size-24 Hoof
Apologies; couldn’t bring myself to censor the second word. Ah well...
The anonymous Silver Elite will talk to you, then keep the Wraith he’s
in. If I didn’t need him so much, and could actually do it, I would have
gladly killed him. So, you have no choice but to get into the Spectre.
Under no circumstances get into the turret. That will get you killed. Get
into the driver seat and have the other Elite man the turret. Well, as you
can’t use the Wraith, you’ll have to make the best of whatever advantages
you have--in this case the infinite boost and the maneuverability. You
don’t have any other choice but to drive through without pausing to try to
execute some enemies. At some point you’ll see a Scarab. Go a bit further
and some Wraiths will come out in front of you. Once those appear, you’ll
know that all the enemies behind you are gone. About the smartest thing you
could do is sit this out. Have your Elite friend shoot his Mortar at the
enemy. I'm pretty sure he’s immortal, so don’t waste any nerves over him.
While he’s busy firing the Mortar at the trees near the enemy, you can
sneak around the left flank and get the Elite at your turret to fire at the
Brutes behind a rock there. Do this until both enemy Wraiths are dead. Then
wait for the Silver Elite to clear off the Brutes and go through the door.
Well, finally I get a couple of Hunters who are on my side. Go with
them and through the following door. When you get to another door at the
end of the passage, don’t go through. The Hunters will squeeze through and
start oozing their orange blood onto the floor. They’ll take out most, if
not all, of the Brutes, but they should die themselves as a consequence.
Help them out if possible, but don’t go through the door yourself. With the
enemy dead, go through the door. Keeping track: you should have a Carbine
and a Shotgun, all brought over from Uprising. Behind the door at the top
of the ledge that the Brutes were on, you should see a cave entrance. Get
rid of all the Brutes close to you and go get a Beam Rifle from the hallway
before the previous room. There will be several Brutes on the ledges in
this cavern, which you should snipe with your Beam Rifle. I suggest
headshots. When you’re trying to do some sniping, always have the Active
Camo on. That’ll give you more time to snipe and prolong your survival
quite a bit. When all the Brutes in the area are dead, some more
reinforcements will come from the doorway on the opposite side of the
place. Use your Beam Rifle to kill those. Be especially careful to activate
your Camo when you come out--those reinforcements will contain a couple of
Snipers. When the enemies are finally down, go along the ledge. Be careful
around the first left turn due to the Brute there with a Phantom turret. If
it’s not looking, throw a grenade at the Brute itself. If it is, throw a
grenade at the base of the turret to cause a lot of damage. Anyway, go
through the next door.
When you emerge on the bridge, immediately swap your Carbine for a
Beam Rifle in the crate on your right, and then hide behind the
barrier-like object in front of you. Activate the Camouflage, come out, and
throw a grenade at the large party of Jackals further up the bridge. Then
hide. You have the advantage of the window, which you can see through and
apparently they can’t. Use it to plan out where you’re going to throw the
grenade when the Camo is recharged. With the Jackals out of the play, look
at the top of the barrier on the opposite end of the bridge (the one that’s
identical to the one you’re hiding behind). Kill the Sniper there. Then
look around the place where it was. You’ll see a few Bugs. Those will have
to be disposed of before you come close. Use the Beam Rifle to shoot down
the Drones. If you’re not sure if you disposed of them all, dual-wield two
Plasma Pistols and go check. At some point a Phantom will start hovering
next to the bridge. Stay out of its sight and a few minutes later it should
leave. With the enemies on the bridge down, take back the Carbine and run
through the next door. After about ten doors, you’ll come out in the prison
block. Get up the ramp in front of you, activate the Camouflage, and look
around the barrier separating the ledge down the middle. There will be
about three Jackals walking around there. Throw a grenade at them and hide.
Now use the Camo again to finish them off. After the Active Camo is
recharged again, look out over the room. You’ll notice that the Brutes are
keeping some allies of yours in the cells. More importantly, look at the
foot of each shield acting as a door--there you’ll see a small block that's
projecting that shield. If you don’t know this already, putting enough
firepower on one of those blocks will take out the block and the shield.
The first prisoners you want to focus on are the two Hunters in the far
right-hand corner. I’m not sure how it feels, but I certainly wouldn’t want
to suddenly have two hostile Hunters behind me, especially if I don’t have
any cover. Once the Hunters are keeping the Brutes busy, shoot out the two
or three Elites. They’ll finish the Brutes off without your help. After
about ten other doors, you’ll come out on top of the structure that the
Scarab was docked next to. There will be a few Brutes there, which your new
allies will take care of. Wait for the cutscene.
-Backseat Driver
Sarge and his Scarab (the game doesn’t exactly explain how on Halo he
got the Scarab in the first place) are heading for the Control Room. First
thing, go back to the prison block and swap the Carbine for the Sword on
the ledge that you probably saw when you came into the room and went up the
ramp. When you get back to the platform next to the Scarab, you’ll see that
a couple of Banshees came over, one of which you’ll have to take. Then
you’ll have to “give” Sarge “some cover”, as if he needs it. But all you
have to do is fly to the point where you started the level, and on to the
Control Room. Then wait next to the door for the Scarab to crawl over. Stay
as far away from the door as possible, and I suggest you keep the Banshee
away from it too. If you want to be absolutely sure that you’ll be safe,
land on one of the rocks down in the water or somewhere on the building
itself. But if you want to hear some extra dialogue from Sarge, stay on the
platform with the door, or above it.
-Delusions and Grandeur
When Johnson blasts open the door, go through, find your way through
the ruins, and run through the door at the end. Immediately jump into the
hole in the floor directly in front of you. That’ll lead to a passage under
the floor. Go to the other end of the passage and look up through one of
the openings there. Use the Active Camo to take aim and throw a Plasma
Grenade at one of the Brutes. If one happens to be close enough, melee it
in the back. Try to attend to only one Brute at a time due to the fact that
it increases your chances of survival quite a bit. Another useful tip: take
your time in exploring the passage. There are a few useful alcoves and
secret tunnels that you can use to set up ambushes on those Brutes that
dare venture into the tunnel. All four are near that narrow tunnel you
should have gone through when you jumped into the passage. On the entrance
end of the tunnel there are two very small alcoves on either side that you
can hide in to ambush any Brute that happens to come after you. On the
other end, look at both sides of the tunnel’s entrance. There are two
hidden passages there, in which you can hide very effectively. So, use your
Shotgun and Sword when a berserk Brute drops down into the tunnel after an
attack on one of its comrades. This won’t be too hard. When the room is
clear, go outside, jump into the Banshee, and fly to wherever you need to
to get a full Beam Rifle and fill up on grenades. A good place is that
bridge you passed earlier. Just as you exit the Control Room, look to the
left and you should see it in a relatively narrow canyon. So now you should
have a Carbine and a Beam Rifle. When you’re ready, go through the door the
most recent Brutes came through.
The Arbiter will find Tartarus trying to get the Commander to put the
Index into the holo panel. The Arbiter will try to get it to Tartarus’s
faculties that The Monkey was just getting ready to kill them all by
activating Delta Halo, after which Johnson will come with a Beam Rifle of
his own pointing at Tartarus’s face. After they get an explanation out of
the Monitor about what the rings do, Tartarus will lose his cool and toss
the Monitor at Johnson, then proceed to put the Index into the holo panel
and activate his shield, which is immune to anything other than the Beam
Rifle. That's why I suggested you bring one. First, use your Carbine and
grenades to take out the Brutes next to Mr. Mohawk. He’ll jump down onto
the central section, where you’ll have to follow. If you want to be sure
that you don’t miss the platform, wait for one of those ledges revolving
around the central platform to come. Jump across that and onto the
platform. This is the standard boss fight arena: a lot of variables that
you could use to your advantage and a big fat boss in the middle of the
place who’s vulnerable to only one weapon or action (which is always
supplied in indefinite amounts), in this case, Johnson’s Beam Rifle. I
didn’t think Bungie would do something like this. Oh well, back to
business.
-Method one for killing Tartarus: When you’re on the platform, ride the
central grav lift up to the top one of the three levels. From there, aim
with your Beam Rifle at Tartarus and give him a couple of rounds to take
down his shield, then proceed to fill him up with Beam Rifle charges.
Continue this until the Beam Rifle is empty. When this happens, take a
Plasma Rifle from the nearby crate--just to have a usable weapon instead of
the empty Beam Rifle. Then take out your Carbine and wait for Johnson to
take down the Monkey’s shield. When he does, open up until the shield comes
back. This will go on until you run out of ammo. In this case, take some
from a nearby crate containing Carbine ammo. When that runs out, go to the
lower level and take the ammo from there. I also think that there’s a full
Carbine crate on the middle level, but once you get there, either the place
will be crawling with Brutes or Tartarus is going to force you to leave.
So, when you’ve exhausted the Carbines, dual-wield two Brute Plasma Rifles
and do your thing.
-Method two: This is purely theoretical and hasn’t worked for me yet. You
can stay one of those moving ledges and orbit the central platform while
taking shots at the boss. If you try this, make absolutely sure that you
ride one of those higher ledges--if you stay on the lower ones, one of the
higher ledges is going to knock you off. Certainly not the end I would
choose. Also, once the Brutes arrive, you won’t have much cover. The single
plus in using this method: when on one of the higher ledges, look at the
arm that’s holding the ledge up in the air. Go around it so that you’re
standing in front of the side facing the outer wall. From there, you can
crouch-jump up to a point on the arm from where you can walk up to the top.
From there you can jump down onto the top platform. Note, though, that you
can’t go back to the revolving ledges and will have to use the first method
from this point on.
So once you fire the final coup de grace, the last cutscene will
start. Congrats! You may be somewhat disappointed by the ending of the
game, but I think it would be worth playing Halo 2 even if it had no
ending. Oh, and for those who followed my advice and went to the kitchen
and made a sandwich, I suggest you stay to see the end of the credits.
There may be something interesting at the end...
OOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO OOO
OOO OOO
OO OO OOO
O OO OOO
OOO
OOOOO OOO
OOOOOOOOOOO
_______________________[ 11. Secrets]_____________________________________
"It may affront the military-minded person to suggest a regime that does not
maintain any military secrets."
-Albert Einstein
-Skulls
Skulls are the main secrets of Halo 2. To be clear, skulls are the
same as the oddballs in multiplayer--they look the same and can be used as
melee weapons. Every time you get a skull, a message comes up where the
checkpoint messages always appear, saying the name of the skull.
Personally, I’m surprised that any skulls were found at all, seeing how
well they’re hidden. Bungie put a bit of humor into some of them by having
enemies around the skull do something unusual: twitching Flood lying on the
floor, Grunts and Elites dancing around the skull, et cetera. No one
actually knows why the skulls are there: maybe one of the Bungie
programmers got bored one day and started throwing skulls around the
levels, or maybe the Bungie folk just wanted to interest the public.
Skulls have different effects which can be good and bad. For example,
one skull erases your HUD, which can make Legendary almost impossible to
complete; while another skull reduces gravity, giving you the liberty of
jumping higher, using explosions to throw enemies over the edges of chasms,
and other fun stuff. Note that the only way to get rid of the effects of a
skull is to reinsert the disk or maybe even restart the console--don’t
expect to have the effects of some good skull after you’ve restarted the
game. I’ll arrange the skulls by level, so that you can take directions for
getting skulls in the order that you complete the game.
Here's a list of the skulls (in order) and their locations:
1. Unnamed skull ------------------------------- Armory
2. Thunderstorm skull -------------------------- Cairo Station
3. Blind skull --------------------------------- Outskirts
4. I Would Have Been Your Daddy skull ---------- Outskirts
5. Catch skull --------------------------------- Metropolis
6. Grunt Birthday Party skull ------------------ The Arbiter
7. Famine skull -------------------------------- Oracle
8. Envy skull ---------------------------------- Delta Halo
9. Assassins skull ----------------------------- Regret
10. Mythic skull -------------------------------- Sacred Icon
11. Sputnik skull ------------------------------- Quarantine Zone
12. Angry skull --------------------------------- Gravemind
13. Ghost skull --------------------------------- Uprising
14. Iron skull ---------------------------------- High Charity
15. Black Eye skull ----------------------------- The Great Journey
And here's a walkthrough on how to get the skulls:
-Unnamed skull
Armory on Legendary difficulty
This skull is not hard to get, but you’ll have to run around one room
for about ten minutes to get it. Once Master Guns gets done with the
“zapper”, Sarge will come in. If you noticed, he has a lot of dialogue to
throw at you if you don’t go into the elevator with him. Stay out of the
elevator until he says “Will it help if I say ‘please’?”. When he says
that, run into the elevator, ride that to the monorail, and get in. Make
sure you stay near the side of the compartment opposite the door you came
in through. At one point, you’ll pass a place with a few crates. The skull
is on one of the crates. Press X to take it. To be sure that you take the
skull, hold X all the way to the end of the ride.
It’s supposed that the Unnamed skull makes it easier for enemies to
spot you. I never managed to notice any effect.
-Thunderstorm skull
Cairo Station on Legendary
This is a pretty hard-to-get skull as you have to pass half of Cairo
Station to get to it. When you pass through the second hangar, you’ll go
through the MAC Storage room, the station’s armory, and about eight hundred
SMG rounds. When you exit the armory, look up. There’s railing up there,
with an area behind it. Clear the room as usual. Then, jump onto one of the
elevated platforms adjacent to the wall on top of which is that railing.
Jump onto one of the small poles holding the glass (one closest to the
wall) and crouch-jump on top of the 45 degree beam in the area behind the
railing. Now look around. There are several of those beams, all of which
supporting the two tracks of the monorail. Walk to the top of one of the
beams and jump onto the track. Be careful not to overshoot or fall through
the gap between the tracks. Walk to the right end and jump onto the
platform there. Remember that you got into the monorail from this very
platform? Look at the trash can in the corner. The skull is just behind it.
All you have to do is to hold X.
I think that Thunderstorm mode moves enemies up several ranks. Not
that it matters much on Cairo Station--on this level, the ranks of most
enemies seem to be completely random.
-Blind skull
Outskirts on any difficulty
Directly at the start of the level. Very easy. When the Pelican
crash-lands, you’ll come around with some considerable effort. Then you’ll
go through a doorway. When you’re through, look up. There are two
rectangular light fixtures there. Jump on either one, then crouch-jump on
top of the striped wall nearby. It’ll probably take a few tries, but it can
be done. Once you’re on top of the wall, look left and head into the dark
alley there. The skull is at the end, along with binoculars and three or so
Frag Grenades.
This is probably the most annoying skull out there--it wipes out your
HUD. That means no radar, no reticle, nothing. If you’re crazy enough to
try to pass Legendary with this skull on all the time, go ahead. But you’ve
been warned.
-I Would Have Been Your Daddy skull
Outskirts on Legendary
I didn’t put the widely used acronym "IWHBYD" for people like me,
whose first reaction to it is reminiscent of “What the ‘fudge’?”. Well, my
reaction is somewhat less obscene but the acronym kind of leaves me
wondering what on Halo it means. Also, I can't understand why this was
named after the very first section of the famous Assault on the Control
Room level on Halo.
This skull is a bit obscure with me. I’ve never gotten it, but here’s
what I gathered about how to get it: on Outskirts, you have to trigger the
checkpoint after Sarge gets onto the Pelican. Then you have to go past the
alley with the Snipers and Bugs, and onto the rooftops. If you remember, in
the level’s walkthrough I pointed out that there’s a balcony with a Sniper
Rifle in it, plus some ammo, just past the church-like tower and to the
left of the alley below. That’s where the skull supposedly is. Apparently
it spawns there randomly, so you’ll just have to commit suicide over and
over until you get it. Then, as I heard, once you pick up the skull, you’ll
be teleported onto the ground, with a Plasma Pistol and a crowd of Elites
attacking you. From what I understand, you’ll have to kill them all to
completely get the skull.
IWHBYD gives characters new and funny dialogue. That’s all I can tell
you.
-Catch skull
Metropolis on Legendary
It’s tough, if not impossible to get the skull without the Sputnik
skull. I suggest you get that first. On Metropolis, just after “This Town
Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” section title is triggered, you’ll come
out into an swampy and roughly circular area with a few structures in the
center. Once you clear the enemies, go onto the center structure. Come to
the foot of the big decorative support beam thingy. You’ll have to
grenade-jump onto the beam. From there, you can walk up to the top. When
you come to a fork, turn left and walk along the ledge around the tower. At
the end of the ledge is the skull.
Reportedly, Catch skull causes enemies throw grenades in twos and do
it more often.
-Grunt Birthday Party skull
The Arbiter on Legendary
Almost at the end of the level you’ll have to board a Banshee and fly
around for 10-20 minutes until the friendly Phantom finds the place where
you have to land. While it’s busy doing that, fly almost to the very bottom
of the level. There are three enormous cylinders there, all of which are
held together by a huge beam running across the top of each one. See that
each cylinder has a dome on top? Fly to the dome on top of the middle one.
Look around the dome and you’ll see that, under the beam, there are a few
Grunts dancing around the skull. You don’t have to kill the Grunts--they
won’t hurt you, and you’d better leave a couple to test out the effects of
the skull.
Grunt Birthday Party skull is pretty useful. When you’ve taken it,
every headshot to an unshielded enemy will result in the enemy exploding
exactly like a Plasma Grenade. I’m not sure if it works on Elites. It
probably does, but I think you have to get rid of their shields first.
-Famine skull
Oracle on Legendary
After the feared and hated elevator battle, you’ll go through a
passageway and then onto a ledge above a room. If you’ll notice, there’s an
identical ledge on the other side of the room. When you can, drop down and
grenade-jump onto that ledge (Sputnik is, I think, required). At one end
there will be a circle of twitching Flood (ahh, it feels so good to see
them like that). The skull is in the center.
After Famine mode is unlocked, weapons you pick up have half the ammo
than they normally would (this is just a guesstimate--it’s impossible to
know how much ammo guns have in the first place).
-Envy skull
Delta Halo on Legendary
I consider this the most famous skull. To find the skull you have to
fight across the bridge, through the tunnels (including another open area),
and eventually to yet another ruin complex. To specify, this one has a
number of Ghosts coming at you from behind the building and several Phantom
turrets to your left, which are on the edge of a drop-off looking over the
lake. You need to head over to those turrets. I suggest you clear the area
first. At the far end of the ledge the turrets were on (to the right, if
looking at the lake) there’s a cubic rock. Jump on that and look at the
nearby wall. Look closely and you’ll see a very narrow ridge running along
the wall, just wide enough for you to jump on it. Do so and jump onto the
wall on your left (with the tree branch sticking out of the wall). Now you
have to go even higher. There’s a wall directly above you, which you have
to jump on top of. If you can do this without the Sputnik, great.
Otherwise, get it. Without the Sputnik, I haven’t been able to jump on top
of the wall, whatever I did. Once you get on top of the wall, whatever you
did to get there, take the skull from between the Elites doing something or
another with their Swords.
Envy is possibly the most useful skull out there--it gives the Chief
an Active Camo. It seems to be shorter than the Arbiter’s, but it’s still
worth it. Needless to say, the flashlight is taken away. Not that you need
to use it much as the Chief.
-Assassins skull
Regret on Legendary
Suffer through the level until you get to the building straight after
the first gondola trip. Inside the lobby is a cubic rock. Jump on top and
then onto the nearby ledge. Go along the ledge and outside. On your left,
you should see a Phantom turret. Jump on top of that, then on top of the
doorway, and proceed to the back of the building. Somewhere at the end of
the trip, you’ll see a grassy balcony, a couple of Elites (doing the same
thing they were doing next to the Envy skull), and the Assassins skull.
This skull unlocks Assassins mode, which means that most if not all
enemies are invisible. If you return inside the building, you’ll meet some
invisible Jackals. Cool, really. I haven't tried it, but maybe even Hunters
could be made invisible.
-Mythic skull
Sacred Icon on Legendary
At some point you’ll reach a second halfway-outside room (a large,
rectangular area with a side passage leading to its duplicate). After you
fight through that room’s duplicate, you’ll go down a piston and into a
very dark and musty room. There will be a number of Flood in front of you.
Dispose of those and go further along the hallway. There should be a stack
of five or seven boxes at the end of the hallway, which you should climb on
top of. There will be an alcove on the ledge at the top of the stack. Go
along the ledge and further into the room, and you’ll see that there are a
few more alcoves. Mythic skull is in the third one.
Mythic mode is said to give enemies more health, thereby creating an
even harder difficulty level (makes sense: “mythic” is somewhere above
“legendary”). Don’t get me wrong, you don’t get a separate difficulty that
you can select, it just makes Legendary more legendary.
-Sputnik skull
Quarantine Zone on Legendary
I would say that this is the easiest skull to get. Just as the level
starts, turn around and run into that tunnel. At the other end, run
straight (stay near the wall to the left) and along that narrow ledge
running along the edge of the chasm. The skull is floating in midair at the
end of the ledge.
Sputnik reduces gravity. That means that explosions, jumps, melee
attacks, and everything else I forgot to mention carry objects and
characters further than normal. For example, I mentioned that the Sputnik
was necessary to get many skulls because even grenade-jumping may not be
enough to get to a particular high ledge. And now, you can melee absolutely
any corpse, including Hunters, and make them move. One very useful thing:
Brute Shots can now throw Brutes and other enemies into chasms or off
lethal drop-offs.
-Angry skull
Gravemind on Legendary
When you ride out of the detention block on the grav lift, you’ll
arrive in a room. From here, you’ll have to clear the following corridors
and defeat two Hunters. After the Hunter battle, go outside as usual. Clean
up the area and look to the right of the door. There’s a crate there with
Brute Plasma Rifles. Jump onto that and then onto a small hill leaning
against the metal wall. Then proceed along the earthen ridge and to another
hill. This one’s larger, but you can still crouch-jump onto it, especially
if you find one point on the slope that you can stand on. Once atop the
hill, go along the pinkish/purple ridge running along the wall serving as
the perimeter of the valley. Go to the back of the wall--the side you
entered from. There’s a pedestal-like thing at the end. When you come close
enough, a Fuel Rod Cannon-wielding Invisible Grunt will appear, which I
suggest you take down at once. Proceed past the corpse and onto the
pedestal. The skull will be floating above a transporter-like circular
light.
Angry mode supposedly makes enemies shoot faster (as if there’s any
room for faster shooting). Also, I don’t think you can drop this skull or
swap it for a third gun. Not very convenient when you need to swap weapons
fast.
-Ghost skull
Uprising on Legendary
This is pretty easy to get. Once you go through the door leading out
of the armory, turn around. There’s a light fixture above the door, and
that’s where the skull is. I suggest you grenade-jump on there. The best
way is to proceed along the level, then confiscate a Ghost from one of
those Brutes, and then come back. Put the Ghost under the fixture, stand on
it, throw a grenade directly at your feet, and follow the standard
grenade-jumping procedure to get onto the fixture.
No one knows what Ghost actually does (I tried doing different things
with Ghosts, but that’s definitely not it). Some think it makes enemies
less aware of your presence, or that it makes them shoot slower.
-Iron skull
High Charity on Legendary
After a dark and murky outside run-through battle, you’ll ride an
elevator (not a grav lift, mind you) to a room occupied by some very nasty
Covenant and at the same time happily besieged by Flood. When you’re done
sitting that out and everything in the area is dead, you’ll go through the
next door. This room will be large, circular, and empty. When Cortana opens
a door leading to the next grav lift, go through and into the lift. Before
walking in, though, look straight up and hold X. The skull is in the center
of the tube you’ll be traveling through. I advised you to look up because
in case you don’t get the skull for some reason, you’ll know where it is.
Iron means that you don’t get to respawn if you’re killed in co-op.
Big deal--the game is more than beatable even outside co-op.
-Black Eye skull
The Great Journey on Legendary
When you fly up to the Control Room in your Banshee, land above the
door, to the left of that ridge. Run to the end of the walkway-like stretch
of stone and jump onto the big spherical thing (which, if you haven’t
realized, is the actual Control Room) and jump on top of it. Get to the top
and walk along the disk on top of the sphere toward that rock slope behind
the structure. There’s a pillar there, which you can get on top of. At the
top is the skull.
Black Eye takes away your shield’s ability to recharge. The only way
to get the shield back is meleeing enemies to death. Every cloud comes with
a silver lining: meleeing enough enemies will give you an Over Shield.
Every silver lining comes with a cloud: it’s just too hard to get close
enough to almost any given enemy without getting killed, even if that’s a
lone Grunt.
-Secret Swords
I know of three hidden Swords in Halo 2 besides the ones that you get
on the regular “kill it and then take its Sword” basis and the ones just
lying around in plain view. The two truly hidden Swords contain Easter Eggs
somewhere near them, or at least something unusual. As for the other one,
you have to do some poking around an area, but it's not hard to find.
-Outskirts
This Sword is a bit problematic to find. You have to go the same way
you have to to get the Blind skull. But once you jump on the striped wall,
don’t go into the darkish passage--instead, turn around and walk to the
ledge above the passage you just jumped out of. There’s another ledge
across the passage, so jump there. Go along the passage that you should now
be in. Somewhere at the end you should feel one of the now widely used
invisible walls. From there, grenade-jump up to the higher ledge on your
right. Turn around. You should see a twisted beam going over the courtyard
where the Pelican crashed. Go across that and jump onto the
concrete-colored roof hanging over an alley. Jump onto the pale yellow
roofs. Run through the nearby passage between two buildings and jump onto
the twisted-looking block there. Get onto the nearby roof and walk over to
the edge so that you’re looking at a collapsed bridge. About now a
checkpoint should go off, so you’re safe. Jump down onto the bridge and
walk to the other side. Get onto the railing and grenade-jump to the roof
overhead. From there, head along the rooftops, parallel to the alley with
the Snipers. After you pass some air-conditioning things and use them to
jump onto another roof, turn left and jump through the hole in the side of
the building there. There’s your Sword stuck into the ground, and there is
also the Rex Easter Egg next to it.
-Delta Halo--Sword 1
You have to go the same way as you did to find the Envy skull, but
stop at the cubic rock. Jump on top of it. See that there’s a crack between
it and the wall? There’s a passage behind it. Toss a Plasma Grenade through
the crack and jump off. The rock will hopefully be thrown far enough back
for you to melee it out of the way and go through the passage. There you’ll
see a couple Grunt corpses and two Swords.
-Delta Halo--Sword 2
This Sword in not very secret; it’s pretty hard not to find it. When
you pass the "Off the Rock, Through the Bush, Nothing But Jackal" section
title, kill that Sniper Jackal in front of you, and clean up the general
area. When you jump down, go along the stream. It’ll end inside a cave, and
the Sword is lying just short of the place where the cave gets too narrow
for you to go any further.
-Others
More secrets. Some of these will probably be slightly more useless,
but some are very important. By the way, they’re not arranged in any kind
of order, I just wrote them down as I though of them.
-The blue screen of death
This is on the multiplayer map Zanzibar. Inside the largest building,
there’s a computer that opens the gate to the building. Activate the
computer and zoom in to get a grand view of the feared blue screen.
-Rex
Go find the secret Sword in Outskirts. The Rex rocks are right next to
the Sword. They’re that pile of bloodstained stones. If you’re having some
issues in deciphering the word “REX”, look for the X part. That makes it
easier.
I hear that the nickname of one of the Bungie level designers is
Ferrex, and that's the apparent source of "Rex". There's also a place in
Halo with the word, but I've never managed to find it.
-Original Xbox menu glitch
This is totally unrelated to Halo 2, but I just discovered it. In the
main menu, if you start rapidly and simultaneously pressing X and Y, the
actual menu part is going to start jumping around the screen.
-Crouch-jumping
No doubt you’ve heard this term before. It’s the glitch that allows
you to jump slightly higher than normal. You do it like this: jump and
press the left thumbstick in to crouch. That gains you a bit more height
and allows you to jump to some places that were out of your reach before.
-Grenade-jumping
This gives you even more height. To perform a grenade-jump, look down
and throw a grenade directly at your feet. If it’s a Frag, don’t worry--the
effect will still be the same. Just as the grenade is about to explode,
jump. Try to have a full shield when you grenade-jump because it can really
hurt if you don’t. I personally prefer Frag Grenades to Plasmas as the
timing is much harder with a Plasma Grenade’s longer fuse. To get the
highest jump possible, combine the Sputnik, a grenade-jump, and a
crouch-jump.
-Get a Banshee in Metropolis
There are two ways of getting a Banshee in Metropolis:
1. When you pass the first Wraith and a sizable hole in the right lane
of the bridge, jump onto the railing on the right side. Get onto the big
concrete block holding the support cables in place. After a Phantom comes,
a couple of Banshees will arrive. It’ll help to sacrifice the Marines so
they don’t shoot the Banshees. One of the aircraft will pass very close to
the bridge, and that’s when you have to jump toward it. If you’re
successful (lucky, I should say), you’ll get the message telling you to
press X to board the Banshee and you’ll be able to comply in time. The
Chief will pull the driver out of the cockpit, then get in himself. Now
have fun. A Phantom will be easy to defeat when faced with a halfway
competent Banshee pilot. Just strafe to the side and keep shooting. Also,
when you’re approaching the end of the bridge, you should see a Phantom
just lifting up. You can get on top of that Phantom, and you’ll be able to
fly it to the building above the highway entrance. This is the only way as
Banshees are not allowed there. More fun: from there, you can jack a
Banshee and have the invisible wall shoot you away at breakneck speed. And
it’s almost perfectly safe, as there are practically no obstacles in the
way.
2. The second way of procuring a Banshee is a bit further down the
level. Once you pass the ticket barrier, two Wraiths will come out, and
sometime soon two Banshees will follow. Lure one Banshee into the highway
tunnel and keep it moving after you. Whenever you can, shoot off the wings,
so they don’t become a nuisance later. Don’t board it yet because of that
invisible wall set up just before the ticket barrier. Therefore, you’ll be
shot out of the tunnel at a speed that almost justifies boarding it before
you really need to (well, if you’re lucky; otherwise, due to the speed, as
much as scratching the paint on the Banshee’s side against a wall will be
almost guaranteed to kill you). So, you need to lure it through the
blocked-off part of the tunnel. I suggest you only do this on Easy because
otherwise you’ll have to fight the enemies and that usually doesn’t turn
out good for you or the Banshee (on Easy, you can run straight through).
Once the Banshee reaches the sewers, get it to the entrance of the exit
tunnel. Once the “loading... done” message disappears, you’ll have less
than a second to board the Banshee before it disappears itself. I’ve done
this only once, after more than an hour of painstaking toil of getting the
Banshee through the tunnels in one piece. There was an instance where I
came horribly close to getting the Banshee right at the entrance to the
final tunnel in the sewers--but I didn’t have enough time to board the
Banshee before it disappeared. Expect this, and numerous other mistakes, to
happen very often. There’s a very narrow margin for error here and they're
very common.
A useful tip: once you’re in the blocked-off part of the highway, UNDER NO
CIRCUMSTANCES stray away from the Banshee so far that you stop hearing its
sound. If you do, the Banshee will disappear and will cause a considerable
number of neurons to burn out.
Second tip: kill the Marines from the Warthog on sight. Otherwise they’ll
destroy the Banshee and cause even more neurons to burn out.
-Secret and usable Scarab Cannon
I have to say, this is one of my favorite secrets. It's in Metropolis.
Acquire the previous Banshee (I mean the second method of getting a Banshee
in this level). Once out of the sewers, you’ll see that to your left and
high, high up are two huge bridge-like support beams, each connecting two
buildings. You’re aiming for the closest one. Directly in the center of
that support is the Cannon floating above one of those orange warning
pyramids. Make sure you look closely because it’s pretty small and hard to
see.
Right now, you’re probably storing this in the "creme de la crud"
section of your memory because, due to the size of a Scarab Cannon, a
Plasma Rifle skin was used. Well, pick it up and see for yourself. But make
sure you turn away from the Banshee while practicing--bust the vehicle and
you're not getting back down. And this is not a replica of the pathetic
Cannon that’s installed on Scarabs (as you might know, the Scarab Cannon on
Scarabs doesn't always do damage; sometimes it's faked). This is a real,
honest-to-(the name of the supreme being(s) in your religion here), Scarab
Cannon. This one can fire almost as fast as a Plasma Rifle, but each shot
does as much, if not more, damage as a Cannon shot. Everything you could
possibly want from a gun, infinite ammo and no overheating included. The
only down is that the splash damage can easily kill you if you’re not
careful. And it’s a shame that the gun is available exclusively on
Metropolis; otherwise Legendary might actually be easy. But well,
considering the lengths you have to go to to get this gun, it might be
easier to pass Legendary without it. I consider this secret the hardest one
to acquire, along with, maybe, some of the skulls.
-Exploding birds
Throughout the game, you’ll notice that in some places there are birds
flying around. When those are hit by any kind of weapon, they explode in a
very bloody way. Whenever you’re frustrated in High Charity or on Delta
Halo and have a spare sniping weapon nearby, feel free to take out your
suffering on the birds. I think you can use some normal weapons, like the
Plasma Pistol or Rifle, but it’s harder.
-Get three times the ammo for a dual-wieldable gun
This only works for clip-operated guns, namely the Pistol, SMG, and
Needler. I’ll use the Pistol as an example, but you can do the same thing
with the other two. Go to a level with more than three of the weapon that
you need to fill up with. Make sure you have at least one dual-wieldable
gun. Call it gun 1. The other one is gun 2. Swap gun 2 for a Pistol. Then
dual-wield gun 1 with another Pistol. Swap gun 1 (it should be in your
right hand) for the third Pistol. So now you have three Pistols, and their
ammo is combined. Again, you can do the same with the SMG and the Needler,
although I noticed that neither of them shows the overall amount of ammo,
just the ammo in each individual weapon. And, of course, you can dual-wield
three dual-wieldable guns at once this way.
-104 rounds in a Carbine
This is just a weird Carbine I found in Sacred Icon. When the level
starts, you’ll jump through the piston nearby and go through the next few
rooms. Soon after that, you’ll arrive in a room with an alcove/ledge on
your left. If you’re in the correct room, there’s a Plasma Rifle on that
ledge. Just a bit further along the room is a dead Brute with a Carbine
next to him. This one, when you pick it up, will have 104 rounds. Well,
once you actually reload it it’ll be less, but still just under a
hundred--a couple dozen more than usual.
-Glitch in the Metropolis ending
Look carefully as In Amber Clad disappears into Slipspace. Wrong skin,
isn’t it?
-Sarge’s cigar
It’s rumored that there are more than one of these lying around the
levels, but I’ve only managed to find one. On the very first level, when
you exit the armory on the elevator and ride down, to your right you’ll see
a trash can. Behind that trash can is a cigar, supposedly dropped by Sarge.
I was personally surprised by how detailed the thing was--it was actually
smoking! You can find this very cigar one level further, on Cairo Station.
The trash can is the same one that contains the Thunderstorm skull, and the
cigar is right behind it. And it'll still be smoking. Word has it that
another of Johnson's cigars can be found on Outskirts, in Hotel Zanzibar,
through which you'll have to run to A Day at the Beach section. Behind the
receptionist's desk is a small dark room, where the second cigar supposedly
is.
-Snafu in The Arbiter captioning
For this, you need to turn on the captions (somewhere in the profile
options) and start The Arbiter level. This mistake of whoever wrote the
captions appears near the end of the cutscene showing the Phantoms flying
toward the ruined Halo. More specifically, it's during the Silver Elite's
recitation of the rules of the Elites. When he says "Those who would break
this oath are heretics, worthy of neither pity nor mercy", his fellow
Elites will reply. So look at the end of their line--didn't they forget to
say something?
-Secret Pistols on Delta Halo
The big, hated swampy place just after "Off the Rock, Through the
Bush, Nothing But Jackal" section starts off. As you finish this part,
you'll be on the opposite side of the area from where you started it. You
should be on the ledge from where you can enter the canyon leading to the
level's final area. From this ledge, climb down one level using the ramp
coming down from about the center of the ledge. Once there, look out over
the swamp. Far to your left, in the wall, there's a dark hole. That's a
tunnel. Turn on your flashlight and go to the end. There, beside a Marine
Corp(se), are two Pistols.
-Bypass part of Outskirts
When you're entering that infamous alleyway with the Snipers, Bugs,
and some Elites, pass it as usual. When the alleyway is clear, go to the
other end of the alley and jump onto that squarish platform. Turn toward
the entrance to the next alley and look at one of those orange overhangs.
From here, you can jump onto the closest overhang. Once on top of the
overhang, you can jump on top of the pipe going across the alley and then
onto another overhang, from where you're free to get on top of the roofs.
Then you can move along the roofs parallel to the alley below, all the way
to the alley intersecting the one you're following now. Note that there's a
secret Sniper Rifle in one of the two balconies just past the church-like
building. When you reach the intersection, jump across the perpendicular
alley and onto the warehouse-like roof there (the one with the hole in it).
Jump into the hole and go along that tunnel. Greet the Grunts there with
SMGs or something and then you're free to execute the enemies you can now
see through the large hole in the wall of your building.
-Gravity-altering Scarab
This is a glitch I experienced with the Scarab on Metropolis. It's
just that if you get under the Scarab, you can jump a lot higher. Try this
when you're in the makeshift Marine HQ building. Just after "Field
Expedient" starts, jump down from the balcony and get under the Scarab as
it walks by. Or you can wait till the Scarab walks over the building and
get under it there. Anyway, if you jump while under the machine, you'll
jump a lot higher, like in space during Cairo Station.
-Secret balcony on Regret level
This is not the one that contains the Assassins skull. I'm talking
about one close to the beginning of the level. When you pass across a
two-leveled bridge, along a halfway-open passage, and through a small, dark
room, you'll emerge in a ruined courtyard. Clear the courtyard as you
normally would, then look around the door you should be going through next.
Apparently the ceiling collapsed to the left of it, and the rubble is
blocking a doorway. Or so it seems. Look closer, and you'll see that you
can just squeeze through the gap between the pile of rocks and the doorway.
On the ledge on the other side, you'll see two Carbines and two Plasma
Grenades. Good place to relax. Time to pull out your tablecloth and make
Grunt barbecue :). I heard from one of the Marines that they taste just
like chicken...
-Characters have different dialogue
In some places, the difficulty level determines some characters'
lines. There are at least two places like that in Halo 2:
1. In the beginning of Outskirts, the phrase Cortana uses to wake up the
Chief is different on every difficulty.
2. In the start of Metropolis, the very first section title varies with the
difficulty, along with Johnson's speech.
-Opening closed doors on High Charity
This works on Gravemind and High Charity levels. The closed doors I
mean are those rectangular doors that seem to be permanently closed. But
all you have to do to open one is to get far enough along its outer side.
Take the very first hall in Gravemind level for example. Then look at the
closest door to the exit you eventually use. Get in front of the door.
Then, notice that you can run along the wall parallel to the passage behind
the door. Do so, and when you're far enough along the wall, you should hear
the sound of the door opening. Now you can enter the passage. This is
rather useless, but it's good to know that you can at least do this.
-Stunned Jackal
I'm sure this works on Easy and I'm sure that it works only once, but
I'm not sure if it works anywhere outside my console. But nevertheless,
I'll write about it so you can test it. This is an odd glitch I found on
Sacred Icon level. Once you meet the Jackal with the yellow shield and drop
down a piston with it, give it your Carbine. The first time I did this, the
Jackal spread its arms and took on a bewildered look as though it suddenly
entered rigor mortis. The only way to confiscate the Carbine is to kill the
Jackal. The second time I did this, the Jackal took the Carbine and
continued as normal.
-Nonexistent glass
This is a technicality I found on Gravemind level. Once you pass the
detention center, go through a couple of rooms, and defeat two Hunters,
you'll go through a door and outside. Just beyond that door, sticking out
of the floor, is something glass-like that I could just walk through. Maybe
it's a glitch that's only present on my Halo 2 disk, but it probably isn't.
-Ride a Pelican in Metropolis
This is a glitch/secret/cheat/whatever you want to call it, that is
located just in front of the Marine HQ building. Once the two Phantoms
depart, a Pelican or two will arrive in the area. One will hover over the
raised ledges the Snipers were on and drop some Marines. That's your
chance. Run up to the Pelican, jump up toward it, and hold X. You'll board
the Pelican. After the ride you'll eventually land in an extremely weird
area, where the floor seems to be a perfectly horizontal layer of air a few
decameters above the water. The area is very large, and you can walk quite
a distance around it, but it's kind of boring due to the almost complete
absence of anything to do. There are two things, though:
1. There should be a Marine standing there somewhere without any visible
reason, whom you can shoot, melee, shout at, run into, look at, push under
the Pelican, and anything else you might want within the parameters of the
game.
2. Then there's, of course, the Pelican. Without any normal place to just
land, it'll be spinning in the air. Note that if you come close enough,
you'll get the message saying that you have to hold X to flip the Banshee
(?). If you, for some reason, want to live in this place a bit longer,
don't get hit by any part of the Pelican. Half of the time the hit will be
lethal.
-Teleport the anonymous Silver Elite
Teleporting the immortal Elite is an interesting trick I found on
Oracle level. Right after the start of the level, you'll pass through a
room with a tank full of Spores, then through a second room with a
semi-transparent floor and a vicious-sounding battle going on below, and
then jump down onto the floor of another room. After you watch the hologram
of the Heretic Leader and defeat a number of Spores pouring into the room,
you'll have to leave the Silver Elite and proceed into the next room and
onto the elevator. When I was experimenting with methods of making the
elevator battle passable, I, of course, tried meleeing the Elite onto the
elevator. It didn't work, as the Elite kept running back to the room from
where I originally meleed him. And it turns out that his desire to get back
to that room is a lot stronger than it seems at first. One of the times I
tried getting him onto the elevator, I accidentally meleed him off the
bridge leading to the elevator, after which... he teleported back to the
room. And yes, the animation for this teleportation is just like the one in
Halo and the place in Halo 2 where Gravemind teleports the Chief and the
Arbiter--he kind of lit up the surroundings with an orange light and
disappeared.
-Secret ledge on Delta Halo level
This ledge is seen right after you start the level. I can hardly even
call it secret. The ledge is on top of that large ruined building. When you
first see a Sniper Jackal, clear the area and climb up to that balcony the
Sniper was on. Now walk to the edge of the balcony and look at the part of
the building to the right of the ledge you're on now. You should see a
narrow platform running along the side of the building. Jump on top of that
and onto the roof of the building. From here, look to the right and you'll
see that you can jump on top of the roof above the Sniper's balcony. There,
you'll find the corpse of a Marine (no word on how it got there), along
with a Rocket Launcher and Frag Grenades.
-Weird Grunt speech
I found this Grunt in Uprising. Close to the start of the level,
you'll battle through a cavern-like room with a something like a generator
in the center. Then you'll pass through a door and into a room. Drop down
onto the lower level and turn around. Just under the edge of the upper
level, near the wall, is a cowering Grunt. Walk up to it and listen to its
speech.
-Sniping point on Regret level
Ever needed a very convenient vantage point on Regret? Well, here is
one: when you come up out of the underwater rooms in the second elevator,
you'll pass a hologram of Regret and go outside. Here, you'll see that
there's a ramp going up to a ledge higher up. When you climb up the ramp,
you'll come up on one side of the ledge. Now clear the area and go to the
other end of the ledge. There, in the gap between the hills, is an
extremely handy opening you can use for sniping the Covenant below.
-Handy hiding place on Quarantine Zone level
-Credit: aughah
If you're having trouble with "Shooting Gallery" section, read about
it in my walkthrough. If that's not helping and you don't mind cheating a
bit, here's a very useful trick. Just as the section starts, turn 180
degrees and run to the back of the gondola. You're aiming for that
pillar-like thing right on the end. You'll notice that the base of the
pillar forms a kind of very small gate or doorway with the floor. If you
get on top of the railing running along the perimeter of the gondola,
you'll be able to crouch-jump on top of the gateway. From there, the pillar
will split. One branch will go upward and another will also go upward, but
at a 45-degree angle. Jump on top of that slanted beam and walk up to the
top. If you already spent three hours suffering on the gondola, then you're
probably not going to be bothered by the bad physics. Once on the top, walk
right at the wall in front of you and you'll fall through. Here you'll land
on some sort of invisible floor hanging above the gondola. Although the
floor is transparent, you'll be able to walk around if you don't get off
the part surrounded by that border. Make sure you don't jump because
sometimes the gondola will kind of boost or maybe just glitch and you'll be
thrown off. While above the gondola, you'll be able to watch the Elites
being killed and the Flood running around. Once the gondola is docked,
grenade any Flood that might be blocking your way, then activate the Active
Camo, jump off, and run on to the Index.
OOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO OOO
OOO OOO
OO OO OOO
O OO OOO
OOO
OOOOO OOO
OOOOOOOOOOO
_______________________[ 12. How to contact me]___________________________
If you want to write your opinion about my guide to me, send hate mail
(which I want indicated in the subject of the letter so I could delete it),
point out holes in my guide, ask about permission to post this piece of
writing on another web site I haven’t listed in the Legal section, or thank
me with paper (the green kind with watermarks and large numbers), send me a
letter to:
[email protected]. I rarely come around to checking that
particular e-mail, so don’t expect an answer very fast.
OOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO OOO
OOO OOO
OO OO OOO
O OO OOO
OOO
OOOOO OOO
OOOOOOOOOOO
_______________________[ 13. Version History]_____________________________
Version 0.3--first edition. Just finished writing and posted. The guide is
still imperfect, but I'll correct that later.
Version 0.7--second edition, composed after I read through the entire guide
and corrected some minor voice and spelling snafus. Publushed again.
Version 1.0--third edition. Finished actually applying the "version history"
concept to the guide--before now I didn't think there would be a lot of
versions following. I ran the guide through Word's spell check, although
there were a lot of misunderstandings because of the Enter after every
line; hacked off any uneven surfaces (with a chisel); and sanded everything
else. Plus, I finally fixed the O around the "2" in the heading to make it
more symmetrical. So, now it's sparkling and polished to near perfection,
at least as perfect as I can get it, and the only revisions I'm thinking
about are additions to the Legal section's web site list.
Version 1.3--fourth edition. It's just additions to the Legal section. Plus,
I added the location of every level at the beginning of each one.
Version 1.7--yet another, fifth, edition. Added a couple of secrets to the
Secrets section.
Version 2.0--sixth edition. Did some minor corrections all over the guide,
including the "O" before every section, after going through the game again.
Version 2.3--seventh edition. Outlined the verdict on every gun and did some
more additions and corrections.
Version 3.7--eighth edition. It's been a while since I looked at this guide
and it's undergone some changes, namely that I stopped maintaining that the
Scarab Cannon can't do any damage (horrible mistake, I know), changed to
the gamertag that I actually use, and slackened the copyright rules a lot.
OOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO OOO
OOO OOO
OO OO OOO
O OO OOO
OOO
OOOOO OOO
OOOOOOOOOOO
_______________________[ 14. Legal]_______________________________________
I know this is boring, but necessary:
This guide may be reproduced or copied on a web site with my
permission. You may reproduce it in any other form you like without my
permission. Of course, I don’t appreciate plagiarism. Therefore, if you
publish any of my strategies or secrets, the credit must, again, be given
to me. Naturally, I can’t tell if you developed a particular strategy
yourself, so if any problem somehow arises over that and you're claiming
that the stategy is yours, I’ll just have to take your word for it that you
figured it out yourself.
These web sites have permission to host this guide so far:
GameFAQs ---------- gamefaqs.com
Neoseeker --------- neoseeker.com
Gamefly ----------- gamefly.com
1up --------------- 1up.com
Supercheats ------- supercheats.com
Gamers' Temple ---- gamerstemple.com
OOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO OOO
OOO OOO
OO OO OOO
O OO OOO
OOO
OOOOO OOO
OOOOOOOOOOO
_______________________[ 15. Thanks to...]________________________________
Bungie- for making this awesome game!
Tom Race- his Legendary difficulty FAQ is great; I consulted it sometimes
while writing this guide. I realize that there is a suspiciously large
number of similarities between our guides, but I swear that all the names,
ideas, expressions, and strategies here are mine. Some names or strategies
may coincide with his and, maybe, other people's, but that’s not
intentional.
GameFAQs, Neoseeker, 1up, Supercheats and Gamers' Temple- for letting me
publish this.
Tablesandchairs4/Dark Vortex- I used their secrets FAQ to find some secrets
of the game, like the skulls and, say, the Scarab Cannon. I couldn't resist
putting all the secrets I know of into this guide, so my thanks to
Tablesandchairs4 and Dark Vortex. Many secrets here are still my
discovery, though.
OOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO OOO
OOO OOO
OO OO OOO
O OO OOO
OOO
OOOOO OOO
OOOOOOOOOOO
_______________________[ 16. Final Word]__________________________________
Well, hopefully this has helped, or will help, you with the game. I
did my best to make the guide as clear, precise, and comprehensible, as
possible. I already have some practice writing guides, which has helped me
out with this one. In 10-point Courier New, this guide is over a
hundred--114--pages long, my longest one yet (and apparently the longest
one on GameFAQs also), and I had fun writing it. Hopefully, I'll be writing
a Halo 3 guide as soon as I get it. Enjoy Halo 2!
Copyright 2006 Anton Bovin
