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'%% .%%' .###' .## .'## % ,'##### ***%% **################# *=============================================================================* +-+-----------------------------------+-+ Halo 2 FAQ/Walkthrough By: Dark Vortex (Quan Jin) darkvortex0012000@yahoo.com Version 1.3 +-+-----------------------------------+-+ *=============================================================================* This guide may be found on the following sites: [http://www.gamefaqs.com]--------------------------------------------[GameFAQs] [http://www.gamespot.com]--------------------------------------------[GameSpot] [http://faqs.ign.com]------------------------------------------------[IGN FAQs] [http://www.neoseeker.com]------------------------------------------[Neoseeker] [http://www.dlh.net]--------------------------------------[Dirty Little Helper] [http://www.cheats.de]----------------------------------------------[Cheats.de] [http://www.supercheats.com]--------------------------------------[SuperCheats] [http://www.thegamingonline.com]------------------------------[TheGamingOnline] [http://www.honestgamers.com]------------------------------------[HonestGamers] This guide is copyright 2004(c)Quan Jin =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ Table of Contents ~-~ =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ 1. Introduction...............................................[1000] 2. FAQ........................................................[2000] 3. Basics.....................................................[3000] 3.1. Controls.........................................[3100] 3.2. The HUD..........................................[3200] 3.3. Dual-Wielding....................................[3300] 4. Walkthrough................................................[4000] 4.1. The Heretic......................................[4100] 4.2. Armory...........................................[4200] 4.3. Cairo Station....................................[4300] 4.4. Outskirts........................................[4400] 4.5. Metropolis.......................................[4500] 4.6. The Arbiter......................................[4600] 4.7. Oracle...........................................[4700] 4.8. Delta Halo.......................................[4800] 4.9. Regret...........................................[4900] 4.10. Sacred Icon.....................................[4010] 4.11. Quarantine Zone.................................[4011] 4.12. Gravemind.......................................[4012] 4.13. Uprising........................................[4013] 4.14. High Charity....................................[4014] 4.15. The Great Journey...............................[4015] 5. Weapon & Vehicle List......................................[5000] 6. Enemy List.................................................[6000] 7. Multiplayer................................................[7000] 7.1. Maps.............................................[7100] 7.2. Gametypes........................................[7200] 7.3. Look & Feel......................................[7300] 8. Miscellaneous..............................................[8000] 8.1. Easter Eggs......................................[8100] 8.2. Skulls...........................................[8200] 8.3. Resources........................................[8300] 9. Version History............................................[9000] 10. Legal Disclaimers........................................[10000] 11. Credits and Closing......................................[11000] To find a section quickly, press Ctrl-F and type in either the name of the section along with its content number (i.e. 1., 2., 3., etc.) OR you can use the codes on the far right. Simply type in the brackets with the code number to get a jump. =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 1. Introduction ~-~ [1000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ I know I'm not the only one when I say that Halo: Combat Evolved is quite possibly the best shooter on the Microsoft Xbox. Winning the Game of the Year award, Halo: CE can be considered one of the finer games the Xbox has to offer. Now, a few years later, the sequel to the smash-hit FPS has finally appeared on shelves worldwide. The amount of hype surrounding Halo 2 was incredible. Even after Bungie had pushed the release date back a few times, loyal fans everywhere still counted down the days until the release... Was it worth it? Some say yes. Others say no. Nevertheless, there's no doubt that Halo 2 is a good game whether it may or may not be better than the prequel. You should perhaps know my name if you have read the joint FAQ written by Armin Jewell and yours truly for Halo on GameFAQs (and other sites). If you read that guide, you probably read one of my earliest too. I'm not promising that this FAQ is written in the same way, but at least you know how I choose to tackle the game. For those of you looking for in-depth analysis on weapons and enemies, you won't find them. I provide a modest listing, but nothing extraordinary or anything on the same scale as my previous Halo guide. However, I choose to shift my main effort to the walkthrough to hopefully provide a detailed guide through the campaign of Halo 2. =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 2. FAQ ~-~ [2000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] How many levels are in Halo 2? [A] There are 15 selections in all, but the first two are just cinematics and training. Therefore, you are to play a full 13 missions in all. Each is gigantic and very detailed. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Can you use the Arbiter's invisibility in multiplayer? [A] One word answer: no. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Can a Spartan's flashlight be used in multiplayer? [A] One word answer: no. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Does the Covenant Energy Sword's battery run out in multiplayer? [A] For some strange reason, there is no battery. As long as you stay alive and hold the Energy Sword, you can use it indefinitely without running out of battery. With that, you can easily make your opponents' lives a living hell. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] How do you do aerial tricks with the Banshee? [A] Use the A Button and press in any direction on the Left Thumbstick. When up against opponents with Rocket Launchers, use aerial tricks like mad to avoid any locked-on rockets. Being able to use air rolls and loops to your advantage is a hard skill to master. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] What is that "special" multiplayer map that can be unlocked? [A] It's called Foundation. You can unlock it by completing the Campaign and using all three Banshee tricks on the last level. You also get Foundation through a Xbox Live update. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] I see people dashing 15 feet and killing people with Covenant Energy Sword. How do I do that? [A] To perform that special "lunge" attack, you need to have an Energy Sword in your hand obviously. To use it, you need to look at an opponent and wait for the reticule to turn red. Quickly press the Right Trigger and you should deal the strike. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Okay okay. Now how do you "dodge" those lunges? [A] While it's almost impossible to dodge Energy Swords in small arenas, you can easily get out of an Energy Sword's path by just Sidestepping. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] My friend dual-wields Magnums and he kills me every time. I thought Bungie weakened it! What is up? [A] Dual-wielding anything is dangerous in multiplayer. While the Magnum might be weaker than the Pistol, it fires twice as fast. Your friend probably aims at your head as headshots deal more damage. Counter him with dual Magnums of your own or use long- range weapons (Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Covenant Carbine). +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] What would be the best weapon against the Flood? [A] The standard Shotgun would work. Projectile weapons (Covenant Carbine, Magnum, etc.) also do wonders. Even the Sentinel Beam is effective against them in comparison to its weakness against most other enemies. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] How do you get to "Sniper Rock" in Coagulation? [A] Bungie has apparently made it much more easier to get to that little notch on the side of Coagulation. Yes, it's still there and plays an amazing sniping position. Take any Covenant vehicle that is fast. The Spectre and Ghost are the two best in my opinion. Line yourself up with the wall that appears to be less steep to the right of Sniper Rock. Use the boost and climb up the wall until Sniper Rock surpasses you on the left. When you can't move any further, turn right and slide across the surface. Drop down and you are there. Alternatively, you can use a Banshee to just _fly_ up there, but oh well. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Which is better of these two, the Sniper Rifle or the Beam Rifle? [A] The UNSC Sniper Rifle is basically a four-round clip that can shoot pretty fast. However, reloading in required. The Beam Rifle on the other hand doesn't need to be reloaded, but two or three shots fired consecutively will overheat the weapon. While the Sniper Rifle has a higher rate of fire, the Beam Rifle (overheats) doesn't need to be reloaded so I guess you can say that the two are balanced. As a side note, a Beam Rifle shot is much more easily noticed than a Sniper Rifle "trail" although both leave some form of a line. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Whatever happened to some of the maps like Damnation or Sidewinder? [A] The only two maps Bungie remade are Beaver Creek (which is exactly the same with slight differences to the Sniper Rifle and Magnum location) and Blood Gulch, now called Coagulation. Well, at least those are the "obvious" ones. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Is Halo 2 Xbox Live "child-friendly?" [A] If you choose to play Halo 2 online, expect a lot of profanity and A WHOLE lot of racist remarks. If you are one of those that are easily offended, just know that the majority of Xbox Live players are greasy nerds with pimples all over their face of whom think that playing with the "1337" players on Xbox Live would somehow make them cool. But seriously, people just like to throw words around for fun. If you aren't easily offended, go ahead and play. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 3. Basics ~-~ [3000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ Basic know-how before you begin to play Halo 2. If you own the manual, the majority of the below information should be accessible already. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1. Controls [3100] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Left Trigger ---| |--- Right Trigger ___ | | ___ ,' `.__|___________|__,' `. / \ Left Thumbstick -----|_ (S-Controller) _|-------- Y Button | .' `. __(__)__ | / `._,' X Button ----(__)__(__)------- B Button | _ _ (__)---------| Back Button -------- (_) _ _| |_ _ _ | |--A Button | (_) |_ _| .' `. _ (_)--------- Black Button | | | |_| `._,' (_)-------- White Button | | |_____________|____ | Start Button --------| | | \ | \ .'| | `. / `.__,' | Right Thumbstick `.__,' | Directional Pad Right Trigger ------------- ~ Fire weapon. ~ Fire right weapon (Dual-wield only). Y Button -------- ~ Switch weapons. ~ Dual-wields another weapon. X Button -------- ~ Board a vehicle. ~ Hijack a vehicle. ~ Reload. ~ Action. B Button -------- ~ Get out of vehicle. ~ Melee attack. ~ De-select menu item. A Button -------- ~ Jump. ~ Select menu item. Black Button ------------ ~ Swap grenades. White Button ------------ ~ Flashlight. ~ Team chat (Xbox Live) Right Thumbstick ---------------- ~ Look around. ~ Press to zoom in with scope/binoculars. Directional Pad --------------- ~ Scroll through menu items. Start Button ------------ ~ Pause game. ~ Settings. Back Button ----------- ~ Score. (Multiplayer only) Left Thumbstick --------------- ~ Forward/Backward to move. ~ Left/Right to strafe. ~ Click to crouch. Right Trigger ------------- ~ Grenade. ~ Fire left weapon (Dual-wield only). ~ E-brake (Warthog only) ~ Boost (Certain vehicles) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2. The HUD [3200] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The HUD of Halo 2 has been changed slightly from the original. The first thing you would probably notice is the lack of a health bar. That's right, there's no more "health" rating in Halo 2. If your shields go down, then a few shots extra will take you out. Below is a rough ASCII representation of the on- screen HUD (no dual-wielding): ____________________________________________________________________ ,' `. | _______ _______ [9] ___________________ | | ,' [4] | ,' [5] | --- | [3] | [6] `. | | |_______,' |_______,' --- `._____|_____________| | | |||||||||||||||||||| | | ||||||||||||||||||||[8]| | |||||||||||||||||||| | | | | | | | | | | | | / \ | | -{ [7]}- | | \ / | | | | | | | | | | ___________ | | \ ___[2]/ | | \,' `./ | | / [1] \ | | \ / | | `.___,' | | | `.____________________________________________________________________,' [1] Motion Tracker - Detects enemy or friendly movement. However, it is not a radar, so if an unit isn't moving, then it will not appear. The Motion Tracker does not detect if an enemy is higher or lower than you. [2] Shield Indicator - The Shield Bar tells you how much of your shield is remaining. If all of it is drained, then you are very vulnerable to enemy fire. The Shield Indicator will flash red if it becomes critical. [3] Ammo/Battery Remaining - This number calculates the ammunition remaining in your clip or the amount of battery remaining. [4] Plasma Grenades Remaining - The amount of Plasma Grenades you have left is displayed here. Maximum of four. [5] Frag. Grenades Remaining - The amount of Plasma Grenades you have left is displayed here. Maximum of four. [6] Weapon Indicator - This depiction displays to you the weapon you are currently carrying. [7] Target Reticule - The direction in which you will fire is the Target Reticule. Aim at an opponent and use it to take them down. The reticule will turn red if you touch an enemy with it or green if you run it over a friendly unit. [8] Ammo In Clip - The current ammunition you have in your clip is shown here. For certain weapons, this will not be shown. Keep in mind that by dual-wielding a weapon, you will have no access to grenades. The Grenade Indicator on the left will change to another Weapon Indicator to show you which weapon is being dual-wielded and how much ammo is in each. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.3. Dual-Wielding [3300] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the key additions in Halo 2 is the ability to dual-wield certain weapons. Dual-wielding has many advantages in combat. You can obviously deal twice the damage with two guns blazing at once. Weapon combinations can be the difference between life and death in key portions of the game. To dual-wield a weapon, you must first be holding a dual-wielding "compatible" weapon. Step over another dual-wielding compatible weapon and press the Y Button. A note on screen will tell you if a weapon is capable of being carried as a secondary weapon. However, wielding two Rocket Launchers is just crazy. The following weapons can be dual-wielded. - M6C Pistol (Magnum) - M7/Caseless Sub Machine Gun (SMG) - Plasma Pistol - Plasma Rifle - Needler - Brute Plasma Rifle While wielding two of the same weapons is still better than wielding just one gun, you should definitely take advantage of each gun's specialty. Two SMGs can be dangerous, but it is also ineffective at points. Instead, holding a Plasma Rifle AND a SMG together would increase your productivity greatly. The Plasma Rifle can rip away at shields and the SMG pounds bullets into flesh for heavy damage. The best combination depends on the player. Some people can wreak havoc with dual-Magnums or dual-Plasma Rifles. Others choose to hold a Plasma Pistol with a SMG. Whichever combination you choose, be sure to use it to its utmost potential. Keep in mind that with two weapons in hand, you cannot throw grenades without first dropping the other weapon with the Y Button. Likewise, meleeing will automatically drop a secondary weapon. If you are sure you will need grenades in upcoming battles, drop your secondary weapon ahead of time to save precious fight time. =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 4. Walkthrough ~-~ [4000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ________ | 117 `._______________________________ | | | Re: SPARTAN - 117 - MASTER CHIEF | | | | Spartan 117, the Master Chief, is a | | member of the SPARTAN-II project. | | He is a genetically, biologically, / | and technically enhanced fighting == | unit, standing seven feet tall and | | weighing half a ton in his armor. | | | | His reflexes are unmatched, his | \ strength and endurance quite unlike | == any other human and his tenacity | | molded by a lifetime of conscripted | | military training. The Master | | Chief is proficient in all current | | ballistic weapons and tactics, | | incursion, and unarmed combat, | | and has extensive experience with / | Covenant military tech. == | | |__,---._______,---._______,---.______.---| NOTE: This walkthrough was written while playing through Halo on Normal difficulty. Because of the lack of First Aid Kits or Overshields/Active Camo, I won't mention pickups. I can take it that you'd be able to find your own weapons. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1. The Heretic [4100] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================= For failure such as this, no punishment is too great. ======================================================= Before we continue, I would like to tell you that this is a cut scene level. There's absolutely no action yet. For those of you that care about the story, go ahead. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | [ Covenant Holy City, High Charity ] | | [ Ninth Age of Reclamation ] | | | | Around the wreckage of the original Halo, the Covenant have | | established a small fleet and base of operations. A large | | Covenant Cruiser flies in to join a majestic fleet while Banshees | | patrol the skies. The camera shifts to the Holy City center. | | | | Inside, a trial is most likely taking place. The Elite responsible | | for leading the Covenant forces against the Pillar of Autumn | | and landing on the original Halo is being tried. The Prophets | | nearby are discussing whether or not execution shall take place. | | The Commander Elite has failed to defend Halo, the Covenant's | | sacred realm. | | | | He states that he had chased the human fleet destroying all of | | their ships, but one. The Pillar of Autumn was able to evade his | | offensives. Jumping away, the humans had escaped to Halo. After | | they had landed on the already occupied ring, the Elite was made | | aware of a special cyborg commander, the Master Chief. A parasite | | had also infected the ring (or so the Elite thinks) and progress | | was staggering. | | | | Once the Elite figured out what the Master Chief was attempting | | to do, he was incapable of stopping him. With that, the Covenant | | believed that they had lost a gigantic religious structure. It | | was a "colossal failure" as the Prophets put it, and the Elite | | was tried for heresy. As punishment, the Great Journey shall | | begin soon, and the Elite shall be left behind while the | | Covenant rejoice in their glory... | | | | [ Earth Defense Platform (Cairo Station) ] | | [ 10.20.2552 (Military Calendar ] | | | | Scene shift to an armory. A marine is nagging an armored cyborg | | nearby. It seems the recent offensive on Halo had completely | | worn out his armor. Luckily, the Master Chief is to wear a new | | one. Putting on his helmet, he prepares himself to kick some | | Covenant ass. Before that however, we're going to have to undergo | | the standard battle-ready check... | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.2. Armory [4200] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================== Suit up, prepare for battle. ============================== >> Follow the Gunnery Sergeant's instructions. Here we go with the preliminary drill. If you were annoyed by the first Halo in this part, note that it goes through much faster. First off, you can't exactly move (They are holding you down in case you "crack.") so just look at the lights the Sergeant tells you to look at. Look to top, bottom, top, and bottom. Set the look inversion to whatever floats your boat. >> Enter the Energy-Shield Test station. With the look pitch set, the restraints are up and you can move around. Get a good feel for the controls. Jump around and look around the room. Head over to where the Sergeant walks you and step into the Energy-Shield Test station. >> Activate the Energy-Shield Test station. Nothing too difficult about this objective. See the handprint in front of you? Use the X Button to activate the shield. You should know when the shield goes down as the screen will start beeping. Watch how quickly your shields recharge (Fast huh?) and step back out. As of now, the checks are complete. Sgt. Johnson walks in and makes a few friendly wisecracks. Follow him out of the room. >> Join Sgt. Johnson in the elevator. The elevator is plain in sight, and even if you can't find it, Sgt. Johnson will lead you there anyway. Ride it down and exit. >> Follow Sgt. Johnson to the tram car. The tram car is right ahead. Johnson will even walk into it for you. Step in with him and the door will close behind you. There are big windows so you can look out and see some of the activity going around at Cairo Station. The Sarge will tell you about the history of this station and some stuff that really doesn't have any relevance to anything. Get out, and some Marines will be cheering you on. The Master Chief is back in action. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.3. Cairo Station [4300] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================== Defend the station's MAC-gun from Covenant boarders. ====================================================== ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | At the start, Master Chief and Johnson walk themselves into | | the center control room. The Chief will talk about the cameras, | | and Johnson makes a subtle crack back. The two of you enter a | | doorway and the scene shifts to the Heretic again. | | | | The Commander Elite walks himself through to a Covenant court | | (perhaps facing execution). Grunts yell out Heretic while | | Brutes strap him down. For heresy, there can be no greatest | | punishment... With that, they torture him for his indisputable | | crimes against the Covenant and their Great Journey. | | | | As the Chief, you meet the Admiral of the UNSC fleet. You also | | meet Cortana again along with Keyes' daughter, Commander | | Miranda Keyes. A brief award session will occur, but a | | supposed attack from the Covenant will break the peace... | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- Covenants are ready to board the ship. 15 Covenant Capital Ships are engaging Cairo Station's position. NOT COOL! Prepare yourself for battle once more. Follow the group of Marines down the stairs, and pick yourself some weapons. If you want to, dual-wield the SMGs with the Y Button. Be sure to pick up a Battle Rifle as well. The rest of the group is waiting below (Note Johnson and his really big gun). Follow them through the door, and you will be notified of a Covenant boarding party just through the next door. ============================ -- Home Field Advantage -- ============================ >> Repel the Covenant boarders. Prepare yourself and find a good position to shoot from (the various obstacles work well). The Covenant party beyond the door is a large one, but because of the tiny size of the door, they can't all come in at once. You can choose to go in with dual SMGs, but when your shields go down, you better find some cover. If you want to, just wait out the battle as Johnson reigns supreme with his (better than yours) weapon. When the enemies fall completely, step through the door they came from and turn right. The Marines will follow closely behind you. Watch your step as a whole 'nother Covenant party is up ahead beyond a few crates. There are two or three Elites so don't just run through them. The various Grunts are easily defeated so focus all of your fire on the Elites. An even better idea would be to shoot out the Grunts with the Battle Rifle from far away so they don't pose any distractions. Follow through when all the Covenant are defeated. Turn at the corner and give your hellos to a Marine manning a Gun Turret. Ascend the stairs to the top. You should hear some more battle conversation. Once you go through the door, turn to your left and note the Covenant on the landing below. Take this opportunity to man the Gun Turret or use the Battle Rifle to rain fire down upon them. You should also see some Marines helping your position. When you think they took out the majority, jump down. To progress through the level, go to the left door at the far side (If you look at the room from the turret's point of view). However, make sure there aren't any stray Elites hiding behind walls waiting for the shields to recharge. Another Covenant platoon will make their appearance. Take them all down and turn right to find another set of stairs. Ascend these just as well until you reach the top. Go through the door into a hanger. The Covenant are taking full advantage of the wide, open space. The first thing you should notice is the warp sending in Covenant troops by the dozen. Don't jump down yet however. Turn to your right instead (while staying on the current platform) and find some ammunition and grenades laying on the ground. Turn left onto a platform jutting out. Help your Marines and take down the Covenant by either jumping down, or using the Gun Turrets on your current platform. After a few more waves, a Marine will report that the Covenant are for some reason retreating. Walk around a bit and some more Covenant will break through a door in the northwest corner of the room. It's a small party so you should have little trouble breaking through them. There's a bunch of cover around if you need it. Walk through the door they broke through and follow the hallway to another hanger area. This time, you appear on the bottom so rain fire on the Grunts manning the Plasma Turrets up ahead and watch as they pitifully fall off. Use the Battle Rifle against those on the upper deck. Once they are cleared out, make your way forward. Some Elites and various other Grunts are scattered throughout, so do your best to make the rest of their life a living hell. There is another boarding ship warp at the other end in which more Covenant will come through. Use grenades (if you picked them up before) as they are grouped up. The Covenant have destroyed the Athens (look out the window and watch a station blow up) which is a major blow to the defense forces. Cortana notes that the explosion destroying the Athens came from inside the ship. She concludes that the Covenant have probably brought a bomb. If they had placed it in the other stations, they had most likely placed one here... ====================== -- Priority Shift -- ====================== >> Find the Covenant bomb. Your objective now is simple. With the Covenant forces repelled for the most part, we shift our objective to locating a "bomb." Anyway, on the floor of the hanger are little indents. Look for one of the two and head down where a door will open for you. There are some Covenant occupying this space. Because of the lack of room, watch out for stray Plasma Grenades the Grunts might throw at you. There are two doors out of here and to the Armory. One of them holds an Elite and the other holds an invisible Elite. Either way, you will have to fight them both in the end so it doesn't matter. Get out of that area into the Armory and the Gunnery Sergeant will be fighting back. He dies, so finish off the job and pick up the Shotgun that he dropped if you'd like. The next room is similar to a room we fought in before. It's completely infested with Covenant. Rushing straight in will only result in death. Take advantage of the various hallways on the wall. There are many Grunts using Plasma Turrets scattered around the room. The Battle Rifle is a great weapon to pick off a gunner from far away. Before engaging any of the Elites, take out the Plasma Turrets. Fight your way to the other end of the room (watch out for Red Elites) in which an opening appears to your left. Defeat the Grunts in that room and continue. The next staircase is to your right. Ascend them and go through the door. As you get through, another door will open to your forward. It's a large group in a small doorway so throw a grenade and mop up the rest of the "unfortunates." Walk through the door they busted through and ignore the stairs to your right. Go through the door ahead. As you enter, perform a U-turn and find some Marines along with Sgt. Johnson and Miranda Keyes working away at a stubborn group of Covenant boarders. Defeat that group and Sgt. Johnson tells you move forward. As you continue, turn to your right and go through the open doorway. You find yourself in a room. Look out the window to your left. We're going to be out there in about a minute. Exit and turn right. Some stray Grunts will enter the area. Continue... ================================= -- Authorized Personnel Only -- ================================= We're getting warmer at least. Leaving Johnson and the crew behind, the door ahead of you opens. Two Blue Elites will come in. Take them both out and jump out. Something's different huh? The muffled sound isn't a technical error with your TV. Yes, we are actually in outer space. Take a few moments to jump around and get a feel for the "zero-gravity" thing. However, our suit's personal gravity keeps us on the ground. As you jump down, turn straight around and walk forward. One or two Elites with jetpacks will make their appearance. Cortana will radio in stating that she has found the bomb, however, she needs your help to come in contact with it. Go through the door at the end and continue through. This large room is quiet at the moment, but on a whim, many insectoid creatures will begin flying in. The "Buggers" as the Marines like to call them are very weak, but they can fly. Use automatic weaponry suggestively and defeat the Drones flying around. They are fast so don't get frustrated if more of your shots miss than hit. By the time you defeat all of them, the elevator should be coming up. Jump off the ledge onto the elevator (?) and begin wreaking havoc with the Covenant platoon down there. Once you defeat all of them, venture to the main platform and locate the elevator switch. Press X to activate it, and watch out the gigantic window as you slowly travel down. At the very bottom, a doorway will open up at the far end. (pretty cool huh?) Go through, and head back into outer space. The Admiral will note that the Covenant Carriers are moving in. While he's preoccupied with that, two Elites with jetpacks will fly in. A third will be at the top manning a Plasma Turret. Immediately take out the gunner with the Battle Rifle and take some cover. Shoot the remaining two out of the air. Beware however, as they are dual-wielding Plasma Rifles. With those three defeated, follow through and find the hallway (still in space here) leading back into the station. You should find it behind the Plasma Turret the Elite was using. At the fork, make a right and find the door leading back into the ship. It will open for you. The bomb the Covenant had left us is just below. The automated elevator will bring you down while Cortana tells you a bit about the number of Elites guarding the bomb. Heh. ======================== -- Return to Sender -- ======================== As the door opens, begin moving out. A large number of Elites and Grunts are guarding the bomb. Right off the bat, throw one or two grenades into the crowd to hopefully take down a few Grunts and at least one Elite. The rest of the forces can easily be killed if you know how to fight. Rushing gun-ho right into won't solve crap. Use the cover the room provides and take down the force to the last Elite... ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Cortana makes her appearance; she succeeds in disarming the | | bomb. Apparently, we were pretty close in losing the station. | | Master Chief will ask to leave the ship to give the Covenant | | back their bomb. With a chuckle, he gives a permission granted. | | | | The Chief will ride down an elevator and pull the bomb out. He | | opens the door out and watches the Covenant Cruisers heading for | | Earth. If any of you can remember, this was the scene of one of | | the original trailers for Halo 2. The only difference is the | | addition of a Covenant bomb. | | | | [ "What if we miss?" ] | | [ "I won't." ] | | | | Being the badass that he is, the Master Chief takes off as the | | bomb pushes him out. A UNSC SHIP explodes behind him as the Chief | | flies into the Cruiser. His success is confirmed with a resulting | | explosion destroying the "Sender." Finding a UNSC Cruiser to land | | on, the Chief prepares to take the fight to Earth. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.4. Outskirts [4400] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ==================================================================== Rally scattered Marines, clear hostile contacts from the old-city. ==================================================================== ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Three Pelicans fly in to the city. Cortana notes a strange | | repeating message; Regret. Sarge makes a few cracks on to what | | it means. Cortana notes that Regret is one of the Covenant's | | Prophets. A few Marines on the ground notice a problem with the | | landing zone of whom recommend mission abort. Sarge chooses to | | rush in anyway. Regret is on that Cruiser, and he has all the | | information. The Master Chief's objective, locate Regret. | | | | A large multi-legged thing comes in and crushes a bus. Two | | Pelicans go down, one of which holds the Master Chief. We'll | | be fighting on foot from this point. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- =============================== -- They'll Regret That Too -- =============================== Although a bit disorientated from the crash, Cortana succeeds in waking you up. Armed with a SMG and a Battle Rifle, begin making your way forward where a Marine waits outside a door. A single Grunt patrols the hallway so smash it in the head with a well placed melee. Follow the hallway and you should come to an outside courtyard-like area. Walk straight forward and take out the group of Grunts with a well-placed grenade. You have two options at this point. You can either stick around on this floor or head to the staircase opposite the doorway you just came out of to a ledge above. I'd suggest the latter as it provides a better firing position as well as a Gun Turret to your disposal. There are a few Elites hanging around that you'd probably want to take down. Either way, Covenant will begin to pour in. Sarge will notify you of which direction they come from. >> Defend the Marines until help arrives. First, after the preliminary enemies are defeated, some Grunts and Elites will pour of the alleyway to the left. One or two Elites will camp from a rooftop. Be sure to take them out. Once that platoon is defeated one way or another, a second group will come out of the same area. More Grunts basically, but an Elite also will make his appearance. After that wave, Johnson will notify you of Jackals in the courtyard. Avert your gaze to the opposite end of the area where you entered. Defeat the Jackals there through the Gun Turret or a few grenades. Remember the flying, insectoid creatures in the previous level? More of those Drones will begin coming over the rooftop. Against them, the Gun Turret (if it hasn't been destroyed yet) wreaks havoc so just hop on and blaze the guns at them to hopefully down them all. Once the Drones are defeated, a Jackal platoon will attack you from the same location as the last Jackal attack. When will they all be gone? Well, yet another group will appear from the alleyways. It mainly consists of a few Grunts and an Elite or two. Take them down. At this point, the music begins to change and a Phantom rides itself into the area. You can shoot down its guns, but the ship itself cannot be defeated. The Phantom will hover there and drop some troops down. You should know how to plan your attack. Throw a few grenades to spread out the dropped troops and pick the rest of them off. While you fight them, some Jackals will run in as well. With those enemies defeated (too easy), a reinforcement pilot will speak of a good LZ further ahead. Before we follow, the last of Covenant attacks comes in the form of two Hunters. These two behemoths will break through a gate. Prepare yourself with a good weapon like the Battle Rifle. The Hunter's armor prevents most penetration so simply shooting at them won't cut it. Note the orange spots that can be apparent on the belly area or neck. If you shoot there, you can deal much more damage. However, the Hunters aren't just going to stand there and let you shoot them. Get up close to them so they stop using their Fuel Rod Cannon. They will attempt to hit you with their shields. Sidestep, and pound some lead into the orange spot. The best choice of weapon against the orange spots are bullets. The Battle Rifle and SMG are two good choices. Plasma weapons still do work, but they take much longer to take a Hunter down. Eat away at those two (avoid Fuel Rod Cannon and their melees) and they should fall. Once done, the only way forward is through the gate in which they broke through. >> Rendezvous with the Pelican. As you walk through, Cortana will have a conversation with some of the Marine leaders still in action around here. As you round the corner, note the amount of Jackals ahead. This alley can pose a problem because of the heavy amount of Jackal snipers. As you progress, try to move around a little and take all the cover you can find. Pick off the snipers with the Battle Rifle. Try not to get hit too much. If you do, find some cover and allow your shields to recharge. Advance forward picking off Jackals as you move along. Miranda Keyes will radio in telling Johnson that he needs to be picked up. Continue along defeating the opposition in your path. Note the Pelican that just dropped to provide you some reinforcements. Advance forward and Johnson will make his leave. >> Find the Marines from the second downed Pelican. The next alleyway is very similar to the last with the fact that it also carries a number of snipers. To add insult to injury will be a dozen Drones flying around along with some Jackals on the ground. Find a good vantage point to shoot from and take out the Drones first. Avoid the snipers and only pick them off when the others are defeated. Continue to the end of this street, and notice that there is a big hole stunting your progress. Turn back around and walk into an alcove on the right wall. The Marines should lead you there anyway. The Covenant have fortified the next position with a few snipers, a number of Grunts, and an Elite. A well-placed grenade should take out all of them. Defeat the enemies here and some more will pour in to your left and right. Find some cover while you take out the rest of them. To advance, you have two options. From the way you came in, you can go either right or straight forward. Both paths should bring you to another skirmish that has already started between a group of Marines and some Covenant. Help them out and take out the various baddies scattered around. Be careful of the Grunt manning a Plasma Cannon. Once the enemies there are taken down, a Marine will notify you that the crash site is on the other side of this building. Follow the team in past a vending machine (thirsty yet?) and walk forward. It's a bit dark so turn on your flashlight. Pay no attention to the intersections and just walk forward. At the end, two or three Elites will greet you. Show your affection and stick a Plasma Grenade on one of them. Once back outside, take your time and defeat the Grunts scattered around. The area is large so you should have little trouble finding some good cover. Yet another Phantom will come in and drop a group of Grunts and Elites off. Defeat that threat before they even hit the ground. Once the Covenant are defeated in this sector, the Marines reward you with a Warthog. Jump in. If you are feeling like shooting, let the Marine drive for you. If not, hop in the driver seat yourself. ========================== -- A Day At The Beach -- ========================== >> Destroy the Covenant on the shoreline. I can tell you now that the Marines are horrible drivers, so if you'd rather take the chance, go ahead. Drive (or your Marine will drive for you) down the road and over the ramps dividing a portion of the land. With that, you will crash a Covenant party and what appears to be a large artillery piece. This area is infested with Covenant forces so be sure to watch yourself. If you'd like, hijack one of the Elites' Ghosts and drive it around yourself. The forces here should fall quickly if you are diligent with the gun. Once the enemies around have been slain, head to the other end and make a U-turn to another one of those artillery pieces. Like the previous one, this area is also crawling with Covenant. Various Ghosts will be flying around and I would suggest you prioritize them first. While you fight the group here, a Phantom will most likely be in the area dropping off Ghosts. Defeat those and continue over the next ramp. At the next area, a number of pods will begin to fall from the sky. Contained within them are battle-ready Elites. Deal with them whichever way you'd like, but keep in mind their numbers. There are quite a few of them and if you are fighting on foot that might be a problem. Still, if you happen to have taken up a Ghost, simply splattering the Elites by boosting right into them both works and can be pretty comical. >> Take the highway tunnel to the bridge. The tunnel is at the opposite end. Drive into there and pick up one of the new Ghosts if you'd like. Ride it to the end and then turn left. To reach the bridge, we need to make our way through this Covenant-infested tunnel. ======================== -- Speed Zone Ahead -- ======================== Begin making your way down the road. There isn't any Covenant resistance yet. However, within a few seconds, you should be making your way into a Covenant position. Mow this group down but watch out for some Ghosts that might be coming in. If you need a new vehicle, hijack it if you choose. You don't need to necessarily defeat this position; instead, just kill enough of them so you can continue forward. At the bottom of a slope is another fortification. Watch out for the Plasma Cannon. There are a number of enemies scattered here. Once defeated, advance again. Take the jump and some Drones will begin flying in. Before continuing, try to shoot them out of the air so they won't be a nuisance at the next fortification. Ahead is another group of Covenant. A Plasma Turret should stop you for the time being. Break through again and continue. The next group is just as problematic as the last. Another Plasma Turret will surely annoy the hell out of you. However, it's nothing that you shouldn't be able to handle. Continue ahead and notice a hole in the ceiling. The Scarab will fire a large beam and destroy a Warthog position. Disregard it for the time being and advance forward. A bunch of Ghosts will attack your flank so perform the necessary operations: kill them all. Another Plasma Turret is up ahead. Destroy it as always and notice the Shadow. Destroy it if you like (although it really isn't necessary) and once again, continue after a quick stop. At the dead end, turn right and enter the next section of highway. Up ahead are three more Shadows transporting Ghosts to the next sector. Destroy them if you'd please. However, when engaging, try to kill off the gunner atop first so you won't have to deal with return fire as you defeat those. Once again, there's nowhere else to turn but forward. Continue to make your way through this repetitive area and enjoy the lapse in Covenant combat. Finally, after a long trip, you should note another Shadow up ahead. Shoot it down and defeat the remaining Covenant forces in the area. A number of Ghosts will also appear. The Plasma Cannon above will definitely cause you some problems so take it down as quickly as possible. Clear this room and advance again. The exit to the bridge is just up ahead... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.5. Metropolis [4500] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ Take the bridge, break the Covenant's grip on the city-center. ================================================================ ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Across this bridge is the city-center that the Scarab is | | currently targeting. A few Marines are scattered here, but | | the majority of them were overtaken by the Scarab. Before we | | continue however, Johnson will fly in with a Scorpion. A little | | "motivational device" as he calls it. After a Marine demands to | | leave, Johnson will make a joke back (funny man, huh?). To get | | through this bridge, you will probably want to use the tank he | | left you. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- =============================== - Ladies Like Armor-Plating - =============================== >> Crush Covenant resistance on the bridge. Well, we are going to have to cross that bridge if we are going to get anywhere. Hop in the tank that Sarge left you. If you want, take the run-down Warthog behind you. Although it provides speedier travel, I'd still suggest you take the bigger game. Begin making your way down the bridge and the Marines will hop on with you. The Scorpion is slow so bear with it. Soon, your first opposition will appear. Basically, you will be meeting Ghosts for a majority of the bridge. Wave after wave of them will fly at you. Luckily, your Scorpion's gun should be enough to take each one down within a single shot. As you continue across, a Wraith will begin firing some plasma mortar shells at you. For the time being, disregard it as the shots are very inaccurate at this far of a range. By the time you reach it, the Ghost waves will be become more frequent. Hijacking the Wraith is optional if you like the speed boosts. Whether you destroy it or hijack it, continue once the Wraith is dead. The Ghosts are frequent still, but with your big gun, they shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just beyond the Wraith is a big hole in the bridge on the right side. Make sure you don't accidentally ride in or it's lights out for you. Just beyond the hole, a Phantom will most likely make its way across the sky. Take a chunk out of it by sending it a well-placed shot. On your left, a Marine with a Rocket Launcher should be running. Let him join your team. Advance along and some more Phantoms will zip by you. They should be carrying Wraiths so you do your best and shoot each one away from its package. While the Ghosts begin to dwindle in numbers, Banshees will begin flying at your Scorpion. A single shot should take those flying demons down before they pose a problem. By this point, your tank should be nearing the end. As you can probably tell even at this distance, a large fight will probably commence at that point. Take down some more stray Banshees and Cortana will remark about the "welcome party" The Covenant have set up for you. At least three Banshees will begin to fly in on your position. Take each one down with a quick shot of the barrel. Now that you're on the other side, break through the toll area and begin engaging the large number of Ghosts flying through the tunnel. Try to blow each one up quickly as two Wraiths will also venture out. A few tank rounds shot right into each one should overtake both with a few seconds. Some extra enemies or Banshees might be hanging around so do your best to blow whatever remains up. Now on the other side, our objective is to move forward. Make your way through the tunnel (very slow-going). Some solitary Grunts and Elites might make an appearance. If you miss, the Marines riding on your treads won't. As you round the first curve, a Warthog should appear as reinforcements. Follow it to a half-open tunnel. Since you can't really move forward as the tunnel hinders your movement, get out of the Scorpion as it's useless at this point. You can take the Warthog over the small indent if you'd like, but the area is crowded with cars so I'd suggest you just take it on foot. The next section of tunnel is full of Covenant bogies. Reload and rearm (if need be) before walking in. A number of Elites will be greet you as you make your appearance. The cars provide obstacles, but they also provide cover. In the midst of battle, Beam Rifle shots will zip by so try not to get struck by one. Because of the small area, grenades will scatter enemies if not blow them up completely. Once the tunnel is cleared, continue past another half-opened tunnel. It's a dead end, but on the right wall is a hole leading out. >> Make your way to the surface. Exit the tunnel and you should be back outside. Walk yourself forward a bit and smack the Jackal in front of you down. As you exit, a Marine in a Gauss Cannon Warthog will drive up. Saddle up and take either the gunner or driver position with your choice. Kill the enemies around. They are mostly Jackals and Grunts with a few Ghosts flying around. While you overtake this Covenant position, the Scarab will begin making its move again. >> Regroup with Marine forces in the city-center. Whether or not you defeated all forces, the exit is a little niche on the far side opposite from the entrance area. The next area is big, but a Wraith and a few Ghosts occupy it. I'd suggest taking down the Wraith quickly. Hijacking it won't do anything as to continue, you need to transcend a small door that only a Warthog will fit through. The Gauss Cannon makes quick meat of the various Ghosts and the Wraith itself shouldn't be too hard to take down. From past experience, I can conclude that the Marine driving for you really likes to stick around until _everything_ is dead. If this becomes an annoying process, get out and drive for yourself. To continue, the doorway at the end can have a Warthog fit through. Turn left or right at the waterfall and you should find yourself in the downtown area. Some Ghosts and Covenant forces are apparent. Luckily, you have some Warthog reinforcements as well. As you enter the area, turn to your right (the Marine driver will do it for you if you're on gunner) along the road. Some activity to your left should draw your attention. Two Wraiths are taking the center position. Cortana will recommend taking down the Covenant tanks first as they pose the biggest threat. Although heavily armored, Wraiths still aren't a match for the Gauss Cannon that should still be infused on your Warthog. With the two Wraiths destroyed, a Phantom will appear and drop off two Ghosts. You can avoid fighting them by letting loose the Gauss Cannon against the still attached Ghosts. Once all the forces are defeated, Cortana will tell you about a group of Marines in the building nearby. Use the HUD marker and drive to the door. As you walk inside, a Marine will greet you and tell you about their situation. Follow him up the stairs. ===================== - Field Expedient - ===================== >> Board and destroy the Scarab. Well, it seems the Scarab has scrounged its way up to your position. While the commanding officer tells you about what the hell is going on, a Scorpion down below will lose its head to the behemoth. Brace yourself as the thing begins to close in on your position. Get out of the way of its legs or you will be crushed. When it passes, turn to your left and ascend the stairs. The Marines will follow you. Continue along the building up some more steps to a door. Exit and the Scarab will be just a bit to your left. It's closing in fast so don't miss this opportunity. As you exit the building, walk straight forward onto a mesh bridge. Look to your left and try to align yourself with the Scarab body. It's rocking back and forth so it might be a bit difficult to find the center. At that point, jump down on top of it. If it passes before you have a chance, turn back around and continue in the Scarab's general direction. When you have the chance, get on top. The Scarab is heavily defended with a filthy amount of Covenant. The small deck offers a great strategy in your favor however. Chuck a grenade and the Covenant will have very little room to maneuver in. The first wave consists of Grunts and Blue Elites. Once they are down, some Jackals and more Elites will move in. Arm yourself with Plasma Rifles or Pistols against the Elites' shields. Use grenades in key locations to quickly take them down. Once you happen to kill off those, at least three Red Elites, most likely dual-wielding Plasma Rifles, should appear. Before they come onto the deck however, chuck a grenade or two to hopefully lower their defenses. If you fail with the grenade, run away to the upper deck. Sticking around will probably get you killed. Slowly kill the Elites one-by-one until all of them are dead. Now, the pass into the Scarab should be open. Get through. The ship itself is defended very well. Two Red Elites in the rear should be a spawn of many problems. However, the White Elite, that will most likely appear once the two Red Elites are down, will become very dangerous. Armed with a Plasma Rifle at first, he will switch it for a Energy Sword once his shields go down. _Do not_ allow him to get a strike through you. Stick away and pound away at his weakened state to take him down. With that, the Scarab wlll be destroyed. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | With their prize destroyed, Regret will attempt to pull his | | cruiser out of the area. However, Miranda Keyes needs to follow | | that ship. Creating a slip-space rupture, both Regret and the | | Cruiser warp out of the area leaving New Mombasa in ruins... | | Well, let's follow. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.6. The Arbiter [4600] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================= Infiltrate a Forerunner facility, quell the heresy therein. ============================================================= ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | As the UNSC forces chase Regret away from New Mombasa, the | | scene changes once again to the Heretic... Groggily waking up, | | he's being dragged by two Brutes. A few of them will complain | | as they pass a rabid Jackal cell. One particularly barbarian | | suggests eating him out of exasperation. Bowing his head, the | | Elite expects execution around the next corner. | | | | The naked Commander Elite is sent through a heavily guarded | | hallway to meet up with the Prophets Truth and Mercy. Truth | | orders the Brutes that carried him here to leave and the Elite | | is dropped in his miserable state. The Prophets then asks the | | Heretic if he knows where they are. Indeed, this is the mausoleum | | of the Arbiter. Each and every dead Arbiter lies in this tomb. | | The Heretic Elite is noble, and doesn't want to belong here for | | his crimes. The Prophets then apologize for a small... | | misinterpretation. | | | | The Elite shall become the Arbiter and he will be set loose | | from heresy. With that, the Prophets bring out the armor that | | has been worn by Arbiters years and years ago. It will be a | | perilous journey and survival is not guaranteed. With little | | choice, the Elite takes it and gladly accepts. His mission: to | | find a Heretic Leader on the wreckage of the original Halo... | | | | Three Phantoms sail toward the ruins of the first destroyed | | Halo emplacement. A white Commander Elite leads a platoon of | | Grunts and Elites giving a few words of motivation. The | | Phantoms closes in and the Arbiter makes his appearance out | | of the blue. With a few last words of battle, the Phantoms | | sail to the landing zone and drops off the platoon. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ============================ - A Whisper in the Storm - ============================ >> Locate the Heretic Leader. The first objective you have (the Arbiter) is to locate this Heretic Leader who is thought to be taking refuge someplace on this installation. Armed with an Energy Sword and a Plasma Rifle, you are well-fitted for battle. Follow the rest of the group as they lead you down a ramp. Meet up with the rest of the group and an Elite attempting to crack the door lock. Head through and another door will be opened. The storm has masked your approach, so your opponents aren't expecting any attacks just yet. Use this to your advantage and activate your active camouflage with the White Button just before entering. A few Elites and Grunts are patrolling the area. Take advantage of your invisible state and use the Energy Sword to give this group a wake-up call. With that, some shots will begin shooting and the action begins. Hoorah. There are a few Elites around using Covenant Carbines rather than Plasma Rifles. Use this to distinguish between friend and foe... not to mention that those Heretics are wearing ugly headpieces anyway. Use the Sword or Plasma Rifle to take down the forces in this first area. A ramp to the right leads up a small slope leading downward. Some more enemies, including two or three Elites are also located here. Again, use your active camouflage to hopefully sneak behind another enemy. Be wary of the blue paths on the ground. Stepping on them will cause you to slowly move down the slope. It can be hard to notice as you move along this blue path. Just don't let yourself fall off the edge at the other end. Anyhow, once you clear this area, make your way to the other end of the area and take either path on the left or right to head downward to the next platform. Don't fall off the edge by the way. Probably as of now, the battle has sort of died down and silence is flooding back in. The next room has a fully-charged Plasma Rifle on the ground that can be picked up. For the next room, I strongly suggest dual-wielding Plasma Rifles. At first, some Grunts will appear here and there. However, an elevator on the other side will send up a group of two Elites and a bunch of Grunts. Like I said, dual-wielding Plasma Rifles can quickly quell the Elite threat. Once they are down, the Grunts will fall like dominoes. Anyhow, this room is a dead-end. The only way forward is down the elevator. If your allies are still alive, lead them onto the elevator that the enemy group came up on and head downward. After about halfway down, you should notice some Sentinels holding blue containers floating around. Don't shoot until you reach the bottom to avoid letting your opponents know that you're here. Now at the bottom, begin shooting like mad at the various Sentinels floating around. Plasma weaponry works best against them. Take care of those Sentinels as quickly as possible. Some Elites will begin flooding in through the doorways on the upper level. While fighting those floating scraps of metal, don't step into their beam for too long. It can wreak havoc against your sub- par shield system. Your commanding officer at this point should order you to open the hanger door. The faster you get to that, the faster you will receive reinforcements so get over there as quickly as possible. The hanger door is the big window at the opposite end of the elevator. You can find the activation panel on either side of the door. Just press the X Button and the Phantom will fly in the save the day. Let it blast away at the enemies hanging around and take full advantage of the reinforcements it drops. Once the Phantom flies out, begin to mop up the remaining forces. Once again, enemy forces will scramble in through the upper pathways. If your shields are down, take cover while your allies attack the Heretic platoons. If possible, use the blue containers around the area as grenades. Shoot at them and they will explode hopefully on your enemy's side. Be wary of Grunts wielding Fuel Rod Guns around the area. They act like miniature Rocket Launchers. It should take quite a while before you can clear the room. If possible, keep as many of your allies alive as possible. The more you still have, the better. You will know when the Heretics in this room have been totally defeated when an Elite wielding an Energy Sword appears from a door just one level below the area where the elevator dropped you off. Don't stand too close (obviously) and kill off the final Elite. When the room is quiet, begin making your way through the doorway just below the elevator shaft. By now, it's probably open. Let your allies follow you as you round the next corner. Another large group of Grunts and Elites are just a few feet ahead. Quickly throw a grenade into the group and jump back. The tight corridor can be used in your favor as it disallows your enemies to move around too much. Mop up the remaining Elites any way you choose. Once opposing forces in this sector are defeated, continue once again. At the end, you will find an open door on your left. This medium-sized room is infested with enemy forces up and down. I'd suggest running to the top platform as there are less enemies up there. Use a liberal amount of grenades to scatter your enemy and then wipe them out with your mad skills. Use the upper platforms strategically and run up there when you need to recharge your shields. Once you clear out the majority of the enemy forces here, head to the door at the other end of the room. It's pretty easy to find considering the size of this area. Anyhow, exit into the next corridor area and some Grunts will make their appearance. Put them in their place and advance. The next intersection will have Elites coming out through the right door and Grunts on the other side. Throw a quick grenade to scatter the Grunts and finish off the two Elites which also appear. Now with that force down and out, have your team continue once again. Anyway, from this point on, it's all a matter of transcending the hallway down and down. Some more Grunts appear ahead of you. Watch out for the Elite that pops out the locked door in front of you. Round the next corner and some more Grunts will appear as if begging you to kill them. Finally, you should reach a doorway. Before you enter, suggest engaging your active camouflage. Some Grunts should be sleep in the little niche ahead of you. Give them a good smack in the head to take down both of them. As soon as the Sentinels notice you, start shooting them down like mad. From the entrance, continue left making your way through the piles of Grunts. Watch out for the Elites and do not let them overwhelm you. Again, use the blue containers hanging around as grenades by making them blow up nearby enemies. It shouldn't be too difficult to make it toward the end of this area. However, if you aren't careful, prepare to be overwhelmed. There are a bunch of niches and areas where you can hide for cover. When ready, go through the other door at the end of the room. Just as you probably expected, more Covenant. Whee...! Once that team is cleared out, head through another doorway and you should notice some Banshees ahead of you... through a window of course. Some enemy Heretics are just outside. The two doors on your left and right are locked as of now. However, the one on the right (upper platform) will open to release another platoon of enemies. Once again, take your trusty Plasma Rifle and zip right through. Following, head through the door that the Heretics came out of... ================= - To The Hunt - ================= Your commander will radio in again and tell you that the Heretic Leader is escaping. Objective now would be to follow him. With that, he offers to send one of his Phantoms to help clear the way for you. Judging by the looks of things, you will probably need it. >> Persue the Heretic Leader. Exit through the door and find yourself outside in the raging storm. Two Banshees are parked just ahead. Wait for the Phantom to appear and get in one of them. Once you begin flying, the Phantom will begin to move. This part of the level requires you to follow. However, there will be abundant enemy Banshee patrols throughout the area. Right off the bat, a Banshee will fly in toward the Phantom's rear. Use your cannons and Fuel Rod Gun to throw that enemy Banshee away. While the Phantom is slow, I'd suggest sticking near it anyway. It will help you destroy enemy Banshees as they come. Furthermore, you don't know where to go, so the Phantom will lead you. Anyhow, some cool music will pop in. Begin following the Phantom and defeat the various Banshees that attack your flank. Don't let your craft get too busted up at this point. As you follow the Phantom, you will occasionally come across platforms in which Grunts with Fuel Rod Guns attack you. Considering the power of those cannons, you will really want to do your best to avoid their shots. Kill off the Fuel Rod Grunts as best you can. After the first wave of these, the Phantom will lead you to another part of the installation. While the Heretic Leader is not here, you might want to take advantage of the two Banshees parked on top of the platform. Your Banshee is probably a bit busted up at this point so take either of the new ones. Continue to stay around the Phantom and it will lead you to another heavily guarded installation. This platform is also a dud and the Heretic Leader is nowhere in sight. Stay close to the Phantom and shoot off any enemy Banshees on its tail. The Phantom does bear heavy firepower, but it does have its blind spots. Destroy the Banshees and the Phantom will finally locate the supposed location of the Heretic Leader. Quickly begin destroying whatever is guarding the landing zone and get yourself on that platform. Lots of enemies are apparent so kill them off with caution. Now the chase is on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.7. Oracle [4700] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================== Kill the Heretic Leader. The Prophets' will be done. ====================================================== ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Opening the door, some Grunts pop in and the Elites secure the | | area. This is it, the Heretic Leader's somewhere around here. | | However, the Commander Elite notices something. The smell in | | the air... is somewhat familiar. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ================ - Juggernaut - ================ >> Escape the infested labs. Something is fishy about your objective? It seems that we have stumbled across an infected lab... of what? Halo: CE players, you probably have a good idea of what you might be seeing within the next few minutes. Anyhow, begin making your way forward with the rest of your team, and you should probably notice some brownish colored blood on the floor...? Bypass that and walk into the next hallway. Once you open the door, the sound of battle should ring through the air, but no one's around! Your motion detector is going mad with red dots everywhere. Look through the glass floor. Below, the Heretic forces and some... weird things are fighting each other. The glass is way too fogged to really make out detail. Head to the other end of the room and walk through the door. Drop down the bottom floor. You can choose to inspect the brownish bodies on the floor. Yes, you guessed it. It seems the Flood are once again making their appearance. For the moment, there's little action going on. A few Elites will wonder what the hell just happened here. A few seconds later, the Heretic Leader... err... rather a hologram of the Heretic Leader will appear. With a few taunting words, he teleports out. Notice the red dots as they slowly appear on your motion detector! Suddenly, little Flood Infection Forms will begin to drop from the ceiling. Begin shooting them and popping each one. Some stray Infection Forms will most likely infect the already dead Combat Forms. Try to prevent that as best you can. The Energy Sword is very effective against the Flood. Slicing apart each one will only take up 3-5 battery as opposed to the 10 it wasted against other enemies. One thing you will want to avoid would be the Combat Forms' melee. They can hit you repeatedly very, very fast. Clear out every last Infection Form, and a door on your level will magically become unlocked (turn blue). Walk through it into a strange room. The Commander Elite will tell you that he'd wait until reinforcements arrived. Head through this door and into the next. Ahead, Flood hold a very strong position. Begin ripping them apart with the Energy Sword and more will jump down. At the same time, Sentinels will also appear to take out the Flood threat. I would suggest using the Plasma Rifle against the floating Sentinels and the Energy Sword against the Flood. There is a small platform in the middle of this elevator-like machine. The best position to take here would be that platform. Get on top and start shooting away at the various Sentinels zipping through the air. The room will begin to move down and more Flood Combat Forms will jump toward your flank. If possible, pick up a Sentinel Beam as it is one of the more effective weapons against the Flood not to mention the fact that it works wonders against Sentinels themselves as well. If possible, have your Elite allies hold the Sentinel Beam as well by switching weapons with them. From this point on, everytime the elevator stops, you can expect more enemies, whether in the form of Flood or Sentinels, to pop in when you least expect. Stay on the upper platform to hopefully reign supremacy over the Flood that will appear down below. While fighting, be sure you don't be stupid and jump off the side of the elevator. That would suck now wouldn't it? Try to survive this on-and-off period of enemy attacks throughout the entire ride of this terribly slow elevator. After what feels like an hour, you should finally reach the end destination. Booyah! How do you know when you finally reach the end? Well, for starters, a door should appear at one point. Otherwise, you can just wait until the elevator stops moving for a prolonged period of time. Anyhow, walk through the hallway that the door leads you to. The lighting here is a bit creepy, and bodies line the area. Walk through this corridor and head to a door on your left at the end. Once again, we have fighting. Before rushing out, try to wait out the shooting between the Heretics and the Flood. That should hopefully clear out some of your opposition anyway. Jump down to the lower area and refresh some of your ammunition with all the guns and stuff lying around. More Flood will walk in. This should be your first encounter with Flood Carrier Forms. The big, balloon-ish Flood creatures carry Infection Forms. When up against one, don't stand too close or you will be caught once it self-destructs. Creepy, huh? As you spend your time tearing through the Flood threat on the ground, more Heretic enemies will break through the upper level. You can use the various Plasma Cannons around the counter some of them. Even though plasma isn't too effective against the Flood, they are still useful with their high rate of fire. Try not to die here, as the last checkpoint will send you back to the beginning of the battle. That can be very frustrating. Definitely take my word for it. Eventually, after a number of waves, some Heretic forces consisting of Elites and Grunts will break through a door on your level. This is the hardest part in this room, so if you die here, prepare to be sent back all the way to the beginning of this room. Be extra careful and use grenades liberally to defeat the Heretic threat. Be especially wary of Grunts using the Plasma Cannons scattered around. Defeat the Heretic platoon and any remaining Flood Combat Forms around. Once all the Flood is defeated down to the very last Infection Form, you will at last get a checkpoint. Head through the doorway in which the Heretics punched through about a minute ago. The door at the other end is locked, but it will soon open for you. The annoying part of this mission is over. You have just escaped the infected labs. Phew. >> Find the Heretic Leader. Okay, with that problem down, another one will make itself apparent. The nearby storm is about to hit their position. Time to hasten before it comes to kill us. Back outside, a lot of Flood creatures occupy the area up ahead. A Phantom will fly in again to bring you some reinforcements... finally! Follow them as they round the next pathway onto a ledge. Mop up the Flood forces here and defeat the Heretic emplacement up ahead. Your Commander Elite is getting restless. You don't have much time. Head up the next slope into a well-guarded room. Throw a quick Plasma Grenade to quickly wipe out the majority of the small room. Then walk through and enter either door. There's a big door just ahead leading to the center of the level. The Heretic Leader is here... but before that, you are going to need to deal some pain on his guards. We have quite a problem here. Not only are the Heretic Leader's forces crowded here, but Sentinels and Flood are also taking their feuds up and around. Deal with the preliminary chaos and begin shooting away at the various enemies hanging around. Use the Sentinel Beam against the Flood and the floating tincans up in the air. At the other end of this room, the Heretic Leader has locked himself in a shielded room. Crap, we were so close! ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | The shield barrier will protect the Heretic Leader, but the | | rest of us will be taken down. However, the Arbiter has a | | plan. Three cables are at the top of the building. We scare | | him out... | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- >> Cut the three cables holding up the station. The Commander Elite will round up his troops and leave the area. Your job now is to begin heading up the ramps circling the level. Now you cannot rely on your ally's help. Begin scaling the pathway with haste. Some Flood will jump on and begin to attack. Sentinels will also create a ruckus. We have an even bigger threat now however. Some Flood you meet while scaling these ramps will wield Energy Swords against you. Use all your ability to avoid getting struck. While avoiding Sentinel fire and ripping away at every Flood that gets in your way, quickly run to the top. After three levels of ramp, you will find yourself upon an elevator. Start it and ride it to the top. It's a long way up so prepare yourself by reloading your weapons and rearming yourself. Let's see what we're capable of. ====================== - Hey, Watch This! - ====================== You enter the area while a large skirmish is underway between a force of Sentinels and the parasites. The three cables are those little stubs that pulsate a little blue. Once you get up there, you should be able to notice each one. Again, there will be more Flood wielding Energy Swords. DO NOT let them get a hit on you. The cables you are to knock out are found in a triangle formation with one cable at each vertex. Head to the backside of each of them and strike each one. I suggest using the Energy Sword as a few strikes will destroy a cable. While locating each of them, be sure to stay aware of Sentinels and the Flood. They will mostly preoccupy themselves by fighting each other, but occasionally, they will come for you. Destroy each cable, and the station will begin to freefall without any support. Here we go, the climax moment! As the platform slowly slides free of the supporting structure, you will be greeted with a large hop as the station falls! Well, at least we succeeded. Slowly make your way back to the elevator doing your best to comprehend with the rocking back and forth. Get back to the elevator and ride it all the way down. >> Pursue the Heretic Leader back to the hanger. Your Commander Elite's voice will boom through the radio. Your objective is to find the Heretic Leader once again. That means that you are probably going to have to walk down the ramps once again. This time however, they are even more heavily infested with Flood everywhere. Once at the bottom, find the door in which the Heretic Leader had locked himself in. Well, time to follow! Some of his guards defend the elevator that he had gone down. You should have no trouble taking the two Elites down. Bring up the elevator through the control panel and ride it all the way down. We still have a long way to go. Once the elevator stops, head through the opposite door and defeat the Flood that might appear in front of you. Choose either the left or right path and follow it until you reach the opposite end of this giant chamber. The Arbiter will quickly get into the Banshee and follow the Heretic Leader. Flying through this will be very difficult considering how fast we are moving. It's a short trip. Follow the arrow on your HUD and ignore any other Banshees flying around. Our one objective is to reach the other platform. Another short cutscene... ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | The Arbiter crashes into the side of the building just as the | | storm blows him away. A major rip-off Halo: CE if you ask me. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ========================================== - Dead or Alive... Actually, Just Dead - ========================================== Okay, here's the lowdown on our current situation. The Heretic Leader has flew to this platform and we have to follow him before this platform crashes at the bottom. Basically, you will be following him all the way back to the main hanger. Continue through this hallway through the next door. This first room is heavily infested with Flood and Sentinels, but with proper timing and sneaking, you can bypass it without having to fight anything. Watch out for the Flood around and use the Sentinel Beam to its highest potential. If you still have an Energy Sword, now would be a great time to use it considering its amazing effect against enemy Flood. When you exit through the next door, immediately look to your left as three Carrier Forms will begin walking toward you. Kill all three and continue through this corridor. You should still be familiar with this next room. Remember the exploding blue containers? Well, now you can REALLY put them to use. Blow them up next to Flood and watch the body parts fly. This area is straightforward with only one possible path. Once you reach the end, turn right and head through this next door into yet another hallway. The lighting is a lot dimmer so watch out for Flood ambushes while walking through. As you round the next slope, you should see a Grunt getting overtaken by some Infection Forms toward your right. Round the next few turns and the explosions will much become much more frequent! Hasten your step and beware of Carrier forms that can just explode. When you finally do find yourself in another room, begin to take some cover immediately. Let the Heretic forces and the Flood dish it out themselves for a few seconds. Then jump out and finish off the rest of them. Once that's over, head through the other door at the opposite corner into the next section of hallway. There are no enemies here, but the final fight is yet to come. Cross the next corner and head through the door to meet the Heretic Leader. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | You have found the Heretic Leader. The Heretic Leader summons | | his 343 Guilty Spark friend. Taking a few shots at the Arbiter, | | the Heretic Leader forces you into hiding. With that, he sends | | out two supercharged Elites against you. Battle time. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- >> Kill the Heretic Leader. Okay, we are up against three Elites with jet-packs. One of them is the Heretic Leader, but he won't be available until we take down those two ugly looking Elites. Note that their shields are much stronger. If you have an Energy Sword, throw it down now as it will be useless. Move to the left and find a Plasma Rifle on the ground. Use hit & run tactics and lots of cover to take down those two Elites. Now the Heretic Leader will make his appearance. With powerful shields, he is sure to give you some problems. There are a few Plasma Rifles scattered throughout this area that I strongly suggest you take advantage of. Knock him down as quickly as possible before he has a chance to defeat you. Jump on the UFO-looking ship if you must. Your only target is the Heretic Leader. Once he's dead, the mission is over. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | As you drag the dead body, 343 Guilty Spark will appear again. | | The Arbiter still plans on calling the Monitor the Oracle. | | With a magnetic device, a Brute takes the "Oracle." Time to | | leave folks. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.8. Delta Halo [4800] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================ A Covenant army stands between you and the Prophet of Regret. Get to work. ============================================================================ ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | A warp appears in space... Miranda Keye's Cruiser comes in taking | | wreckage from the original New Mombasa with it. The jump had | | sudden so some problems were to be fixed. The Cruiser has | | apparently followed the Covenant to a ring-world. Another Halo? | | Asking if this was the ring that her father had found, Keyes | | has a moment. The Covenant Cruiser is just up ahead, and Keyes | | intends on catching Regret and finding out the meaning of the | | recent offensive on Earth. | | | | To follow those Covenant forces, Sarge and the Master Chief are | | to occupy the ring. Johnson will lead in two Pelicans of troops | | and the Master Chief will fall with the Helljumpers through a | | "free-fall." As the Cruiser slowly makes its way over Delta Halo, | | the Master Chief and Cortana ready themselves for the fall. The | | pods are released straight for the surface. | | | | On the ground, a Grunt and Jackal are on patrol. Comically, the | | Grunt quickly gets on the Plasma Turret and attempts to take | | down the pods before they hit. Failing to take the majority out, | | the Master Chief appears fully armed and ready to fight. This | | party's over. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ================ - Helljumper - ================ >> Clear the landing zone for the Pelicans. Just as you jump out of your pod, a Helljumper will appear telling you that we must take out those turrets. You start off with a SMG but you also have a Rocket Launcher at your disposal. Make your way forward into the above area. The Covenant have taken this position so fight them through. There are Elites in the back, but take out the preliminary Grunts and Jackals along as those turrets. While fighting, stay at this "ruin" area. Clear out the turrets along with any other infantry on the ground. Check the buildings thoroughly to flush out crouching Elites or hiding Jackals. After a pretty good deal of fighting, Cortana will radio in to Johnson. Before the Pelicans arrive however, a Phantom will appear and send in reinforcements. It mainly consists of Grunts and Jackals, but beware of the occasional Elite that flies down. If you still have your Rocket Launcher, now would be a great time to use it. Once again, flush out any hiding enemies and blow them out. After that wave, another Phantom will appear to drop more troops. This one has more Grunts and more Elites however. The Red Elite has a chance of bringing out an Energy Sword so take care of that threat as quickly as you can. Finally, after both waves are defeated, the two Phantoms will move in. Sarge will notice a strange temple-like structure up ahead. A Warthog and two more Marines will be dropped at your disposal so get in and drive or shoot. Anyway, now saddled up, begin moving. The path forward is to the right of the "ruins" area so send your Warthog in that direction up a grassy ravine. At the next corner are two Covenant Snipers that you should take down. Have your Warthog drive along the cliff edge and a building will come into view up ahead. >> Extend the bridge, and cross the chasm. Well, it looks as if the Covenant are attempting to impede your progress by raising the bridge. That's nothing serious as we can always lower it again... by force. Park your Warthog right by the bridge control building and get out. There are a lot of Covenant nearby so watch your back. Kill off the Grunts manning the Plasma Turrets and the Elites in Ghosts. Move to the center of the building where a hologram of the Prophet of Regret appears. Kill the Blue Elite and the various Grunt scattered around. Hit the control panel and watch the bridge descend. With that, get back out. Once the bridge is down, Johnson will fly in with another Pelican and a Scorpion to help you against the Wraith on the far side. Take full advantage of it and get on. Now move across the bridge and take two shots at the Wraith to put it out of commission for a while. Some Ghosts will now fly in through the open pathway to your right as soon as you cross the bridge. They are easy meat considering the amount of firepower you have. >> Push through the Covenant-held ruins. Once they are smoldering pieces of wreckage, begin positioning your tank through the pathway they came from and enter the building. Some more stray Ghosts might appear so take care of them as needed. You will find the area ahead split up with one path going up and one path going straight. Take either one as they both lead you to the same place. Up ahead, you'll see a waterfall. More Ghosts will fly in. Take them down with a single shot and continue along. There are also some Grunts around the area that you might want to shoot out. Continue along and you will see Ghosts galore. Those still shouldn't pose too big of a threat as long as you still have your Scorpion. At the next corner is a Grunt manning a Plasma Cannon. Mow him down and continue past his lead- filled body. You will enter the building again. The inside path is just large enough to fit in your tank. At the next corner are three Jackals. They should not be a problem. Continue through the next corner to a larger courtyard area. ============================== - You Break It, You Buy It - ============================== The courtyard up ahead is crawling with Jackals and Grunts everywhere. Along with that, Ghosts patrol the area and some Plasma Turrets guard the structure up ahead. I'd strongly suggest staying in your tank for the firepower. Blow up the Ghosts that come at you and take out the Jackal positions with your secondary fire. Clear this area of all enemies and bring your Scorpion to the next area. The pillars provide enough room to fit your tank through so take full advantage of it. Advance through the building. More Ghosts will move in and begin shooting at you. Blow the utter crap out of them and shoot out any Plasma Cannon emplacements along the walls. Once they are cleared, make a 180 degree turn and ride the downslope. There are even more Ghosts here, and Grunts line the left wall with Plasma Cannons. Prioritize the Ghosts flying around first and then take care of the Grunts to your left. At the same time, mow down the remaining Jackals in this area. Move your tank forward and then right. There will be a clearing up ahead with a bunch of ruins grouped together. Cortana will notify you of another structure up ahead. You know what to do. Move your Scorpion forward and blast the Plasma Turret emplacements here and there. Some Ghost patrols will begin to engage you so get them off your tail. Before moving in, let's get familiar with this area first. To your left is a gigantic lake. Not only is it a great view, but it also has a strange structure right in the middle of it. The only way out of this area is through the middle ruins. However, don't go there until you blow up most of the Ghosts and Plasma Turrets around. Navigate your tank to the side opposite the lake and find the ramp leading up to the middle structure. Cortana will tell you about a Pelican moving in. Move up the ramp and you should notice the bird flying in. Wait for the supplies to drop down and re-arm yourself with a Battle Rifle. Also, you might consider picking up a Sniper Rifle or Rocket Launcher. It's your choice. Begin moving to the center of the structure you are currently on and engage the Elites, Grunts, and Jackals there. Eventually, the Marines will come to assist you. Follow to the center and defeat the enemies there. Use the pillars and walls as cover. Slowly advance while killing off the remaining Covenant and you will see that they are all coming out of a doorway at the corner. Clear out the remaining aliens, and then have your Marine force come with you into the next area. Right there, ready to greet you, is a Blue Elite. See it before it sees you and take it down. A number of Grunts are also in the area, and more Elites are at the ledge a bit forward. Once you clear them out, move forward and then turn left. Another hologram of Regret will be playing. There are Blue and Red Elites on the ledge above so take them out as needed. Remember not to shoot the purple crates surrouding Regret's hologram if your Marines are near as they can make quite an explosion. Once you clear out the majority of the occupying Covenant, make your way up the ramp to the left, and go through the smashed hole in the wall. There are some enemies here too. Luckily, they aren't in big numbers. Some Grunts will also run in through a small rock hallway to the left. Defeat the various enemies around, and make your way into the rocky doorway. Notice the waterfall. ======================================================== - Off the Rock, Through the Bush, Nothing But Jackal - ======================================================== Continue along and smash the Jackal standing right in front of you. The next portion is a very easy area to get lost in. Not to mention being almost impossible on Legendary. Move forward and try to take out a few of the Jackals and snipers down below. Don't jump down however! Rather, turn to your right and take a small jump to the lower grassy area. Take the Battle Rifle in the tube if you need it. Defeat the Jackal nearby and jump off the ledge. Turn around and defeat the Blue Elite and Jackal nearby. If you are lucky, you will catch both of them off-guard which allows you to smash both in the back of their skull. Anyway, once they are dead, turn around again and advance this way. Jump off yet another ledge and you will find yourself just in front of a tunnel at a corner. A bunch of Jackals and an Elite will rush out of this hole so throw a grenade. Finish off the rest of them. Once they are down and out, some Drones will fly down to make the situation even worse. These Drones are quick and can fly so pick your shots carefully. I find the Battle Rifle or the Covenant Carbine the best weapon against those buggers. Anyway, round the corner with the tunnel and continue this way along the edge of the area. Walk up the slope and turn left where a Battle Rifle awaits you. Pick it up if you don't have one already. Also nearby is a tunnel. An Elite has probably already sighted you. Kill him whichever way you'd like, and take the tunnel that he came out of. Transcend this hole to the other side where more wilderness awaits. Moving straight forward will just put you in an area you've already been so as soon as you leave the tunnel, turn to your left. Kill the Jackals here and pick up the SMG if you'd like. Move along the pathway in the direction of the waterfall. If you want an Energy Sword, you can follow the creek downstream all the way to the end. Backtrack through the tunnel and then continue in the opposite direction without going down the slope to the side. At the far end, you will find a lot of weapons that you might want to pick up. Hey, it's all your choice! Anyway, at this end is another "rockier" tunnel. Cortana will say something so you know that you're on the right path. >> Reach the towers in the lake. Once you clear this tunnel, you will find yourself at the structure that Sarge noted at the beginning of this level. Along with that, you are also in the middle of the lake that we saw before. A Pelican was nice enough to drop off some supplies here so pick up whatever you need. When you're ready, make your way down the slope and open the door at the end... The room is empty at first. Navigate through either side and go through the door. You will reach yet another hologram of Regret along with two Honor Guards! Defeat the latter and kill off the remaining Covenant here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.9. Regret [4900] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================== You heard the lady. Locate the Prophet, take him down. ======================================================== ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Before the Master Chief leaves, Cortana will appear and stop you. | | It seems Regret will activate Halo. Cortana then translates it. | | and the Master Chief contacts his commander. It seems the Index | | must be used to activate Halo. Keyes will go to the Library and | | pick up the Index. Your job is finished here. Now it's time to | | get rid the Prophet... Regret. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- =============== - Testament - =============== >> Make your way through the first set of towers. As the level starts, you will have some Marines reinforce you. After a little wait, the first of the Covenant will appear. Take out the Drones flying through the air before the Blue Elite comes in. Take him down and find the only open doorway on the upper level. Go through and you'll find yourself back outside. The bridge to your right is down so go straight and meet some Covenant just waiting to be killed. There will be an Elite or two as well as a bunch of Grunts. Some snipers will also shoot at you so do your best to avoid those shots. Some grenades would help too. Follow the pathway along the balcony and more Elites will begin engaging your position. At the end, round the corner onto the platform. Take this bridge to the other side where some more enemies are waiting for you. The Grunts are easily defeated, but beware of the Elites as they like to sneak up on you. Turn to your left and begin moving in that direction. Kill off any Elites that you see. Advance along this balcony and you should move through a doorway. The next room is filled with Grunts and Elites so ready your weapons. The exit from this round room is just to the left of the entrance, but a large pile of debris will force you to move around the edge of the room. Take care of the remaining enemies and exit this room. Once again, you will find yourself back outside above the lake. Move a bit forward to a large center platform. There are a few Elites and Jackals guarding this open platform. Take care of them with a few grenades and some weapon fire. Try not to fall off while you're at it. Once those hostiles are cleared out, a Phantom will fly in shortly afterwards to drop two Hunters. You know how to deal with these things. I strongly suggest picking up a Beam Rifle and using it in the orange spot of each. Once both are defeated, Miranda Keyes will radio in and tell you that she's re-routing a few persuers to you to avoid capture (That's nice!). With a quick apology, she radios out. A few Pelicans will move in and drop off some supplies for you. Re-arm yourself as needed. Cortana will notice a gondola moving in from the far tower full of Covenant reinforcements. Get yourself ready for battle and engage the gondola as it speeds in. There are quite a few enemies here so watch your back. When they are down, get on. >> Ride the gondola to the far towers. We'll be making our way to the other building through this rather "unique" form of transportation. Well, it beats swimming. Anyway, to activate the gondola, head to front of it (or the back of it depending on how you look at it), and activate the control panel to get the car moving. ==================== - One-Way Ticket - ==================== Not too long after you leave port, a few Drones buggers will fly in. Take them down quickly with a few shots each. Your gondola will slowly progress. Look forward and note the other gondola moving in on your position. When you reach it, jump over and take out the Elite threat on the far side. It shouldn't be too difficult. Once those Covenant are down and out, jump back and the gondola will begin moving again. Onward to the next tower! It will take about a minute until you get into weapon range of the next tower. Snipe out the Grunts manning Plasma Turrets on the higher ledge, and get off the gondola once it stops at the next tower. The following room is full of Jackals which can easily be taken out with a well thrown grenade. Clear the room of them. There's a pathway leading up, but there really isn't a point to going up unless you want a Fuel Rod Gun which can be picked up. >> Pass through the submerged structures. Some Drones will begin to fly in once the Jackals are down for the count. Once you happen to clear out the buggers, Cortana will tell you of a submerged structure just below. There's a large elevator shaft down the middle of this room. Wait for it to come up and a Marine will notice that it's full of Covenant. Arm your weapons and throw a quick grenade into the elevator to flush them out. Clear out the rest of them and step right in. Wait for the elevator to begin moving downward... but it stops. Suddenly, the car hits the waterline and begins floating. Look out the window and observe the area below the lake. While you move through, Cortana will tell you a bit about Regret's current position. It seems that he is now "apologizing" to the Prophets for undergoing an offensive too soon. Eventually, your cart will hit another waterline and reach a second structure. The room is empty. Slowly advance through the next room and up the ramp. You will find yourself in a submerged tunnel. A bunch of Grunts patrol the area, but they shouldn't pose much of a threat. Kill them off before they get a shot in edgewise and advance. Once you go through the next doorway, turn to your left or right. There are ramps leading up to the top of this area. Walk up until you reach the top. You should find yourself in a gigantic room crawling with Covenant. In the middle is a very large hologram of Regret. This part can be very difficult if you aren't careful. Before jumping gun-ho right in this room, try to take out a few snipers or Drones from your current position. It might not be obvious as of yet, but there are also a few Elite Honor Guards hanging around with deadly Energy Swords. I strongly suggest against jumping down to the floor before taking out the various forces in the hallways on the upper level first. Eventually, some Hunters will appear on the floor. If you cleared out most of the snipers around, jump down and begin engaging the both of them. Beam Rifles again, work wonder against these Hunters. The snipers around drop them indefinitely so try to use one against the orange spots along the Hunters' backs and necks. Kill them both off, and advance to the opposite end of the room. On the floor, locate the door in the center and go through. Once again, turn either left or right, and go through the doorway at the other end. Ahead is another submerged tunnel completely empty... or so it seems. In reality, there are a bunch of Elites and Grunts down below on active camouflage. You should be able to see their outlines beforehand so watch your back. If you can, snipe some of them out before moving in. While fighting off these invisible heathen, beware of an Elite carrying an Energy Sword that will run in. Once all the invisible freaks are killed off, continue up the next ramp and turn left. A quick trip through this hallway will lead you to another one of those underwater cars. You don't have much of a choice so step in and activate it. Once again, the elevator will enter the water and sail through another portion of the lake. Cortana will begin speaking again; Regret has received a response from High Charity. It seems that the other Prophets, Truce and Mercy, have forgiven Regret for his actions. >> Reach the main temple. Now we're on the same level of Regret. The only objective now is to find him. Move forward out of the elevator and defeat the Energy Sword Elite. Up ahead is another Elite along with a group of Grunts. Take all of them down and advance through the hallway. The next corner will have a hologram of Regret (He's popular around here isn't he?). Bypass it and exit the doorway to get back outside. At first, the area seems empty except for a small ledge up ahead. Move forward a little bit, and some Drones will fly in. A full platoon of Elites up ahead will also engage you. Don't rush in blindly yet. Take down the Drone threat as they pose a considerable threat. The Elites will also be a problem. Once the coast is clear, ascend the ledge and you will get a call from a Pelican. He's almost out of fuel, but he'll make one last pass. Defeat the Jackals at the peak of the ledge. Turn right and you'll reach some more ruins. Along with that, you'll find a sniper plus a few Elites patrolling the area. Advance through the area just as a Phantom drops off some more Covenant reinforcements. A quick grenade should clear the Jackals that drop down and some extra fire will take out the two Blue Elites. Once they are out of the way, move to the gondola just past the next corner. Activate it and admire the scenery as you close in on Regret. Miranda Keyes will radio in and ask how you're doing. She's currently at the Library. Afterwards, some Banshees will attack. Considering the weapons you have, do your best and try to take them down. At the same time, the opposite gondola will hold two Blue Elites with jetpacks. Ignore the Banshee threat for now and quickly take out the two of them before concentrating your fire on the Banshees. The opposite tower is heavily guarded with Plasma Turrets and Jackals almost everywhere. Kill off the Grunts on the Plasma Turrets quickly and then concentrate your fire on the remaining forces. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | The Master Chief will walk to the door as some Covenant Cruisers | | zip by through the air. It seems that those Covenant are onto | | his intentions. They are going to try to stop the Master Chief | | before he can kill off Regret. Get inside quickly and kill the | | Prophet before they get to the Master Chief! | | | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ================================================= - Sorry, Were You in the Middle of Something? - ================================================= >> Kill the Prophet of Regret, and escape. If there are any remaining Jackals hanging around, now would be a great time to take them out. Make your way up the ramp with haste and go through the door. Turn to either side and clear out the Grunts guarding the door. At the other side, move up the ramp and open the big door... the Prophet is just ahead. Some Elites with Energy Swords will probably jump at you. Considering Regret is in this chamber, you can expect the defenses to be pretty thick. Before even entering the room, let some of the Elites follow you out into the hallway. Clear them out without getting killed yourself. Enter the room, and locate the Prophet. Luckily, defeating Regret is a joke. When you enter, the evil voice that splits through the air is his. Move to the very end of the room, and find his little seat. The cannon that he uses against you is like the Fuel Rod Cannon that the Hunters hold. However, it's gold and is much more powerful! To get to him, jump over his attacks and quickly press the X Button as soon as you get within hijacking range. Now that you're crawling on his head, begin mashing the B Button repeatedly the continually smack Regret in the head. For a Prophet that barely does any fighting of his own, Regret can take quite a bit of punishment. Eventually, he'll let out a moan and die. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | The Phantoms, with the death of Regret, now has no use for this | | platform. As the shot readies, the Master Chief runs away as | | quickly as possible. However, he is too late to avoid the beam | | as he jumps into the sea... Even as he is dead, a strange | | tentacle and a voice will slip through the air... What will | | happen...? | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.10. Sacred Icon [4010] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== Succeed where others have failed. Lower the shield protecting the Sacred Icon =============================================================================== ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | [ Covenant Holy City, High Charity ] | | [ Sanctum of the Heirarchs ] | | | | In the Holy City, Brutes walk past and rip off the armor of the | | Honor Guards. The Elites are no longer the protectors of the | | Heirarchs. The Commander Elite is currently pleading with the | | Prophets to not give the order to these Brutes. The death of | | Regret was one of high importance and enough to convince the | | Heirarchs that the Elites were... unreliable so to speak. | | | | The Arbiter converses with the Prophet as the Commander leaves. | | The Elites have apparently threatened to resign. Previously, | | the Halo had been destroyed grieving the Covenant. Now they had | | found another one! An Oracle was to be located. The key to | | Halo is the Sacred Icon... the Index. | | | | As a Phantom transports the Arbiter to the library, the Brute | | tells the Arbiter of his mission. He will ask of whom killed the | | Prophet of Regret. It seems the "demon" is here. As the Phantom | | drops him off, an Enforcer will appear behind the Arbiter. The | | Phantom will chase it off. Your mission is clear. Godspeed. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- =========================== - Uncomfortable Silence - =========================== >> Lower the Containment Shield. You are currently armed with a Covenant Carbine and a Plasma Rifle. Turn around and pick up any weapons that you'd like. I'd suggest taking the Sentinel Beam just behind you. Begin moving forward and shoot down any Sentinels that appear. Nearby, you will find a Grunt shooting at a piston. Clear out any other Sentinels around and activate the piston. Jump down...! It's a long ride down as you slowly but surely slide all the way to the bottom. Once walking again, strike the next pistol and jump down after it. At first, you won't see any enemies. The red dots on your motion tracker are mostly droids that are just flying around. They can't hurt you so no need to waste ammunition on them. Once you are about halfway through, some Sentinels will finally begin to engage you. Defeat any that pose a threat and move to the piston at the end. Activate that one and jump down. On this floor, you should meet some Grunt and Jackal reinforcements. There are a few more Sentinels floating around. If you look on the walls, you might find some points where Sentinels will float out of. If you shoot those positions, Sentinels won't attack you in that sector. Find your way to the left side of this room where a bridge over a deep chasm awaits. Near the end of this bridge, Tartarus will radio in. You are nearing the Containment Shields so Sentinels will become more abundant. At the other end of the bridge, turn left or right and defeat the floating Sentinels. They shouldn't pose too much of a problem considering they really only appear in groups of one or two. At the far end of this area, turn right and activate the next piston. When it goes down, jump down once more. This room might have a bit more going on. Blow up the "Sentinel Transporters" on the wall to stunt the Sentinels in this room. Head straight through this room to the end where yet another piston awaits. Getting repetitive? Jump and enter the Containment Shield room. There's a gigantic Enforcer floating around. As of now, it's invincible so don't even try to shoot it. Instead, avoid its fire. >> Power-up the four Absorbers to lower the Containment Shield. Tartarus will notify you of four Absorbers on the brown platform. They are in plain sight. The Plug Locks are the four stubs on the floor. Avoid the Enforcer's fire as you activate every one of them. Once all four of them are hit, the Containment Shield switch will appear in the middle. Hit that and your objective is complete. Wait a few seconds and the Enforcer will explode falling in pieces to the ground. ===================== - Buyer's Remorse - ===================== The doors ahead of you will open and the brown platform will begin to move out into the falling snow. Up ahead, your Phantom will escort your platform as you begin moving toward the Library. The doors up ahead will open up, and a particularly angry Enforcer will begin firing upon the Phantom. Looks like it's up to you now. >> Make your way through the Flood-infested wall. Hopefully, as the Phantom left, it blew a chunk a chunk out of the Enforcer for you. When battling the behemoth, be sure to shoot it where the shield is not active. If you have a Plasma Pistol, you can use an overcharge to take down one half of its shields. At the same time, a whole new breed of Sentinels will appear. The gold ones flying around have shield generators which can allow them to survive longer. Even so, they can still be taken down. Try to destroy the Enforcer as quickly as possible. Flood will begin to jump down from the platforms above making the situation even tougher. Whenever your shields are down, dive to the lower platform and take cover. To your front are two big, brown doors. One is on the left and one is on the right. About a minute into the wall, the door on the left will open up along with a few Sentinels. Clear out this area and get over through that door. At first, this large hallway appears empty. However, move forward a bit and the doors containing the Flood will open up as Flood jump out sporadically. If possible, allow the Sentinels and the Flood to do their own thing while you hide out behind a wall. Sentinel Beams are effective against both Flood and Sentinels themselves. Pick one up whenever possible. This area can take a very long time to clear. When your shields are down, take immediate cover. DO NOT allow the Infection Forms to stick to you. If you can, take a few shots at the various "Sentinel Transporters" on the walls to clear out the Sentinel threat. Eventually, the Flood will exhaust themselves and stop coming. Begin moving through this corridor all the way to the far end where a piston awaits you. Hit it and follow it down. This next corridor has a few more Flood although not in really big numbers. Clear out that group with a well-placed grenade and move forward to find another piston. Jump down. As soon as you enter the following hallway, be sure to pick up the Shotgun nearby the dead Marine. Move forward and your radio will catch a conversation between some Marines. It seems that those Marines are having just as much of a problem as us. Move forward with Shotgun in hand, and some Flood will hurry out of the following hallway. Take full advantage of the Shottie and blow their bodies to a fine powder. A Shotgun blast to a Flood's chest should usually be enough to take that one down. Round the next few corners and blast a few more Flood. Eventually, the Sentinels will enter the fight. Let the Flood and those floating Sentinels dish it out with each other. Move forward through this hallway. Pretty soon, you will find some balloon-like Flood. Watch out for these Carrier Forms as they can blow. Also beware of Flood holding Shotguns. They like to sneak up behind you and blast you in the head. When you reach the grayish area with Flood jumping at you from both sides, be sure to watch out for Flood sneaking up behind you. Don't let them push you into corners and you should be fine. The Sentinel Beam and Shotgun combos work wonders in this sector. Move forward and after quite a bit of walking and cleaning up stray Flood, you should find a piston. Activate it and jump away from this floor. Finally, you will find yourself back outside... partially. There are a bunch of Flood scurrying around so take them down. Up ahead is an Enforcer just begging to be killed. If you have any plasma weapons at hand, use it to take down its shields. If not, try to aim for the unshielded portions of the Enforcer to hopefully knock it down before it does too much damage. At the other end of this ledge area, you will find a piston. Activate it and follow it downward. This next area is very dark so watch your back. Your motion sensor will come in handy here. Up ahead is a stack of boxes. Defeat any enemies around and turn right immediately. The bridge connecting the gap is up ahead. By moving this way, you can save time by avoiding most of the Flood here. Cross the bridge over the deep chasm, and defeat the various Carrier Forms standing stupidly at the end. Progress through this room shooting down any Flood that attack. At the other end, cross the bridge. Now at the other end, some more Marines will cross your radio. They too are having problems with the Flood. Only now have they realized that "they" are not Covenant. (What took you?) There are a quite few Flood infesting this area. Use the structure for cover as you dive around. You will find the exit out of here at the far end to your right. Activate this piston and fall down. Activate the next piston just up ahead. Fall down from that and you will find yourself on a small ledge overlooking a large valley. There's a piston in the middle of this room that can be activated. Use it and fall through the shaft. Enjoy the ride to the bottom before you land a small ledge above a larger room. Jump down and look forward long enough to notice a Phantom fly off. You are left here with a bunch of Flood Combat Forms everywhere. Load up your Shotgun or whatever weapon you intend on using against them. Clear out this room, and activate the next piston. Ride the next shaft all the way to the very bottom. It's a long ride so try not to fall asleep. ====================== - 100,000 Year War - ====================== >> Rendezvous with your allies in the Covenant camp. You are back in the open in a desolate area still without any form of reinforcements. As you walk out, pods will fall from the sky revealing Elites to help you out. Hooray! Move forward through the various Flood forms. Pick up the Energy Sword on the ground if you'd like. Up ahead, you will find the Covenant camp. Well, glad we're out of that place. There are a few Flood to clear out. A nearby Elite will tell you that your Commander has landed further in. Go through the small tunnel behind the tunnel. Quite a lot of action here. Arm your weapons and help your allies blow the crap out of the parasite. The Commander Elite will be just as surprised to see you here as you are to him. More Flood will appear to be a nuisance. Be particularly wary of Rocket Launcher wielding Combat Forms. Clear the camp of these Flood to secure this area. Finally, a Phantom will appear and drop down some reinforcements. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.11. Quarantine Zone [4011] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================== Parasites, humans - no matter. The Icon must be found. ======================================================== ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | The Arbiter will tell the Commander of his mission. He must fight | | his way into the area and retrieve the Sacred Icon. The Commander | | ends with a warning. "The parasite are not to be trifled with." | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- =================================================== - Objects in Mirror are Larger Than They Appear - =================================================== >> Push through the Quarantine Zone toward the Library. The Flood are thick in the next few areas. The Commander Elite will begin to rally up troops so you should move out first. There's a Ghost and an Elite- driven Spectre that you can saddle up in. Take either one and immediately take down the Enforcer that appears. With plasma weaponry, it should fall quickly. There are a number of Sentinels around. Defeat them any way you see fit. Once those buggers are down, locate the brown door and go through. Good news, you're back inside... at the moment. Travel through this hallway to another brown door at the end. Be sure your reinforcements don't get lost or the next portion will be very difficult. When the cool music kicks in, prepare yourself for a fight. There are a number of Enforcers in the air. Try to take down as many as you could without actually moving too far in. Stick by the entrance area for a few seconds and let your opponents move to you. Begin moving forward through the area. Do your best to avoid getting directly under the Enforcers as they have a tendency to pick your vehicle up. If that happens, get out as quickly as possible. There are numerous Sentinels hanging around, but the Enforcer are the biggest threat at the moment. After taking down at least three Enforcers, your Commander will tell you that he's on your way. If you look in the center of the platform you are on, you'll find a Warthog sandwiched between two walls. Pick that up if you want it. If not, bypass it. Look to your right where a ramp leads down to the lower platform. Now this is where it gets interesting. The Flood will now make their appearance in Warthogs and Ghosts. Take note of the Scorpion in the corner and either take it or destroy it before the Flood happen to get to it. On the far side, you'll find a Wraith. Defeat the Flood here by zipping through them with whatever vehicle you chose to man. When all the Enforcers, Sentinels, and Combat Forms are down for the count, go through the brown door. Slowly make your way through this hallway. Exit the door at the end. ========================= - Healthy Competition - ========================= Just hope that some of your allies stayed alive here. Numerous Enforcers are in the area, but with a vehicle, they can be taken down quickly. You will also find various niches along the walls which you can hide in if your shields go down. It's best to have a vehicle, but moving on foot still works. Make your way down the ramp all the way to snowy bottom. More of those pesky Enforcers might come out of windows in the wall. Beware. At the bottom of this slope, you should find some Flood stupidly stumbling around. Take care of them, but do keep in mind that they are capable of jumping onto your vehicle and hijacking it. Be sure not to fall into the big hole in the middle of the area. When all enemies are defeated, make your way to the doorway at the other end. Hopefully, you still have some reinforcements alive. If not, sucks to be you. Once you clear the next doorway, you will find yourself in a whole new area. There are Wraiths and Enforcers making life difficult over the next pass. At this moment, you have two choices. Go either left or right. They will both lead you through a lot of combat so there really isn't much choice. For the record, I went left. At the next corner, you'll find a Wraith. Blow the crap out of it before moving forward. Try to take down the nearby Enforcer just as well. You should find yourself on a large cliff overlooking a fatal fall. The mist down below glows an eery green. You definitely don't want to step in there. Move to the left area of this valley through what appears to be a giant tube. When you clear it, I'd suggest getting out of your vehicle now. Up on top of a ledge are some Flood wielding Rocket Launchers. They aren't too stupid and definitely know how to lock on. This is a pretty big Flood battle so take caution. Appearing to your left should be some Combat Forms driving Ghosts. Either hijack them or kill them off the old-fashioned way. If you're sporting an Energy Sword or Sentinel Beam, by all means, use it against them. Clear this area picking up any necessary ammo and cross the bridge to the right. There are numerous Flood Combat Forms carrying Rocket Launchers on the far side. Do not let them hit you. Apart from a few Flood in Ghosts, you shouldn't have much of a problem in this sector as long as you cleared out the Rocket Launcher-wielding Flood. To your left and up the next slope, you'll see a Wraith. Hijack it or destroy it. When that's finished, cross the land-bridge nearby. There's another Wraith at the far end. However, when you pass it, another Enforcer plus numerous Sentinels will appear to attack you so be prepared! There will also be some Flood driving Ghosts around. Locate the cave and move through it. The size is big enough to bit vehicles so take it inside. Eventually, you'll reach a more orange-ish area with a skirmish underway between some Flood and the machines. At the very start of the area, you'll probably find a Scorpion Tank driven by a Combat Form. There are at least three Enforcers plus many more Sentinels so watch your back. Clear out the area any way you choose. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed however. Slowly but surely, progress through the area to lower area. Defeat all enemies and find the small cave on the ground floor. It's too small to fit most vehicles in so looks like you're moving on foot for now. Jump over the wreckage and move through the hallway. At the other end, you'll venture upon another blazing area. Luckily, you start off in a windowed area above the combat. There is a Battle Rifle and a Plasma Rifle that can be picked up nearby. Re-arm yourself if you need to and jump into the battle. Quickly take out the Enforcer and begin to engage the Sentinels. There's a lot of cover around so take any that you possibly can. There are numerous Flood here too. There is a catch though; they bear energy shields. It's nothing special but it adds to their stamina so watch out! Navigate through the wreckage on the ground floor and try to find a piece of ground that is indented in. That's the exit. Move through the rocky hallway and some blazing wreckage. When you reach the next room, a destroyed Enforcer will fall from the ceiling. Move out and immediately turn left. Clear the Enforcer in that direction followed by any Flood that are engaging you right now. Beware especially of those wielding Energy Swords or Shotguns. Move through the wreckage on the lower level until you find a rock cave in a wall. Move around to it and more Flood plus a few Sentinels will fall from the ceiling. Once again, Shotgun and Energy Sword holding Combat Forms are difficult adversaries. Make sure they do not hit you. The Sentinels are also going to pose a threat with their laser so watch yourself. There are a lot of Flood here. Fall back when you need your shields to recharge and DO NOT let them overwhelm you. Clear them all out and go through the rock cave at the far end. Venture through here to the end where you'll find another wrecked room infested with Flood. Go straight from the entrance all the way to the other corner. Turn left and you'll find the exit area. Now you'll have to kill off most of the Flood so they don't kill you (Whee). Defeat the Flood here and exit. More Combat Forms will move in. Watch out for the one with the Rocket Launcher. If you can, let the Sentinels clear the way for you. Blow up the Sentinels and move back outside into the snow... >> Link-up with the Spec-Ops Leader, and break through the Flood barricade. Well, you did clear the Quarantine Zone. There are still some enemies to be killed back outside. Namely a Wraith up ahead that is wreaking havoc. There are a few Ghosts around which you can hijack. Clear out the enemies and go through the tunnel leading into the next area. Just as you enter, you'll find an Enforcer above. Turn to your right and watch as Flood drive in with Ghosts and Warthogs. Try to hijack one. Do your best to clear off the preliminary Flood and you should see a Phantom destroy an Enforcer. You can let it do most of the work by simply stepping out of the way. The Plasma Turret will do heavy damage against the Flood making your life easier. The Phantom will drop off the Commander along with a fresh Spectre to help you out. Drive or take shotgun and move across the area. Up ahead is another Wraith. Take it down with your Plasma Cannon. Make your way to the far end where more Flood in Ghosts and Warthogs will move in. Take careful notice of the Gauss Cannon Warthog and dispose of it. Drive to the other end up the slope to the next area which is pretty large. There's a lot of combat going on to your left, but all of that can be avoided. Move straight from the entrance forward. You will pass a Wraith which can be destroyed easily. Position the Spectre inside the structure and move left. You'll find a Flood manning a Gun Turret. Dispose of him. Clear the area with the help of your Elite allies. Watch out for the Gun Turrets on the upper level. There's a small doorway that you will be able to go through. Move with your team through the hallway. There's a large platform up ahead. Walk all the way to the end. Don't worry as there's no Flood around to cause problems. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | As the camera moves in, the Arbiter along with the Commander Elite | | run to the opposite end. A Flood movement will appear in the | | distance. The Commander will run off so the job is now his. | | Your Phantom will appear behind the Arbiter and agree to help keep | | the Flood away. Now it's the Arbiter's turn to find the Icon. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ====================== - Shooting Gallery - ====================== >> Retrieve the Sacred Icon before the Humans. Your platform will slowly move closer to the Icon. Up ahead, the Flood will be ready to attack your flank. After a few seconds, you'll enter the Library. Help your allies keep the Flood at bay here. Use Flood-effective weapons such as Sentinels Beams and Energy Swords if they help you. On your platform, you will find that the Flood come out of small holes. If you can possibly throw grenades down these "Flood-spawners" for the majority of the ride, the opposition will be greatly oppressed. After a lot of grit and determination, you will reach the Index. However, have the Humans got here before us? ================================ - That Old, Familiar Feeling - ================================ So we must hurry and get the Icon? There are hardly any enemies here apart from a few Infection Forms which don't attack you anyway. Progress through this area all the way to the center... ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Miranda Keyes will stand by the Index which she reaches by using | | a vine. She almost falls but Johnson picks her up. She has the | | Index until the Arbiter comes in. Knocking Johnson unconscious, | | he steals the Index while Tartarus takes her. The Elites are soon | | to be destroyed. Tartarus pushes the Arbiter off the edge in an | | act of shameless betrayal. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.12. Gravemind [4012] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The Prophets have the Index and plan to use it? Over your dead body. ====================================================================== ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | As the screen fades in, the Master Chief slowly wakes up from | | an interim of unconsciousness. He finds himself grasped by a | | large tentacle... who can talk! The Arbiter is also stuck in the | | tentacles. A quick heat-off between the Master Chief and Arbiter | | occurs as they notice each other. As the tentacle monster slowly | | analyzes them, the Arbiter demands to be released. | | | | Momentarily, Gravenmind will bring up 2401 Penitant Tangent, | | the monitor of Delta Halo. The Prophet of Regret of who was | | thought to be dead (at the Master Chief's hands) also appears | | clutched in this purgatory-like place. The true purpose of the | | ring is to kill life. Something that the Arbiter still doesn't | | realize. The Master Chief reinforces upon it. | | | | "There is still time to stop the key from turning, but first it | | must be found." Their objective? Find the Index and stop it before | | all is lost. | | | | The scene changes to a Covenant ship as the Brutes throw off some | | Grunt rebels. In the chamber, a Prophet presents himself in front | | of a camera as the Master Chief appears behind them. Obviously, | | his presense is known. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ================ - Inside Job - ================ >> Locate the Prophet of Truth and the Index. Well, here's to the first level in which you will be engaging in combat with Brutes. You start off with a Needler. I'd suggest taking down the first with an array of needles. Try to get them to explode to hopefully take the Brutes down. There's a nearby Needler you might want to dual-wield with. Cortana will warn of you of their berserking capabilities. Once one of them is down, the other will drop its weapon and attempt to crush you. Those two should be pretty easily defeated. If you would like, pick up the Brute Plasma Rifles that they drop. The Brute Plasma Rifle is red rather than the generic blue. It has a higher rate of fire, but overheats much quicker. Afterwards, a few Grunts will be called in. They should be easy meat. Tartarus will boom through the intercom and order that the demon be killed. Not cool, man. After a few moments of waiting, a Brute followed by two Grunts will engage your position. Rip apart the Brute and deal with the Grunt as you see fit. Wait a few more seconds and you'll hear a platform moving up from behind. Two more Brutes will appear as another one holding a Carbine camps from the top of the ledge. Once again, watch yourself as Brutes are dangerous once they begin berserking. Clear out the remaining enemies and Cortana will ask you to put her down on a pedestal near the main door. Head to the opposite end of the room as Cortana appears to greet you. The Prophet of Truth has the Index (uh-der!), and you'll have to take it from him. She opens the doors for you so leave. The next room can be a bit tough to clear out. It's full of Brutes and Grunts so use any Plasma Grenades that you have (if you picked any up). Take down the Grunts first as they are more of cannon fodder than actual troops. There are numerous Brutes at the other end of this room. If you can take down one or two and retreat back to the door, you should be able to save your shields before the Brute comes in berserking. Clear everything out of this room, and go through the next to find yourself on a ledge back outside. Whee. Just as you leave the room, an Honor Guard will appear right in front of you. Take advantage of a surprise attack and stick him with a Plasma Grenade if you have one. If not, use the conventional method and take him out. Head down the ramp, and begin killing off the various Jackals. After those are taken down, move forward along the platform. There are more Grunts up ahead and some are manning Plasma Cannons. Pretty quickly into the battle, Cortana will notify you of a Captain with a Brute Shot! The Brute Shot is a much like a toned-down version of the Rocket Launcher. The grenades it fires are capable of bouncing. One direct hit usually is not enough to kill you. However, don't step too close to him as he'll nail you with the sharp bayonet on the gun. Take down the Captain and pick up the Brute Shot if you'd like. Cortana has figured that Truth is moving through the lower levels of the ship. With that, she opens the gravity lift. Jump right in and you'll slowly fall to the bottom. At first, there are no enemies, but a platoon of Grunts and Jackals will become aware of your position. They are easily taken out with a quick grenade. Kill off those buggers, and go through the door. You will find yourself in a room similar to the previous one. There are no enemies so move to the opposite doorway. In the next hallway, you might find a few Jackals patrolling the area at first. Kill them now so they don't pose a threat later on. Progress through the hallway and some Brutes will become aware of your position. Apart from one or two Brutes however, this hallway is also empty. When you reach the other door, a Brute will pop in while Grunts try to flank you from your side. If possible, take out the Brute first and then avert your gaze to the Grunts running around. >> Rescue the Marines being held in the detention-block. Clear out this hallway and go through the door into the next. Cortana will appear again and tell you of some Marine transponder codes. How did they get on here anyway? There are numerous Grunts and Brutes here. However, there's nothing that you hadn't handled before. Take down the enemies and Cortana will tell you of another lift in the next room. That's great... if the room were not so protected. This room is an easy room to navigate through. You start off on the upper level. Jump down and head to the center of the room while fighting off any enemies getting in your way. The lift is right there and Cortana will appear too. Jump in and take the long journey down from the top to the bottom. Now would be a great time to reload your weapons for the oncoming fight. Once you reach the bottom, a Brute should be in front of you, but his back is turned. Give him a nice smack or two in the back and take him down. There are two groups of Marines. Right now, your job is to kill off the Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes here. Find your way onto the pathway to the ledge. Covenant will flood through. Use the cover that you can find around, and clear out the enemies. Watch out for the Brutes as they can berserk. Keep moving until you notice some small gravity lifts on the right side. Jump down to the lower level where even more guards are loitering around. You'll want to take caution here as recklessness will get you killed. There's nothing on this floor so jump through the gravity lift again to the next lower floor. Depending on how much noise you made previously, the guards here might or might not be aware of your position as of now. From the gravity lift, turn right. If Cortana had told you to come down to the lower level, one of the doors on this ledge should be open. There are a bunch of Brutes and other Covenant to take out first however. Don't move into the room until that threat is obliverated. Inside the dentention-block, you'll find the Marines... and a bunch of enemies too! If you entered and the Brute had its back turned, give it a nice strike in the rear. The Grunts are asleep and can easily be taken out. Once all the enemies are defeated here, Cortana will open the cells to release two or three Marines to your aid. The second group of Marines is on the middle level. Find your way back to the gravity lift and let it take you up one level. There are a helluva amount of Covenant here so take caution. Keep your Marines alive as best as you can. The Brutes can be particularly problematic. If they berserk on one of your Marines, he or she is as good as dead. The detention-hold on this level can be found by turning left out of the gravity lift room. The layout of this next detention-hold area is the same as the other one. However, instead of Grunts sleeping by the side, Jackals are patrolling the area too. Clear out the prison guards and Cortana will open the bars to release another batch of Marines. With these guys collected, it's time to head back to the main gravity lift. Hasten out of the room back to the gravity lift on the upper floor. However, just as you reach the central gravity lift, more reinforcements will appear from it. It mainly consists of Jackals and Grunts, but the last batch of them consists of two Brutes. One of them holds a Brute Shot so take caution. Once the gravity lift is clear, have your Marines step in. Follow after them back up. >> Follow the Prophet of Truth to the far tower. Once you reach the next room, you'll find the area littered with the dead bodies of Elites. Nearby the lift, there's an Energy Sword on the ground. Pick it up if you want. Reload yourself quickly as the door up ahead will open to reveal a bunch of Elites and Drones flying in. Take advantage of the small doorway and chuck a grenade to weaken them. The Elites can be defeated quickly but the Drones will require more picking and shooting. Once those are killed off, move your team through the doorway they came in from. The next hallway has Elite Honor Guards still resisting the new order sent out by the Prophets. Try to stick low around the walls and let them do their own fighting to lighten the load on you. At the opposite end, a doorway will open to reveal Brutes and Elites. You should already know that these two hate each other. Let them dish it out with themselves, and clean up afterwards. Go through the door at the other end and notice a dead Hunter on the ground. The next door leads to a similar hallway to the previous one. Once more, let the Elites fight their own battle. Jump in after they are weakened. After the Covenant in this sector are taken down, Truth will provide another message in an attempt to calm the Elites. Move through the next door where you'll enter a familiar room. It seems Cortana has located Truth just outside this tower. The next room holds two Hunters. Considering the small space this room bears, fighting them off will be a difficulty. Aim for their orange spot to take them down before they do too much damage. Kill the two Hunters and exit this room. Now back outside, you'll find yourself in a raging skirmish. Up ahead, Hunters are fending off Brutes while Elites fight to the death. As you can see, the rough terrain will make navigating this area a major pain in the ass. However, I'd suggest you take note of the exit. When you enter the area, the door directly in front of you across the gulch is the exit. You don't want to just jump down though. Instead, turn either to your left or right and begin fighting through. There are still Honor Guards around which should be disposed of immediately. Eventually, you'll fight your way to the center. If the previous enemies already took down the Hunters, you're in luck. If not, then you'll have to clear the Hunters yourself. Luckily, this outside area is much bigger than the previous room so they should be pretty easy. At the same time, Drones will probably fly in along with Elites on jetpacks. Watch out for those dual-wielding monsters because they can rip away at your shields very fast. Anyway, to get to the door I told you of before, you'll have to find a slope leading up to the side of it. When you reach the door, there will be a Brute to engage you. Clear him out as usual and move into the next building. Back inside, move down this slope. There are no Covenant attacks here so hasten your step. Go through the door at the end to find a long section. Cortana will appear once more and notice a slipspace rupture... in Amber Clad! The thingamajig up ahead is a transport device. Step onto the white circle and let it take you across the chasm to the other side. What a ride, huh? Once at the opposite side, try to take out the sniper with a quick shot and then turn left. A large group of Elites and Grunts will appear. If you have any spare Plasma Grenades, use one to hopefully take out the majority of the group. On the opposite side though, two or three Brutes will appear as well. If the Elites aren't dead yet, let the two sides clash and clean up as usual. Once enemies are cleared out, move to the next area by walking along either ledge on either side. Down below will be another major skirmish taking place between the two sides. Slowly make your way into the battle letting the majority of the fighting occur between the Elites and Brutes. It shouldn't take too long to clear this narrow platform. At the opposite end are two extensions leading left or right. Both will bring you to the same area. However, before you go, wait for the two Elites to appear on jetpacks. They can be very difficult to take down as they bear jetpacks and are dual-wielding. Counter them by shooting them with dual weapons of your own. Lucky for you, the battle between Elites and Brutes on the far side hasn't started yet. You will reach the next platform while the Elite side are still setting up Plasma Cannons. There is one particular Elite you might want to watch out for. The one with the Energy Sword can be a danger so seek him out and kill him. Brutes will begin to use the transporter and bring their fat bodies to this side. Don't let that happen and shoot them down. The Grunts are also fighting for the Elites. Those critters aren't much of a problem anyway. Use the transporter to bring yourself to the far side. Move through the door into the next tower. Some Drones will fly through, but they completely ignore you. There must be a battle in the next chamber. Turn left and go through the following door. The largest battle you've probably seen yet is currently taking place in this area. There are 10+ Elites shooting around plus 5+ more Brutes. Considering the number of enemies here, I'd strongly suggest you keep your profile low at the moment. Let the Brutes and Elites kill each other for the moment. Then move in and take down the weakened Brutes or Elites. If you fall down to the lower floor, you can get back onto the platform by using the gravity lift in the middle of the room. It should take a while, but clear out the Covenant here and move through the next doorway. This hallway will lead you to another door. The door will bring you outside again. Up ahead is another one of those transporter thingies. When you reach the other side, look to your left for a spectacular view of High Charity. A minor conversation will begin between Truth and Tartarus. Listen through it if you would. Advance to the next area where only Grunts are running around. Brutes are also evident, so take them down. Show a bit of sympathy toward the Grunts and leave them be. Heh. Move to the next area which is at the moment, empty. The transporter will sprawl the Master Chief across the chasm to the door. Finally. >> Stop the Prophet of Truth from boarding his Phantom. As you enter, begin to climb the slope up to the next door. A total of three Brutes will appear at the top and begin to engage you. If you have a Covenant Carbine with you, give each of them a few headshots to take them out. Go through the door at the top. Turn either left or right and find yourself back outside. Remember that other canyon area? Well, the exit out of here is at the far end. However, we'll have to navigate through the rocks. As soon as you enter, some Brutes and Elites will appear at the bottom as well as jumping from the top. Watch your back as they move in. To avoid most of the combat, lurk through either of the two side passages to the far side. There are numerous Covenant here. Use Plasma Grenades liberally to take out the Brutes. The Elites are just as easy as before. Just before you move to the other doorway, watch out for invisible Elites with Energy Swords. Move through the big door into the next room. Up ahead, the area is infested with Elites and Grunts. There is a single Elite here that is easily defeated. The Grunts won't be too problematic. Move through the doorway and through the hallway. The next room WILL be a problem though. As of now, this sector is only patrolled by Grunts and Elites. Soon into the battle though, the door at the other end will open to reveal a group of Brutes. Take cover among the various obstacles here. Defeat all enemies in the room and go through the door the Brutes came out of. Cortana will finally make her appearance again. We'll be taking a shortcut through the mausoleum. Luckily, the Brutes and Elites still hate each other and will still dish it out with each other. The next room is basically a giant battle between them. If you think this hallway is already hectic as it is, wait until the real deal comes in. Move in and some Drones will fly in to add to the chaos. There are various Elites up ahead that should be killed immediately. Luckily, the crates scattered around can be used as cover. Once the hallway is cleared, move forward to the other door. However, as soon as it opens, move back. You'll see why soon. A VERY large force of Elites, Grunts, and Hunters will appear to make your life a nightmare. Move back really far as they begin to take their position. Lure the Elites in your direction and try to kill them off one by one. The Hunters will simply push your cover away so take them down. The idle Grunts will man the Plasma Turrets of which you should take down with grenades. Once the Hunters are down for the count, move forward and kill the remaining Elites. Go through the door and Cortana will suggest sitting this one out. That would be a great idea considering the amount of fighting going on up there. Luckily, you have some cool music to listen to while the Brutes and Elites kick each other's ass. Once you think that you can actually move in without getting your butt handed to you on a silver platter, begin to kill off the remaining enemies. Some Hunters might appear out of a door to the left. If you picked up a Fuel Rod Gun from one of the Elites, you're in luck as that weapon wreaks havoc against Hunters. There might be a few more Brutes scattered around. With whatever, go through the door that the Hunters came out of. Cortana will notice that Johnson and Keyes are in the area in hot pursuit of Truth. Some invisible Elites will attack. Move through and defeat the Energy Sword Elite. Take the final walk through the hallway to the opposite door... ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Tartarus will move with the captured Johnson and Keyes. The | | Prophet will hand the Index to Tartarus. Suddenly, Infection Forms | | will appear and attack the group. One latches itself onto Mercy, | | of whom Truth has no longing to save. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.13. Uprising [4013] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= This is certain: The Brutes shall pay for the blood that they have spilled. ============================================================================= ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Now back to the Arbiter, he is found warped to a forested locale | | on Delta Halo. Though Gravemind sent him weapon-less, the Arbiter | | finds a Plasma Rifle on the ground. His objective is clear and | | his vengeance is strong. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ============================= - Oh, So That's How It Is - ============================= >> Defend yourself from the Brutes. You start off overlooking a spectacular view of Delta Halo. Turn to your left and begin to advance through the trees. There are no enemies yet as you can see. After moving a bit, you might notice some red dots on your motion detector. There is an Energy Sword up ahead which you will automatically pick up. Move around the corner and find the first of your enemies. Rip through them with your Energy Sword or blast them with your Plasma Rifle. There are numerous dead Elites here. It seems there has been a big battle beforehand. Around the next corner are two more Brutes. Use a Plasma Grenade to hopefully dispose of one of them. You might want to swap your Plasma Rifle for a Brute Plasma Rifle and its higher rate of fire. As you move, the path will widen up revealing a platoon of Brutes. There are at least two wielding Brute Shots so be careful. Take immediate cover to avoid the first of the Brutes. Slowly kill off the Brutes. Above that area is a door if you look upward. There are numerous enemies to kill so ignore it as of now. When all the Brutes are dead, continue up the ramp leading toward the door. It will open revealing a camouflaged Elite. Well, at least some of them survived. Some pods will fall from the sky revealing a whole platoon of Elites on your side. Time to move out. >> Exact vengeance on the Brute traitors. After they group up with you, move through the doorway into the structure. Turn either left or right through the corridor to another door. Wait for your Elite allies to catch up with you, and the door will open. There are some Grunt reinforcements on the landing above. Follow your allies into this chamber and turn leftward. Engage your active camouflage at this point, and sneak into a group of Jackals and Brutes. Stick a few of them with your Plasma Grenades. Anyway, considering that you aren't fighting by yourself, taking out this group of Jackals and Brutes shouldn't be too hard. Move forward past the dead Brutes. Notice the ramp leading up. Move to it and follow it upward. Walk straight with your allies following behind you. Turn right to find another group of Brutes. Hopefully, you caught them off guard. If not, just use the conventional method of killing them. Once those are cleared, move forward. There's a door just above you. Keep walking straight until you notice a ramp on your left. The door up ahead is heavily guarded by a team of Drones and Brutes. However, with a well-placed Plasma Grenade, they can easily be taken out. Clear out the doorblock, and have your team (if they are still alive) follow you into the next room. It's empty at first, but move forward and look down to find another group of enemies. Rather than jumping down to engage, I'd suggest sticking on the ledge and shooting from that position to maybe clear out a few enemies. Once your allies jump, follow them down killing off the remaining Brutes. There's a door there that you might want to move through. Dead bodies litter this corridor. Follow it to the end into another room. It's similar to the last one except it's taller and has other ledges lined up below us. Move to the edge and look down. On the ledge directly below is a group of Jackals. Try to jump so that you land on that platform only. Catch them by surprise and slay those shieldbearers. Now jump to the platform directly below that platform and fight off two or three Brutes plus a few Jackals. Once those two ledges are clear, jump down finally to the lower floor. There are various Brutes here that look some schooling. Once those are cleared, a solitary Elite will join your team. There's a door on the lowest floor that you can go through. The next room consists of an upper ledge of which you start on, and a lower ledge which the Brutes come out of. Your allies will jump down the middle, but you should take the side route down on the right side as it gives you much more cover. From your secluded area, fight off the Brutes killing all of them. Beware of the one manning the Plasma Turret. Take him out with a Plasma Grenade. Once again, find the door leading out of here and advance through the corridor. The door at the end will lead you back outside. ======================================== - Step Aside, Let the Man Go Through - ======================================== >> Fight your way to the canyon floor. Just as you step outside however, throw a Plasma Grenade immediately as there is a large force just outside the door consisting of three Brutes and a number of Jackals. Clear out those pesky foes and move outside. Turn to your left and begin moving into the secluded area. At first, the next sector appears empty. However, a Brute will soon ride in on a Ghost revealing yet another platoon. While fighting these behemoths off, be wary of the Brutes wielding Shotguns. At close range, they are capable of blasting your head off. Use Plasma Grenades liberally to clear out the Brute forces. Stick one and avert your gaze to another. Kill off the Brutes and continue into a small tunnel. There are two Ghosts side-by-side. Pick up one and ride it through the tunnel and back out again. When the music starts playing, you know that you're in for a big battle. Up ahead is a well-guarded area full of Brutes and Jackals everywhere. On the upper ledges are snipers ready to shoot you out of anything. Because of the sniper threat, always be on the move. To one side, you'll find a Brute manning a Plasma Turret. Clear that threat before it becomes a problem. If you can, counter the snipers with Beam Rifles of your own. This battle is sure to take long. There is a lot of cover you can take though. If shields go down, dive somewhere the battle isn't at. Throughout the course of the battle, numerous reinforcements will appear from a pathway toward the rear end of this area. They will come in large numbers so take caution. Once all enemies in the area are cleared, haul your ass to the path at the other end of this sector. Advance to the next area. At the next area, move up to the left side where a ramp leads to a Plasma Turret. You can use it to surely take down a few of the enemies down below. Next to the Plasma Turret is a crate holding two Beam Rifles. Use those to take out the various snipers in the area before you actually jump down and engage. At the other end is a pathway. Sometime into the battle, a Spectre will move in. Use the Beam Rifle to try to snipe out the driver or gunner. If you want to, take the Spectre for yourself as long as you have the allies to man the gun. A light drizzle will begin to fall. Move into the pathway leading out of here where two Ghosts are parked. Take one and advance down the slippery slope. There will be various Jackals patrolling the area. They shouldn't be too much of a problem as Jackals are easily mowed down by a Ghost. Keep moving until you see an arch up ahead along with a bunch of crates. The next portion is heavily infested with Brutes. As you close in on the crates, they will all shoot in unison in an attempt to blow them up in front of you. Move backwards when they do this. Now it's your turn to kick ass. Tough as the Brutes are, they can't stand too long when a Ghost is lobbing plasma at them. Either splatter the Brutes against the walls or mow them down with plasma. The Jackals up above are also taken care of easily. Begin moving forward again past a fallen tree. Shoot off the Jackals and continue along. The rain will begin build up a stream. Follow it downward. ================ - Fight Club - ================ >> Raze the Brute encampment. Finally, we reach a large building area. Take care of the two Jackal snipers at the beginning. One is to the side and one is on a rock. Then drive your Ghost into the center of the building area. There are numerous Brutes running around plus two Wraiths on the other side. Try to stay in this sector only killing off the Brutes in their vain attempt to kill you off. Once you clear the Brutes on the ground, turn left and go through the arch where two Wraiths are waiting for you. Luckily, you have superior speed and rate of fire with your Ghost. Circle-strafe around them so they can't hit you while providing a constant rain of fire to take them both down. There's no point in hijacking either as you can drive them anywhere. Once both blow up in blue, get out of your Ghost and walk to the entrance area. Up along the right side is a ramp leading to the ledge. Now up on the ledge, have the remaining Brutes slain. Move along toward the door at the opposite end. Before you can enter however, Brutes will come out and try to bash your skull in. Plasma Grenades work well in killing off Brutes one by one. After about two waves of Brutes, the door is open for you. Not much else to do but enter, huh? The corridor will lead you to an armory area where the Brutes keep all their weapons. Take full advantage of it, and pick up whatever you'd like. Rearm and reload yourself. When you're ready, go through the door again and move through the next hallway. Exit this building and turn left. There are more Brutes scattered between the pillars of the next building. Also, there are Jackals and snipers all over the place. Using your active camouflage is a great strategy when moving in. If you chose a good close-range weapon like the Shotgun, use it. Head in as far left as possible and stick to the left wall as you clear out any meddling Brutes. At the far end, there's a tunnel in the wall. One or two Ghosts will fly out of whom you should kill or hijack immediately. Defeat the threat in this tunnel and in turn, move through. Go through the door at the end to find yourself back outside. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | As the Arbiter walks out, a Wraith slowly moves in. Luckily, an | | Elite pops out the show that this is a friendly. While the | | Commander curses off the Brutes, two Phantoms fly in toward the | | large structure. Tartarus and Keyes and Johnson get off. Better | | stop them soon. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.14. High Charity [4014] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================= Cortana can handle the Index - stopping Truth is up to you. ============================================================= ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | The Master Chief falls from a gravity lift above just as Phantoms | | fly out of the area toward High Charity. He notices a fallen | | Prophet on his dying words. Truth has the Index and can use it | | on a whim. Cortana notes that if he does, she'll activate the | | reactors on Amber Clad to destroy this city and the Ring. Time | | to stop Truth and save Keyes and Johnson. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ==================== - Cross-Purposes - ==================== >> Fight your way back inside the Mausoleum-tower. Up ahead, a Pelican will crash into the platform revealing a large group of Flood. Cortana will locate a conduit back in the mausoleum. Our objective now is to head back for it. Begin to move forward and fight off the various Flood in the area. Your weapons aren't really too great against Combat Forms, but do your best and pick up any better weapons. When you reach the crashed Pelican, look on either side of it to find a Shotgun and a Rocket Launcher. Pick either up if you need it. Behind you, the door will open possibly revealing a few Grunts and some Flood. Kill off the remaining enemies and go into the door back toward the mausoleum. This room has a bunch of Brutes waiting to jump out at the far end. Throw a quick grenade if you have any. Numerous Brutes with Brute Shots can easily take you down within seconds if you aren't careful. Take cover amidst the walls here. Kill off the Brutes and begin to advance into the next room. At the far end is a gravity lift leading upward. Jump into it and take the journey back up the tower. The top floor is dark. Get used to the darkness now as most of this level will be engulfed in it. Turn around and locate the glowing door leading out. Truth's voice will boom through the radio. There are some Beam Rifles if you want them. Move forward to a large centerpiece area. A platform will appear just before you. However, before you move and engage the enemies around, wait for the Flood and Drones to dish it out with themselves. Hopefully lightening your load a little bit, move forward and step onto the transporter to your left. The best course of action once you reach the other platform would be to take refuge in the little area to the left to provide cover for yourself. Hopefully, you still have your Carbine to use against the Drones flying around. If not, find another weapon to kill off as many as you can. Once the Drones are mostly cleared out, step on the transporter leading to the opposite end of the starting point. There's a door there; go through. =================================== - Please, Make Yourself at Home - =================================== >> Stay ahead of the wave of Flood sweeping through High Charity. As soon as it opens though, watch out for some Flood ambushers. Kill them off and move through the next door. Most of this hallway is dark so watch your step as Flood ambushers like to sneak up behind you. As you enter and a little bit to your left, you should notice an Energy Sword pulsating on the ground. Pick that up as it's a very useful weapon against Flood especially when in close quarters. Advance through the door up ahead. Turn right immediately as some Flood will flood (pardon the pun) out of that hallway. Clear out the Combat and Carrier Forms, then move through the forward door. Covenant occupy this hallway as well as a few Flood lurking around. You know the deal, if you can possibly let the Flood and Covenant dish it out with themselves, a whole lot of combat should be saved. Beware of Brutes as well. Luckily, they should be pretty easy to beat by now. The door at the end will lead you to another hallway. At first, the hallway appears empty, but turn around and the door behind you will reveal two Carrier Forms. Up ahead, Combat Forms will drop from the ceiling. Whip out your Energy Sword and begin to chop up anything that moves. The blade will make short work of most of them. Even so, clear out larger groups of Flood with a quick grenade. Once this corridor is cleared, find the door leading out and move through. This area is a bit larger with Brutes occupying the space toward your right and the Flood moving in through the doorway up ahead. First, move right up the ramp and kill off the various Brutes and Jackals. Advance across the area up the next ramp. There's a group of Flood chilling around up ahead. One of them holds an Energy Sword so take note as he lunges forward. Use an Energy Sword of your own and rip through their flesh. Once the Energy Sword Flood is taken out, the rest of them should be easy. The doorway out of this room is on the lower level. Go through it to find another corridor leading ahead. Flood slime lines the walls. Luckily, there are no enemies here. When you go through the next door, Cortana will notice the security in this room. Move to your right into the dark area. This room is a major toughie with consideration to the amount of enemies hanging around. Combat Forms can possibly bear shield generators making their demise more difficult. To add insult to injury, some Flood are also wielding Energy Swords and Rocket Launchers. Progress through the area doing your best to stay alive. Some Drone swarms will fly in through niches in the walls. Don't let them get the best of you taking them down while they fly through the air. If you reach the window overlooking the city, notice the gigantic Flood appendage hanging from the ceiling. Now that's disgusting. Find your way to the exit on the ground level and go through the door. There are some minor Flood creatures infesting this area. Cortana tells of a Prophet Inner Sanctum above. Turn to your left as you enter this four way corridor to find an elevator leading upward. Press the X Button to activate it and the elevator will begin to move. ================ - Sanctified - ================ There's only one way out of here, and that pass is heavily guarded by Jackals and Brutes. As you enter, there will be some stray Grunts perhaps sleeping. Melee them to avoid waking them up. If you can, sneak up on a Brute and stick him with a Plasma Grenade. It's a big room so finding some cover shouldn't be too tough. Avoid the Brutes as they charge against you. The Jackals should be pretty easy to take down. A few minutes in, some Flood will appear to add to the battle. Once again, if you can possibly stay low and let the Covenant fight the Flood, the amount you'll have to kill will go down a lot. This room is tough, but once all enemies are clear, the pass will be open to you. Move through the final door. Cortana will tell you that she is failing to keep the launch sequence stalled. The next gravity lift will take you to the conduit she had noticed before. Go through the door and ride on. >> Find a way onto the Forerunner Ship. The door at the end will bring you to the lift. Now to quickly get onto the Forerunner Ship. Go up the lift to the very end. ============================= - Once More, With Feeling - ============================= This is it, the final step. There is a battle raging ahead, but I'd strongly suggest you skip it. Find the Forerunner Ship on the horizon. Step onto the warp panel and fly to it. ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | The Master Chief will ride the warp to the very end where the | | Forerunner Ship is released. As the Master Chief lifts off, | | Cortana provides the last of her goodbye biddings. Now it's to | | take down Truth. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.15. The Great Journey [4015] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================== - Form an unexpected alliance, keep Tartarus from activating the ring. ======================================================================== ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Now back to the Arbiter, it's time to stop the key from turning. | | Tartarus must be stopped. However, he has locked himself in that | | structure. The Commander knows of one way to break through those | | doors however... | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- =============================== - Your Ass, My Size-24 Hoof - =============================== >> Crush any Brutes in your path. You start off with a few choices. You can either take the Wraith, Spectre, or a Ghost that will engage you up ahead. For starters, I chose the Wraith for its superior firepower and the fact that I utterly despise the Spectre. Anyway, begin to move through the area following your Commander. Various Brutes will appear in Ghosts. Hijack one if you'd or like or blast the crap out of all of them. Move your vehicle through the forest floor taking down any Ghosts that get in your way. After a bit of blowing things up, you should reach a Wraith. Show that Wraith who's boss by destroying it. Turn leftward where some Ghosts will engage you once more. Make quick work of them and advance forward. There's a gigantic opening on the next pass. At this point, turn right. To your left is an amazing view of a lake with a Covenant Cruiser on standby just above it. A Phantom should move in while your Commander takes note of the revamped Scarab. The gun should be destroy the doors allowing you access to the control room. Try to avoid the Phantoms fire as it's futile to try to take it down. Move toward the Scarab taking down more Ghosts as they come in by the dozen. To the Scarab's left are some more Wraiths. Try not to get yourself killed while engaging those Covenant tanks. At the same time, be wary of Brutes wielding Brute Shots in the area. Although the grenades are fairly weak, repeatedly getting struck by one can kill you quickly. Find the door on the ground floor which will lead you to the bridge up to the Scarab. >> Commandeer the Scarab. Get out of your vehicle and go through the door once you secure the region. Upon entering the structure, you will meet up with another Elite plus a few Hunters he salvaged. Pick up any new weapons if you need them and follow your team forward into the structure. Go through a corridor, but stop when you reach the door. The next room is controlled by many Brutes. Let the Hunters be your shields taking all the fire. Follow in after them and turn right up the ramp. Now it's time to sneak up behind the Brutes who are preoccupied with the Hunters below. Stick one or two of them with a Plasma Grenade and then move in with guns ablazing. Rain fire on the remaining Brutes killing off whatever is left. The next area is a bit more grassy. At the next sector, use the same drill. Have your Hunters provide covering fire while you sneakily move into the Brute's position. Use your unknown position and tag a few of the Brutes with Plasma Grenades. Going in with active camouflage is a good idea. This area might take a bit more time than expected. Occasionally, Brute reinforcements may appear. Clear out this room and move through the next corridor which will lead you to a bridge. Jackals hold this position with a few snipers at the far end. On your left, a Phantom will possibly appear to give the Jackals support. Be wary of Drones that will fly in from above or below. Although they are physically weak, Drones will kill you if you aren't careful. Secure the bridge and go through the door at the other end. Anotheer hallway awaits. Advance through it up through the next doorway. This room is heavily infested on the other side. Go up the ramp and pick up whatever weapons you'd like. There is a large number of Jackals and Brutes up ahead. Take caution while fighting. Also, there will be various Elites and Hunters trapped in prison holds both on the upper and lower level. Release them by shooting the little generator in front of each one. Have your team of newly escaped Elites and Hunters help you knock out the remaining Brutes. With the Hunters help, they should be easily killed off. The door will lead you into another hallway which in turn, leads you to the platform with the Scarab. However, there are numerous Brutes here which need some schooling. Surprisingly, there are Marines here... to help you! The Scarab is just ahead... ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Lo and behold, the Arbiter apparently was beaten in the race for | | the Scarab. Johnson is now piloting it. Both Human and Covenant | | have the same intention. Now it's your turn to help Johnson | | destroy the door to the control room. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- ===================== - Backseat Driver - ===================== >> Escort Johnson's Scarab to the Control Room. To get to the control room, you'll need the Scarab to blow a big hole into it. Some Elites will fly two Banshees to the platform so you can escort Johnson to the door. Get into one and begin to fly. Right off the bat, two enemy Wraiths will appear down below attacking Johnson. Destroy them with your Fuel Rod Cannon and Plasma Cannons and move forward. It's best to stay ahead of the Scarab considering how slow it moves. At the next pass, there are some Plasma Turrets on ledges high above the ground. Brutes man them. They are easily destroyed with the Fuel Rod Cannon your Banshee comes fitted with. Blow the crap out of all of them and continue along. Below, you might find a new Banshee to replace your damaged Banshee. Keep moving taking down any Banshees flying around or Spectres attacking you on the ground. Around the next corner is the control room. Take down the Banshees patrolling the area while the Scarab prepares to fire. Stay clear of the door as Johnson pounds the door with the gun. Three full shots will be enough to destroy the door giving you access to Tartarus inside. Boo-yah! ============================ - Delusions and Grandeur - ============================ >> Enter the Control Room, and deal with Tartarus. Fly to the platform and get off. Inside, there are smoldering pieces of wreckage everywhere. Find your way to the door leading into the control room. The final room before Tartarus is filled with Brutes. At the start, prepare to fight off 10+ of them. Energy Swords and Plasma Grenades will really help out here as these Brutes play tough. It will take a while; clear out all Brutes and go through the doorway. Tartarus is waiting for you... ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Tartarus is waiting beside the control room pleading with Keyes | | to activate the ring. The Arbiter appears shortly behind him. | | Johnson also moves in to provide help. Despite the Arbiter's best | | attempts to negotiate with Tartarus, the Index is still activated | | at Keyes' hands. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- There's nothing else to do now but to kill Tartarus and deactivate the Ring. Keyes is attempting to stop the Index while Johnson snipes from above. At the very start, throw a quick Plasma Grenade to kill off Tartarus's escorts before they kill you. Afterwards, jump onto the platform in hot pursuit. Tartarus has an energy shield that prevents damage against him. You can tell when it's up as he glows with a purple flame. The battle arena consists of three floors. The big beam in the middle will always take you to the top. Jump down from a platform by walking over the edge to the lower platform. The key in defeating Tartarus is allowing Johnson to shoot down his shields. You can tell when they are down as Johnson will yell it out. With your weapon, quickly blast as many shots into Tartarus's vulnerable body as possible. His shields stay down only a short while so take haste. However, Tartarus himself is a formiddable opponent. His hammer is capable of ending your life within a single strike. There are various weapons on the three levels. I chose to use the Carbine as it allowed quick shots to his head. By all means, do not use the Energy Sword or any other close-range weapon. You do not want to risk it. Eventually, Tartarus will fall... ________ -~-|Cutscene|-~- ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- | | | Tartarus has fallen and Miranda Keyes is attempting to stop the | | Index. Jumping across the platform, she reaches the Index and | | stops the countdown. The weapon stops releasing a sonic boom... | | They have succeeded... | | | | The air is still and quiet as the Humans and Elite comes around. | | A beacon will appear, or so 343 speaks. The other installations | | are now on standby mode. Remote activation is still a possible | | threat. The Ark is the only place where it's possible... | | | | The Master Chief moves in with his Forerunner Ship. With that, | | he will finish the fight on Earth. | | | ===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===--- _______ _ _ _______ _______ __ _ ______ | |_____| |______ |______ | \ | | \ | | | |______ |______ | \_| |_____/ =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 5. Weapon & Vehicle List ~-~ [5000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ The Halo 2 manual played a large role in the creation of this section. Taken were weapon/vehicle statistics and description. ===-------------=== - UNSC Weaponry - ===-------------=== M6C Pistol ~ =--------= Ammo Capacity: 12 rounds per magazine. Description: Standard UNSC sidearm. Recoil-operated magazine- fed handgun, firing a magazine of six 12.7mm semi-armor piercing rounds. Fired accurately in semi-automatic mode, can be powerful anti- personnel weapon. This stripped-down "C" variant does not feature a scope. The M6C Pistol has been downgraded from the original M6D. However, though the shells are less powerful, the M6C can be fired much quicker which adds to its advantage. When dual-wielded, both M6Cs can easily become dangerous as you slew enemies down. Because the M6C shoots faster, ammunition will run out much quicker. While the 12-round magazine of the original M6D lasted much longer, the M6C will run out of munitions in double the time. Keep this in mind before undertaking any attacks or offensives. BR55 Rifle ~ =--------= Ammo Capacity: 36 rounds per magazine. Description: Battle Rifle fires 9.5mm rounds from 36-round magazine. Mounted with a 2X optical scope for targeting. Fires in short, automatic bursts of three rounds. Very accurate, relatively high rate of fire makes it a useful all-around infantry weapon. The new Battle Rifle is supposedly the follow-up to the rather "weak" Assault Rifle of the original Halo. It has been made more accurate with a "triple burst" scheme, but the rate of fire has gone down because of it. With a scope, the Battle Rifle can be used to pick off enemies from far- away. One particular annoyance around the Battle Rifle is the lack of ammunition capacity. The maximum that can be held is a full 108 rounds. Each magazine runs out fairly quickly, especially during large-scale battles. Watch your ammo while running around on the battlefields. M7/Caseless Sub Machine Gun ~ =-------------------------= Ammo Capacity: 60 rounds per magazine. Description: "Bullet hose" fires sustained burst of 5mm fire from 60-round magazine. SMGs, while not accurate over long distances, can provide withering fire at close quarters. Tends to "walk" upwards as compounding momentum from recoil takes hold. Therefore, careful moderation of aim required to maintain accuracy. The SMG is a whole new addition, but it's main purpose is to replace the Assault Rifle as the UNSC automatic weapon. The SMG holds a lot of similarities when compared the Halo's Assault Rifle. Sustained fire will become inaccurate and crazed. However, short bursts still make it so that more shots hit their mark. The ability to dual-wield these makes them even more deadly. Two SMGs in itself is lethal enough as it is. Especially at close-range, pouring bullets into an opponent by the 100s will be sure to take even the toughest down. When comboed with the Plasma Rifle or Needler, it becomes a deadly companion. S2 AM Sniper Rifle ~ =----------------= Ammo Capacity: 4 rounds per magazine. Description: Gas-operated, magazine-fed weapon utilizes a smart-linked scope with two levels of magnification (5X and 10X). Firing 14.5mm armor-piercing, fin- stabilized, discarding-sabot rounds makes it very powerful. Sheer size and limited magazine capacity dictate strategic use. Devastating from a secured position, has clearly limited use as a close-range weapon. If you have a sharp eye and good hand-eye coordination, you'd love the Sniper Rifle. Shots are dead-on and incredibly accurate. Rounds aimed the head will most likely kill within one or two hits. Chest shots also deal more damage. Because of its slow rate of fire and long barrel, don't use the S2 AM at close ranges as it proves an incredible disadvantage. M19 SSM Rocket Launcher ~ =---------------------= Ammo Capacity: 2 102mm shaped-charged rockets. Description: Most commonly used light anti-vehicle weapon in UNSC arsenal. Man-portable, shoulder-fired, with single 2X level of magnification. Fires 102mm shaped-charge, high explosive tracking rockets. Reticule indicator denotes when launcher has achieved lock on target. The Rocket Launcher has many useful purposes both single-player and multiplayer. A direct hit to any single unit will be sure to knock them out while shots at vehicles will heavily damage them. However, because of the size and lack of ammo capacity, use should be saved to take out larger targets or groups rather than just attacking single units. The M19 SSM Rocket Launcher has taken a new feature. In the original Halo, the Rocket Launcher was completely dumb-fire, and accurate hits on faster vehicles required a lot of leading and marksmanship. Now, you can lock onto vehicles by holding the trigger until the reticule locks onto the targeted vehicle. Release and the rocket will home in on the target. Even if it locks on, a hit isn't completely guaranteed. M90 Shotgun ~ =---------= Ammo Capacity: 12 8-gauge shotgun shells. Description: Powerful, loud, pump-action, magazine-fed, firing 8-gauge magnum (3.5") rounds with strong recoil. Devastating at close range and in confined quarters, should be used with caution. Ineffective damage ratios at long range mean it should be used appropriately. "Used appropriately" is very simply explained. As a standard shotgun, the M90's shells will split up through the air as distance increases. Pellets will spread out if you attempt to shoot at a far- away. The point is usually to get all the pellets to strike a target. That is only achieved by shooting at close ranges. M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade ~ =----------------------------= Radius: 15-30 feet. Description: Basic explosive device has changed little thanks to excellent design and flexibility. Well-thrown grenade will kill or stun most opponents. Fuse activates half a second after striking surface or object to avoid accidental detonation. Also allows combatants to "bounce" grenades into difficult to reach targets. Both the Fragmentation Grenade and the Plasma Grenade have their own purposes. The Fragmentation Grenade (Frag for short) is known to explode much quicker so opponents can't just jump away before it activates. Unlike the Plasma Grenade, a Frag can bounce around a lot thanks to its design. Frags can play a great role as an infantry scatter weapon. Throw it into a group of enemies to disperse, if not kill them all. When up against a single, unmoving target, a sneaky Plasma Grenade "stick" should do the job better than some unpredictable Frag. M41 LAAG (vehicle mounted) ~ =------------------------= Ammo Capacity: Unlimited. Description: 3-barreled, electric-powered, link-less drum-fed, vehicle mounted light anti-aircraft gun. Standard armament on Warthog. Fires 450-550 rounds per minute. Excellent armor penetration capability. The LAAG is one of the most rapid-firing guns in Halo 2, if it isn't already. Infantry targets can be mowed down by the dozens if they are out in the open. Up close, the rounds deal even more as less miss and the larger target is much easier to strike. Against vehicles, the LAAG is slightly effective. Against lightly armored vehicles (Ghosts or Banshees), you can wreak havoc easily. M68 Gauss Cannon (vehicle mounted) ~ =--------------------------------= Ammo Capacity: Unlimited. Description: Asynchronous linear-induction motor produces bipolar magnetic field to fire 25mm projectile at hyper-sonic velocity. Excellent armor penetration capability, but not as effective against multiple infantry. A new Warthog has been introduced with the release of Halo 2. Now mounted on the back is a high powered anti-armor Gauss Cannon. While still not as powerful as some others (Scorpion MBT anyone?), the M68 has a more rapid rate of fire which can push a bunch of shots into some wayward Wraith. While more effective against vehicles now, the Gauss Cannon is still fairly useful against large groups of infantry (although single ones will be sure to give you headaches). With fair splash damage, the M68 acts like a mini-grenade or maybe a rocket. Take advantage of its anti-vehicle capabilities and you will be next to unstoppable ... with a good driver of course. ===-------------=== - UNSC Vehicles - ===-------------=== M12 Warthog LRV ~ =-------------= Crew: 1 + 1 (plus one more in rear) Weight: 3.25 tons Armament: 12.7mm three-barreled machine gun Description: Light reconnaissance vehicle (LRV), a proven and reliable standard UNSC vehicle. Also unofficially known as "Warthog," LRV is equipped with powerful machine gun. Maneuverable and excellent in any terrain, Warthog relies on superb traction and updated braking system. To power-slide, pull the Left trigger for the E-brake. While the M12 Warthog might be devastating when fully packed with a experienced gunner and side- seater, when only one position is filled, the M12 becomes next to useless. If you only play as a driver, you won't have any weaponry capabilities. If you get into a gunner without a driver, then your stationary position will be a good target for Rocket Launchers or Sniper Rifles. It just goes to show, a fully-packed LRV is much more effective. While driving, you will want to take advantage of the "E-brake" which allows you sweep while turning. Using the Warthog's backside, you can easily squish any unexpecting enemies by maneuvering turns correctly. A smash with the backside (while turning) will most of the time, deal more damage than a straightaway catch. M12G1 Warthog LAAV ~ =----------------= Crew: 1 + 1 (plus one more in rear) Weight: 3.5 tons Armament: 25mm Gauss Cannon Description: Light anti-armor vehicle (LAAV) identical in every respect to other Warthog variants, except for turret-mounted Gauss Cannon. Be wary of the heavier weight which the Gauss Cannon carries on. Exceptionally effective against armored vehicles and larger groups of infantry. Again, a filled LAAV is much more effective than a one-man show. Use the same strategy as the above LRV. Just remember that your gun is different obviously. M808B Scorpion MBT ~ =----------------= Crew: 1 Human (neural interface required) or single cyborg pilot Weight: 66 tons Main gun: 90mm high velocity shell Secondary/coaxial gun: 7.62mm AP-T (Armor Piercing Tracer) Description: Although Scorpion Main Battle Tank's primary role is an anti-vehicle platform, its effectiveness against Covenant infantry makes it a useful anti- personnel weapon, too. Ceramic-titanium armor makes it almost invulnerable to small-arms fire. Vehicle has single-pilot cockpit, but in emergencies can transport four additional infantrymen on "jumpseat" platforms. While the Main Battle Tank has a powerful gun, it holds a dead-zone that even the 7.62mm secondary machine gun can't reach. Nearby infantry will be difficult to take out. Therefore, you'd want to have four (or two on each side at least) other infantry riding on the tank's "side-seats." They can easily cover your flank and keep enemies from taking advantage of that "dead-zone." ===-----------------=== - Covenant Weaponry - ===-----------------=== Plasma Pistol ~ =-----------= Core Power Output: 100-150 kV: 2-3 dA. Description: Understood better than most Covenant weapons, Plasma Pistol is semi-automatic, directed-energy weapon. Fires rapid bursts of superheated plasma, but holding trigger for extended period can build a powerful overcharged plasma bolt. Becomes temporarily unusable as it discharges excess heat. Both Plasma Pistol and Rifle use power core we don't fully understand. Originally in Halo, the Plasma Pistol was usually preferred over the Plasma Rifle because of its overcharge ability and potential rapid-fire. (Depends on your finger-speed of course.) The Plasma Pistol has been downgraded in the Halo 2 with a slower rate of fire. Still, the overcharge is still useful overtaking Elites' shields rapidly. Plasma Rifle ~ =----------= Rate of Fire: 420-600 rounds per minute. Description: Favored by Elites, but used by many Covenant troops, is a directed energy weapon and capable of both automatic and semi-automatic fire. Extended bursts of automatic fire cause weapon to overheat, temporarily disabling gun and depleting energy core. Once energy core has completely discharged, it is useless. The Plasma Rifle has taken on a quicker rate of fire. Shielded opponents will fall within seconds as bolts of plasma rips into them by the dozens. Overheating can become a problem with faster fire. Brutes that appear later in the game also hold their own version of the Plasma Rifle. Red in color, the Brute Plasma Rifle is less effective as it overheats faster. While a single Plasma Rifle at a time may be deadly as it already is, dual-wielding Plasma Rifles can deal twice the damage in the same time. However, going gun-ho with two Plasma Rifles will make them overheat, and two overheated Plasma Rifles (in the midst of a large battle) gives you a major disadvantage. Needler ~ =-----= Ammo Capacity: 30 rounds per magazine. Description: Unusual magazine-fed weapon fires razor-sharp crystalline projectiles, using unexplained homing ability to center on soft organic targets, to pierce flesh no matter the angle of impact. Energy shields deflect them successfully, and they ricochet from other hard surfaces. Ammunition explodes after it impacts flesh, causing further damage. The Needler is one of the few weapons in the original Halo that was actually upgraded rather than downgraded. Now Needler rounds travel faster. but they can still be easier to dodge. Because of the fact that putting 10+ needles in an opponent will create a large explosion, the Needler is useful against enemies such as Brutes or Elites. The resulting explosion also sets off nearby grenades. Covenant Carbine ~ =--------------= Ammo Capacity: 36 rounds per magazine. Description: Rare Covenant projectile-firing rifle, a powerful, stocky weapon, and fitted with magnifying scope. Fires single rounds with high degree of accuracy and power. In some ways its technology mimics Covenant Fuel Rod Gun, although obviously on a smaller scale, but offers similar penetration to UNSC Battle Rifle. The Covenant Carbine is a great "sniper-killer." Both in single-player and multiplayer, the Carbine does great against those pesky snipers. Although not automatic, rapidly pushing the trigger can make the rate of fire very fast. The Carbine may not be the best Elite killer, but against Sentinels, Jackals, and especially Flood, the Covenant Carbine deals heavy damage. A great long-range weapon similar to the Battle Rifle, I'd prefer the Carbine over many other Covenant weaponry mainly for its precision accuracy. Particle Beam Rifle ~ =-----------------= Output Capacity: 18 bursts per charge. Description: Very precise, powerful weapon, uses relatively familiar particle beam acceleration method to fire devastating beams of energy. Limited battery capacity means weapon can fire only 18 bursts before depleting charge. Integrated scope enables two levels of zoom, approximately 5x and 10x. Makes excellent sniper weapon. The Particle Beam or "Covenant Sniper" has finally made its appearance. As a long-range weapon, you can expect it to have its limitations. The battery is quickly depleted, and although the rate of fire can possibly be higher than the S2 AM, overheating is still a threat. Two shots fired right after each other will put the rifle in the "red-zone." Firing a third shot directly afterwards will overheat it. Brute Shot ~ =--------= Ammo Capacity: 4 rounds per belt. Description: Type of grenade launcher used, as far as we can tell, exclusively by Brutes. Grenades it fires from a 4-round belt can be deflected deliberately for tactical reasons, such as firing around corners. One of the least precise Covenant weapons yet encountered, limited ammunition capacity is made up for by huge, razor-sharp bayonet attachment. Although incredibly inaccurate, the Brute Shot can be very effective in dispersing large groups. the bouncing capabilities of the shots are very similar to bouncing a Fragmentation. The only real difference is that the Brute Shot's grenades can explode at any time so any impact might cause one to explode, intentional or not. The melee is known to deal more damage in single- player if you strike an enemy, but in multiplayer, melee damage is unpredictable. Not yet confirmed whether or not it deals more damage. Covenant Energy Sword ~ =-------------------= Length: 3 feet. Description: Initially thought to be purely ceremonial. Few have been seen in combat, but they are invariably carried by high-ranking Elites. We don't understand how it functions, but it cuts through any armor with ease. Press B for regular melee attack and pull Right Trigger for basic undercut attack. Or wait until reticule turns red to lock on an enemy, then pull Right Trigger to perform a fatal lunge attack. In Halo, the Energy Sword was very rarely seen. With Halo 2 however, not only does it become much more apparent, but the player is allowed to wield it! There are three possible slashes you can use. The first two can be performed by pulling the Right Trigger or B Button indefinitely, but the third can only be used if you "lock" onto an enemy. The last is the only "one-strike" killer. You should also take note that the Energy Sword does not last forever. There is actually a battery that slowly depletes with the more enemies you strike. Taking down a Covenant unit will usually take out roughly ten units, but ripping a Flood Combat Form to pieces will take up only three. It just goes to show, the Energy Sword is very useful against Flood. Fuel Rod Gun ~ =----------= Ammo Capacity: 5 rounds per clip. Description: Launching highly radioactive fuel rod projectiles, weapon is effective against both vehicles and personnel. Weapon is bulky, heavy and carries five fuel rods per clip. Single 2X level of magnification. In many aspects, the Fuel Rod Gun is similar to the M19 SSM Rocket Launcher with the fact that each shot is high explosive and the cannon has a 2X zoom. However, the Fuel Rod Gun is considerably weaker. Therefore, a good five rounds per clip would do better than the standard two rounders that the Rocket Launcher holds. Use the Fuel Rod Gun for large groups of enemies or armored vehicles. Because ammunition can be scarce, avoid wasting shots on single targets unless they pose a big nuisance (Commander Elites, Brutes, etc). Plasma Grenade ~ =------------= Radius: 30 feet. Description: Using unknown technology that can apparently differentiate between strategic targets and non- threatening surfaces, this grenade, when thrown accurately, adheres to combatant or vehicle, but not to a wall. Three-second fuse is activated as soon as grenade comes to rest either on ground or stuck to intended target. The Plasma Grenade is a set-timer device that also has a set damage radius. The human Fragmentation Grenade is a bit more unpredictable but it explodes much faster than the "three-second" Plasma Grenade. However, the Plasma is capable of sticking to vehicles or enemy units which in turn, will kill or destroy the vehicle anyway. A good player knows when which grenade will be most effective. ===-----------------=== - Covenant Vehicles - ===-----------------=== Ghost ~ =---= Crew: 1 Propulsion: Boosted Gravity Propulsion Drive Armament: Twin Plasma Cannons (100-250 kW range) Description: Standard reconnaissance and rapid attack vehicle, deployed by Covenant in all ground combat. Usually, but not always piloted by Elites, is highly maneuverable and fires twin bolts of superheated plasma in 100-250kW range. Vehicle is also capable of sustained bursts of speed, although cannot fire and appears to be less maneuverable at such speeds. Pull Left Trigger to boost speed. Possible that it uses energy from weapons system to achieve speed increase. The Ghost appears to have been upgraded from the original Halo. Now faster, sleeker, and holding a quicker rate of fire, the Ghost will be sure to be problematic to any infantry. Speed boosts are best used to squish enemies as they have no time to respond. You can easily clear out a group of Elites just by "boosting" through them. Banshee ~ =-----= Crew: 1 Propulsion: Boosted Gravity Propulsion Drive Armament: Two Plasma Cannons Secondary Weapon System: Fuel Rod Cannon Description: Fast and maneuverable, a formidable aerial assault vehicle. Well shielded against small arms fire, Banshee can be crippled or destroyed by heavier weapons. Fuel rod cannon makes it a dangerous bomber as well as fast fighter. Banshee has been observed barrel-rolling and looping in turns and arcs that would be impossible with conventional aerodynamics. The original air-assault vehicle is back from Halo, except this time, it sees much more common use. All the weapons have remained intact and some new features have been added. You now are capable of boosting (activate Fuel Rod Cannon through B Button instead) with the Left Trigger as well as performing air stunts to help evade attack. To do barrel-rolls or loops, hold the A Button and use the thumbstick to roll or loop in that direction. Banshees are pretty lightly armored so heavy damage will take one down easily. In multiplayer, the Fuel Rod Cannon has been removed to even the fields a little bit. Wraith ~ =----= Crew: 1 Propulsion: Boosted Gravity Propulsion Drive Armament: Plasma Mortar & 2 Auto-firing Plasma Cannons Description: Slow, bulky, and presenting a huge target, is nonetheless Covenant's most destructive mobile armor. Huge bulk is well shielded; covering fire it provides from massive Plasma Mortar makes it an inestimably dangerous foe. Piloted by a single occupant, who controls all vehicle and weapon systems, also features limited boost system for enhanced maneuverability. The Wraiths of Halo are still part of the Covenant armor regime. Incapable of being piloted originally, the heavily armored Wraiths can now be driven and used. At last, players can send out those gigantic Plasma Mortars that had been the pit of problems in the original Halo. Because the main cannon is a Plasma Mortar, it's impossible to hit enemies that are standing right next to the Wraith. You should find it impossible to aim the reticule too far down. In that case, the boost comes in a lot of handy as you can just "squish" those that are causing you problems by boosting through them. Spectre ~ =-----= Crew: 1 + 1 gunner (+2 riders) Propulsion: Boosted Gravity Propulsion Drive Armament: Plasma Cannon Description: Multi-troop armored transport is small and maneuverable and while slow, can move with ease in confined spaces. Main weaknesses are lack of speed and acceleration, and that occupants are fairly exposed. Rear-mounted plasma cannon is dangerous, and vehicle provides multiple firing positions. In many respects, the Covenant Shadow mimics the Warthog in terms of design. The LAAG in the rear is replaced by a equally rapid-firing Plasma Cannon. The only real advantage the Spectre provides is the ability to carry two side-seaters. Take advantage of the speed boost when driver as enemies are easily taken down by running through them. Shadow ~ =----= Crew: 2 + 8 Propulsion: Boosted Gravity Propulsion Drive Armament: Plasma Cannon Description: Covenant's main mode of moving large numbers of troops around on land. Can hold driver, gunner, and up to 8 occupants, depending on species of Covenant. Seems to be outfitted to carry Elites, Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals. Equipped with plasma cannon, but main purpose is to deploy infantry. When you meet one of these in combat, it will most likely be riding away. Keep in mind that both the driver and the gunner aren't really protected from fire so if you concentrate your weapons on them, you can disable the Shadow before it even gets destroyed. When destroying Shadows, be sure to watch out for any goodies such as vehicles that they drop (and were once carrying). ===-------------------=== - Forerunner Weaponry - ===-------------------=== Sentinel Beam ~ =-----------= Rate of Fire: Constant Description: The laser-like weapons the Sentinels hold can now be picked up and used. Using it is simple as a quick pull of the trigger will send out a blast of it. Holding down the trigger will create a constant beam. Hold the beam on enemies and watch as they fall. Although it is useful in dealing with Flood, you will find that the Sentinel Beam runs out of battery pretty fast. Either avoid holding the trigger down for too long, or use short bursts. Besides, the Sentinel Beam isn't too effective against Elites or other enemies. However, you will find that it wreaks havoc against other Sentinels and especially Flood as it burns right through flesh. =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 6. Enemy List ~-~ [6000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ===------------=== - The Covenant - ===------------=== Grunt ~ =---= Difficulty: Easy Weaponry: Plasma Pistol/Needler/Fuel Rod Gun/Plasma Grenade Possible Rank: Orange (Recruit), Green (Trained), Red (Captain), Black (Spec.Op.) Description: The basic infantry unit of the Covenant, Grunts are dangerous in groups but present little threat individually. Short, stocky, and relatively slow, they will often panic when faced with superior forces. However, if they are being led by an Elite, they will stand and fight. Grunts are the cannon fodder of most battles. With low stamina and no shielding whatsoever, they can easily be picked off with a few shots. However, watch out for Grunts occupying Plasma Cannons or Turrets. The bigger firepower becomes much more dangerous. A single headshot with weapons like the Battle Rifle or Magnum will take a Grunt down. Different colors appear to mean rank, but they really aren't too different from each other than the fact the lower ranks get killed much faster. Grunt's aren't good at throwing accurate grenades, but watch yourself when they do. Jackal ~ =----= Difficulty: Easy/Hard Weaponry: Plasma Pistol/Particle Beam Rifle (Sniper variety) Possible Rank: Blue (Trained), Orange (Major), Non-Shielded (Sniper) Description: Excellent shots, the Jackals seem to be higher in status -- if not necessarily rank -- than the Grunts. They often will be found in defensive positions, fighting from behind their distinctive energy shield. A well-used shield makes a Jackal a difficult target, but the notch they use to return fire provides a weak spot that can be exploited. Attempting to take on a Jackal from the front where their shields are located is not a very smart. The shield can take a lot of fire and will only be depleted to plasma fire (and a lot of it). However, using the notches on either side of the shield, you can stun the Jackal making them flinch and following up. With the introduction of the Particle Beam Rifle, Jackal snipers have become apparent. In many open areas, you will find sniper shots zinging right by your head. They deal a lot of damage (On Legendary, they can kill you in one shot) so you you might find it best to watch out. Look for cover when up against snipers. Locate them and take them out. They hold no shields so it's even easier. Hunter ~ =----= Difficulty: Medium/Hard Weaponry: Infused Fuel Rod Gun/Metallic Shield Possible Rank: N/A Description: Hunters are incredibly dangerous foes, deployed more like equipment than soldiers. They are brought in for demolition or heavy defense, and always work in pairs. These massive creatures appear to be composed of multiple organisms that exist within the Hunter armor, creating a bipedal hive creature. Near-impenetrable armor and a devastating hand-held fuel rod weapon make Hunter pairs very problematic. The gargantuan behemoths from Halo are still here. Although the "weak" orange spot on their back and belly area can still be exploited to deal more damage, you will find that the Hunter has been upgraded. Previously, they were easily killed with a simple Pistol shot to the back. Now you will need multiple hits to take one down. While aiming for the orange spots, you'd still have to avoid the Fuel Rod Gun infused on their armor. Note that the gun acts like a beam more than a projectile. Getting up close will make the Hunter attempts to melee you. Sidestep to avoid it and pour lead into their orange spot. However, beware of their new back-hammer which sends their shield behind them squishing you if you choose to stick around for too long. Elite ~ =---= Difficulty: Medium/Hard Weaponry: Plasma Rifle/Needler/Covenant Carbine/Covenant Energy Sword/Plasma Grenade Possible Rank: Blue (Trained), Red (Warrior), Black (Spec.Op.), White (Commando), Silver w/ Headpiece (Icon), Gold w/ Headpiece (Honor Guard) Description: The Elites are the core of the Covenant military. Excellent soldiers, brilliant tacticians, and disciplined, aggressive fighters, they are the primary strength of the Covenant force. Faster, stronger, and tougher than Humans, they fight in relatively small numbers but often lead squads of Grunts. Armor color seems to indicate rank, and we believe Elites are promoted based on numbers of casualties they inflict. Even the least trained of the Elites are fast and incredibly agile. The Elites are the only Covenant opponent that carry integrated energy shields like yours. Capable of recharging them, follow an Elite as he attempts to go into hiding and recharge his shields. Elites can also dual- wield and throw grenades. Varied throughout are Elites with jump-jets and Covenant Energy Swords. Large forces of Elites will pose problems. Dual-wielding Plasma Rifles against this class of enemies will knock out their shields quickly. However, the stray grenade can always knock an unexpecting Elite off his feet. In short, you don't want to underestimate the Elites' power. Brute ~ =---= Difficulty: Hard Weaponry: Brute Plasma Rifle/Covenant Carbine/Brute Shot/ Shotgun/Plasma Grenade Possible Rank: Non-Attired (Trained), Helmet (Major), Gold w/ Headpiece (Honor Guard) Description: Not as readily understood as Elites, Brutes fight together in a pack and are physically stronger. Brutes demonstrate similar battlefield abilities to Elites, and their numbers have demonstrably increased since the conflict began. They carry a ballistic explosive weapon with an attached bayonet device. A brand new addition to the Covenant forces are the Brutes. Larger and less agile than the Elites, Brutes don't carry energy shields nor any real intelligence. Nevertheless, an average Brute can still knock you off your feet with incredible stamina and the ability to take multiple wounds without falling. Occasionally, a Brute will just drop its weapon and charge you head-on. Watch out for that. Drone ~ =---= Difficulty: Easy/Medium Weaponry: Plasma Pistol/Needler Possible Rank: N/A Description: Like the Brutes, Drones appear to be new additions to Covenant fighting forces and are being deployed en masse. Apparently insectoid in origin, in addition to maintaining Covenant spaceships, they have a limited ability to fly and are excellent shots. Highly intelligent, their mastery of antigravity flight assistance has given them an almost insurmountable strategic advantage in combat. The two new additions to the Covenant fighting force completely differ in battle style. The Brutes are large behemoths that rush toward you without fail. The Drones however, are tiny, fast, and easily killed. Their ability to fly makes them much more difficult to take down, but that's nothing a good automatic weapon can't handle. ===---------=== - The Flood - ===---------=== Flood Infection Form ~ =------------------= Difficulty: Easy Weaponry: N/A Possible Rank: N/A Description: The parasite grows itself through use of Infection Forms. These tiny little buggers are really easy to notice to their incredibly tiny size. Fast and incredibly slick, Infection Form spread the Flood by jumping onto prey and "infecting" them turning them into a Combat Form or Carrier Form. They can become incredibly lethal and difficult to shoot to their small size. Energy shields will just "pop" the Infection Forms. However, if an Infection Form touches an unit without a shield, it will send a needle into the victim to infect them. Grunts, Marines, Hunters, and basically all other forms apart from Elites and Spartans will be killed with the first hit. Keep in mind that once your energy shield is down, you are vulnerable. The same goes for Elites of which also lose their energy shields. Compared to the first Halo, the amount of Infection Forms you meet in combat has diminished. Flood Combat Form ~ =---------------= Difficulty: Medium/Hard Weaponry: All Possible Rank: N/A Description: Savages in figure, the Combat Form looks nothing short of the average zombie you might find in some horror movie. A Combat Form is basically the final result of a Marine, an Elite, or a Brute getting stuck by an Infection Form. Once the Infection Form takes control of the body, it can use the body to its advantage. Therefore, when you see a Combat Form, expect resistance. Scrambling muscles and nervous system, the Infection Form can allow an unit to jump very high or smack an opponent with a strange claw-like growth on their arm. Their arm allows for multiple melee combos which can be very fatal especially on Legendary. Watch out for Flood carrying Rocket Launchers or other dangerous weapons. Sometimes, an infected Elite Combat Form still holds a portion of their energy shield. Don't be surprised when that flashes. Flood Carrier Form ~ =----------------= Difficulty: Easy/Medium Weaponry: N/A Possible Rank: N/A Description: Balloon-ish in terms of looks, the Carrier Form is what usually becomes of infected Grunts, Jackals, or any other unit that is either wounded or incapable of adequate combat. Those are then turned into walking blobs that spawn Flood Infection Forms in their gigantic girth. They can explode if you get too close. When they do blow up however, multiple Infection Forms can pop out and attack you. Not only that, but the explosion (if it blew up right by you), should put some punishment on your shields. With your shields down and multiple Infection Forms running their antennas on you, expect to be hurt pretty bad. Do your best to avoid that, and use projectile weapons from far away. ===---------------=== - The Forerunners - ===---------------=== Sentinel ~ =------= Difficulty: Medium Weaponry: Sentinel Beam Possible Rank: Silver (Un-Shielded), Gold (Shielded) Description: Small compared to some other enemies, the Sentinels are machines built by the Forerunners to enforce the Halo machines. Armed with a laser that burns through flesh, the Sentinels can deal heavy damage if they keep their sight on you for too long. Because of the fact that they are computer controlled, Sentinels aren't very battlefield strategic. They are easily brought down with Plasma weapons. While the Silver Sentinels are not shielded, the Gold ones carry a weak shield to deflect some fire. Nevertheless, it still won't block a heavy barrage of plasma fire anyway. When you take a Sentinel down, be sure to step out of the way as the Sentinel "explodes" when it touches the ground. The Sentinel Beam that these carry can be picked up and used as a weapon. Enforcer ~ =------= Difficulty: Hard Weaponry: Gatling Gun/Missile Cannon Possible Rank: N/A Description: A new addition has been added to the Forerunner forces. The Enforcer is a very intimidating machine that has been found defending portions of the other Halos. Armed with a missile-barrage system and a Gatling Gun-like weapon, they do well in defending Halo installations from attack. You should have problems taking the Enforcers down as they hold two energy shields in the front. Energy shields can be taken down, but a lot of fire will be needed. Unless you have a Scorpion or some Wraith at your disposal, taking down its shields will be a toughie. Therefore, you should attempt to bring it down by hitting any area not protected by the shield (side or back). =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 7. Multiplayer ~-~ [7000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ Halo 2's multiplayer is a great aspect of the game. If single-player wasn't exactly enough for you, spend the rest of Halo 2's days with your friends or online with Xbox Live. You can use this section both for Split Screen games or Xbox Live games. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1. Maps [7100] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============= ------------ Lockout ---------------------------------------------------------- ============= The only "winter" map in Halo 2. For those that have that "snowy" multiplayer map fetish, I regret to tell you that maps like Sidewinder will not be included in Halo 2. The best of the winter maps is the first on the list. However, the fact that its completely made up of ramps, hallways, and a center platform really makes it entirely different from the open and wide Sidewinder. Lockout is preferred for smaller games. Games like Capture The Flag aren't really popular in this map due to the lack of open space. However, Lockout is nevertheless, a great map to try out if you are new to Halo 2 and Xbox Live. Each weapon is easy to find, and you should have little trouble getting at least a few kills. Stepping off the edge of ramps will usually send you tumbling down into the snowy abyss. However, Lockout is made up of platforms and ramps stacked above each other. If you ever fall off, just hope that there will be some random ramp below to save you. If not... oh well. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - The Covenant Energy Sword is located in a small alcove along one of the hallways. Holding the Energy Sword can instantly give you a good advantage, but if you surprise your enemy by only whipping it out when you get close (use another weapon to move in), the kill is almost guaranteed. - The Shotgun is located in the green area by the main jumper warp. Camp this location and take advantage of the Shotgun whenever possible. Rain shells down on passing victims. - The jumper warp will be one of the more crowded areas of bigger games. Occasionally, throwing a random grenade down might actually hit someone if not "accidentally" kill someone. - There aren't really too many good sniping points in the game. I'd suggest the Battle Rifle over the Sniper Rifle. - Dual-wielding Magnums is great especially in the tiny corridors as your opponents have less room to react. Aim at the head for maximum lethality. - There are many hallways throughout this map and people like to camp in small alcoves and jump out with Energy Swords or dual-wielded SMGs. Try to stay in the center area and only venture to the hallways to pick up ammunition or to get the Energy Sword at beginning of games. =============== ------------ Ascension -------------------------------------------------------- =============== Judging by the map's name, you can probably expect Ascension to be fairly high in the air. Ascension is a strange map in terms of geographic appearance. Here you are, on a rocky platform extending miles above the ground. Apparently, you are fighting on a constructed platform above a gigantic rock column. Stepping off the side accidentally will send you tumbling down. The only real vehicle you will see is a single Banshee on a platform. Fly it around and you should eventually learn the level's hidden walls. If you master them, using the Banshee will be much more advantageous, although in my opinion, is useless. The only really difficult weapon to find might be the Rocket Launcher. You will have to look below from a side of the level and jump down for it. There, you will pick up the Rocket Launcher and step into either a teleporter or a jump warp. Either way, you can get yourself back to the main platform... or you can simply camp the Rocket Launcher area and take down those that try to pick up the prize. The Sniper Rifle can reign supreme, and if Gun Turrets are set, the middle of the map will become a living hell. The lack of obstruction in the middle of Ascension makes it a prime target for snipers. Also, you can climb to the top of that weird spinning thingy in the middle, but I strongly suggest against it if you don't want to become easy meat for sharp eyes. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - Always be aware when someone takes the Banshee. You should usually hear the familiar roar of a Banshee starting up. If you have a Rocket Launcher on you, lock on and use it. Because the Banshee is the only vehicle in this map, expect to be ganged up on. Then again, having the only vehicle in the map can still be advantageous... just not when an opponent has the Rocket Launcher. - If you are sniping, always keep one eye on the spinning-thing in the center of Ascension. At times, people might climb up there... stupidly. Although you can, just don't. - When going for the Rocket Launcher, watch out for people hiding out there with Shotguns or dual-wielded Plasma Rifles. At the same time, you can perhaps rack up a few kills by camping there and waiting for the crowd. - Short-range weapons are useless when your enemy is 50 feet away. The Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, and Rocket Launcher all work wonders for long-range attacks. - Rockets are very useful for putting those pesky snipers out of hiding. - Against Overshield whores, use the Plasma Pistol (it spawns right by the Overshield). A single overcharged shot can seriously wreak havoc even on those that bear Overshields. I'd suggest dual-wielding a Plasma Pistol and SMG/Magnum combination. - If you use the Banshee to get on top of that fork-like structure, you just landed on an amazing sniping spot. ============= ------------ Midship ---------------------------------------------------------- ============= Midship is actually one of the few "smaller" maps of Halo 2 that are actually fun to play. The Covenant-esque atmosphere adds a great touch to a beautifully designed level. Weapons are strategically placed with a Shotgun placed in the middle and the Energy Sword on the highest possible level. If there's a good weapon there, expect riots to get to it. People like to camp the Energy Sword area. In fact, because of the shaky platform, you can just pick up the Energy Sword and stay up there slicing down any enemies that try to "take" your platform. The lack of any legitimate sniping spots (let alone a Sniper Rifle at all) makes it so that you don't have to watch your every step. Dual-wielding weapons work incredibly well in this map. The Covenant Carbine and Battle Rifle become useless when up against a dual-wielding Plasma Rifle maniac running gun-ho at you in a small hallway. The center area is the largest open area so most of the fighting will be taking place there. The Shotgun is also apparent, so you can expect a few brawls for it. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - If you are going for the Covenant Carbine/Battle Rifle, be sure to isolate yourself from the rest of combat. You can also work as a scavenger by picking off units with lowered shields. - Hoarding the Energy Sword at the beginning of games would be a good idea. Keep it hidden from combat and only whip it out when you catch your enemy in a good position for a quick lunge. - Dual-wielding Plasma Rifles or Needlers is a good idea in this map. The lack of space especially in the narrow hallways makes it so that your opponent will have little place to run. - Spawn killing is always fun. Aim at an opponent while they are stuck with the single Plasma Rifle. While it is cheap, it isn't exactly cheating either so there's nothing wrong with it. - Most combat in this map will be close range (with exceptions to Covenant Carbine/Battle Rifle wielders) so there shouldn't be any snipers around (if you have the default weapon set). Close-range weapons are of course, a good idea. The best man for the job, the M90 Shotgun. - Because games start off with Plasma Grenades (default set), instead of shooting sometimes, you can just stick an opponent and run away like mad. Not only do you get an easy kill, but you also get a medal for "sticking" someone. Don't rely on Plasma Grenade kills however. ================= ------------ Ivory Tower ------------------------------------------------------ ================= Urban in theme, Ivory Tower is one of the few multiplayer maps that actually locate themselves to Earth (at least in terms of appearance). Halo fans finally got one thing that they wanted, a multiplayer map with an urban appearance. The original Halo only had maps of Forerunner areas on the Halo with a few Covenant overtones. Well built, Ivory Tower is one of the smaller maps, but definitely a good one overall. Ivory Tower contains the two weapons for destruction, the Energy Sword and the Rocket Launcher. Both of these gems in terms of combat superiority can be located, but they are hidden behind waterfalls or waterways. Scattered throughout the map, but most apparent in the center are various Rocket Launcher ammunition as only one Rocket Launcher can be active in the game at one point. Likewise, only one Energy Sword can be active at one point. Therefore, if you are caught whipping either of those two out, expect to be rushed. Because of the compactness of the hallways and the open feel of the center area, both short-range weapons and long-range weapons can wreak havoc depending on your position. Therefore, I'd suggest you hold both a Shotgun and Battle Rifle just to be ready for attack. However, getting those two weapons simultaneously without being killed can be a difficulty. Although getting prepared for the worst is a good idea, don't sacrifice your life when you could just be shooting back. The map itself is multi-leveled with an Overshield in the rear section on a sloped hallway. The Rocket Launcher is exactly one story higher than the Energy Sword in a small waterway. The Energy Sword below is just behind a waterfall. This set-up will disallow picking up both of these monstrosities simultaneously. Don't even try to fit yourself through that tiny drain hole either! If you could however, there would be instant access to the Energy Sword. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - The upper and lower floors of Ivory Tower can be a doozy to really memorize in terms of the passageways in and out. However, there is an elevator that you can ride up to all three levels indefinitely. The upper level holds the Sniper Rifle, the middle level holds the Rocket Launcher, and the lower level holds an Energy Sword. Expect crowds in all three for these invaluable weapons. - In the yellow-tinted hallways, there are small rooms that you can enter into. They all hold some Plasma Grenades and the Magnum so you should know which is which. If you have the Energy Sword, you can just hide out there and whip it out against passing foes. Be sure not to move before you hit an enemy to avoid popping up a Motion Tracker. - The "air-warps" scattered throughout the level can take a player to various weapons. Pick up the Shotgun or Battle Rifle by riding up a certain one. This can be used to your advantage by camping on one of those platforms. If you crouch, you are mostly shrouded from a passerby. - The three levels of Ivory Tower also provide strategic placement. If you are using the Sniper Rifle or some other long-range weapon, hop up to the upper level and pick off passing players. If you are holding more "assault"-esque weapons, stay along the lower levels. - The last story is under the middle level's floor so players on the upper level won't be able to see players on the lower level. - If you have the Rocket Launcher, keep it hoarded. Only use it when you have a clear shot. When more ammunition is required, hide the Rocket Launcher and run through the center (where the ammo is located) subtly. The less people know about your prize, the less of a problem you will have. ================== ------------ Beaver Creek ----------------------------------------------------- ================== Beaver Creek is one of two Halo map remakes. You may remember Beaver Creek originally as Battle Creek. The two maps are remarkably similar with exactly the same base locations with a creek running down the middle. Changes include a small revamp in the base layout along with removing the ladder leading up to the two ledges on either side of the map. Instead, ramps are placed there. One powerup change is the Overshield. Instead of being near the two teleporters, it can now be found where the Active Camo was located in the previous Halo. This difference counters those "Overshield" campers that like to stick by teleporters to kill off any incoming foes. Being in the middle of the map, careful planning will be required to take it and use it to the highest possible extent. The Rocket Launcher is still in the same location along with being as difficult as always to pick up. Once again, players will need to climb the strange rocky structure up to the top where the Rocket Launcher can be located. However, due to the lack of fall damage, players won't need to carefully make their way back down the bridge. Instead, they can just jump off without fear of damage. Most of the action will occur in the middle of the map during Slayer or King Of The Hill matches. If you are caught in the crossfire, rush the Shotgun. At close range, it deals incredible damage and holds the capability for one-shot KOs if aimed and used correctly. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - As soon as you see someone pick up the Rocket Launcher, run away to either base. You won't do too well against a Rocket Launcher foe at medium range so wait for whoever is holding it to slowly progress to your position. Then jump out with guns blazing. The closeness of the range will most likely disallow your foe to use his prize and force him to switch off. - The Overshield is good, but don't rely on it too much. Camping in the middle of the map is a very stupid thing to do. Whenever you pass by it, then pick it up. - In larger CTF games, you can lure your opponents into traps by using grenades. The small confinement the hallways provide will be perfect in catching foes with the blast. - Bringing a Shotgun into the bases and camping in a corner will be sure to rack up a few kills. Don't move a lot so you don't appear on other's motion sensors. - "Plasma Pistol + Battle Rifle" combos wreak havoc in this map. Charge up a shot from the Plasma Pistol to quickly take down an enemy's shields. Then pop a quick headshot to put them out of commission. The Plasma Pistol is also a good Overshield-killer as it takes down an entire Overshield with a single overcharge. =================== ------------ Burial Mounds ---------------------------------------------------- =================== Burial Mounds surely wins out in terms of visuals. The sky is full of lively clouds and the atmosphere provides a rich, orange glow. In the distance behind large and deadly rocks, meteors fly and touch down far away. The battlefield is made up of rocky pieces from the destroyed Halo. Hidden within the walls are small hallways leading to big things. Because of the general "unevenness" of Burial Mounds, you probably won't find it too great of a map if looking to play CTF or Assault. Sure, Single Flag or Single Bomb gametypes work well, but there has been a noticeable flaw in the level design. Besides, the Rocket Launcher on a platform will almost always be rushed. Whoever owns the Rocket Launcher in this game really owns their opponent. Scattered on the sandy ground are various weapons ranging from the standard SMG or Plasma Rifle to Shotguns and Needlers. There are a few Ghosts and Warthogs around as well, but the bumpy landscape makes driving through them a treachery. A Warthog stuck on a rock is an easy target for snipers or rocket hogs so only use a vehicle when you have to. People hate this level for some reason. I personally don't find it to be pretty good, but definitely not the worst. Especially when compared to the worst level in my opinion (Foundation), Burial Mounds is actually pretty fun in Slayer or Juggernaut matches. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - No matter which gametype you play, controlling the Rocket Launcher will give you a major edge. Grab at the start of each game and pull off a few kills before everyone else. - The Sniper Rifle is hidden in a hallway. You can choose to grab it, but not too many vantage points present themselves. - While playing, watch out for vehicle drivers. Ghosts are dangerous, but they can easily be caught by the hills or rocks scattered around. Whenever you see a struggling Warthog climbing a hill, chuck a grenade or two and finish them off. - There aren't too many places to camp, but the hallway that holds the Sniper Rifle is a good place to stick around when your shields are down. - Take advantage of the "niches" in the walls of this level. They make great cover. The rocks and pulsating things that are around can be good covers. - In the center-ish area of Burial Mounds is a group of wreckage pieces that appear to make a rib-cage pattern. This is by far one of the better places to take your battles to. Lots of cover here can aid you well. ============== ------------ Colossus --------------------------------------------------------- ============== This is a map that is entirely indoors. Although it looks big, it really isn't too large. Colossus is made up of three floors. Each of them have a conveyor belt system running through it transporting both full and empty tanks of gas. If you shoot the pulsating blue ones, they will explode and usually take out the shields of anyone standing beside one. Down the middle is a very large jump warp. From the very bottom floor, you can hop up to the upper-most floor just by stepping into it. This is a great way to transfer from one end to the other and is even more useful in Assault games. If you are smart, you would be using this jump to your utmost advantage in any team game. One thing that Colossus has that other levels don't is an almost impeccable sense of symmetry. Although it might not be completely dead-on straight, it is much more symmetrical than, let's say, Coagulation? Even the standard weapon set is similar to say the least. If there is a Plasma Rifle in one location on one side, you can bet'cha that there will be another Plasma Rifle in the exact same location on the other side. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - As suggested, use the blue containers to your advantage by shooting them when enemies are near. A full explosion will usually be enough to knock shields out completely which will indefinitely make the job much easier for you. - The conveyor belt systems are all connected with the final belt on the lower floor leading to a bottomless pit. Jump down there and you will fall to your doom. However, the hole in the upper two floors that the conveyor belt leads into simply lead into the next. You can jump through these down to the lower level. - Colossus has a lot of "connections," so to speak. The second floor has two bridges connecting it and there are countless ramps leading up and down. Apart from just jumping over the side to the lower floor, you can just walk down a quick ramp or fall through a conveyor belt hole. ============== ------------ Zanzibar --------------------------------------------------------- ============== The Blood Gulch of Halo 2, Zanzibar has instantly risen from a simple multiplayer map to one of the most widely played Halo 2 levels. Zanzibar's design is very effective and makes it fun in Capture the Flag, Assault matches, and even modest Slayer games. A defending team for Capture the Flag or Assault will have access to the Rocket Launcher before the opposing team comes in. Turrets are optional along the deck and can be used to throw off attacks and mow down opponents as they come. In larger games, tactical strategy will be required to break through an enemy's defense or to protect a base from attack on the outside. There really are no cheap areas to be exploited. The single Energy Sword is hidden in the large wheel-like structure outside. It is located in a niche facing the open sea. One can easily take it down with a grenade or a well placed rocket. However, unless you are taking it inside the structure to cut down unexpecting foes, the Energy Sword won't really be too effective outside. The rocky wall that overlooks the water provides amazing vantage points for those Sniper Rifle users. Zanzibar is not shy with vehicles. Included are Warthogs and Ghosts along the shoreline. If included, a Scorpion can be placed at the base entrance to blow stuff up. Various Gun Turrets along the building deck or the run- down wall can be deadly if a player happens to wander into one's sight. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - If you are playing a team game on defense, have one of your allies take the Rocket Launcher. It plays a major role defending especially against vehicles and its ability to lock on. - When assaulting a base, try to take the upper route by riding the wheel-like structure up. If the Rocket Launcher is right there, you can pick that up while moving. Once at the top, you can simply look down and find a good time to just jump down and capture the flag or arm the bomb. - Scorpions are incredibly cheap vehicles. However, you can easily counter them with a rocket or a well placed Plasma Grenade. If none of those are available at the moment, don't even try to engage the Scorpion if it's in the hands of a good driver. - The Ghost is a great vehicle, but try not to get it stuck in the building area. - When transporting a flag, try to have a Warthog parked outside with a driver so the flag carrier can make a quick getaway. As long as you escape the area, the flag is as good as yours. - The gate-opener is on the upper level. However, if you are playing on defense, don't be stupid and open the gate to make things easier for your opposing team. Once the gate is open, it's impossible to close again until the next round. ================= ------------ Coagulation ------------------------------------------------------ ================= It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Coagulation map included in Halo 2 is a full remake of the original Blood Gulch. Most of the map's elements are still included with two bases in the middle of a box canyon. However, it doesn't have that "desert" feel anymore as more green is added along with rocks jutting out in random locations. Also, the bases have been revamped from a two-floor base of operations to a three- floor monolith. One of the biggest vehicle changes would probably be relocation of the Banshee. Instead of being on top of each base (Halo PC version), it can now be found in the basement of both buildings. Exit would require a driver to fly out of a large opening in the back of each base. The top of both buildings are similar to the original Halo. You will find a Battle Rifle and a Sniper Rifle atop. Apart from the Banshee, there are Warthogs and Ghosts as well. A Scorpion can be located beside each base. Because of Coagulation's open middle section, lots of vehicle combat can be expected throughout. Luckily, there are some Rocket Launchers hanging around of which you can use against those pesky Scorpions. Even better, sending a rocket against an escaping Warthog (that has probably collected your flag) and blowing the utter crap out of it is still as fun as always. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - There are various sniping points, but the best would definitely be the Sniper Rock that can be found on the side of one of the bases. It's easy to notice as it looks like a stick jutting out of the wall (talk about outta place). One can easily get up there with a Banshee, but it is also possible to reach it through a Ghost or a Spectre. You just need to use the boost. - The Overshield can be found in a cave inside a small puddle. The tunnels, as I said, have been revamped to include more stuff. Along the way, you might find a Brute Shot lying around... And we all know how much fun those things are! - A Rocket Launcher is the definitive anti-tank weapon. If you see a player getting into one, send a rocket their way to quickly put that one out of commission. - If you need to get a few kills, take your Sniper Rifle and head over to one of the ledges of tunnels along the side of the level. The added rocks provide cover. Since most of the combat occurs in the middle of the map, aim your barrel in that direction and try to pick off some unexpecting victims. - A Banshee is a good vehicle to use but while flying, remember to watch out for incoming rockets. Banshees are favored by Rocket Launcher wielders. If you are locked, quickly fly away and do some aerial tricks while you're at it. ============== ------------ Headlong --------------------------------------------------------- ============== Headlong is a well-sized map that locates itself to New Mombasa. As a big city, you can expect some pretty big buildings. That's partially true as both bases are inside large buildings. Headlong is pretty wrecked however. Roads are split and crashed vehicles line the streets. In fact, near the center is a large ramp composed of two broken roads. With a Warthog, one can perform some pretty nice stunts on it. This area of New Mombasa definitely has a few vehicles. At one end of the map are two Warthogs placed side by side. At the other end, a Banshee plus two Ghosts appear. Having control of the Banshee will allow a player to fly to whatever building he'd like. Considering the amount of stair climbing required to get to and fro up a building, a Banshee would be very helpful in cutting the time in half. Even so, the Banshee still makes a great weapon. There are two Rocket Launchers in Headlong. One is at one end on a small incline and the other is at the other end. You will find SMGs, Plasma Rifles, and Needlers littering the floors of each building. On the upper levels, you can find Beam Rifles and Covenant Carbines to rain fire down on your opponents below. Most games here can easily be won by just rushing an enemy's base. If you can take advantage of the Banshee first, the game is usually yours. If you ever have the time, explore Headlong. You will find a bunch of signs around. Most noticeably, the "Hog" advertisement which is very interesting to read. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - Gain superiority of the Banshee. However, while flying, watch out for Rocket Launchers down below. A rocket creeping at you from behind can be difficult to avoid. If you know that you're being locked on, fly your Banshee around buildings and try to get the rocket to crash into some wall. - Especially if your team has control of the two Warthogs, rushing an enemy base with two full Warthogs plus wielding a Rocket Launcher or two can easily break through defenses. - The Overshield is located by the strange structure right by the coastline. The team closest to it should immediately pick it up at starting points in games. - The tops of the buildings make for amazing sniping vantage points with the Beam Rifle or Sniper Rifle. Banshee hunters can stick around in those high places and send rockets at an unsuspecting Banshee flying up there. - Don't fall off the edge into the water with a vehicle. Because it won't get destroyed (most likely) and stay stuck down there, the vehicle respawn time will take almost forever. - Camp by the stairs in the buildings. Fragmentation Grenades work very well when thrown at players ascending stairs. It's very difficult to escape dual-wielding SMGs after getting struck by a Frag Grenade. ================ ------------ Waterworks ------------------------------------------------------- ================ Waterworks is a very large level with vehicles galore. To add to the Ghosts and Warthogs, Waterworks also holds the Wraith tank along with a Banshee on the upper deck of each base. The two bases are separated by a large structure in the middle. To get from one base to the other, players must either go through this structure or take a pathway. The structure and the pathway connecting the two bases both have their advantages. The large building has an Energy Sword that can be obtained after climbing a ladder. The decks can be good sniping points if used correctly. The pathway that is closer to the blue base has a Rocket Launcher sitting right there. Blue base players should always grab it before the reds do. Waterworks is one of the few maps where infantry rushes can work depending on the size of the game. One can easily send players through the tunnel and into each base. However, Warthog rushes still work as good as ever. I have found the the Wraith is best left to defend both bases. The Banshee on each deck can also be used for rushes and can help counter Wraith threats. Tips & Strategy ~ =-------------= - Each base has vehicles for a reason. Send a fully packed Warthog in while using the two Ghosts as diversions. When your opponent is busy taking out the Ghosts, send in a Warthog quickly plus a Banshee to provide air support. If you organize your offensives well enough, you can easily take down an enemy team. - The Rocket Launchers plays a big role for infantry rushers. Pick it up if you possibly can before taking the fight inside bases. Take advantage of small rooms by launching a rocket right into it. - The Energy Sword is really only useful when inside the bases. For the game, suggest keeping it hidden until you can actually make use of it. A base defender in CTF or Assault can really benefit by holding an Energy Sword. - Because of the Wraith's large girth, try to keep it as a base defender. If you are in a Wraith, beware of Rocket Launchers flying around. - You can find many sniper locations in Waterworks. One of the best is on the seismic apparatus where you can find a bridge between the two bases. Get a Banshee up there and use it as an incredible sniping spot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.2. Gametypes [7200] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When creating gametypes, the following options are available to you indefinitely: Match Options ------------- [ ] Number of Rounds -- A game can end after a single round, after a fixed number of rounds, or only after someone wins a number of rounds. [ ] Score to Win Round -- Earn points by killing or doing something. A way of earning points is different for each type. [ ] Round Time Limit -- A round can be set to end after a set amount of time has elapsed. Use this to prevent games from lasting too long. [ ] Rounds Reset Map -- A new round can either keep the map in its destroyed state from the previous round or reset it to its original pristine state. [ ] Resolve Ties -- When resolves ties is off a game can end in a tie. When it is on a winner will be chosen based on secondary winning conditions. Player Options -------------- [ ] Max Active Players -- This setting controls how many players are active in the game at once. In non-team games this is total players, in team games players per team. All other players must wait their turn as active players. [ ] Lives Per Round -- The Lives Per Round setting determines how many chances you'll have in the game. Once you're out of lives you no longer respawn. [ ] Respawn Time -- Respawn Time controls the amount of time that a dead player must wait before getting another chance at life. [ ] Suicide Penalty -- When you kill yourself you will have to wait the time specified for Suicide Penalty in addition to any other wait time before you respawn. [ ] Shield Type -- Shield Type determines whether players have energy shields, and if so whether they're normal strength or overcharged. [ ] Motion Sensor -- When the Motion Sensor is turned off, it no longer detects or indicates movement. [ ] Active Camo -- When Active Camo is on all players will be invisible. Firing a weapon or taking damage makes you temporarily visible again. [ ] Extra Damage -- When Extra Damage is on, all players will inflict more damage than normal. [ ] Damage Resistance -- When Damage Resistance is on everyone will be tougher than normal. Team Options ------------ [ ] Team Play -- This setting determines whether this is a team game or a free-for-all. The maximum number of teams for this game is determined by the map. [ ] Team Scoring -- A team's score can be the sum of all its member's scores, the score of its lowest player [minimum], or the score of its highest player [maximum]. [ ] Team Changing -- When Team Changing is on players are allowed to change teams while the game is in progress. [ ] Friendly Fire -- Unwary players can injure or even kill teammates. Friendly Fire can be turned off so that teammates cannot be directly damaged by each other. [ ] Respawn Time Modifier -- This setting determines whether players inherit dead teammate respawn time [inheritance], respawn together at fixed intervals [cycling], or respawn at a set amount of time after they die [none]. [ ] Betrayal Penalty -- This setting determines an additional amount of time a team killer will have to wait before respawning. [ ] Force Even Teams -- When Force Even Teams is on each team will only have as many active players as the team with the fewest players. All other team members must wait their turn to spawn. Vehicle Options --------------- [ ] Vehicle Respawn Time -- Vehicle Respawn Time determines how quickly dead vehicles come back to life. Times are relative to the default settings for the map. [ ] Primary Light Vehicle -- This setting allows you to override the map-specific primary light land vehicle with a vehicle of your choosing. [ ] Secondary Light Vehicle -- This setting allows you to override the map-specific secondary light land vehicle with a vehicle of your choosing. [ ] Primary Heavy Vehicle -- This setting allows you to override the map-specific primary heavy land vehicle with a vehicle of your choosing. [ ] Banshee -- This setting allows you to specify whether Banshees appear on the map that supports them. [ ] Primary Turret -- This setting allows you to override the map- specific primary turret with a turret of your choosing. [ ] Secondary Turret -- This setting allows you to override the map- specific secondary turret with a turret of your choosing. Equipment Options ----------------- [ ] Starting Weapon -- This setting determines which primary weapon players start the game and respawn with. [ ] Secondary Weapon -- This setting determines which backup weapon players start the game and respawn with. A backup weapon is optional. [ ] Starting Grenades -- When this setting is on players will start the game and respawn with grenades. [ ] Weapons On Map -- This setting determines the set of weapons that is available on the map. Weapons on map can also be turned off entirely. [ ] Weapon Respawn Time -- Weapon Respawn time determines how much time it takes to respawn weapons. Times are relative to the default settings for the map. [ ] Grenades On Map -- If Grenades On Map is turned off there will be no grenades available for pickup on the map. [ ] Overshields -- This setting controls whether or not the Overshield powerup is available on the map. [ ] Active Camouflage -- This setting controls whether or not the Active Camouflage power is available on the map. The gametype-only options will be listed along with the gametype. Pre-set games will also be listed along with them. [-----------------------------------------------------------------------------] Slayer ~ =----= Kill as many of your opponents as you can. The player with the most points wins. Here's your classic deathmatch... with a few twists. Not only can you just play a regular free-for-all between as many players as you choose, but Halo 2 also allows you to play with teams or rounds. Likewise, you can change the weapon set to make an all-Swords game or something similar. Although simple deathmatches of free-for-all or classic teams may be fun, you may choose to broaden the Slayer aspect by adding rounds. Tournament-esque games can be created by giving each player one life per round. The winner of that match can move up a tier and the loser gives up their controller, etc. Slayers with Rocket Launchers or Swords can be very chaotic. Likewise, making everyone invisible can be even more fun. Vary your settings to get the best out of this FPS classic. Slayer Options -------------- [ ] Bonus Points -- When Bonus Points are enabled players earn additional points for notable achievements like double kills and killing sprees. [ ] Suicide Point Loss -- When Suicide Point Loss is enabled a player will lose a point for committing suicide. [ ] Death Point Loss -- When Death Point Loss is enabled a player that dies will lose a point. Careful, this can lengthen games significantly! Preset Games ------------ Slayer -- Prepare for a classic Slayer duel to the death. 25 points to win. Team Slayer -- Take on a small team of enemies in a straight Slayer throw down. 50 points to win. Rockets -- Get ready for an explosive game of Rockets. All Rocket Launchers, no motion sensor. 25 points to win. Swords -- Sharpen your Energy Sword and power up your overshields. 25 points wins this game. Snipers -- Steady your shot and aim high. All weapons are Sniper Rifles and there's no motion sensor. 15 points wins. Phantoms -- Everyone has active camo, so watch your back. 15 points wins this game. Team Phantoms -- Everyone has active camo and you can organize into up to 8 teams. First team to 25 points wins. Elimination -- You have one life per round. The last player standing wins a round. First to win 3 rounds wins the game. Phantom Elim -- You have just one life and everyone is invisible. Last player standing wins a round. First to win 3 rounds takes the cake. King of the Hill ~ =--------------= Gain control of the hill to earn time. Keep your opponent off and earn the most time to win. This standard Halo variant is just as fun as the original. Players will do their best to run to the hill and keep it for themselves. To add even more to the chaos, you can try a "moving hill" or make the weapon set full of Rocket Launchers. Before you challenge the hill, try to get some good weapons. When you are on it, just remember that you are most likely the center of attention. Bring some good weapons up there and defend your flank. King of the Hill Options ------------------------ [ ] Uncontested Hill -- When Uncontested Hill is on you can only earn time on the hill when there are no enemies contesting it. [ ] Moving Hill -- When Moving Hill is on the hill will change to to a new random location at the set interval. [ ] Team Time Multiplier -- When Team Time Multiplier is on you will earn time faster when you have more teammates on the hill. [ ] Extra Damage -- When Extra Damage is on a player on the hill will be more powerful than other players. [ ] Damage Resistance -- When Damage Resistance is on a player on the hill will be tougher than normal. [ ] Active Camo On Hill -- When this setting is enabled a player standing on the hill will have active camouflage. Preset Games ------------ King -- Stay on the hill for a total of 2 minutes to win the game. Hill does not move. Team King -- Your team must take the hill and control it uncontested for 1 minute to win. Hill does not move. Phantom King -- Control the hill uncontested to earn time. Everyone has active camouflage and the hill oes not move. 1 minute wins. Crazy King -- The hill moves once a minute. Be the first to earn 2 minutes on it to take the crown. Team Crazy King -- Your team must earn just 1 minute uncontested on the moving hill to take the crown. Oddball ~ =-----= Find the ball and hold on to it to earn time. The player with the most time wins. Here's another classic Halo gametype. It's a bit strange to say the least. The object of the game is usually to hold the ball (basically a skull) for a set amount of time. By adding rounds or making teams, you can make the game even more outrageous. Even so, smacking someone down with a skull is always as fun. Oddball Options --------------- [ ] Ball Count -- This setting controls the number of balls in the game. More balls equals more chaos, but that's not always a good thing. [ ] Ball Hit Damage -- The ball is a weapon. This setting determines whether melee attacking someone with it hurts a little or a lot. [ ] Speed With Ball -- This setting determines the speed that a ball carrier moves in relation to other players. [ ] Toughness With Ball -- When Toughness With Ball is On a player carrying a ball will be tougher than normal. [ ] Active Camo With Ball -- This setting determines whether a ball carrier can be seen by other players. [ ] Vehicle Operation -- If Vehicle Operation is off a player carrying a ball cannot drive vehicles or operate stationary or vehicle-mounted guns. [ ] Ball Indicator -- This setting controls if and when you see an indicator revealing the location of the ball. Preset Games ------------ Oddball -- Get ready for a classic game of free-for-all Oddball. Hold the ball for 2 minutes to win. Rocketball -- This game of Oddball with nothing but rocket launchers is a real blast. Control the ball for 1 minute to win. Swordball -- Tense rounds with swords and no motion sensor. Own the ball for 30 seconds to win a round. First to 3 wins. Team Ball -- Up to 8 teams can go head to head in this game of team Oddball. First team with 2 minutes ball control wins. Low Ball -- Team Oddball with a twist. Everyone on your team must hold the ball for at least 30 seconds to win. Fiesta -- An odd game of ball with random weapons. Earn 2 minutes ball control time to win. Juggernaut ~ =--------= Work together to take down the Juggernaut. Beware, you kill the Juggernaut, you become the Juggernaut, and only the Juggernaut can win. Here's a game which goes back and forth a lot. Players that kill the Juggernaut are awarded with being the Juggernaut, but then everyone will go after that player. The Juggernaut is then required to kill as many as that player can before going down. It's a fast-paced game to say the least. While playing this gametype, expect a lot of action and a whole lot of ganging up on each other. As a Juggernaut, the best word of advice I can give would be to KILL EVERYONE YOU SEE. Juggernaut Options ------------------ [ ] Betrayal Point Loss -- All players that are not the Juggernaut are considered teammates. When this option is on betraying a teammate results in losing a point. [ ] Juggernaut Extra Damage -- When Extra Damage is on the Juggernaut's weapons do more damage than normal. [ ] Juggernaut Infinite Ammo -- When Infinite Ammo is on the Juggernaut will never run out of ammunition. [ ] Juggernaut Overshield -- When Overshield is on the Juggernaut has recharging extra powerful shields. This setting overrides the Player Shields setting. [ ] Juggernaut Active Camo -- When this optino is on the Juggernaut has Active Camo. This setting overrides the Player Active Camo setting. [ ] Juggernaut Motion Sensor -- This setting controls whether or not the Juggernaut has a motion sensor. It overrides the Player Motion Sensor setting. [ ] Juggernaut Movement -- The Juggernaut Movement setting determines the Juggernaut's speed relative to the other players in the game. [ ] Juggernaut Damage Resistance -- When this option is on the Juggernaut is extra tough. This setting overrides the Player Damage Resistance setting. Preset Games ------------ 2 on 1 -- One player is the Juggernaut, the other 2 are teammates. Only the Juggernaut can score and 10 points wins the game. 3 on 1 -- One player is the Juggernaut while 3 others are teammates. Earn 10 points as the Juggernaut to win the game. Ninjanaut -- The Juggernaut has active camo and a motion sensor. You don't, so work together to corner him and take him out. 10 points wins. Phantom Fodder -- You're invisible but you have no motion sensor. You're being hunted, so watch out! 3 rounds wins, 5 points wins a round. Dreadnaut -- The Dreadnaut is an unstoppable beast. Fear him but work together to take him out. 20 kills as the Juggernaut wins the game. Capture the Flag ~ =--------------= Invade your opponent's stronghold, heist their flag, and bring it back to your base to score. A very popular choice in many shooter other than Halo. Basically, you have two teams against each other. Each team has their own flag of which they must protect. Capture the Flag in Halo 2 can be set so two teams are both going for each other's flag or matches that work with one team defending and the other team on the offensive. There are many possibilities you can use here. Add rounds or use outrageous weapon sets to increase the fun. Capture the Flag Options ------------------------ [ ] Flag Type -- In Single Flag there is only one defending team. In Flag Per Team each team has a flag and must play offense and defense at the same time. In Neutral flag there is a single flag that any team can capture. [ ] Sudden Death -- When Sudden Death is enabled a round will not end while a flag is being carried or contested. This can lead to exciting final moments. [ ] Flag At Home To Score -- When Flag At Home To Score is enabled you cannot score a point unless your flag is safely on its flag stand. [ ] Flag Touch Return -- When Flag Touch Return is enabled you may return your flag to the base by touching it. [ ] Flag Reset Time -- The time that must elapse before a dropped flag returns home. An enemy near a flag pauses this timer, an enemy picking it up resets it. [ ] Slow With Flag -- When Slow With Flag is on the flag carrier moves at a slower pace than other players. [ ] Flag Hit Damage -- The flag pole is a weapon. Flag Hit Damage determines whether a melee attack with the flag hurts just a little or is deadly. [ ] Damage Resistance -- When Damage Resistance is on a player carrying a flag is tougher than normal. [ ] Active Camo -- When Active Camo is on a player carrying a flag is invisible. [ ] Vehicle Operation -- If Vehicle Operation is disabled a player carrying a flag cannot drive vehicles or operate stationary or vehicle mounted guns. [ ] Flag Indicator -- Determines if and when you have an indicator showing the location of your flag. Preset Games ------------ Multi Flag CTF -- Defend your flag while launching a coordinated attack on your enemy's flag. 3 captures to win. CTF Classic -- Defend your flag while capturing the enemy's. 3 points to win, flag must be home to score, flag may be returned. 1 Flag CTF -- Take turns on offense/defense. A capture wins a round. Flag may not be returned. Rounds last 3 minutes. First to 3 wins. 1 Flag CTF Fast -- Intense 2 minute rounds of alternating offense/defense. A capture wins a round. Flag may not be returned. First 3 wins. Assault ~ =-----= Carry your bomb into the enemy base and arm it. Once armed, drop it on the enemy bomb post to score. Here's a new gametype that is both fun and fast. Assault is really something you might see out of CounterStrike rather than Halo 2. Your objective is to carry a bomb into an enemy base while your opponent does the same. Once you arm it, run like hell before the thing blows up. Much of the time, the armer blows up with it. But hey! It's still a point. Assault Options --------------- [ ] Bomb Type -- In Single Bomb there is only one defending team. In Bomb Per Team each team has a bomb and must play offense and defense at the same time. In Neutral Bomb there is a single bomb that any team may use. [ ] Enemy Bomb Indicator -- Determines if and when defenders have an indicator showing the location of an enemy bomb. [ ] Sudden Death -- When Sudden Death is enabled a round will not end while a bomb is being carried or contested. This can lead to tense final moments. [ ] Bomb Touch Return -- When Bomb Touch Return is on you may reset an enemy bomb to its original location by touching it. [ ] Bomb Reset Time -- The time that must elapse before a dropped bomb resets to its original location. Getting close to your bomb freezes this time, picking it up resets it. [ ] Bomb Arm Time -- The time it takes to arm the bomb after you've carried it inside the arming zone near the enemy bomb post. [ ] Sticky Arming -- When Sticky Arming is on you can pick up a partially armed bomb and resume arming it where someone else left off. [ ] Slow With Bomb -- When Slow With Bomb is on the bomb carrier moves at a slower pace than other players. [ ] Bomb Hit Damage -- The Bomb is a weapon. Bomb Hit Damage determines whether a melee attack with the bomb hurts just a little or is deadly. [ ] Damage Resistance -- When Damage Resistance is on a player carrying a bomb is tougher than normal. [ ] Active Camo -- If Vehicle Operation is off a player carrying a bomb cannot drive vehicles or operate stationary or vehicle- mounted guns. Preset Games ------------ Multi Bomb -- Defend your base while trying to deliver your bomb into the enemy's base. 3 successful bombings win. Single Bomb -- Take turns on offense/defense. A successful bombing wins a round. First to 3 wins. No bomb return. Rounds last 3 minutes. Single Bomb Fast -- Intense 2 minute rounds of offense/defense. A successful bombing wins a round. Bomb may not be returned. First to 3 wins. Neutral Bomb -- There's just one bomb that starts in the middle. Use it to bomb the enemy base 3 times to win. Blast Resort -- You have just 1 life and no motion sensor in this single bomb game. 10 seconds arming, 3 minute rounds, first to 3 wins. Territories ~ =---------= Find and control territories on the map. The more territories you control, the faster you earn time. Territories is similar to King of the Hill, except it uses multiple territories which you can capture and hold. Your opponents have the ability to contest your territories and re-capture them. The more available territories, the faster your time meter goes up. Win with more time. Territories Options ------------------- [ ] Territory Count -- This setting determines the maximum number of territories on the map. Note: Not all maps have this many territories. [ ] Contest Time -- Territory Contest Time determines the amount of time it takes to undo someone else's control of a territory. [ ] Control Time -- Territory Control Time determines how long it takes to gain control of a neutral territory. Enemy territories must first be contested, then controlled. Preset Games ------------ 3 Plots -- There are just 3 territories. Earn 3 minutes control time before your opponents by owning a majority of them. Land Grab -- Own a majority of territories to earn 5 minutes control time before your opponents. Gold Rush -- Grab your pistol and load your shotgun! 2 minutes wins a round. Rounds last 3 minutes. First to 3 rounds wins. Control Issues -- Bring out the big guns to fight for control of just 2 territories. Everyone has overshields, 5 minutes control time wins. Contention -- There's just one territory on the map. Work with your team to control it for two minutes to win. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.3. Look & Feel [7300] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When creating a Player Profile, you have access to all of the following options: Controls ~ =------= This section allows you to change your controller settings including look inversion and all that jazz. Pick the settings that suit you the best and provide the greatest control. Everyone is different so don't think there's some sort of "definitive" setting. Appearance ~ =--------= This is a fun thing that has been revamped with Halo 2. Now instead of just being able to choose your colors, you have the option to choose insignias and logos. Also, secondary colors are available to make your character as outrageous looking as possible. Voice Output ~ =----------= During Xbox Live, you will be using a headset to talk with the rest of the gamers. Set your Voice Output settings here. Voice Masking ~ =-----------= This is for Xbox Live users exclusively. Choose to mask your voice to other players or not. Online Status ~ =-----------= This option allows you to toggle in-between appearing not signed on or appearing signed on. Subtitles ~ =-------= Subtitles are only used in the campaign and cooperative mode. During cutscenes, you will see them at the bottom if you choose to turn this option on. =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 8. Miscellaneous ~-~ [8000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ All the stuff that doesn't seem to fit anywhere else can be found here. Have fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.1. Easter Eggs/Glitches/Tricks [8100] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crouch Jump ~ =---------= To crouch-jump, first jump and then hit the left thumbstick to crouch. If you do it right, your character will jump slightly higher than usual. Grenade Jump ~ =----------= Usually, one will need to grenade jump to get to higher areas of levels (otherwise inaccessible). Throw a grenade and jump as soon as it explodes. The explosion will hurl you higher than you usually could jump. Sword On Outskirts ~ =----------------= There is an Energy Sword hidden amongst the rooftops of the level, Outskirts. It can be very difficult to find and even more difficult to describe. At the start of the level, move through until you reach the hallway. Above the broken elevator is a light. Crouch-jump onto it and turn left. Look up and crouch-jump to the rooftop. You should be facing the courtyard where the first real skirmish would have occurred. Spin 180 and move to the right side of the ledge. Jump from there to the hidden ledge on the other side. Walk a bit to find an invisible wall. However, don't fret yet. Hug the right wall and face the left wall. Throw a grenade and jump when it explodes to hopefully land yourself on the roof. Turn right and jump down toward the smashed highway at the bottom. Walk to the opposite side of this hallway and jump onto the end post that juts out. A crouch-jump could work to bring you up to the orange roof, but if you'd like, use a grenade jump. Now on the roof, walk forward and hop onto the white things in the ground. Get onto the higher roof. Look toward the Hotel Zanzibar and walk toward the sign. In the roof is a blown out portion. Jump in to find an Energy Sword sticking in the ground. The rocks are arranged in a "REX" pattern. Scarab Gun ~ =--------= One of the biggest and most talked about easter eggs in Halo 2 is the special Scarab Gun. The Scarab Gun appears as a Plasma Rifle on-screen, but once unleashed, the damage is incredible. This hard-to-find gun can be found in the level Metropolis. However, getting to it can pose quite a difficulty. At the very start, begin by killing off the Marines that join you. Get in your Scorpion and begin riding down the bridge as you normally would. Shoot out the Ghosts leaving no enemies alive. Destroy the Wraith and basically kill everything you see including the Marine/s you find about halfway across the bridge. At the end of the bridge, kill off everything here as well EXCEPT for one Banshee. Keep that Banshee alive. From here, you can either walk or drive the Scorpion into the tunnel. However, there is a catch. Have the Banshee follow you. Whenever it turns around after a pass, wait there for it to turn around again. Eventually, you'll get far enough into the tunnel so the Banshee will not try to go back outside. It will continue to follow you. Pretty soon, you'll reach the half-open tunnel area with a bunch of enemies hanging around. The Banshee should stick around while you fight them off, but keep an eye on it. Pass the area with the congested cars filled with Covenant. When you finally reach the pipe leading out, lure the Banshee into the hole. Get behind it and push it through the other opening. This is a loading zone. Wait for the screen to say "Loading..." and quickly hijack it before loading is complete. If you successfully do it, the Elite will disappear and the Banshee is yours. Now that you're in the open, fly it upward toward the building with the bridge-like thing connecting the two. At that area, you'll find a Plasma Rifle floating above a stand. Pick it up and have fun. Unlocking Foundation ~ =------------------= To unlock this hidden multiplayer map, simply update Xbox Live onto your Xbox. An alternate way would be completing the campaign's last level performing AT LEAST three special Banshee stunts. Conveyor Belt Problem ~ =-------------------= In the multiplayer map Colossus, if you get killed on the conveyor belt system, you will begin to move along with it. However, the conveyor belt moves faster than your body does. That's quite an interesting glitch right there. The Hippo ~ =-------= When Halo: CE was still the big thing, Bungie set some Halo hunters out on a treasure hunt. The objective: find a Hippo. Well, people did manage to find the Hippo on the shotgun shell. In Halo 2, you can find the same Hippo. First, head to Headlong and find a yellow- tinted inside a building. It has a few designs on it. The panels will have all Hippos. Also in the panels are CDS-MA9 along with a phrase, "PART OF THE SOLUTION." Very strange indeed. Halo 2 Demo Posters ~ =-----------------= At the Outskirts startup, there are various posters on the wall. Some of them feature the Master Chief from the Halo 2 E3 demo along with various Grunt heads. These same posters can also be found in the multiplayer map, Foundation. Floating Warthog ~ =--------------= In the level Delta Halo, when you have to bring down that bridge to cross the chasm, you can have some fun with a Warthog. First of all, try to take out that pesky Wraith on the other side. Then, park your Warthog right where the bridge will lower, although not on the actual bridge "area." When you lower the bridge, the Warthog will get scrunched up, but won't actually move. When the bridge lowers all the way, you will find the Warthog floating. Sword Cancel ~ =----------= A well-known trick that can be used to get into many areas is the Sword Cancel. First, you must lock onto a target. Then quickly tap B+X and your Energy Sword will become "cancelled" without dealing any damage. Blink If You Can Hear Me ~ =----------------------= On the level Outskirts, you start off the level groggy and Cortana usually says something to wake you up which is different for every difficulty. On Easy difficulty, she says something along the lines of "You all right, Chief?" On Normal difficulty, she says "Hey, wake up." On Heroic difficulty, she asks "Talk to me, do I start CPR? What's going on." And finally on Legendary difficulty, she says "Blink if you can hear me." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.2. Skulls [8200] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I separated the Skulls from the main easter eggs section as it really is a very broad subject. Thanks goes out to UltimateGamer5000 for providing the resources. Unknown Skull ~ =-----------= Level: Armory Difficulty: Legendary Description: After the marine in the armory tests your shields and Johnsons comes, just wait. Johnson will say different things, wanting you to get in. After he says, "Would it help if I said please?" get in the elevator. While on the tram seat, move forward so you're touching the window facing Earth. Hold X. After you pass a pile of crates, which the skull is on, you will have picked up the skull. Effect: This skull will cause the Covenant to know your location, even when you have active camo. Thunderstorm Skull ~ =----------------= Level: Cairo Station Difficulty: Legendary Description: After you take out the second room of Covenant boarding the ship, the new chapter, "Priority Shift" will appear at the bottom. Shortly after this you will go to the armory where you will have to take out a couple of Elites. The next room is "Commons B.01" ( a large room with trees and a window at the end on the second floor that has a Plasma Turret. The skull is on the highest ledge behind you, above the doorway where you enter this room. Take out all the baddies and proceed to the window with the turret. jump to the left onto the ledge from the window. you will notice several diagonal supports that lead up to two thin rails that run the length of the room. Make a well timed jump/duck from one of the diagonal beams to the rails. Follow the rails all the way to the other end of the room and you will see a ledge on the left with a trashcan. In between the trashcan and the wall is another cigar! Knock over the trashcan to reveal the "Thunderstorm" skull. Effect: This skull will make all Grunts and Elites into Spec-Ops. It will give all Jackals their orange shields, and all the Flood will have shields. Blind Mode ~ =--------= Level: Outskirts Difficulty: Any Difficulty Description: Right when you start out the level, after your vision clears, head into the door straight ahead. If you look up, you'll see a rectangular light right across from you. Using the crouch jump, jump up and then crouch jump up to the roof to your left. When you get out, turn left and you'll see a long, dark hallway. Go down and you will see a skull, some grenades, and a camera. Pick up the skull by holding X. Once you pick it up, your screen will flash and the word "Blind" will appear in the corner of the screen. Effect: This skull will cause your HUD and weapons to become invisible. Your flashlight will also not work. The camera right behind the skull might possibly indicate that this skull is used to take screenshots or something. It is also heard that it might mean "Search 4 Skulls" because of the camera thing being what the Marines use to scout ahead, the four grenades, and the skull. I Would Have Been Your Daddy Skull ~ =--------------------------------= Level: Outskirts Difficulty: Legendary Description: Get 7 checkpoints and make sure Sarge gets in the Pelican. Get on top of the level one way or another and after the part where there are millions of snipers, there will be two balconies opposite each other with laundry hanging on them. In the righthand one, there will be a Sniper Rifle, ammo, and a pool of blood. When you pick it up you are teleported to ground level and have to face off 6 waves of Elites, they go like 1 Elite, then 2 Elites, 3 Elites, 4 Elites, 5 Elites, and finally 6 Elites, when you kill all of them the skull will take effect and it will say "I Would Have Been Your Daddy." Effect: Effect is still unknown. Occasionally, the skull doesn't even appear at all. Catch Skull ~ =---------= Level: Metropolis Difficulty: Legendary Description: When you come to the Large semi-domed area with the Scarab in the background and the 8-10 snipers, go to the middle of the area and grenade jump and walk up the big structure to where the two towers connect. go to the left tower and walk around it. you will find a skull at the end of the walkway. Effect: This skull will cause your enemies to throw many more grenades as well as dropping more upon dying. Grunts Birthday Party Mode ~ =------------------------= Level: The Arbiter Difficulty: Legendary Description: Progress normally untill you reach the Banshees. As soon as you are in one, fly straight down to the bottom of the station. You will see 3 massive cylindrical thrusters. Fly down to the middle one and circle the upper portion of the cylinder until you see some Grunts dancing in a circle. The Grunts are in an area where the cylinder connects to the horizontal support beam so they are somewhat hidden under the support. Once found land near the Grunts and pick up the GBP Skull. Effect: This skull causes every enemy that you headshot with a projectile weapon (exp. Magnum, BR, SR) they will explode like a grenade, damaging everything around them. Famine Skull ~ =----------= Level: Oracle Difficulty: Legendary Description: After you've killed your first few Flood, you'll come to a room where there is breakable glass separating you from a battle between the Flood and the Heretics. You have to go down there to continue through the level, as after a set amount of Flood are killed here, the Heretics open a door so you can continue. Then, if you stay at the bottom floor of the "glass room" and stand on the lower part of the pillars that hold the glass on the second floor, and shoot the glass, you can crouch jump up to the OPPOSITE side that you first entered the room. Up here, there is the skull, surrounded by four mutating Flood. Effect: This skull causes all preset weapons that are picked up to start at half ammo, like the ones that fall from the sky in those pods. Envy Mode ~ =-------= Level: Delta Halo Difficulty: Legendary Description: Progress until you reach the area during the "Push through the Covenant held ruins" where you have to clear a landing zone for the Pelican to drop weapons. You'll know you are in the right area when Cortana tells you, "They're pouring out of the center building." That area has Plasma Turrets along its borders. A little bit after the left side Turret you will see the outline of a door in a wall, but the door has a solid rock slab in it and a rock in front of it. Jump on the rock then jump to the ledge above the door then jump on the ledge to the left. Now jump onto the building with the sealed door using a crouch jump. Atop the building, you will find two dancing Elites and the "Envy Skull." Effect: This skull will enable you to use Active Camouflage like the Arbiter. Assassins Skull ~ =-------------= Level: Regret Difficulty: Legendary Description: Immediately after the gondola ride following the battle with the Hunters, there will be a building with two Turrets on it. Enter the building and turn to your right. There will be a box. Jump on it. From there, jump to the adjacent light fixture, then to the ledge. The ledge leads to the area with the two Turrets. Once there use a grenade jump to get onto the roof area. then, using crouch jumps and grenade jumps, follow the right side perimeter of the building. Once you have gone as far as you can go you will find a small, grassy area with, on Legendary, two cloaked dancing Elites and the "Assassins Skull." Effect: This skull will cause all enemies to have Active Camouflage. Mythic Skull ~ =----------= Level: Sacred Icon Difficulty: Legendary Description: There is a semi-outdoor area which has the same type of area right next to it. There is an Enforcer in front of each one. Go past this area and down the piston and you'll be in a very dark and dank Flood-infested area. There's a stack of 6 or 7 boxs as you enter the room, use them to jump up to the right ledge that is floating above a dead Human Flood in a vent. Effect: This skull will make human vehicles stronger. Sputnik Skull ~ =-----------= Level: Quarantine Zone Difficulty: Legendary Description: From the start of the level, look to your left for an Elite. To the left of the Elite, there is a tunnel. Head into the tunnel and go straight until you reach a cliff. Now turn left and follow the cliff until you reach a rock wall. To the right of the wall and the cliff is a narrow passage. The skull is at the end of that passage. Effect: Causes explosives (such as rockets, tank missiles, and grenades) and plasma shots from Ghosts and Banshees to have more force, and can knock you around more easily. It also gives your melee some more force so that you can push around large boxes. Anger Skull ~ =---------= Level: Gravemind Difficulty: Legendary Description: Fight all the way through the Covenant city until you reach the outdoor area. As soon as you are outside, stick to the right-hand side and walk along the wall. You should see a Covenant wall thingy with a red rail on it. Jump up to it (crouch jump helps) and at the end, there is the "Anger Skull" in a small grav-lift. Effect: This skull will cause the enemies to fire at a faster rate, but the effect won't be very noticeable on Legendary difficulty. Ghost Skull ~ =---------= Level: Uprising Difficulty: Legendary Description: After the outdoor area with all the ghosts, there is an L-shaped room that is seen throughout the level. It is right after the "armory" room. Grenade jump up to the rafters and it should be up there. Effect: Effect is still unknown. Iron Mode ~ =-------= Level: High Charity Difficulty: Legendary Description: When you enter the final gravity lift, look up. A skull will pass through you very quickly so you must start holding "X" a bit before you actually pass it to grab hold of it. Once you grab the Iron Skull, "Iron Mode" will be activated. Effect: This skull will make it so that on co-op, there is no respawn on ANY difficulty level just like the standard on Legendary. Blackeye Mode ~ =-----------= Level: The Great Journey Difficulty: Legendary Description: When you get a Banshee and defend the Scarab to the place that Johnson blows up the door, fly above it and onto a railing, don't go too far on it or it will send the Banshee flying. Now jump out. You should be on the railing of which if you look up, is aiming towards the middle of the big facility. Now go down a rail and head onto the spherical structure part and head to the pillar opposite of the one you were on; you can just walk on up and it is there. Effect: This skull will stop your shield from regenerating. When you melee someone and kill them, you get energy power back. So if you melee someone to death, you get a little bit of shield. So you can get a bit at a time all the way to overshield! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.3. Resources [8300] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below are various sites that you can visit for Halo/Halo 2 resources. Whether you are looking for fan-art, screensavers, wallpapers, stories, movies, forums, or just something to do in your free time, check out the below sites: [http://www.fileplanet.com/] Download Halo/Halo 2 resources here. You can actually find a Halo multiplayer PC demo including Blood Gulch. However, you have to be a member (the basic package still allows you to download). [http://www.gamespyarcade.com/] Play Halo online? Download GameSpy Arcade and play on their servers if you'd rather. [http://www.bungie.net/] Here's Bungie's official site. A very resourceful site in which along with various features, you can also check Xbox Live statistics of your account if you play online. [http://www.haloplanet.com/] A gigantic Halo resource. Run by the guys at GameSpy Arcade, it is quite a site. Look for videos, downloads, and the forum. [http://www.halo.bungie.org/] Quite possibly the biggest Halo/Halo 2 resource on the internet. You will find a mother load of downloads, videos, and easter eggs around. Various contests are held here often and the forums are very populated. [http://www.rampancy.net/] Standard resource. FAQs, guides, and a lot of other stuff. When you are bored, take a gander. [http://www.redvsblue.com/] Here is the home of the creators of the popular internet video, Red vs. Blue. Download various videos and watch them all. [http://www.subnova.com/] Although SubNova.com covers FPS in general, it is still a good resource to head to. While you are there, look for information on other amazing shooters as well. =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 9. Version History ~-~ [9000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ Version 0.1 - Weapon & Vehicle list completed. Various sections have been started and whatnot. Although very incomplete, you should have a general idea on what this FAQ will cover. Walkthrough is completed up to Outskirts. 108 KB Version 0.2 - Some multiplayer information has been added. Most noticeably, Outskirts has been completed. Expect Metropolis + Other Stuff to be completed in next update. 148 KB Version 0.3 - More missions in the walkthrough. I promise to start, if not finish the multiplayer section by next update. That basically means the Look & Feel section. Also expect (finally), additions on the Easter Egg directory. 199 KB Version 0.4 - A slight format change to the guide. Multiplayer section is completed. 228 KB Version 0.5 - The walkthrough is now completed through Regret. 255 KB Version 0.6 - Two more missions completed in the walkthrough: Sacred Icon and Quarantine Zone. 280 KB Version 0.7 - Walkthrough is completed through Gravemind. 300 KB Version 0.8 - Uprising mission completed. Expect the guide to be completed in full by the next one or two updates. 312 KB Version 0.9 - High Charity mission completed. The last mission should be done by next update. 321 KB Version 1.0 - Entire walkthrough completed. I will get to doing the Skulls eventually with thanks to UltimateGamer5000. 332 KB Version 1.1 - Skull information has been added. 348 KB Version 1.2 - Added http://www.honestgamers.com to the site listings. 348 KB Version 1.3 - A bunch of new additions were added to the Easter Eggs/Glitches/ Tricks section. 352 KB =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 10. Legal Disclaimers ~-~ [10000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ This guide is under full copyright 2004 Quan Jin. It shall not be altered, reproduced, published, sold for profit, etc. without the written and expressed permission from this guide's rightful owner. If you feel the need to violate copyright law and break these rules, I will be forced to perform legal matters on you. If you shall wish to use this guide on your site or use any non-opinionated tidbits of information, it is essential you contact the author. If I find that a site is hosting this document without recalling any permission given to them, I will take action against the offender. Currently, the below sites will not be granted permission no matter what (with thanks to Red_Pheonix's FAQ Theft Guide for the list): [http://911codes.com]-----------------------------------------------[911 Codes] [http://www.9lives.ru/eng/]-------------------------------------------[9 Lives] [http://www.bean.dk/psx/index.htm]---------------[Bean's PlayStation Dimension] [http://www.cheatcc.com]-----------------------------------[Cheat Code Central] [http://cheatindex.com]-------------------------------------------[Cheat Index] [http://cheatmatrix.com]-----------------------------------------[Cheat Matrix] [http://cheatsearch.com]-----------------------------------------[Cheat Search] [http://www.panstudio.com/cheatstop/]------------------------------[Cheat Stop] [http://games.netscape.com/Faqs/]-----------------------------[CNET Gamecenter] [http://www.consoledomain.co.uk]-------------------------------[Console Domain] [http://kirby.pokep.net]--------------------------------------------[Dreamland] [http://www.gamesdomain.com]-------------------------------------[Games Domain] [http://www.gameexpress.com]-------------------------------------[Game Express] [http://www.megagames.com]-----------------------------------------[Mega Games] [http://www.square-haven.net]------------------------------------[Square Haven] [http://www.flatbedexpress.com]-------------------------------[Ultimate System] [http://www.videogaming.net/]---------------------------------[VideoGaming.Net] Keep in mind that this list is not permanent. It will change every once in a while when action is taken. =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ~-~ 11. Credits and Closing ~-~ [11000] =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ This guide has been dedicated to GameFAQs' most prominent contributor, Kao Megura (or Chris MacDonald). You may be gone but you will always be in our hearts. ~ RIP ~ "This world is spinning around me... This world is spinning without me." ~ Dream Theater (Pull Me Under) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltimateGamer5000 - Much thanks to UG5000 for allowing me to use his Skulls FAQ as a resource. Anon Anon - Thanks to Anon for a small, yet useful addition to the Waterworks Tips & Strategy. Steve Ludwinski - Thanks to Steve for a small, yet useful addition to the Ascension Tips & Strategy. Halo 2 Manual - All the relevant information I needed is sitting right here. Thanks to the manual for being a great reference for the lifespan of this FAQ. GameFAQs - The largest FAQ archive on the net. Thanks to CJayC for accepting this piece of work. He hasn't failed us yet. Y.T.W.S.R. - Only a few selected people might know what I'm talking about here. Since I'm not one to give it away, I would still like to thank this group for their support and motivation throughout the lifespan of this entire FAQ. The FCSB - They didn't help too much but what can I say, where would I be without a few of them? Major props to these great board members who are also prized FAQ writers. Some examples being; Crazyreyn, Psycho Penguin, Gbness, Karpah, SinirothX, Meowthnum1, Guitarfreak86, Joni Philips, War Doc, Merca, and last but definitely not least, Gobicamel1. You all rock! http://www.network-science.de/ascii - The wonderful ASCII generator I used for my signature at the bottom. - All outside sources which have contributed to the making of this guide in some form have been cited in this section. Any sources that have provided any information at all are listed in the credits. I am not taking credit for others hard work and I hope they do the same. Not giving proper credit is plagiarism and it's against the law. =============================================================================== ____ __ _ __ __ / __ \____ ______/ /__ | | / /___ _____/ /____ _ __ / / / / __ `/ ___/ //_/ | | / / __ \/ ___/ __/ _ \| |/_/ / /_/ / /_/ / / / ,< | |/ / /_/ / / / /_/ __/> < /____.'\__,_/_/ /_/|_| |___/\____/_/ \__/\___/_/|_| -= Game on Forever =-