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Gameplay Tips

This level is one of the longest in the game, but the majority of it is relatively painless.  There are, however, a few sections that can be really difficult.  One of the keys to making it through this level is keeping good weapons in your possession.  Power weapons, such as the Spartan Laser, Fuel Rod Gun and Hammer will play a major role in how quickly and easily you finish each encounter.  Often times, the weapons you bring to a fight will end up being the best ones available.

The Silent Cartographer 2

• There are a few enemies up close that need to be dispatched, but the rest are across the stream.

• Your first priority should be to take out the turrets that are keeping your Marines pinned down.  The best way to use the Laser is to figure out where your target is, and let the Laser charge up while you’re in cover.  Then, expose yourself just long enough to take the shot.

• I typically move up on the right and use grenades to knock the shields out of a Brute or two, and then finish them off with the BR.  Use the Laser if you have to, but try and save some shots.  Watch out for the group of Grunts that will come up and start hurling plasmas at you.

• If you’re shooting the Chieftain from afar with your BR, be sure to keep your back far enough off of the wall so that the splash damage from his FRG doesn’t get you.

• As soon as all of the enemies are taken out, get to the AA-Wraith quickly before it turns around and starts firing at you.

• Of course, you’ll want to drive the Warthog.  I highly suggest picking up the Chieftain’s FRG and giving it to the Marine who is riding shotgun in your ‘hog.  And try and give the Laser to the Marine riding passenger on the Mongoose.  Remember that Marines don’t use ammunition while holding weapons, so you can pass these things off to them to get use out of them while not losing any ammunition – this is always helpful with short-use weapons such as the Spartan Laser.

• There are some Ghosts and small encampment up ahead, but nothing that your crew shouldn’t be able to handle.  Just keep moving and let your Marines do their jobs.

Tower One Base

• There are some Ghosts that will attack you as you enter the area; but don’t stop for too long, because the Wraith down below is hurling mortars at you.

• There are two Beam Rifles located in a weapons crate right at the entrance to the area, but I typically don’t use them.  Your Marine FRG/Laser combo should be enough.

• The important things to remember are to stay moving and be aware of where your enemies and your cover are.  Just use hit-and-run tactics, and be sure to keep your FRG Marine positioned closest to the enemies that you’re engaging.  Make a quick run out from behind a rock, and immediately head back to cover.  The Fuel Rod Gun packs a punch and you can take out almost everything here with it.  My Laser Marine doesn’t usually last too long, though.

• It gets rough when the Prowlers come out.  Try and anticipate their arrival and be ready to move behind cover.

• If you feel like you need to, move back up to the Beam Rifles and take out the gunners on the Prowlers.

• The Brutes around the battlefield usually drop a lot of grenades… these will work well for clearing out the tight corridor leading into the tower.

• The Pelican that flies in drops off plenty of ammunition.  You can grab the shotgun and more BR ammo – or you can take one of the power weapons back from your Marines.

Tower One

• There’s a cloak to the left of the door that leads into the interior of the tower.

• If you want to be really tricky with things, then there are two crates stacked on top of each other on the left that you can use to bypass everything and hop straight onto the elevator.

• Otherwise, nothing too special in here.  Remember to be mindful of your cover and fall back when needed.  And one tactic to keep in mind with Brutes is that when you’re fighting inside a Bubble Shield, try to position one “wall” of the shield in between you and the Brute and melee him to death.  Because the shield separates you, he typically won’t fight back (I think his AI is telling him, “There’s a Bubble in the way!” so he doesn’t even melee.  Once he loses his armour and berserks, then he’ll start attacking, though).

• I honestly have mixed results with using the cloak to assassinate the Chieftain.  Sometimes he simply will not let me get behind him.  If he does, then you’re in luck, since you can assassinate him before he uses his invincibility and take it for yourself.  What I’ve found myself doing lately is using the Spartan Laser to take out his pack, and then taking pot shots at him until he deploys the invincibility.  After that, he’s fair game.  I recommend grabbing and holding onto his Hammer after he’s dead.

• A few Grunts and Jackals are waiting back down at the bottom… no Brutes, though.  A grenade or two should clear them out.

A Flock of Birds

• This part can be a lot of fun if you don’t try and rush through it.  Keep your distance and don’t let yourself get surrounded.  It doesn’t take much to take out the Banshees, but it doesn’t take much for them to take you out, either.  Your fire is much more effective from long ranges, so just keep your reticule red and keep firing your machine gun and your missiles.  Remember to wait to deploy your missiles until the reticule is red.

• Remember to aim for the white turbines on Phantoms to take them out quicker.

• Do as much damage as you can with your Hornet before you land.  There are two Anti-Air Wraiths, two turrets, and a ton of Brutes.  Do what you can with the Brutes before the Elites get there – otherwise, most of them will get wiped out and you won’t have many allies inside the tower.

Johnson’s Mess

• A pack of Brutes await you at the entrance, but in such a small space, a plasma or two will dispatch all of them.

• A large group of Drones will come out when you move toward the center of the next interior space – so be ready to take cover.  These guys can be rough… if you have a Bubble, deploy it.  Otherwise, use whatever cover and weapons you have to keep exposing yourself long enough to take shots at them.  And let your Elites do some damage.  They seem to do a good job with their Plasma Rifles.  Don’t move into the corridors on the sides until you’ve taken enough of the Drones out… otherwise, they’ll swarm in and overwhelm you – there’s no cover in those corridors.

• There are a great number of Brutes in this tower… keep your distance when you can and use what grenades are available to you.

• The Chieftain at the top is guarded by Brute Stalkers, which is good, since these guys are pretty weak.  They hardly ever attack quickly, so I’d recommend grabbing one of the Maulers in the crate on the right and Mauler/melee’ing them.  There are two plasma grenades that you can use, as well.

• The Stalkers will usually drop fire grenades that you can use against the Chieftain.  I’d advise hitting him once with the Hammer and then throwing a fire grenade.

• The Flood that appear in the top room shouldn’t be a problem for your Mauler and Hammer.

• When you get down to the base of the shaft, there will be a few Flood already engaged with your Elites.  Don’t get surrounded by them – let them come to you and you can use one of your close-range weapons to take them out.

• The door that leads back outside will open and a lot of Flood will enter… try to time a grenade so that it explodes right after the door has opened.  You can take out almost all of these approaching enemies this way.  There are a few left in the hallway sometimes, but nothing dangerous.

Journey’s End

• Take the tank.  The first encampment of enemies that you reach contains a Prowler and a Brute Chieftain with a Fuel Rod Gun.  Take out the Prowler first, but then you’ll immediately want to work on the Chieftain.  Leave yourself some moving room, so that you can attempt to dodge his plasma blasts.

• The key to this next area is taking out enemies before they see you.  Anything you can see is fair game – platforms and turrets, especially.  And be careful not to let yourself get at an angle where you’re higher in elevation than an enemy, since the tank doesn’t have a good downward attack angle.

• When you reach the Wraith, I’d advise noting his mortar attack timing, and exposing yourself accordingly to be able to take shots at him.  Beside him is a turret, and above him is a Brute with a Fuel Rod Gun, so if you get too close with all of them still alive, you’ll get killed.

Double Trouble

• Again, take the tank. This encounter can be one of the most enjoyable in the game – until you realize that you will, at some point, need to actually beat it.

• I recommend going up the middle and attacking the Scarab on the left, first. Pick a leg and start taking shots at it as soon as you can. You’ll need to learn the timing of the Ghosts that enter, so you can take them out with missing a beat. Circle around back behind the Scarab as you’re working on its leg, so that you’re not directly in between both of the Scarabs. Once the Scarab has been downed, find an angle that allows you to shoot core with your tank.

• When you head toward the second Scarab, watch out for the Prowler. He tends to come from the left. Alternatively, you can head under the ramp/bridge area, and that will delay the Prowler’s spawn for a bit. And now, same thing with this Scarab – pick a leg and work on it, stopping when you must, to take out a Banshee or Prowler.

• Once I take out the second Scarab, I usually head for the safety of the ramp structure to let my shields recharge. Sometimes there’s a Ghost or Banshee left and it’s a huge pain to get killed after you’ve taken out the last Scarab.

An Unlikely Alliance

• You’ll need to suppress your first instinct, which is to kill the Flood.

• After taking out any immediate enemies, you’ll need to work on the Grunts with the Fuel Rod Guns… they’ll keep you pinned down and under heavy fire as long as they’re alive. Hitting them with grenades may be your best bet.

• One very helpful technique that I use in this section involves the regularly placed walls that you find on this bridge. These walls have a transparent section in the middle that you can crouch behind and have a completely protected view of the action ahead. You can use this trick to know when it’s time to jump out and fire.

• The Flood actually aren’t much help, yet. Once you’ve taken out the enemies in this first area, though, they’ll infect some of the Brute bodies and then be able to assist you.

• If you can take out the Chieftain before he deploys his invincibility, then you’ll be able to pick it up and use it later.

• Be sure to stock up on Fuel Rod Gun ammunition. You should be able to load up to capacity!

• There are a couple of notable issues that will need to be taken care of in the next section: first, there are jet-pack Brutes that will quickly move to your location. Watch out for them. Next, there’s a Brute with a Carbine that will fire at you practically continuously. He will obviously need to be dispatched before you can move around freely. Then, there are the Grunts with the Fuel Rod Guns. Keep in mind that your FRG blasts arc downward over time; you should be able to hit the Grunts from afar. There are a load of Brutes, with nothing that two dozen Fuel Rod blasts can’t take care of.

Escape!

• Alright, for the boss battle with the Gravemind, you’ll need to… oh, wait.

• Keep your eyes open for any weapons and equipment that would be useful. Shotguns, especially, and Regenerators, can be very helpful.

• As always, don’t let yourself get surrounded. Take care of enemies as you encounter them.

• If you have the invincibility, then use it to make a run for it. You can get pretty far, and most of the Flood will be too engaged with the Sentinels to follow.

• This final run really isn’t nearly as hard as it could be. There aren’t that many Flood, and the Arbiter and the Sentinels help immensely.