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NewOldbie · Dec 23, 2003, 12:53 PM

Am at the very end of "Board the Battle Cruiser."

The supply ships keep dropping off more *&^!@_)($ and I can't seem to stay alive long enough. I've made it through 3 supply drops but end up getting killed.

Do I have to disable the drop ship? I don't see any hidden areas that I must go (checkpoints).

Thanks for help.

JustinD · Dec 23, 2003, 03:49 PM

The level name doesn't ring a bell... are we talking, when you are in the open near the big alien ship called the Truth and Reconciliation, and you need to get aboard (to rescue Keyes) using the big blue gravity lift but waves of aliens keep dropping down?

If so, just hop on one of the gun turrets near the ridge, and just keep blasting them suckas as they come down.

If not, can you be a little more descriptive about where you are exactly?

Luca Rescigno · Dec 23, 2003, 04:31 PM

Sounds like you're at the middle part of Truth And Reconciliation, outside the gravity lift. This is one of the hardest parts of the game. On Legendary, you have to fight off no less than ten waves of very strong, very accurate enemies without any checkpoints. I found the best way to beat this part was to hang back towards the entrance to the area. Move forward a little and enemies will start dropping down... then move back and take cover behind the rocks. I like using the plasma pistol in charge mode to take down an Elite's shields, then drop him with a few more shots. Make good use of the enemy's weapons here but don't get rid of the sniper rifle. Personally I find the plasma pistol to be pretty good if you get good at firing it very rapidly (I'm used to the XBox version). Also, the normally-lame Needler is good for taking down Elites. Fire a whole clip into an Elite and watch him fly.

Good luck and don't give up! Once you've killed all the normal aliens, you'll get a checkpoint, fight two more special aliens, and then go up into the ship.

macenthusiast · Dec 23, 2003, 06:58 PM

don't worry, the game gets much much harder.

NewOldbie · Dec 23, 2003, 07:31 PM

Yep, I'm trying to get abord the Truth and Reconciliation to rescue Keys.

I guess I just need to keep blasting the aliens as they are dropped off? How are you guys staying alive sitting in a turret? I get my butt blown out of the seat

This morning I was trying to lure them back to the entrance where I can use rocks and so forth for cover.

Okay, back to more head bash'n.

PJW · Dec 23, 2003, 08:40 PM

Become really accurate with grenades. Frags are good to take out the the groups of the smaller weak guys, and the plasma grenades can do some serious damage to the Hunters if you manage to get one to stick.

Don't stay in one spot for too long, because you will be flanked. Keep on the move and keep on the lookout for targets of opportunity.

bimmerphile · Dec 23, 2003, 09:40 PM

hit the bigass guys that shoot green at you (with the spikes) in teh very center section with the sniper rifle. 'Should drop em every time.

Camali · Dec 24, 2003, 12:18 AM

I hope someone can help me with this, I'm in the Library and at the last part where I believe are the last doors to be opened by the robot (or whatever) and I got one health left and 2 grenades and 1 round of ammo left, but this is before all the flood pops out of the door and I having a hard time beating them.

Should I restart the level? Any easier way than to restart?

NewOldbie · Dec 24, 2003, 12:36 AM

Guys, thanks for the help. I stayed back by the entrance and cleared the checkpoint.

Now I'm playing with the two hunters (ugh).

Camali: Maybe somebody else will jump in you're much further along the game than I am

Tulkas · Dec 24, 2003, 10:40 AM

Originally posted by Camali:
I hope someone can help me with this, I'm in the Library and at the last part where I believe are the last doors to be opened by the robot (or whatever) and I got one health left and 2 grenades and 1 round of ammo left, but this is before all the flood pops out of the door and I having a hard time beating them.

Should I restart the level? Any easier way than to restart?

Depends on the hardness and where you actually are (lotsa doors).

I'd use a grenade to kill off any masses of the little guys. Then, if need be, whack off one of the big guys for his gun and retreat. If this is actually the last part there'll be two guys perched either side of the door, take out the one on the left.

Might be able to back-track and pick up a health pack or ammo.

Tip: I find the plasma weapons and pistol work better on the little buggers.

HotSoup · Dec 25, 2003, 08:56 PM

I'm confused, what is the level called that is right after you disable those 3 generators by walking into them? There is a big hole in the ship you are on. You jump down the hole and land in water. Is this the level?

Arkham_c · Dec 25, 2003, 09:13 PM

If there is a Covenant drop ship, throw a grenade in the troop bay as it lands. You can kill most of them before they can get off the ship.

Also, know plasma grenades stick to the guys if you hit them Often they will run to their buddies, blowing them up too.

Grenades are absolutely necessary to complete the game, especially when you get to the Flood.

Bostic · Dec 26, 2003, 12:32 AM

Originally posted by HotSoup:
I'm confused, what is the level called that is right after you disable those 3 generators by walking into them? There is a big hole in the ship you are on. You jump down the hole and land in water. Is this the level?

That is level 9, 'Keyes'. Where you fight some flood and have to fall down the hole and land into the coolant. For a challenge try and not go down that whole and clear out the flood until there are no more. Pretty hard since the shotgun rounds are few.

JustinD · Dec 26, 2003, 01:32 PM

REGARDING THE LIBRARY:

Keep the Assaault Rifle (AR) and the Shotgun (SG) and you're set. You really need the SG to get through the Library at a decent pace - it'll drop the human Flood types in one shot to the 'head'.

Spray the parasite Flood with the AR, use the SG for the human Flood, and use grenades to nail the carrier Flood. Use the environment for cover, and don't forget that when faced with a flood of Flood, to walk backwards while shooting. Lots of people forget they can walk backwards!

When you get to that last door, behind which is the Index, there are tons and tons of Flood. Make use of your frag grenades to disrupt the initial flood (hahaha) of Flood, take out any human Flood with weapons with the SG, and concentrate your AR fire on the carriers. If you pop the carriers with the AR, the blast will also take out any parasites around it.

Also, for the Library as a whole - walk carefully. Every time the Flood come along, out of the vents and such, you are almost guaranteed that there will be at least 2, sometimes as many as 5, waves of them. So sit tight, keep blasting and picking up weapons, and don't move on until you're sure they're all dead.

Also, keep your eye open for the times when you can just RUN PAST the waves of Flood to a checkpoint or elevator.

Also, let the Sentinels help. Hang back and let them take out whatever they can.

Also, sometimes the best way to deal with the waves of Flood is to keep your back to a wall - this way, they can't come at you from behind. If you keep your rear covered, they obviously will only come at you from the front. It sounds obvious, but you can easily forget this in a firefight.

Also, the big human Flood types can and will get up after being blasted, so make sure to tag them after they go down with a few rounds from your AR.

Hope that helps!!

Daytonaaaaa · Dec 27, 2003, 07:37 AM

And one tip on dealing with the flood carriers:

Run straight toward them (!), and then jump OVER them, and keep moving away. The carrier will settle down and burst after you jumped over them, and the explosion from the carrier could be helpful to damage a few enemies around it. Not to mention you don't have to waste precious ammo on the carrier.

Daytona

Luca Rescigno · Dec 27, 2003, 01:16 PM

Actually on many parts of The Library I find it easiest to just keep moving past. Some parts have many waves of flood that eventually all die, but other parts have a continuous stream that never ends and you just have to move on. There's a pretty tough part in Level 9 where you're in some corridors and endless waves of flood appear to all sides of you. You have to just keep moving on and go through the waves of them, otherwise they'll eventually wear you down and you'll die.

JustinD · Dec 27, 2003, 03:20 PM

Actually on many parts of The Library I find it easiest to just keep moving past. Some parts have many waves of flood that eventually all die, but other parts have a continuous stream that never ends and you just have to move on.

That's actually incorrect - every Flood wave in the Library (and indeed throughout the game) ends eventually. It may be after 3 to 5 waves, but it is never endless. Depending on the difficulty level, it may be in your best interest to stick around and eliminate them all - if you don't cross a load point after running through the Flood, and you end up running into MORE, the remaining ones you did not kill can sneak up on you. This is especially true in the Library and the second time you board the Truth & Reconcilliation.

HotSoup · Dec 28, 2003, 09:53 AM

I'm on the last level, where you have to throw those grenades into those schafts.

It's really repetitive and frustrating. especially when you have to spend 5+ minutes mowing down Flood. it just gets boring

RevEvs · Dec 28, 2003, 03:58 PM

I just did the gravity lift part, i just found that standing at the entrance and waiting for them all was best. just stood behind the rock that the checkpoint starts at and kept shooting.

revs

polendo · Dec 29, 2003, 04:35 PM

On the floods , always take your time and look for open spaces against a wall were you can see them coming to you. Its easier to shoot them down that way.

On the dropships: go after after them! as soon as they open their doors throw a granade inside the ship... that way you kill a hell lot of the bad dudes.

Also, you might try to kill the elites et al first. The small guys can easily be killed later.

good luck

Arkham_c · Dec 30, 2003, 09:49 AM

Anyone notice that the flood seems impervious to the sniper rifle? I don't get that.

timster · Dec 30, 2003, 04:06 PM

On the gravity lift part before Truth & Reconcilation, if you've made it this far with most of your Marines alive, (or can trigger the marine ship drop before the enemies come down)...

You can board the turret gun near the gravity lift and just keep pounding the enemies as they come down the gravity lift. The marines will stay around your turret and provide assistance.

A few things to keep in mind.

1) The marines being present serve as an distraction to the Convenant and are the only reason the Convenant aren't blasting you off your turret, so make sure they stay alive throughout. See next two tips.

2) For the love of god, don't blow up your own guys. Watch where you're shooting and that a marine doesn't get in front of you.

3) Take out the Elites first. Focus your turret fire on them and knock out their personal shield. The marines can usually kill the Elite on their own after this.

Take out the Jackals (guys with shields) next. Then mop up any remaining Convenant before the next wave. By this time, they probably will have climbed up the hill near you and your marines.

So be careful about shooting - its far better to let the marines take em out than accidentally dealing damage to your own guys.

SpaceMonkey · Jan 7, 2004, 11:38 AM

Originally posted by Arkham_c:
Anyone notice that the flood seems impervious to the sniper rifle? I don't get that.

I think it's along the same lines as why the shotgun is incredibly effective against the Flood, and why some of them get back up after you "kill" them. The game portrays the Flood as a sort of parasitic hive race that takes over your body from the inside out, thus, the converted host bodies require massive trauma to actually kill the parasites that animate them. Lots of tiny , relatively slow shotgun pellets ripping through flesh will do that, but a single supersonic bullet probably won't.

That explanation doesn't quite hold up to real world ballistics, but I think that's the game's logic, anyway.

Luca Rescigno · Jan 7, 2004, 12:46 PM

That's also why the pistol, which uses explosive rounds, tends to be very effective against the Flood.

timster · Jan 7, 2004, 03:18 PM

Agreed, the pistol is a far better weapon than most would give it credit for.

If you haven't learned the trick to bring down hunter-killers with one shot, you're wasting an awful lot ammo there.

KeyLimePi · Jan 7, 2004, 04:56 PM

uh...I'd like to learn that trick.

And am I the only one that uses the melee on the flood carriers? I hate wasting ammo on those little guys. I only shoot them if they are in groups of five or more (that way when one pops it takes out several). But when the come at me two or three at a time I just punk slap 'em with the butt of whatever weapon I'm holding. **POP**

'Course, I still play in 'Don't Hurt Me' mode.

timster · Jan 8, 2004, 09:09 AM

There's more than one way to accomplish this, but the way I find most effective is to just let the hunter-killer charge you, and then it will duck down low and attempt to hit you with a uppercut. Back up just out of his range when he starts to swing up. Of course, you'd want to make sure you've got room behind you to back up, not a wall, or one of those rather frequent 5000-foot chasms.

When the hunter-killer swings up, the orange fleshy part of his belly is exposed. Now with your trusty pistol (the sniper rifle would work here too, I think), just pop him in the orange part and watch him crumple over.

Need to have steady hands and nerves.

You can also cap em in the orange part on their backs if you can sneak around em. But I'm more of the type to go nose-to-nose with my enemies.

Luca Rescigno · Jan 8, 2004, 11:15 AM

The Hunters (Hunter-killers? Where did you come up with that name?) are so easy to kill with the pistol. The problem is there is no pistol on level 3, but there are plenty of Hunters. I usually use a combination of the assault rifle (great for that level, with all the corridors) and melee attacks to bring down the hunters when I don't have a pistol with me.

timster · Jan 8, 2004, 11:29 AM

I dunno. I was told that a bit ago, but the bungie.com site seems to refer to them as just "Hunters".

Some more tips on Legendary.

1. A overcharged plasma pistol shot followed by a quick swap to the pistol w/ a head-shot before the Elite recovers from the stun is the best way to kill an Elite, especially on Legendary. Ignoring the fact that some people are able to tag em with a plasma grenade without a problem. I'm obviously not one of those people.

2. Retreat is the better part of valor.

3. Needlers are also effective against Elites. A full clip is required, and there can't be any barriers that the Elite could retreat behind.

4. Assault Rifle is only good against the Flood (and only barely). Shotgun is your friend, really. Don't carry the AR anywhere else in the game.

5. You can fire the shotgun in the middle of reloading. Make it a habit to reload whenever theres a lull in the action.

Ghoser777 · Jan 11, 2004, 05:35 PM

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
The Hunters (Hunter-killers? Where did you come up with that name?) are so easy to kill with the pistol. The problem is there is no pistol on level 3, but there are plenty of Hunters. I usually use a combination of the assault rifle (great for that level, with all the corridors) and melee attacks to bring down the hunters when I don't have a pistol with me.

I think at that part, I always use the rocket launcher.

Where did I get such weaponery you ask? Maybe it's just me, but I always use to go back the long way after disabiling the security system and hearing that the one ship has crashed. Cortana will tell you that this ship was bringing heavy weapons to deal with the Hunters. Right when you come out of the structure where you disable the security, you can jump down the side of the hill and take out some of the shield guys and pick up some ammo, a health pack, and the rocket launcher. That makes taking out the Hunters much easier.

I spend way too much time playing

Matt Fahrenbacher

Gee4orce · Jan 13, 2004, 10:01 AM

Another tip - this is something to do when you're mucking around after completing the game.

Try the Silent Cartographer level - when you get the the entrance to the underground structure, load up with a Warthog and two marines: park it up out of grenade range and the marines will give you covering fire whilst you deal with the Cov guarding the entrance. Once they are dealt with, drive the 'hog down the corridor, round the corners and down the ramp to the room where the Cov lock the door - now if you are really fast you can drive up to the door and leap out of the 'hog, fly through the door before they lock it and therefore bypass about 70% of the level

!! Even if you are not fast, that chain gun makes short work of the Cov.

The best I've done is to get the front of the Warthog wedged under the door when it was closed - the damn thing was totally stuck, and would not come out at any cost, even the back wheels were off the ground !

Why, oh why didn't Bungie add a simple Botmatch styler one-player game ?! I just love mucking about with the Warthog !

Arkham_c · Jan 13, 2004, 02:15 PM

Bungie's physics engine is the greatest. I think they borrowed heavily from Myth and Myth II, because the bodies seem to fly in very similar ways.

They could easily make a racing game from Halo's engine. I personally love the scorpion in MP games -- nothign so cool as rolling out to sea on Death Island, turning around the turret only (so your head is not exposed to the shore's snipers)and blasting away. It's so much fun. The Banshees lack enough nuance to make a good flight sim, but it wouldn't be a stretch to design a plane to work in the engine that would be a good flight sim item.

ender2002 · Jan 13, 2004, 05:54 PM

Hunters are very easy to kill. I have beaten the game on Legendary, (extra scene is great).

The weak spot is not the belly, it is their back. When they charge you, dodge their blow run around to their back and melee attack! The hunter will die on the spot. Otherwise, just shoot the Hunter in the back with the pistol or AR.

BTW, the pistol is the BEST weapon in the entire game.

Gee4orce · Jan 14, 2004, 02:25 AM

After more messing about last night I've found you can turf out one of the marines manning a Warthog - just go up to, say, the rear and press the action key to man the gun; the marine will dismount first, and you can then quickly drive off before he gets back in

This is handy if you know that you're going to meet some resistance ahead, and you gunner is in bad shape. You can kick him out and then find a more healthy marine to act as gunner.

timster · Jan 14, 2004, 03:32 PM

Shooting the hunter in the belly on the front is just as effective as shooting em in the back, and u dont need to get all fancy w/ running around them.

Just let em charge you, wait for it to start it's uppercut, step back two and by then the Hunter will have missed you with it's upswing, with it's belly wide open, and just oblige by popping it right there.

At least, thats what I find the most effective.