6: The Ark
Installation 00
Objective: Eliminate hostile antiair units
Follow your troops through the cave towards the high vantage points, and use your sniper rifle to take care of the Brutes in the lower clearing. Your squad mates will take care of the Grunts, leaving you responsible for the sniper shots. After you’ve killed them, proceed down into the clearing and through the small cave. It’s the same situation again at the entrance of the cave — stay back and sniper at the Brutes, while your squad handles the resistance. Pick up supplies such as Plasma Grenades from the bodies, as you’ll need them to fight the two Hunters.
Drop down to the clearing, position yourself to come up from behind the Hunters, and stick them with a Plasma Grenade from behind. Try to get the grenade close to their orange skin, since that will cause the most damage. Once you’ve killed off these baddies, drop your sniper rifle in favor of a Brute Shot, which you can find on a Brute. Follow your squad up the side of the cliff, proceed into the cave and into the metallic base structure.
 Is this Marathon?: In the base, enter any door at your nine o’clock, and interact with the alien terminal to get a refresher course of a design narrative for an early Bungie game. |
Equip your Brute Shot and proceed through the door at the end of the hall. Walk up to where your squad mates and help them fight off the Brutes and Grunts. Also, Brutes will show up driving two Prowlers, so be ready for some vehicular combat. Once you’ve killed them off, pick a Prowler or a Mongoose, and grab the rocket launcher in the wreckage of the Pelican dropship. Don’t equip the rocket launcher yet, but hang onto it for later. Whichever vehicle you do not pick, your squad mates will mount and drive along beside you into the upcoming fight.
Whichever vehicle you choose, your squad mates will operate the vacant one.
Make the jump over the sand dunes, and engage the Brutes who fancy themselves as motorcycle jocks driving new Choppers. Grab a Chopper, not just because they look cool, but because they have the ability to fire while driving, something the mongoose lacks unless you have a marine in the back seat firing at your enemies.
Drive along the face of the cliff towards the large door to the Forerunner’s installation, where you’ll see Sentinels shooting at the Covenant forces. Now that this pathway is cleared, turn around and follow Sgt. Johnson’s Pelican to the next location. If you can, get your hands on a Prowler, fill it up with marines, and give one of the marines your rocket launcher. Situate the marine in the side gunner seat of the prowler — now you’re ready to take on the Covenant Wraiths and antiair units.
The Prowler is one of the best vehicles in the game, especially since you can stockpile it full of marines.
On the large clearing, your objective the antiair wraiths are on the far edge of the clearing, protected by Wraiths, Ghosts and Covenant. As long as you keep your team in one piece while driving around in your Prowler, you dispatch the enemy in no time at all. Just don’t drive off the sides of the cliffs. Now, sit back and watch Commander Keyes show you how to land a Frigate.
Forward Unto Dawn
Objective: Lead friendly armor through the wall
Walk to the back of the Frigate and pick a Scorpion Tank. As you proceed back to the Forerunner’s installation door, let the marines in the other Scorpion Tanks fight the enemy resistance. You’ll encounter some heavy fighting up ahead, especially from Wraiths and dropships, of which you can destroy in four hits from the Scorpion’s cannon.
Get your boys inside and through the forerunner installation.
Guilty Spark will open the door for you. It’s all on foot from here, so hop out of your tank, and flip the switch to extend the bridge, allowing the rest of your battalion into the structure. Follow Guilty Spark through the structure until you come out the backside. A scarab will walk right by and a marine will bring a Warthog right up to your feet. Hop in the back and take control of the Warthog turret, while the marine drives you to the next destination.
Objective: Locate the cartographer
You’ll be thrown into another battlezone. Ditch the Warthog and control a Scorpion Tank. Take out the Wraiths as soon as you can, and make your way towards the scarab conveniently waiting for you.
Shoot out the canon on top of the Scarab, to neutralize its effectiveness.
In your tank, aim for the legs. And as soon as it hits the ground, jump into the back and make your way to the shield barrier. Shoot it until it’s destroyed, then shoot at the matrix core until it starts flashing red. Now, flee from the explosion.
And boom goes the dynamite!
Hop in any available Warthog you can find, drive up the ramp, and enter the door.
Real Men Don’t Read Maps
Follow Guilty Spark and the Arbiter through the inner workings of the structure. There will be light resistance from Covenant forces, a cakewalk in comparison to the earlier parts of this level. You’ll come into a large open area with a control switch. Guilty Spark will tell you to hit the switch to activate the cartographer. Cue cut-scene.
Objective: Head downstairs for evac
Follow Guilty Spark and back into the installation. Dispatch any resistance you come across from the Grunts or Brutes. Once you take out a Brute with a Brute Shot, pick it up, and use it against the only “hard” battle in the level — an Elite Brute wielding a plasma turret. Use the Brute Shot from a safe distance to inflict a significant amount of damage on the Brute. Pick up the plasma turret off the Brute and proceed through the open door.
The plasma canon will make short work of the Brute Chieftain, and if he gets too close, toss a few Firebomb Grenades at him.
Navigate through the hallways until you spot a gathering of Brutes, complete with six Brutes in jet packs and one Brute Chieftain. Take out the Chieftain first, so you can pick up his Gravity Hammer from its body. Now use the Gravity Hammer to take out the remaining Brutes in jet packs.
Now with the Gravity Hammer in tow, thanks to taking out the Brute Chieftain, these flying Brutes stand no chance against you.
Wait for them to land and jump in close, landing a solid hit with the Gravity Hammer. Once they’re killed, hop into the back of the Pelican and the mission is over.
7: The Covenant
Trident
Objective: Deactivate first barrier tower
Woo hoo! You have the Spartan Laser! Find cover behind the rocks and peep out just enough to fire a solid shot at each of the turrets firing on your squad’s position. Use the remaining shots from the Spartan Laser to take out the Brutes on the other side of the stream. If you have any shots remaining, use them on the antiair Wraith, otherwise pick up a grenade, hop on the back of the Wraith, and throw the grenade into the driver’s seat.
The Spartan Laser is fantastic in taking out heavy artillery such as a turret.
Follow your squad to the place where the Pelican dropped off a Warthog and Mongoose. Mount up and roll out through the cavern, and face off with two Ghosts and a turret. Once that’s done with, it’s time to be more selective on your vehicle choices. For instance, a Warthog with a full crew would be ideal at the end of the cavern, since you’ll face off with a Wraith. So, get your crew mounted on the back gun and get into the driver’s seat.
Jump the little gap and follow the rocky wall around in a half circle, to ram into the turret.
This open lakebed area offers a fun stunt route against the enemies. Once you come down the hill, hug the right side of the pathway and follow it over a small jump. Stay on the pathway, keeping the rocky wall to your right. Follow this pathway around in a large loop, which should position you to ram into a plasma turret, sending you flying back down to the ground level to face off with the Wraith. Concentrate all of your firepower on it and the remaining enemies. Wasn’t that fun?
A Pelican will drop ammo for you. We loaded up on shotgun and Battle Rifle rounds before proceeding into the structure. Hop back into the driver’s seat on the Warthog, and plunge into the entryway at the base of the tower to take out the turret and Grunts. It’s all on foot from here.
Infiltrate the base and take out the petty Grunts.
Go through the small doorway, navigate the tower’s passageways, and kill any Covenant resistance you come across. Be sure to pick up a Brute Shot along the way; you’ll need it later. Eventually, you’ll spot a large elevator platform, made active by hitting the control switch.
Take the elevator platform up to the Brute’s room.
At the top of the elevator lift is large room full of Brutes and a Brute Chieftain. Equip your Brute Shot, pick up the Spike Grenades from the Covenant weapons cache on the side of the wall, and unload it on everyone in the room. Hit the control switch to power down the shield generator.
Objective: Deactivate final barrier tower
Sgt. Johnson failed to deactivate the tower. Guess who has to pick up the slack? That’s right: you! Go back outside where you’ve parked the Warthog, and drive it back out the way you came in, to the beach landing, and hop into the seat of Hornet.
If You Want it Done Right…
Fly the Hornet towards the air battle taking place ahead of your location. Your primary targets should be the antiair Wraiths on the ground, the Banshees, and the Covenant dropship — in the order. Once the targets are eliminated, take out the remaining resistance around the entrance to the final tower. Land the Hornet and proceed inside.
Take out all of the antiair Wraiths so your forces can penetrate the structure.
The structure layout is identical to the tower earlier, except now you have to deal with Brutes, drones and Hunters, rather than the weaker Covenant forces. So yeah, it’s a pain in the butt. Kill everyone, then take the elevator up to the large control room.
The Brute Chieftain will be equipped with a plasma turret, and not the standard issue Gravity Hammer.
Yes, you have to battle grunts. Again. This time, however, they can turn invisible, which obviously makes them a little harder to shoot. To spot their locations, find the apparitions in the air and open fire. Next, tackle the Grunt Chieftain with a detached plasma turret. Be cautious in your approach, though. Consider grabbing one of the Needler’s from the Covenant weapons cache on the wall, or a duel-wield Mauler’s off the bodies of the Grunts. It’s up to you; just kill this guy and hit that shield control switch. Cue cut-scene.
The Maulers only work well at close range, so wait until the Flood lunge at you before opening fire.
Reacquainted with your friends the Flood, it’s time to high-tail out of here. Consider duel wielding a pair of Maulers right now, since they’re as powerful as shotguns, dealing significant damage. Once you exit, rendezvous with your ship dropship and pick up a Scorpion Tank and a Warthog. Time to breach the citadel.
Journey’s End
Objective: Breach the citadel
We decided to go with the Warthog in this section, placing the Scorpion Tank as our back up. Why the Warthog? Because of its plasma gun. Plus, it has great maneuverability through the narrow chasm up ahead, a great trait for avoiding fire from various Grunts. Also, once you exit the chasm and you spot the citadel, there are all sorts of stunt jumps along the mountainous pathway, which you can use to jump into turrets and enemies (incidentally, this makes awesome videos for you to upload).
If you’re having trouble shooting at the turrets, consider ramming them with the Warthog.
Towards the end of the pathway, you’ll hear, from the communication speakers, that Hornets are inbound. This would be a good time to stop, hop out of the Warthog and into the pilot seat of one of the Hornets.
Two Scarabs Battle
Approaching the scarabs from the ground, like in the previous encounters, is simply superfluous work. The Hornets work out great against these walking behemoths. Here’s why.
The missiles on the Hornets are pretty damn powerful. With a couple of shots on the legs of the scarabs, they’ll slow down and drop to the ground. Once the scarab is wounded and has dropped to the ground, position yourself behind it and shoot out the armor plating guarding its power core.
Take out the backside of the Scarab to reveal its core.
Knock out the core and you’ve just taken down a scarab in under a minute. Now, get the other one. Once they’ve both been taken out, land your Hornet and join the Arbiter at the base of the citadel and run inside.
Revelation
Objective: Stop Truth from firing the rings
Revelation is an all out race to stop Truth. Allow the Flood to run ahead of you and the Arbiter, letting them to deal with the heaviest of the fighting against various Brutes. Meanwhile, you should trek forward along the platform towards Truth’s location. Once you get there, sit back and watch the cut-scene.
Objective: Escape the Flood
Jump into the blue tinted vent to escape.
Well that was a short lived truce, wasn’t it? Start kicking ass and backtrack to the entrance towards the lift. Drop through the blue colored vent shaft near the lift to end the mission.
9: Halo
Full Circle
Objective: Find the control room
You start the level along side the Pelican that you’ve just crashed into Halo. Pick up a Battle Rifle and a Shotgun from the wreckage and proceed towards the large cave.
Search the crash site for weapons.
Just after you get past the wreckage there will be two secrets that you can get before proceeding with the level.
Mythic Skull
As you enter the first cave you come across, watch the right wall. Just after you pass a boulder there will be an offshoot in the cave. Take this offshoot and use your flashlight and you will find the skull at the end of the tunnel. |
Terminal After you pass through the cave look to your right. You will see a steep hill with some structure sticking out from the snow. Head up the hill, jump to the structure and head inside, you will find a terminal. |
You’ll drop down a few levels as soon as you come out of the cave. You will then exit onto a large snowy plain, where Flood infested troops will drop in from the sky.
How did the Flood learn to use drop pods? Don’t ask, just shoot!
Fight your way through the Flood and then proceed along the path to the right of the tower in the center of the plain.
The Flood will do all they can to stop you from reaching the structure.
Once you get to the end of the pathway, you’ll start the arduous process of looping around the tiers of structure. There’s a flamethrower at top of the ramp on the first level of the structure. Take it and proceed.
The flamethrower: the bane of the Flood.
Sentinels |
The Sentinels are not your enemy! Just let them be as they fight the Flood. If you see one die though, don’t hesitate to pick up their Sentinel Beam weapon. |
As you loop around the first level of the structure, you’ll notice the rain of Spartan Lasers. Don’t worry; it’s not targeting you. Sgt. Johnson is up on the cliff off to your left, helping you out.
Sgt. Johnson + Spartan Laser for the win!
Fight your way up through the remaining floors, and then prepare for one heck of a fight at the top. You’ll have to wait for the Monitor to open the large doors to the control room. Stick close to the doors and fight off the Flood. Once you see a loading screen, you’ll know that you have succeeded.
Hold out against the flood of…Flood.
Sgt. Johnson will join you as you run to the control room. Follow him and the Arbiter down a series of hallways, none of which have enemies. (They’re marked by blue arrows if you get lost.)
Sgt. Johnson joins the group.
Eventually you’ll enter through another door where a cut-scene will start, showing the Monitor attacking you, the Arbiter, and Johnson.
You must destroy the red eye.
At the end of the cut-scene you will be given a new and obvious objective.
Objective: Kill the Monitor, activate Halo
Shoot the Monitor with whatever weapons you have, dodging its particle beams and timing your shots. It puts up a shield that appears to give temporary invulnerability.
The Monitor uses two attacks: one is a shield and the other is a Sentinel Beam.
After taking a bit of damage to him, the Monitor runs away and Sgt. Johnson will offer you his Spartan Laser. Take it and shoot the Monitor three times, killing it.
Three shots is all it takes from this hulking gun.
With the Monitor dead, a cut-scene will start, showing Johnson’s death and you using Cortana to activate Halo. And when the cut-scene ends, it’s time to run like hell!
Run and don’t look back.
The Way the World Ends
Objective: Get to the Frigate
As you run the way you came in, you will be attacked by a horde of Flood. Only shoot as many as you need to clear a path. Run!
Don’t stop, just run and gun.
As you exit the structure that housed the control room, take an immediate right up the icy cliff, to the pathway that Sgt. Johnson used to shoot the Spartan Laser. At the top of the walkway is a shotgun, so grab it and proceed to the blue arrow on your HUD.
Take the shotgun; it will help.
When you reach the blue arrow, you must run through another structure filled with Flood and Sentinels, who are now battling one another. Again, you’re only priority should be to shoot enough that you can keep running, so never stay still for too long.
Keep running.
Proceed to the next blue arrow that Cortana has put onto your HUD. At the end of this arrow will be Sgt. Johnson’s Warthog. Mount up and put the pedal to the floor.
The Warthog is your only chance to escape the blast of Halo.
It’s time to test your driving skills. It’s up to you to guide the car on a path that won’t get you killed. Drive across the exploding tiles until you come to a large structure. Here you will have to follow the red pathway on the ground.
Follow the red road.
When you reach the end of the structure, you will drive through another series of exploding tiles. Stick to the center and you should be OK.
Stick to the center here and the tiles won’t fall before you.
You will enter a large corridor at the end of the tiled path. Stick to the middle of the corridor as long as possible, returning there for the corridor’s final length. If done correctly, you’ll perform an awesome jump through a ball of fire.
The center path is definitely the most rewarding.
Exiting the corridor, you’ll enter another large structure, not unlike the one you drove through previously. Follow the red lines of the structure until you come to another pathway of exploding tiles.
Lots of red roads; lots of repetition.
Drive towards the blue arrow and then, when it moves, head to your right and take the ramp over the gap and to the next set of tiles. After landing the jump, take a sharp left, jumping to a structure with a red path. Follow the red path around the structure.
This is the last of these structures, promise.
Next, head into the second large corridor. Stick to the right for the first jump, then cut to the center and get to the far left. Ride this out until the end of the corridor.
First, take the right ramp, then head to the left side of the structure.
After exiting the corridor and taking the large jump at the end, take a right and follow the tiles around to the next blue arrow. As you approach the arrow, a large piece of the structure will smash the path ahead of you. Take a left!
Watch out! It cuts the road off.
Now that you have turned left, you’re on the home stretch. Drive through the last of the exploding tiles and head towards the Frigate, which should now be in view. Make sure you have plenty of speed for the final jump into the hangar of the frigate.
Hit this jump with as much speed as possible.
You’ve finished the fight, but just barely. Enjoy the show; it’s all cut-scenes from here!
SPOILERS: Halo 3’s Ending
Gold Skull Locations
Nine Golden Skulls Location Video
Iron Skull – Sierra 117At the end of the level, face the Pelican that arrives. Don’t get on it. Turn 90 degrees to the left and jump onto the large ledge. Walk all the way down until you see another (thinner) ledge on the building in front of you. Jump onto it and follow it all the way to the end where the Skull sits in the shadows.
Effect: In co-op games, if one player dies, you all restart at the last checkpoint. In individual games, if you die, the entire mission restarts.
Black Eye Skull – Crow’s Nest
At the start, there is a massive pipe above you with the skull on top. Walk up the two small stairs and on the left there’s some shelves you can jump on to. Jump up to the metal bars and then onto the pipe. Continue to the end where you’ll see a Skull. Plus, you don’t have to use the RB button to pick this one up.
Effect: The only way you can recharge your shields is by landing melee attacks on your opponents.
Tough Luck Skull – Tsavo Highway
This skull is located after you go through the shield that blocks the road. (After you hear the guy on the radio request help.) You’ll exit onto a bridge with a large pipe on your left. Climb up one of the yellow ladders and turn right. Continue down and jump over the yellow guard thing that blocks your way. Immediately turn left and jump all the way down on the grey support below. Walk down the support and look left, you’ll see a ledge coming out of the cliff. On the ledge is the Skull.
Effect: All of your enemies will dive with incredible success away from your grenades, plasma pistol bolts, needles and vehicle splatter attempts
Catch Skull – The Storm
1) From the start continue through the level until you’re outside. Grab a vehicle and kill the enemies such as the grunts and other small enemies. DO NOT DESTROY BOTH WRAITHS. Destroying or kicking the driver out of the purple wraith will cause the skull to disappear. Best way to do it, take out the one with the Flak Cannon batteries atop the one on the ground. Then go to the top right corner on the plains where there is some sort of small silo tower. The Skull is sitting on top. To get to the skull: Grenade jump up, or if that doesn’t get you high enough park a vehicle by it and use that for extra lift. This needs to be done near the front of the building. (To grenade jump, face where you want to go, then throw a grenade just in front of your feet, then run and jump towards your desired location. Be sure to duck down near the peak of your jump to get that last little bit of height. The explosion beneath will give you extra lift and hopefully not kill you!)
2) An even easier way to get on top of this silo is to follow the instructions as above and destroy the wraith with the flak cannon batteries on top **the orange wraith**. once this wraith blows up it will drop a deployable cover, deploy this as close to the front of the silo and use it as a step to jump up.
Effect: Enemy units will throw grenades at an alarming rate – Roger Clemens style.
Fog Skull – Floodgate
At the very start of the level, as you walk up the stairs leading into the town (the marines will start talking), look up and to the right to the first building on your right (past the missile turret). A single Flood will appear and then jump across, and out the map. Shoot him before he jumps and the Skull will fly down to the ground. However, if you shoot him too early the Skull will land on the roof and you will have to try again. Do not mistake him for the two Flood that jump onto the roof of the building directly ahead.
Effect: Your radar is disabled.
Famine Skull – The Ark
This skull is located after you get the Mongoose and drive over some small cliffs. Then you have a choice: straight on or turn right. (Either way you have to go down the right path later.) Continue down the path and defeat the Ghosts that attack you, under a big “metal cover thing.” Then, after coming out from under the big “metal cover thing”, turn right to go up a path leading to some enemies and a small cave/tunnel. Instead, stop on the path, and look right to see a bolder jutting out of the rock. Hop on the top of the bolder and up onto the rock. Then jump over onto the top of the big “metal cover thing” (mentioned earlier). Turn left and walk up to the last support that juts out the Skull is at the end of it. This next bit can be a bit tricky. Using a grenade, grenade jump forwards and onto the support. Pick up the Skull. (To grenade jump first face where you want to go, then throw a grenade just in front of your feet, then run and jump towards your desired location. The explosion beneath will give you extra lift and hopefully not kill you!) Alternatively, if you don’t want to attempt grenade jumping you can use the ‘Deployable Cover’ equipment right by the edge of the support. If you place it in the right position you can jump onto the support beam easily from there and grab the skull
Effect: When enemies drop their weapons, they will have considerably less ammo in them.
Thunderstorm Skull – The Covenant
This skull is located on the second tower. After shutting down the first tower, grab the hornet and fly over to the second tower. Once you land, head up the staircases as if you were going to the entrance, but just before look towards the centre to see the dividing staircase that leads to a platform. Walk to the end, and the Skull is on the ground.
Effect: Each enemy receive a field promotion and is upgraded to their next available level.
Tilt Skull – Cortana
Continue through the level until you drop down into an open, fleshy hole, into a small room with an open door and an Energy Sword beside a dead Elite to the right. In the next room is a circular floor. Walk straight in (kill the flood first) to the middle of the platform and turn left 90 degrees. You should see two small ramps leading downwards. Hop on to the divider of the ramps and up onto the “mushroom like” platform coming out of the wall to your left. (Cortana will say some weird stuff about playing games.) Then jump again onto the next platform just above you. Turn around 180 and look up, jump to the next platform and run across the fleshy pipe onto, a bigger, purple platform. Sitting in the centre, in a puddle of bones and fluid, is the Skull.
Effect: Enemy resistances are greatly increased. For example, the Brute power armor is normally pretty resistant to human weapons to begin with and fairly fragile against plasma shots. With Tilt turned on, The Brute armor is practically 100% resistant to any human projectiles and can only be taken down by plasma bursts.
Mythic Skull – Halo
This Skull is at the beginning of the level. Head into the cave in front of you, straight away keep to the right, and there is a small path that leads off to some rocks. The skull is sitting in front of them.
Effect: Every enemy on the field now has double their normal amount of health.
Silver Skull Locations
3 of the 4 Locations for the Silver Skulls
Blind Skull
You lose your HUD when this skull is turned on. You won’t see your weapons, shield, radar, etc.
Location:
The ‘Blind Skull’ is the first of the Silver Skulls in Halo 3, and can be found in the first mission. It is located relatively close to the beginning of the level.
After your first encounter with the Gold Armor Brute, Two enemy dropships will appear a bit further down the stream. Go towards the dropship that is furthest away, and stay on the right side of the stream. Continue along the right (towards the cliff edge), and a rock will jut out a bit over the large lake. The ‘Blind Skull’ is located on this rock.
Grunt Birthday Party Skull
When you get a headshot on an enemy Grunt, they will explode into confetti, and you’ll hear children cheer, “Yay!” in excitement.
Location:
This is one of the more fun Silver Skulls in Halo 3. The ‘Grunt Birthday Party Skull’ is located on the second mission, ‘Crow’s Nest‘, just before the area where you team up with the Arbiter (it’s the piping area where you see Drones buzzing in and out of an array of pipes). Just before you jump down the pipe to meet up with the Arbiter, stop at the ledge, and look directly below you. Along the wall that you drop down, there is a small ledge with a green arrow pointing backwards. Jump onto this ledge (rather than all the way down), and go inside this secret room. The skull is in the dead center of the room.
Cowbell Skull
Explosions become much bigger in the game.
Location:
The ‘Cowbell Skull’ is found on the level ‘The Ark‘, and marks the third Silver Skull found in the game. It’s fairly far into the level, so it takes a bit of time to find it.
Begin by heading all the way to the part of the level where you battle the Scarab. After defeating it, look in the middle of the desert area which you battled it in for a fairly large structure (it’s the building you see if you are at the bottom of the ramp you are supposed to go up, and turn to look in the opposite direction). Inside of this structure are several Gravity Lifts (shown below). Take one of these for later.
Next, head up the huge ramp, and head inside of the building (the one with the cartographer inside). Pass through a few of the rooms in this building, and you’ll eventually come to a room with a whole lot of Explosive crates. Right after this room is a Staircase/Hallway that leads to the level below. The Skull is located at the top of the room, at the point where you turn on the staircase to head for the next part of the slope. There are four platforms above you, the Skull is on the uppermost of these platforms. Use the Gravity Lift to jump up to it, and there you have it!
Location:
The IWHBYD Skull has been found! After countless hours from the Halo3Planet Community, we finally present you with the location of the final skull, the IWHBYD Skull!
The Skull is located in the level, “The Covenant”. YOU MUST START FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE MISSION (i.e. do not select an insertion point). After defeating the Scarabs, and going inside, get to the location with all 7 Ring Holograms. You must jump through the rings in a specific order. That order is as follows (1 is at the entrance, 7 is at the end):
4 6 5 4 5 3 4
These rings also produce the notes:
E G F# E F# D E
After jumping through them in this sequence, the rings will start to light up and you will be awarded the “I Would Have Been Your Daddy Skull”. It will be right next to the bridge that brings you over to the Prophet of Truth.
NOTE: YOU MAY NEED TO KILL THE PROPHET OF TRUTH, AND THE FLOOD BEFORE DOING THE RING JUMPS!
*You DO NOT need the 27 number sequence, the last seven work great.
* You can get the skull on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
* No skulls have to be active
* You can work as a team, have one person jump through a ring then another, provided they are in the correct order. This will speed things up for you.
Terminal Locations
There are 7 terminals in total and you must reach the end of the messages on each one (You’ll See “//Fragment ends here”) to register the terminal as found.
There are videos below the descriptions are just to give an idea of roughly where the area is.
The Ark
In the first building, turn left and go through the door. You should be in a curved corridor, and the terminal is just on the side.
After the “floating blue thing” opens the door, continue through until you activate a bridge. Turn around and the terminal is in front of you. (It only opens after you activate the bridge.)
- After you defeat the Scarab and enter the buildings, and you have killed the sleeping Covenant, go down the ramp to a locked door (you must take the left door). Then, go down another (larger) ramp. At the back of this ramp, go round the back to find a small room containing the terminal.
The Covenant
In the first tower, before you go up the lift, cross it to the other side. There is a terminal in the darkness.
- In the second tower (the one the Elites took). Go to the tower entrance, (it’s locked) turn around and then terminal is in front of you.
- In the third tower, (just like in the first tower) before you go up the lift, cross it to the other side. There is a terminal.
Halo
After you exit the first cave at the start of the level keep right and take the icy slope upto a building (heading back on yourself). The terminal is inside. You can also turn right at the ledge where you jump down before the exit of the cave and walk right up to the entrance to the room with the terminal. Thereby not triggering the Flood by exiting the cave.
Multiplayer Map Tips
Halo 2 had 21 maps when all was said and done, and with downloadable content being so hot and profitable, we may see even more than that in Halo 3’s lifetime. The three maps that we get a taste of in the Beta aren’t revolutionary in design, but they incorporate all of the new gameplay elements well, looking and sounding fantastic along the way.
Valhalla
Valhalla is the largest map that you’ll play in non-Big Team Battle games. The map is pretty huge, a large asymmetrical oval. Very little fighting will be done at close range unless, of course, you know where to camp.
Battle Rifles will be a primary weapon for almost any fight. If nothing else, it’s a good idea to have one on top of the Assault Rifle, allowing you to be prepared for up-close and ranged combat. Battle Rifles are found almost anywhere weapons are found (there are four in each base alone!). And, with their really short spawn time, the Battle Rifles should never be passed up.
Besides the Battle Rifle, players who want to keep the fight at a distance should rush either the Spartan Laser or the sniper rifle. A sniper rifle sits in the lower part of either base, while a singular Spartan Laser is found in the center of the level, just beyond where each sides’ Man Cannons will reach. The sniper rifles allow you to deal with enemy personnel, while the Spartan Laser allow your team to deal with any enemy Warthog teams.
On the side of the level opposite the turret are two shotguns. They are in each of the small tunnels on either side of the crashed Pelican. While these guns are ineffective against an enemy sniper, they do make great secondary weapons for snipers, especially if they are camping one of the two tunnels where the guns spawn. The shotgun is also useful in a match where players fight heavily around and inside a base.
Since the map is so big, players will often launch themselves out of the Man Cannons. However, the Mongooses and Warthog should not be overlooked either. If you are against a skilled enemy sniper, they can snipe you out of the air by simply tracing your set path dictated by the Man Cannon. On the other hand, if you use a Mongoose or Warthog, you can change your movement just enough to give you a shot at breaking out to a different position.
Valhalla is a map where players will see their opponents sticking to the sides of the map. Though a Man Cannon can shoot you out into the center of the map, players tend to head out on the side shooting Man Cannon, or on foot, avoiding the center because it makes you potentially vulnerable from all sides. However, if your team is getting dominated from a particular side, especially the side where your Man Cannon drops you, it might be prudent to shoot out of the center Man Cannon.
Valhalla has a lot of options when it comes to rapid deployment. Just don’t fall into a set pattern for the whole match. Yes, it is understandable and smart to have a set path before the match starts, but this shouldn’t your only path. Anticipate your opponent’s reaction about your movement, and then switch it up. Don’t be predictable.
High Ground
The name “High Ground” gives the impression that the best place for fighting is in the base, along the catwalks. But that’s misleading: you can fight your way from defeat on every location in High Ground.
Spawning close to the beach, you can take advantage of numerous items. In the cave, to your right when facing the base, is a sniper rifle. To your left: an Active Camo, a Battle Rifle, and a shotgun. There is plenty of cover to approach the base slowly but surely. Or, if the slow route isn’t your style, you can always chance it and jump on a Mongoose. The problem with jumping on the monguess is that the enemy that spawns in the base has a spartan laser and if they hurry the rocket lanucher too, so thats a good way to get yourself killed
Just outside the base’s main doors is the rocket launcher. At the beginning of the round, players tend to fight for the rocket launcher, with both teams rolling out in Mongooses, seeing who can reach — and hold — the rocket launcher first. The other option: let the enemy take it and pick them off with a long ranged weapon.
If you start in the base, make sure you pick up a weapon for close quarter combat. The shotgun is outside the base, so we recommend going for the Needler. When combined with a Spiked Grenades, the Needler, found on the second floor of the base, can be highly effective. You can use the Needler to camp the destroyed bunker or front door.
If you prefer to kill enemies at a distance, you have two great options in the main base. Along the front catwalk you can find Carbines. And, up in the base’s tower, you can find a Spartan Laser. Either of these weapons will let you disrupt any enemy sniper.
From our experience, the best weapons for the level were dual Brute Spikers. The weapons are located in enough places on the map that ammo rarely becomes an issue; and their ability to deal high levels of damage is unrivaled by anything but the power weapons.
Most of the fighting will go down around the three entrances to the base: the entrance at the destroyed bunker, the destroyed section of wall, and the main door. Players will get into the base. Don’t bother to keep them out; instead, strike them just after they get in. Defending the bunker or catwalk while in the immediate area will just make you a good target for snipers. Instead, hang back, watch your radar, and then ambush your enemies just after you have given them the confidence of entering the base.
Snowbound
Snowbound’s action will take place in several places. If you stay on the surface, the battle may be waged from a distance. In the forts or underground, the battles will be up-close and personal, so prepare for enemy melee attacks. How you play will determine how the other team is playing. If you are getting dominated on the surface, head underground to make the enemy’s Beam Rifle and Carbines worthless.
First, let’s start with fighting on the surface of Snowbound. Depending on which side you start, your team will gravitate towards the Beam Rifle or Spartan Laser, located just inside the two Covenant bunkers. Those on your team without power weapons should grab a Carbine or Battle Rifle. Once your team is equipped to hold the surface, make sure that you stick together, moving along the border of the level. Countless times you’ll see players try to camp on top of a bunker, but this rarely works in the long run. If an enemy spawns underneath you, they can be on top of you with their Assault Rifle in a matter of seconds. Keep your team to the rocky sides of the level, not the snow side.
If you are being dominated on the surface, you have two options. You can either grab the best weapons for the fight underground (shotgun and dual plasma pistols come to mind), or you can prepare to move out and take the surface as a group. When trying to take the surface, the entire team should exit from the same bunker, preferably the one closest to the bulk of the enemy team. Having one of your teammates grab the Ghost can also prove a worthy distraction for enemy snipers. Remember, if they are looking into a scope, they won’t see your team coming on the radar.
If you take the fight underground, you must adopt an entirely different strategy. Chances are, if the enemy is camping the underground areas, then they will have already taken the best weapons for close combat. Instead, we recommend that you grab a Needler or Mauler/Spiker combo. The Needler is located on top of the bunker with the Spartan Laser, while the Spiker/Mauler are located just outside the entrance to the underground by the Active Camo — grabbing the Active Camo, prior to invading the underground bunkers, is also a good idea. With the help of grenade spamming, these weapons will allow your team to flush the enemy out of hiding. Ideally, the whole team or just two best equipped players head into the bunkers, while the others wait to snipe the people who think it’s their chance to break out onto the surface.
Narrows
Because your team will invade the enemy base or vice versa, the majority of combat revolves around the two bases. Be prepared to spawn into a place under fire.
The Man Cannons is home to heavy fighting. Players often use the Man Cannons to jump between their base and the enemy’s base, causing players to react with a camping strategy: players camp on either side of the Cannons. Also, snipers will pick at those running to the Cannons. If you’re using the Man Cannons, be ready for enemy grenades as soon as you land.
The rocket launcher is located on the direct center of the highest bridge. People often rush for the rocket launcher, but the result is usually fatal: it’s more a death trap than help. Instead, rely on weapons such as the Needler and the shotgun, both giving you a distinct advantage thanks to the level’s close quarters. The Needler is located on either sides of the Man Cannon, and the shotgun is in the center of the lower bridge.
If you like fighting the enemy at a distance, grab a Battle Rifle or sniper rifle. The Battle Rifle is located to the left or right of where your team starts, and the sniper rifle is just at the foot of the lower bridge on either side. The best place to fire the sniper rife or Battle Rifle is by your team’s Man Cannon, allowing you to shoot the opposing team as they attempt to jump over to your side.
The Man Cannon also serves as a way to transport a Power Drain or Bubble Shield to the enemy base. One side starts with a Power Drain in front of their Man Cannon; the other, a Bubble Shield. If your team decides to invade by jumping across, and you have started on the side with the Power Drain, have someone throw the Power Drain in the Man Cannon, flying it over to the opposing base, giving your team the distraction — a potential advantage of destroying your opponents’ shields.
If you team starts on the side with the Bubble Shield, use it with the Man Cannon to help your team invade the opposing side base. You can either throw the Bubble Shield into the Man Cannon, or throw the Bubble Shield while in mid-flight from your Man Cannon, giving you cover when you land. Throwing the Bubble Shield into the Man Cannon before you jump in will give you cover from enemy snipers during your flight, but throwing it after you are in the air will give you cover for a longer period of time.
The Pit
The Pit is one of the more symmetrical maps in Halo 3. Each team has all the same weapons; their respective bases are simply mirror images of one another. There are a few weapons without duplicates, but they are placed in the middle of level, giving both sides equal opportunity to get at them.
The Pit is a deceiving map. Because of the level’s indoor feel, you’ll be quick to pass up on a Battle Rifle in favor for, say, a shotgun or Mauler. However, while some of the fights are up-close, many will happen from a distance. The Pit is full of lengthy corridors and sniper positions. Unless you are confident that you can camp a small space like, say, the room with the Energy Sword, we strongly recommend that you keep a ranged weapon close at hand, at least as a back up.
The two weapons that teams fight over are the Energy Sword and the rocket launcher. There is also an Overshield and an Active Camo in the center of the map. Often, players rush for the rocket launcher, which is just past the Needler spawn point. If you want to obtain the rocket launcher, rush at its spawn, grab the Needler along the way, and then, before running to its spawn point, throw grenades into the hallway, and sit for a moment. Chances are, you’ll score a few Needler/grenade kills, and grab the rocket launcher, in relative safety.
To put up the best fight for the Energy Sword, grab the Power Drain on the other side of the wall where the Energy Sword spawns. Use this, in conjunction with grenades, to clear out the enemies rushing for the Sword. Granted, the Sword won’t be the best weapon for this map, but its better that someone on your team has it, rather than in enemy hands.
The sniper rifles are located just under each side’s turret, in plain sight of the opposing side’s sniper rifle. So be careful when grabbing your rifle, just in case the enemy was faster than you were at rushing the spawn.
If you get your team’s sniper rifle, or want a safe spot to hide with a flag or the Oddball, there is a way to get into the second floor of the towers on each side’s base. To get up into the high doorway, you have three options: you can either grenade jump off a teammate’s head; form a stairway of teammates; or perform a Brute Shot jump. Getting up to high ground can be the key to victory, as only a skilled sniper can take you out once you are up there.
Sandtrap
Sandtrap is a map you’ll play only in Custom or Big Team matches. Due to its size, it is a vehicle-heavy map. Moreover, it is an extra special map, because it is the only map, player made or otherwise, containing the indestructible Elephant, the portable base.
The Elephant, though incredibly slow, drastically changes the strategy of Sandtrap. Because it is, more often than not, the place where your team spawns, moving it can have both pros and cons. If you move the Elephant closer to your opponent’s base in, say, a CTF match, you’ll travel only shorter distances between the flag capture point (flags, bombs, and bomb points are always on the Elephants). However, if you move your Elephant close to the enemy base, you’ll pull away from all of your side’s vehicles and assorted goodies close to where the Elephant starts. Just remember to consult your team — and form a team strategy — before you drive the Elephant around like it’s your personal transport.
Besides the Elephant, which is indestructible, the map will be flooded with players running around in smaller vehicles. Whether it is a single enemy on a Chopper, or a trio on a Warthog, you should always try to have a counter to enemy vehicles. To counter enemy vehicles, use a Brute Shot, a Missile Pod, or a Spartan Laser — all found close to the area where your Elephant starts. If nothing else, just make sure you keep at least one grenade handy to try and flip an enemy vehicle.
Killing the opposing team’s vehicles, even if they are not currently in use, can be extremely helpful to your team. No, you won’t get any points for killing unmanned vehicles, but it will slow down the enemy and make easier kills for your whole team.
A weapon that often gets misused, but can be extremely effective on this map, is the Gravity Hammer. It is located along the center structure on the map, just before the chasm. We don’t recommend running around with the Hammer out, but it can be very useful for taking out an enemy vehicle. Give them a whack with the Hammer as they approach, and they’ll think twice before trying to hit you again!
There is only one Banshee on Sandtrap, and it can be useful, if in the right hands. It is located by rocks close to the Phantom crash site by the level’s killzone. A skilled player can fly the Banshee around as a distraction, allowing the rest of the team to move with less opposition, or can be used to ferry a sniper up to a high position. Specifically, the Banshee should be used to carry a sniper up to the highest portions of the map, which would otherwise be inaccessible — just make sure not to boost or you’ll blow your stowaway off the ship.
For the troops you will face on the ground, be prepared for both short and medium ranged combat. Practically everywhere your turn you’ll be able to find a Battle Rifle, so pick one up in addition to your Assault Rifle. And, if sniping is your thing, you should grab the sniper rifle and find a good camping spot. The crashed Phantom has a nice little cave from which to snipe.
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