General Firefight Tips

Video courtesy of greatman3388


Video courtesy of GamerMash

Alpha Site

Map Overview w/Weapon Locations

Strategies:

* There is a good tactic on this map to survive a very long time, even on more challenging difficulties. The players have to enter the elevator and stay at the corners of the elevator. When brutes show up, they will try to melee the ODSTs through the glass, but they won't damage the players. However, with a well-aimed melee, the player can hit the enemy through the glass via aiming at the weapon of the Brute. Also, while an enemy is hitting against the glass, another player can simply go behind the target and assassinate him (That's an excellent tactic for Brute Chieftains armed with Gravity Hammers).
* If playing cooperatively, the above strategy is especially effective. If an enemy enters the elevator, the player who is not being targeted by the enemy can quickly assassinate the intruder.
* A simple yet sound strategy is to use the side of the map that enemies don't spawn at as your "turf" as it has most of the power weapons, tons of normal ammo, and excellent cover and field of fire as well as no attacks from behind to worry about.
* The sniper rifle is oddly very effective on this map to use in the above strategy.
* Weapons placed in the elevator do not respawn between sets/waves/rounds. A great strategy is to place any weapons that you will want to use later on (Rockets, Sniper Rifle, Gravity Hammers, Fuel Rod Cannons) in that elevator, and then grabbing what you need when it is time.

Chasm Ten

Map Overview w/Weapon Locations

Strategies:

TBD

Crater

Map Overview w/Weapon Locations

Strategies:

* There are a few good ways to stay alive for a long time on this map: One is to stay in the spawning base at all times, and pile some pistols in the second floor (if you want to snipe from there). However, when the Chieftains come simply have one player "guide" him up the stairs while having another assassinate him. The second way is to clear the walkways to your left and right as soon as possible, and having 2 players stay there to hold the two places, and have another engage in sniping from the second floor, or using the turret.
* Either keep the turret mounted or conserve ammo for Cheiftans, Hunters, or Engineers.
* Be careful using the turret during rounds with Catch enabled:
o Grunts and Brutes can easily stick the turret and kill the gunner from the pit below.
o The turret falls of its mount as if you had picked it up (thus making it have limited ammo) if a grenade explodes near it.
+ The same effect occurs with a Gravity Hammer, Fuel Rod Cannon or any weapon with splash damage.
* There are three potential landing sites for Phantoms, the Pit, ahead of the spawning zone, and to the left of the spawning zone. Grunts can easily be picked off in earlier rounds when dropping from the ledges above for massive streaks early in the game.
* There are two ammo spawns for the Sniper Rifle.

Last Exit

Map Overview w/Weapon Locations

Strategies:

TBD

Lost Platoon

Map Overview w/Weapon Locations

Strategies:

* If you have four people, a good strategy is to have one player use the Spartan Laser and Sniper and make him snipe and pick off the Wraiths. Have two players use the Warthog and the third use a chopper. Alternatively, you could have the third player use the Sniper, making the Spartan Laser player use a chopper to get to the Wraiths faster.
* Save your hammers for the third wave. A regular bash will kill most enemies in two hits, with the exception being Brutes and Hunters. Use the trigger bash on vehicles coming too close or hunters. Save these during Black Eye rounds, their bash will kill enemies fast and heal you as well. This works well when you have a group of enemies, as you can kill a majority of them fast and use the last one as a health punching bag with an alternative weapon.
* Don't hesitate to splatter anything. Especially with the Chopper.
* The Warthog will respawn with each weapon drop. Don't be foolish with it. Only drive out when the Phantoms are gone. At the end of each wave, get to a spot that they cannot shoot at you.
* Snipers have an excellent vantage point on top of the base. You can shoot at any of the drop off points. However, Phantoms have a shot at you as they enter and leave (and the hill drop off has a shot at you during drop-off). Enemies have a hard time reaching you, with the exception of Drones and Jump Pack Brutes.
* Good spots to hide are under the staircase in the base and behind objects in the spawning rooms. Use this if you're going for your Be Like Marty achievement and want to avoid any type of contact with Covenant.
* If you only have two players, have one player be a sniper and wraith and the other fight off invading Covenant. Alternatively, two players can use a Warthog and have the gunner take out Wraiths.
* If playing by yourself and on Legendary, getting a Chopper is strongly recommended, as you will have infinite ammo, speed, and can kill enemies at a distance. Alternatively, you can use the Anti-Air Wraith Glitch and take command of a Wraith (who are rigged to explode like AA wraiths are in the main campaign) but without a second person to be the gunner, you will be almost defenseless against drones.
* A good strategy is to have a hog team, one person with laser and one person with sniper. Have the sniper and laser get a Chopper ASAP. When the wraiths land, its the Splaser's job to take them out. Once that is done, they should get back on their chopper. When tilt comes on, if possible get the hog team on choppers.
* Splattering Chieftains with a Chopper or Warthog is a good way to kill them and save your ammo for later.
* During the bonus round, using a Chopper or Warthog is a good choice, as you can splatter many Grunts at once and you don't deplete ammo. However, do not use the Warthog turret if it is stationary (no driver) dismount, remember the Catch skull is on and you are an easy target.

Rally Point

Map Overview w/Weapon Locations

Strategies:

* The Wraith is a MUST. Here is a quick tutorial on how to gain command:
* At the start of the round, make your way down to where the Wraith is dropped. Make sure to have a Carbine and a Plasma Pistol. If you have some companions, have them bring plasma pistols.
* As you approach the Wraith, concentrate fire on the turret gunner.
* Once he is dead, have one player jump on top of the Wraith while the others stun the Wraith with plasma pistol overloads.
* Melee the hatch until it pops off.
* Melee the driver until he has no armor but do not kill him yet.
* Crouch on the Wraith so that "Press RB to board Wraith" does not appear.
* While still crouched, hold RB (making sure you do not board the Wraith), and fire a single shot with the carbine into the driver's head.

If executed properly, you will become the driver of the Wraith. An ally can climb in and become the gunner. If the driver exits, however, the Wraith will explode. While this is possible to do alone, it is much more difficult to keep the Wraith stunned while doing everything else on your own.

Security Zone

Map Overview w/Weapon Locations

Strategies:

- Wraith is vital! See Rally Point Tips.
* It is wise to stay within a short distance of your starting location, largely because players can see approaching enemies at the bottom of the hill long before they are in range.
* If you are going for the sniper at the very end of the map, be sure to do it early or during a weapon drop. If you are running low on ammo, be sure to have a teammate cover you.
* The barriers will provide excellent cover from Fuel Rod shots and Wraith mortars, however it doesn't last long.
* If there is a Wraith annoying you and the Rockets and Laser are nowhere to be found, the Fuel Rod makes an excellent alternative.

Windward

Map Overview w/Weapon Locations

Strategies:

* The best method of playing on this map is to hold up in the central building and exit only to get the Rocket Launcher and Missile Pods from outside to use against the Covenant Empire inside the central building. From there, it’s all about good aim and a little bit of crowd control.
* If you decide to stay outside, you will be either shot to death, or stuck after the Catch Skull comes into play (there are just too many places from which the grenades can bounce off). Your best option is to take the advice above. Though you can survive for a long time on the earlier sets and rounds, your only difficulty may be the Banshee as it's hard to kill as it flies away if you try to stick it with a grenade or shoot it, you can use the Missile pod but if there isn't one to hand you can use the neat little trick: Go down to one of the landing platforms with a plasma pistol, charge up the plasma pistol to full, wait until the Banshee is in range as the a charged plasma pistol is homing, it shoud hit the Banshee and cut out its engines causing the Banshee to fall, I recommend you shoot the Banshee when it's flying away otherwise it may land on the platform and just start up again, meaning you've wasted some plasma pistol energy.
* If you decide to hold the tunnels, then you will probably be burned by Brute Stalkers, which can be hard to detect and even harder to avoid once they enter the tunnels, stuck by grenades, once the Catch Skull comes into play, or caught by Kamikaze Grunts.
* If you are playing solo, a good way to survive is just to hold up in the central room. This effectively "funnels" the Covenant.
* The Sniper Rifle is not very useful in this map. Try to utilise the Noob Combo, as it is most effective against Brutes. A Carbine is also a good choice, but once the Famine Skull kicks in, you are going to have some difficulty in keeping an ample supply of ammunition. To kill Brutes and Jackals, you can use the Noob Combo. Use a Missile Pod or a Rocket Launcher to deal with Chieftains and Hunters. Note: during the final wave, the Sniper Rifle can become vastly important, for getting rid of any enemies which will cause you a great deal of trouble, such as the abundance of Brutes which are dropped off.
* A great hiding spot is underneath the escalator. Usually you can sneak out for quick assassinations.
* The interesting thing about this map is even though the Sniper Rifle isn't very useful, you will never find a moment where you run out of ammo. In fact, there are about three boxes of Sniper ammunition around the map, one located near the Shotgun, another located near the spare rockets, and a third and final box located near the hallway on the left, facing the incoming Phantoms courtyard which leads to the lower docking area. You can also find some more spare rockets inside the center building.
* A good idea is to stay on the top level of the map, hopping between the left and right ledges using the central building as cover when thing get a little too dangerous. Falling back into the top room of the level allows you to choose where your opponents run instead of them choosing where you go, as well as allow you to keep your Pistol and SMG fully stocked.
* You can make a Banshee fall out of the sky and die by overcharging the plasma pistol, however, you will not get the Double Kill as with other vehicle kills in the game, only the Brute pilot will be scored.
* The SMG can make short work of Drones. It is advised to keep one near should a swarm of Drones appear.
* Another helpful strategy is to hold of in the large room across from where you spawn. There are two health packs for easy taking, the windows are indestructible, and the room is small so when chieftains come, you can easily assasinate them if you have two or more players. Also when you are in this room, try to push the large table against the door to make a great barrier.