General Halo tips and tricks
 

The other thread is a bit lengthy at this point, so I thought perhaps we could start a thread with just tips and tricks for the game.

Specifically, I'd love to get some insights on what to concentrate on as a new player. I'm probably not the only person who just picked up the game without really playing the other two that much. So I'd love to get some thoughts on what I should be concentrating on to improve my game, manage my weapons, defend myself, etc.

For example, I basically don't even use the equipment right now. Once in a while I'll remember I have a shield, and will drop it when needed, but the other stuff I never even use.

Also, how about weapons? I tend to stick with the battle rifle and carbine when I can get them, since I can zoom in and aim from a little farther away.

Good strategies to help us noobs improve would be appreciated.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Nolan, learning to use the BR and Carbine will help a lot. Those shots do a lot of damage and you can "be in" a fight even when your not, know what I mean?

The needler is also a powerful weapon, and it has a good range. Try using that if you can.

Invariably you will get better with the sniper rifle and shotgun since shotty sniper gets selected ALL THE FREAKING TIME. You don't need to be good with the sniper rifle to get by though, but you do need to know that you have to be close to get one shot shutgun kills. Hide around a corner and wait for someone to run by. I usually aim right below the neck.

USE YOUR GRENADES LIBERALLY. They are everywhere so utilize them as much as possible. Try out the sticky's as well.

Rockets are a great way to kill people(obviously) and the brute shot is pretty powerful as well.

Even the AR is a good weapon, but with all weapons remember to lead your man as you shoot at him!!!!!!1

Finally, in TS stick with your teammates. Its pretty easy to win a 50/50, but damn hard to take one of the other team out when you get double teamed. Cover your boys and help them out when they are in a firefight. When you see their cursor flash, help em out!

This is where the BR and Carbine are helpful.


Other than that, I don't know what else to tell you. The items are OK, but I have noticed at higher levels people use them pretty well, which is annoying. Especially the regenerator.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

If you've never really played FPS games before, and want to work on your raw killing skills, you should probably play Lone Wolf. It will put you in lots of tough situations and force you to get competent at killing and survival. But team games are where the real strategy is at and will force you to think on top of improving your instinctual-type skills. Whatever you play, you should probably make it ranked.

The #1 thing to concentrate on for any player is awareness. You can only be so good at handling the weapons that the game inevitably comes down to awareness at mid-higher levels. I like to learn weapon placement, map-layout, and other little tricks as I go along. If you're 100% completely lost, try running around an empty map and looking around or, better yet, following around a teammate - that way you can learn the map and other players' strategies at the same time.

Once you've got the general flow of games down and know the map a little bit, you should start thinking "what should I be doing right now?" Each player is a part of an organism, the team, and you should, on top of whatever's going on on your screen, also have another train of thought running through your mind illustrating each whole organism. You want to know where everyone on your team is, where everyone on the other team is, what each is doing, and then where you best fit in at that time.

Awareness is key and it comes through tons of play. Play, think, and watch what everyone is doing. If you can communicate while you do that, that's a whole other skill that tons of players lack. Simple stuff like "there's a guy at <general location>" is always good. Throughout a game there should rarely be total silence.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

On the theme of awareness, get used to keeping on eye on the radar at all times. Ive played enough now to realize that a lot of people do a terrible job of this. I shouldnt be able to just run up behind people and kill them as much as I do. Otherwise, some pretty good advice so far in this thread. You'll find yourself doing a lot better once you learn the map layouts. As far as items go, I've really just gotten to the point where I use them on a consistent basis. It really isnt hurting you a whole lot to not really use them that much at this point.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

I'm tired right now. Like really tired. But, I could give some tips laters. I dunno the best advice I can give is playing with me? lol. Can't coach through words. Only actions. IMHO.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

One thing that really helped me is that you should not aim with the right analog. Get your cross hair situated with the right analog and then strafe with your target. This feels alot different than circle strafing with the mouse like you would do in a PC FPS.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

know the maps. memorize the maps. know the quickest path to the shotgun/rockets/sword. know where the invisibility and overshield is.

when you catch someone with the sword or gravity hammer from the front, start shooting and backing up. You will be able to kill them and they keep running toward you even if you are too far away to attack.

Agree with the liberal use of grenades. Have frags ready when there is no one on your radar, plasma when you are ready for battle. Get good at sticking your enemies. Many times it will be two people charging at each other with an assault rifle and then meleeing. use your sticky grenade here and try to get out of the way.

maulers are deadly.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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One thing that really helped me is that you should not aim with the right analog. Get your cross hair situated with the right analog and then strafe with your target. This feels alot different than circle strafing with the mouse like you would do in a PC FPS.

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this is a pretty good one actually. I still circle strafe, old habits are hard to break I guess. Also, remember to melee when you close with someone. This is something I see a lot of new players struggle with, because the campaign doesnt really lend itself to that particular tactic very much. But meleeing effectively is a very big part of multiplayer.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

circle strafe, wtf?

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

I think using grenades well is the number one thing new players should try to get good at. A well-placed frag can:
- ensure that you take your opponent with you when you know you're on the losing end of a fight
- guarantee an easy kill before a fight starts by knocking an enemy down to the point where one or two BR shots = dead
- finish off an opponent who ducks around a corner after taking damage to regenerate shields

Plasmas also have their use. I played Halo 2 for a long time and I still don't really know

Has anyone found any use whatsoever for spike grenades? I've found them completely useless except for trying to stick people with.

Also, I look at the radar almost as much as I look at the rest of my screen. Knowing where opponents might be around you is SO SO important because if someone gets the drop on you, you're dead if you don't get to cover first, and if you get the drop on someone, you should be able to kill them easily. Putting yourself in situations where you have the advantage in these spots will help out a ton.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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circle strafe, wtf?

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Haha, I remember learning how to do this while playing Doom. I guess that gives me an advantage in FPS games [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Quick Tips

-Crouch to avoid radar (esp small maps)
-Getting good w/ the BR will lead to a lot of kills where you don't even get touched.
-Know the maps, where teams are spawned and where all the weapons are
-Talk to your teammates and stick w/ them
-Controlling power weapons (sword, rocket launcher, shotgun, gravity hammer) is never a bad strategy
-Different maps require different strategy
-NEVER head in solo against 2 guys
-In LW esp throw 'nades into as many firefights as you see
-Sniper down guardian into the yellow room (past the gravity hammer) is a guaranteed 2-4 kills
-Circle your opponents
-Jump a ton, always be coming down on your opponent, the only spot to hit is the head
-6 shots w/ AR + Bash = kill

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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-Jump a ton, always be coming down on your opponent, the only spot to hit is the head

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This gets me in trouble sometimes. If I land too close to my opponent it's easy to become disoriented and lose track of where they are, after which I frequently get bashed in the back of the head when I should have had an easy kill.

If I have the BR and people want to jump around a lot they're really just making easier targets for me as far as I'm concerned. Jumping is better for avoiding explosives and vehicles and the like.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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-Jump a ton, always be coming down on your opponent, the only spot to hit is the head

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This gets me in trouble sometimes. If I land too close to my opponent it's easy to become disoriented and lose track of where they are, after which I frequently get bashed in the back of the head when I should have had an easy kill.

If I have the BR and people want to jump around a lot they're really just making easier targets for me as far as I'm concerned. Jumping is better for avoiding explosives and vehicles and the like.

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True, it was much more useful in H2, but jumping onto a rock to get the jump on a guy is really useful cause they look around and bam!, you just bashed their head from above.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

yeah, much like in conventional battle, higher ground is always better.

also, I don't think there are designated spawn locations. It seems to me you spawn either right next to your team or away from the battle. Very rarely do you spawn right in front of someone from the other team.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

sticky's are best for opponents charging with a hammer/shotgun sword, they usually run directly for you so its an easy stick.

also when youre using one of those weapons, all the nade types are pretty useful and you should be throwing them quite liberally

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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Has anyone found any use whatsoever for spike grenades? I've found them completely useless except for trying to stick people with.

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I find the best use is to stick them to walls when people are coming around corners. They are less noticeable than the other grenades imo and most people just fly around the corner and its an easy kill if you can time it right.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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Has anyone found any use whatsoever for spike grenades? I've found them completely useless except for trying to stick people with.

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I find the best use is to stick them to walls when people are coming around corners. They are less noticeable than the other grenades imo and most people just fly around the corner and its an easy kill if you can time it right.

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they are also good when your target has the higher ground... ill have to try the corner thing

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Spike grenades are effective. Two basic tips with them.

1. Try to stick them just like plasmas, works about the same but much less range. Of course they usually only appear on indoor type maps (with half of Isolation being the exception).

2. Stick them horizontally on walls where you expect enemies to run past. Sticking them vertically on the ground requires your enemy to be standing on top of it for it to do damage.

Sticky grenades are amazing on Guardian, just wait behind a corner and watch as an enemy runs around the corner and you've got a sticky waiting for them.

In general if you are having trouble winning, work on your grenade skills. They have tons of uses. If you're running away from a losing fight, throw some 'nades to cover your trails. Smart opponents will stop and wait for them to blow before coming after you, giving you extra time to recover w/ teammates/get a new weapon / get your shields back. Stupid opponents walk into them giving you a kill. Grenades fair poorly in the middle of a gun fight, and are much more useful to soften up an opponent before killing them with an AR/BR/etc. Note the differences between them. Frags are great to throw around corners and have a wide splash radius but don't do a ton of damage. Plasma grenades can stick, have a smaller splash radius but can kill an opponent outright if they are close to the nade. Spike grenades are good for sticking, have the smallest "cone-like" splash radius, but when they contact they usually kill or severely wound.

Something I have to work on, but the BR was nerfed since H2, so you can't three-tap headshot kill people anymore. Instead it takes 4 headshot bursts, but it is easier to do body-body-body-head.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Don't die without using all your grenades.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

if you are 1 on 1 and the other guy obviously gets the jump on you, dont stand there like and idiot and try and shoot back. Shoot but focus on getting good at running away such as through a door and tossing a grenade at the doors opening. They cant follow and if they do then they die and youve saved yourself a kill.

Im giving this tip because at the higher levels, if two people with ARs come in contact, typically the one who starts shooting first wins. The art of running away will save u though.

On a related note, dont stop shooting midway through a fight to throw a grenade when you are in a fight in the open. I see too many people do that. If you get caught in the open with nowhere to run. Shoot them as much as possible and then right b4 ur bout to die- toss a grenade at their feet. FRom the graveee.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Good ideas for newbs nothing new for good players...

Always get a BR/carbine when you can and have it ready in wide open areas, in an enclosed area its more optimal to use AR shotgun etc.

If you see a group of enemies in a room DO NOT RUN IN, keep a distance and unload your grenades then clean house.

Know how to time the melee in a 1 on 1 AR fight

In oddball, when the guy holding the ball is in a bubble shield dont bother running in you have basically no chance if he is looking at you.

Dont whine about getting your kills stolen in TS its a team game

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Oh and another thing, in a lone wolves king of the hill / oddball game, don't f--king go out of your way to kill me when I'm on the opposite side of the map of the objective (guy with ball / hill). I hate that crap and I still see it all the time even though I'm a 43.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Thanks for all of the tips so far guys. I'm still only playing campaign mode, but this helps. I thought the shotgun was pretty worthless for example, but I probably wasn't close enough to people. I guess you just have to rush people once in a while, I like to hang back and snipe at people like a pussy. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

the shotgun [censored] people up hard when in close. Its basically the only one shot kill gun outside of a snip head shot.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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Don't die without using all your grenades.

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QFT. As with all things, practicing is really the best way to get better. Great players are experts with grenades and sniper rifles. With H3, the most important thing is timing your punches while using the AR. Strafing is HUGE while using the BR. Getting to know the level and where the weapons are is essential to being a good player. Practice with the laser: depending on what level and game type you are playing, the laser is very powerful.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

In TS standing back and BR will help your teammates immensely. 4 shots to kill means that each shot takes 1/3rd of their shields down and one shot w/out shields (two if they are at the body) kills them. Helps your teammates either win the bash or you can get a lot of cleanup kills if your teammate dies.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Since this is here I wanted to post some map specific tips and tricks for Team Slayer

Snowbound
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I think the best strategy is having mid-range weapons and the ghost and controlling the top. Bad teams will try to control the base, but if you can get a lead early you can dominate the top, esp w/ carbines, BR, Sniper, & Needler + invisibility & overshields.

Narrows
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Control your own base. BR are great, so is the rocket launcher. Grab the launcher and run back to your base. If you die you spawn in the action so you will always have backup.

The Pit
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Control the sword room, if you die check the invisibility and Rocket launcher. Also, two shotguns to help control the sword room in this level as well.

High Ground
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Controlling a single area is hard on this map, but mid and long range weapons are your friends the closer to the beach you are and close range weapons work well near the base. Dual maulers is deadly and don't forget about the tunnel. Controlling the base underground seems like a decent strategy, but I don't think it's the best.

Guardian
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This map is small, but controlling the power weapons is key. Your team needs to get the shotgun and gravity hammer. The yellow room seems easiest to control if you have both of these, but every area is pretty easy to infiltrate if you're a good team. If the opposing team is camping in that room grab the sniper and get some easy kills into the yellow room. Don't stay for too long though because the guy you killed more than likely knows how he died.

Isolation
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Control the top. Two guys w/ AR/Shotgun and two guys w/ BR and you'll pwn. If you lose control of the top go to the right or left edges w/ the BR and shoot into the room at the top, or go grab the rocket launcher. The ghost isn't too bad either if the team you're playing against sucks.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

I actually don't think its a great idea to control the sword room on The Pit. Its pretty easy to grenade in there and/or throw the power drain. Add rockets and shotguns and its pretty easy to clean that area out.


IMO on the Pit you must utlize a killing squad. Work and move together and you will wreck people. A good sniper helps as well.

I think its the same with highground. There isn't really one area to dominate and with the varied environment, you need to be pretty good with a lot of different weapons. This is a good sticky level.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

i have a question on bashing. Does bashing with different weapons cause different amounts of damage? How much damage does a bash do typically?
Also, I've seen some people block sword swipes when they dont also have a sword, how the hell do you do that?
When using maulers, it seems like i cant shoot as well with them, like i can't move as fast while aiming, am i just imagining this?

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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Does bashing with different weapons cause different amounts of damage?

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Not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure that this is the case. It looks like weapons w/ swords on the butts do more damage w/ melee.

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How much damage does a bash do typically?

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W/ shields it will take the shields all the way down. W/out shields it will kill them. If you melee at the same time the person w/ more health/shields wins.

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Also, I've seen some people block sword swipes when they dont also have a sword, how the hell do you do that?

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I think this is a glitch, but you have to bash the same time the sword guy swipes.

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When using maulers, it seems like i cant shoot as well with them, like i can't move as fast while aiming, am i just imagining this?

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Yes you are.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

I don't know if they changed it from Halo 2, but the brute shot and rocket launcher did more damage when you melee'ed with them then other weapons. You could jump and melee someone in the head with either and it would kill them.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

dingdongsong69 on live... add it!

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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the shotgun [censored] people up hard when in close. Its basically the only one shot kill gun outside of a snip head shot.

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The brute shotgun-pistol thing is pretty brutal too, not quite a one shot kill but it might as well be if your opponent is close enough to melee you after a shot. I hate that thing.

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I think its the same with highground. There isn't really one area to dominate and with the varied environment, you need to be pretty good with a lot of different weapons. This is a good ghost level.

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It tilts my opponents so hard when I just run around on the ghost the whole level and splatter them/shoot them down to the point that they actually FOLLOW me and try to kill me out of spite, which of course just makes it easier for me.

I'm like the shortstacker of Halo 3. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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I don't know if they changed it from Halo 2, but the brute shot and rocket launcher did more damage when you melee'ed with them then other weapons. You could jump and melee someone in the head with either and it would kill them.

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I think they do, but no more one hit kills from melees unless it's behind the head. Also, damage to the body from a melee does the same as hitting them in the head. I do think the melees from the bigger guns do slightly more damage, but you still need to hit them twice w/ every weapon if they have any shields.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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I actually don't think its a great idea to control the sword room on The Pit. Its pretty easy to grenade in there and/or throw the power drain. Add rockets and shotguns and its pretty easy to clean that area out.


IMO on the Pit you must utlize a killing squad. Work and move together and you will wreck people. A good sniper helps as well.

I think its the same with highground. There isn't really one area to dominate and with the varied environment, you need to be pretty good with a lot of different weapons. This is a good sticky level.

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QFT. I've never ever stayed in the sword room, it's an easy way to get [censored] up. I am usually the person on my team with a sniper, and the rest of my team goes around together killing guys.

I don't understand why people emphasize your whole team camping one area. I'm pretty high up in the rankings, and a pretty good player, and it seems to be a losing strategy except on certain maps. Construct, maybe snowbound, and staying on the concrete thing on isolation is good.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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I actually don't think its a great idea to control the sword room on The Pit. Its pretty easy to grenade in there and/or throw the power drain. Add rockets and shotguns and its pretty easy to clean that area out.


IMO on the Pit you must utlize a killing squad. Work and move together and you will wreck people. A good sniper helps as well.

I think its the same with highground. There isn't really one area to dominate and with the varied environment, you need to be pretty good with a lot of different weapons. This is a good sticky level.

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QFT. I've never ever stayed in the sword room, it's an easy way to get [censored] up. I am usually the person on my team with a sniper, and the rest of my team goes around together killing guys.

I don't understand why people emphasize your whole team camping one area. I'm pretty high up in the rankings, and a pretty good player, and it seems to be a losing strategy except on certain maps. Construct, maybe snowbound, and staying on the concrete thing on isolation is good.

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The thing w/ controlling the sword area (camping?) is that you can usually get at least 2 kills for every death and it's one of the few place on the map w/ good cover.

Obviously if you work as a team and can get your whole team to work together you don't need to control areas to win, but about 3/4 of the time I'm put in w/ people that play like they do in LW so trying to control an area works a little better.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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I actually don't think its a great idea to control the sword room on The Pit. Its pretty easy to grenade in there and/or throw the power drain. Add rockets and shotguns and its pretty easy to clean that area out.


IMO on the Pit you must utlize a killing squad. Work and move together and you will wreck people. A good sniper helps as well.

I think its the same with highground. There isn't really one area to dominate and with the varied environment, you need to be pretty good with a lot of different weapons. This is a good sticky level.

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QFT. I've never ever stayed in the sword room, it's an easy way to get [censored] up. I am usually the person on my team with a sniper, and the rest of my team goes around together killing guys.

I don't understand why people emphasize your whole team camping one area. I'm pretty high up in the rankings, and a pretty good player, and it seems to be a losing strategy except on certain maps. Construct, maybe snowbound, and staying on the concrete thing on isolation is good.

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The thing w/ controlling the sword area (camping?) is that you can usually get at least 2 kills for every death and it's one of the few place on the map w/ good cover.

Obviously if you work as a team and can get your whole team to work together you don't need to control areas to win, but about 3/4 of the time I'm put in w/ people that play like they do in LW so trying to control an area works a little better.

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Youre exactly right. Especially at the scrub level I play at, its much easier to get 4 people to stick together in one spot rather than roam around and work well together to assault a different point.

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

Here is something that I use that has helped:

Tips and Tricks

Re: General Halo tips and tricks
 

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Guardian
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This map is small, but controlling the power weapons is key. Your team needs to get the shotgun and gravity hammer. The yellow room seems easiest to control if you have both of these, but every area is pretty easy to infiltrate if you're a good team. If the opposing team is camping in that room grab the sniper and get some easy kills into the yellow room. Don't stay for too long though because the guy you killed more than likely knows how he died.

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Sniper tower is way better control spot, IMO.