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  • Subject: Air Superiority: Advanced Banshee Techniques (Videos Mostly Back Up)
Subject: Air Superiority: Advanced Banshee Techniques (Videos Mostly Back Up)
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Destinypedia - The Wiki for Bungie's Destiny
Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Update: I have mostly finished putting my videos back up. Please bear with me as I get the rest of them up. Thanks!

The Banshee is a rare gem: a weapon/vehicle that is found only on a few maps in Halo 3. But when it is in the hands of a skilled operator, the Banshee can be a versatile, destructive, and game-altering tool that can literally turn a loss into a win. Its size, speed, and the instantaneous nature of its killing power gives the Banshee a devastating effect on the opposing team that is unmatched by any other weapon, even if other teammates are getting more kills than the Banshee using weapons like the sniper rifle or BR.

As many of you know, when I broke 1000 Banshee kills, I created a thread called Tool of Destruction: The Banshee -- Tips and Tricks. In that thread, I gave a basic runthrough of simple Banshee techniques that can help anybody to become a better Banshee pilot.

Now, to celebrate my having broken the 2000-kill mark in the Banshee, this thread is designed for those of you who are already familiar with the basic techniques found in the previous thread, and are looking to refine and hone your Banshee skills to the point where you can become the force that turns the tide of battle, or, even better, establish your team's dominance right from the start.

The videos in this thread have taken several months to collect and edit, and I am the Banshee pilot in all of them. Hopefully, you find them as entertaining as they are instructive.

I should probably begin by establishing my "credentials" as at least some reason that you should listen to me. My current Banshee kill total is over 5200 as of today. I have 9 vehicular manslaughters, 2 Untouchables from Banshee kills, 6 Rampages, 43 Riots, and 165 Killing Frenzies. My highest multikill medal in a Banshee is a Killtacular. I have earned numerous Overkills and lower multikill medals. I have over 2800 splatter medals (not all in the Banshee), 109 splatter sprees (almost all in the Banshee), and 109 skyjacker medals. On maps containing a Banshee, including Heavies maps, my current K/D ratio over the last 45 days is 1.8.

I am the first to admit that I am NOT the most prolific Banshee pilot in Halo 3. I am currently ranked in the top-60 in total Banshee kills and in the top-30 in Banshee kills per game, but there are at least several players who are much better with the Banshee than I am. I would like to give special credit to players like Capown (GT: TTL Al Capown), who is a huge Bungie fan and an active forum user here, and whose 11,807 Banshee kills (at the time of this thread's creation) are an inspiration. I'd also like to thank baby ghuta (GT: A Ghuta), a frequent teammate and fellow Banshee lover who has even more Banshee kills than I do (but not by much).

Please feel free to add your own tips, strategies, and tricks to this thread, or comment on/criticize the ones you see here. Now, let's get to it!

ADVANCED BANSHEE TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGY

If you are new to flying the Banshee, or find yourself frequently getting killed within a minute or two of entering the Banshee, I urge you to read this thread before attempting to learn the strategies and techniques below.

Reaching the Banshee First and Avoiding the Early Kill

Videos Referenced in this Section
Video 1/Video 2: First to the Banshee and Early Kill Avoidance on Sandtrap
Video 3: Early Kill Avoidance on Valhalla
Video 4: Early Banshee Techniques on Standoff Heavies

As a Banshee pilot, by now you have probably figured out ways to reach the Banshee quickly at the beginning of the game and begin your attempts at establishing air dominance. It can be maddeningly frustrating, however, to reach the Banshee and take off only to be immediately killed or have your Banshee destroyed within the first minute. That is exactly what the other team's goal is, too. By destroying the Banshee early using the plentiful and freshly spawned anti-vehicle weapons, they have destroyed the other team's most frightening weapon and taken advantage of your eagerness in flying one of the largest, easiest targets on the map right into their sights.

To avoid this, you MUST allow your team to establish some level of map control before boldly venturing out into the open. As your team's Banshee pilot, it is your job to enter the Banshee and take it to safety as quickly as possible.

Reaching the Banshee First

To reach and enter the Banshee quickly, know the starting points for each map, each gametype, and each team on any game where a Banshee will appear. Know the direction you need to move in order to reach the Banshee and the fastest way to get there. When you spawn in, you should already be on your way.

On Valhalla, this is relatively simple. On Sandtrap, however, there is only one Banshee, and it spawns near the middle of the map, an equal distance from both teams. To reach the Banshee first, you need to know where to go as soon as you spawn in (use the nearest Mongoose). See Video 1 for a demonstration. Do not use the Chopper, as its speed (over a distance, with boosting) is equal to the Mongoose and using the Chopper merely to run to the Banshee takes away a valuable weapon for your team that another teammate could be using to kill enemies, stop onrushing offense, or even save your ass.

Practice your timing and speed. On Valhalla, you should be in the Banshee and flying within 6 seconds of game start. On Sandtrap, you should be able to reach the Banshee within 15 seconds of game start. In Video 1, above, the time from game start to entering the Banshee is about 12.5 seconds.

Avoiding the Early Kill

Reaching the Banshee first is often simply a matter of desire and practice (and sometimes luck). But it takes practice, patience, and skill to stay alive during the first minute of the game, when all anti-vehicle weapons are fresh and actively looking to take down the Banshee. Let me repeat that: in the Banshee, you are the enemy's first and top-priority target.

In general, you should not engage the other team within the first minute or so of the game unless absolutely necessary. Stay low, fast, near your own base/team, and unpredictable -- Spartan Lasers and Missile Pods will be seeking to gain height in order to see as much of the battlefield as they can, and they are looking for you first.

On Valhalla, the early kill can be avoided by using the base itself or the rocks to the left of either base as cover. Even so, with so many vehicles on the map, the other team will be coming for you. Video 3 contains a good demonstration of this and ways to avoid the early kill. Remember -- do not engage the enemy unless necessary. In the first minute of the game, the anti-vehicle weapons on the field are simply too formidable to be concentrating on killing enemies. Instead, concentrate on staying alive. In Video 3, you can notice the consequences of the other team's Banshee pilot being too eager to get into the action. The lead Banshee's team took control of the laser and was able to destroy the other team's Banshee within the first few seconds of the game. If the enemy Banshee had remained behind cover until the laser was out of ammunition or was distracted, its survivability would have been much greater.

On Sandtrap, the early kill is a huge risk that you take at the beginning of every big team game. There are tons of easily accessible anti-vehicle weapons and you will really have to use every bit of skill and experience you have to keep the Banshee alive through the first minute or even two minutes of the game. You especially need to be aware that in many situations, you are headed to your own death -- at the beginning of the game, the other team can grab the Spartan Laser and set up for a Banshee kill much faster than you can actually reach the vehicle. If the laser is highly skilled, you're dead as soon as you enter the Banshee no matter what you do.

One nifty Sandtrap move that I picked up in order to avoid this kind of early kill, however, is visible in Video 2. Studying the film, taken from the Spartan Laser's perspective, you can notice how quickly the laser is able to set up and wait for me to enter the Banshee, hoping for an easy early kill. But as I enter the Banshee, I immediately moved in an unexpected direction away from the laser's perspective. He had to adjust his aim and adjust for the Banshee's left roll, a great laser-kill avoidance tactic that ensures that the Banshee is not moving in a straight line from the laser's perspective. Also notice that I flew low and behind cover as quickly as possible, thus giving the laser only one chance at the kill -- once he missed, I was gone.

Standoff Heavies can be a difficult map for any Banshee pilot, especially in the opening moments of the game when lasers and Gauss Hogs are fresh. Video 4 shows a good opening strategy that involves diving behind the cliffs and flanking the enemy. They'll never see you coming :-)



[Edited on 08.13.2009 11:03 AM PDT]

  • 09.05.2008 6:43 AM PDT
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Destinypedia - The Wiki for Bungie's Destiny
Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Other Tips

* In BTB, early teamwork is more important than anything else if you want to win the game. Communicate with your teammates about threats and protection.

* Do not pick up power weapons before entering the Banshee (and if you have them, drop them before entering and let your teammates know where they are) -- your teammates can use them to protect you and to establish early dominance.

* Stay low at all times when flying the Banshee in the first minutes of the game!

* Know where cover is available on all maps. Fly through tight spaces when possible -- missile pods and lasers may hit trees, rocks, or buildings instead of you.


Teamwork in the Banshee

Videos Referenced in this Section
Video 1: Air Support
Video 2: Compilation of Teamwork Techniques
Video 3: Taking out Enemy Vehicles

If you only read one section in this thread carefully, it should be this one. Teamwork is absolutely essential to making the Banshee a terrorizing and dominating battlefield tool. A key part of this is communication -- if your BTB games are typically played in silence or in conversation about other topics, then your Banshee life is almost certainly shorter than it should be. Let your teammates know where weapons and players are, and gather as much information from them as possible about the locations of the enemy.

In my opinion, if your goal is to have the most kills on your team in every game, and you solely want to rack up your K/D ratio, the Banshee is not for you. Obviously, the kill totals can get very high, but the Banshee is most effective as an air support vehicle to help your teammates on the ground get out of tight spots, accomplish objectives, or kill enemies. The Banshee is ineffective if you only intend to use it to fly around and rack up kills -- if you don't communicate with teammates, you will die faster, hurt your team's chances of winning, and fail to make full use of the Banshee's game-changing abilities.

Aggressive Teamwork Utilizing the Banshee's Speed

You probably already know that the Banshee is the fastest vehicle in the game. As a team player, this gives you the responsibility of quickly reaching areas of the map where teammates need help. In Video 1, you will see a CTF game in which our team captured the flag three times in two minutes. In this game, the Banshee was committed to supporting offensive units rather than defensive (you might want to switch this strategy around in situations where the other team is more aggressive), and thanks to its speed, was able to reach and support all three flag-capturing vehicles. The kill totals are not high, but they are all high-quality kills that prevented the enemy team from stopping the flag capture.

The Banshee's speed makes it great in any situation requiring support or backup immediately. In Video 2, Section 3 (beginning at 2:40), you will see several situations in which the Banshee's speed and aggressiveness can be used to take out high-priority targets. Use it to take out people who are on killing sprees, holding power weapons, or going for objectives. You should use teamwork and communication to aggressively back up teammates and prevent the other team from using power weapons against them whenever you can.

Video 2 provides another demonstration of good communication on Standoff Heavy at 1:12. I was hit with a laser but didn't know where it came from. After some quick communication with teammates, they told me that the laser was at camo spawn. Using this information, I was able to choose a good hiding spot, wait for the enemy to waste a shot, and then take him down.

(Note: unless you are absolutely sure that the other team's Spartan Laser is distracted or has just fired, don't go after it! Banshee loses against Splaser almost every time.)

Another advantage to the Banshee's speed is its ability to aggressively go after the other team's flag in flag gametypes. Although you obviously cannot actually carry the flag while flying the Banshee, you can certainly make yourself enough of a nuisance to distract an entire team, allowing your teammates to capture the flag. In Video 2, you can observe the Banshee's ability to prevent the other team from returning its own flag while your team organizes itself for flag runs. Do it well enough, and they will forget that it's even a flag game, spending all of their time concentrating on taking you down.

Teammate Protection Using the Banshee

The Banshee is a great map-control weapon. You have already probably watched Video 1 (Air Support) for the above section, but you should also check out Video 2, Section 1 for some great demonstrations of the Banshee's ideal role as an air-support escort, quickly and efficiently taking out threats to your teammates. You don't have to have a lot of kills to be extremely effective in this role. A Banshee is both a distraction and a deterrent for the other team, and with an effective Banshee pilot protecting a teammate, the enemy is unlikely to succeed in disrupting your teammates' goals. Stay close to teammates and communicate well with them; a Banshee pilot who strikes out on his or her own to try to rack up kills is only going to shorten his/her own lifespan and be a minor distraction for freshly spawned players and enemies who are way out-of-position to do anything effective anyway. An effective Banshee pilot will stick close to teammates so that both parties can provide mutual protection and be more effective as a unit.

Additionally, take out enemy vehicles whenever you see them, provided that you communicate with your teammates first to make sure that nobody wants them. Video 3 provides a quick example of taking out threats to your teammates before they arrive -- note that the Warthog shows up a few seconds after the Banshee takes out the Chopper, which is one of the biggest threats to a fresh 'hog.

As a side note, a neat trick to pull in the Banshee on Sandtrap is to act as an escort while your teammate steals the other team's Elephant. Any person who plays a substantial amount of Big Team Battle will know that, in Sandtrap objective gametypes, successfully stealing the other team's Elephant and bringing it to the right location can result in astonishingly fast victories -- it is map control at its finest. This is yet another example of the Banshee in a role where the kill total will not be terribly high, but the Banshee's effectiveness in establishing map control and earning a win for the team is extremely valuable.

Banshee Respawns

The issue of respawns is important enough to require its own small section. The Banshee's respawn time on the two major default maps on which it appears (Valhalla and Sandtrap) is 180 seconds (3 minutes). Even if you don't intend to fly the Banshee, note the time when any Banshee is destroyed. Count down three minutes and make an announcement to the team about 20 or 30 seconds before the Banshee respawns. As either a Banshee pilot or a player who does not prefer to use the Banshee, this knowledge will help you to prevent the other team from destroying or stealing it on respawn. It also is useful for Banshee pilots who do not have a Banshee to fly -- when you know that the Banshee is NOT close to respawn, you can make yourself useful to the team in other ways instead of sitting at the base and "camping" the respawn.



[Edited on 08.13.2009 11:10 AM PDT]

  • 09.05.2008 6:46 AM PDT
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Destinypedia - The Wiki for Bungie's Destiny
Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Establishing Dominance and Destroying Enemy Morale

Videos Referenced in this Section:
Video 1: Banshee Killing Frenzy in the First 1:30 of the game
Video 2: Banshee Splatter Failure (Video Down)
Video 3: Low Flying (Video Down)
Video 4: Laser Kill (Video Down)
Video 5: Three Kills(Video Down)
Video 6: Riot and Splatter (Video Down)
Video 7: Hog Kill in a Banshee (Video Down)
Video 8: Hornet Dogfight (Video Down)
Video 9: Maybe Next Time (Video Down)

Now it's time for the really juicy stuff -- the ways that the Banshee can own the map, help your team establish map control, and devastate the other team in either slayer or objective gametypes. These are advanced techniques, and should be used only in conjunction with good Banshee fundamentals, which are available in Tool of Destruction: The Banshee -- Tips and Tricks. Without the fundamentals, fancy tricks are going to work with far less frequency and reliability. Also, I cannot stress enough that teamwork is essential here -- when watching the videos in this section, don't just watch the Banshee. Watch the way that the whole team operates together, which enhances the Banshee's ability to be effective.

Splattering

Despite the risks, I prefer the splatter kill over any other kind of kill. While a fuel rod burst followed by a few plasma cannon shots may be a safer kill, it does not have the morale-busting effect of a splatter. Think about yourself when you are splattered -- more frustrating than being killed by a gun, right? That's because it's up close, personal, and almost insulting. When the other team is frustrated and distracted, their effectiveness evaporates. For this reason, multiple kills by splatter rather than by the Banshee's guns is, in my opinion, the most devastating property that the Banshee has, and completely worth it for the reduced lifespan.

If I am playing well and communicating well with my team, I can usually achieve a splatter spree in the Banshee in most circumstances. Combined with the necessary gun kills, killing frenzies are fairly common. A 10:1 k/d ratio with any weapon is usually going to be enough to propel a good team to victory. Combine that with the splatter's ability to kill team morale, and you're looking at very high margins of victory and eating steak with Luke a lot more frequently.

In Video [XX] (video down), you can see the devastating effects of good splattering as, one-by-one the other team begins to quit out and/or put down their controllers.

When splattering, you need to be very careful of players who run toward you or appear to be placing themselves in position to be splattered. Don't take the risk -- kill these guys from a distance. Four times out of five, they are willing to sacrifice themselves to stick you with a plasma grenade, hit you with a power drainer, or shoot you with a rocket, plasma pistol, or brute shot. In Video 1 (above), you can observe several players throwing/shooting plasma grenades, power drainers, or plasma pistol shots at the Banshee.

It is much better to splatter players who are not ready for you. Players who are shooting battle rifles or assault rifles at you, running in some other direction, or distracted by gun battles with your teammates are all great targets for splattering. Take advantage of it and revel in their frustration at being killed out of nowhere by a (mostly) silent, speedy aircraft.

Video 5 shows the Banshee on a Capture-the-Flag game taking out a group of three players attempting to mount an offensive push with two splatters and one gun kill. Only the Banshee has the capability to kill so many people so quickly and still have enough ammunition to keep going immediately. But you have to be careful, as the Banshee is extremely weak and can be destroyed relatively easily if you're not careful.

Video 2 provides a humorous example of lag preventing effective splattering. In these situations, you'll have to adjust and resort to gun kills instead.

Low Flying

It is worth your while to spend an hour or two in a custom game by yourself on Valhalla and Sandtrap. Fly around as fast and low as you can. Fly under and through obstacles, walls, and tress, use left- and right-rolls, and see if you can stay lower than the tallest object that an enemy can actually reach with a splaser or missile pod. The lower you are, the less frequently you are in the enemy's sights and the longer your lifespan will be. And the faster you are, the less likely that you will be shot, stuck, or boarded. Stay low and fast!

In Video 1, you can see how low flying pays off as the Banshee establishes massive dominance in the game's first 1 minute, 30 seconds, gaining 10 kills. Keeping the other team in the respawn screen while your team sets up map control is the surest way to guarantee victory.

In Video 3, you can see an example of low flying paying off on Sandtrap. In this video, the Banshee's team is stealing the other team's Elephant. The Banshee is doing a little bit of cleanup to keep enemies away and finds itself face to face with a guy wielding a missile pod. Watching the video, you can see how low flying allows the Banshee to get three kills while still avoiding the pods -- although you can't hear the missile warning going off, if you listen, you can hear the missiles whistling by and smashing into the walls as the Banshee scoots around underneath the bridges on Sandtrap.

Video 4 contains another good example. Low flying allows the Banshee to stay out of the laser's line of sight, thus allowing it to sneak up behind him for the splatter kill.

Destroying the Warthog

An advanced move for experienced Banshee pilots is destruction of the other team's Warthog. I should be clear at this point: a Warthog gunner versus a Banshee in a straight-up gunfight results in a win for the Warthog every time. For this reason, you should only ever go after a Warthog when you have the tactical advantage.

This means that you must wait until the Warthog gunner is distracted, or at least until you know where the Warthog is but the 'hog's gunner doesn't know where you are. If you have the angle, lead off with a fuel rod cannon shot. Practicing these shots on moving targets from a long distance is a good idea. Get a friend to drive around in a Warthog in a custom game and practice leading your shots. This can be very difficult considering that the fuel rod cannon travels in a slow arc and you are trying to hit a moving, unpredictable target. But if you hit it, it will knock the hog and its gunner off-balance.

Follow up with plasma cannon shots and aim for the gunner first!!! If the Warthog returns fire on you, do not engage for more than a couple of seconds (and I mean that literally -- two seconds or less) before diving for cover. The good thing about fighting a Warthog is the turret's slow turn speed. If you stay close to the 'hog and stay fast, the gunner will physically not be able to keep up with you, no matter how skilled he or she is.

Video 6 shows two separate Warthog kills within 15 seconds. Observe how frighteningly fast your shields can be lowered by the Warthog when you have a gunner who is paying attention. The fuel rod cannon and quick dives for cover are the only reason that the Banshee survives in this instance. Again, do not go after a Warthog unless you are supremely confident that you can take it before the gunner takes you.

Video 7 shows a technique for waiting until a driver is distracted. In this case, the Warthog gunner had seen the Banshee previously (you can see a couple of potshots being taken at the beginning of the video), so the Banshee moves up to the top of the map and orbits the Forerunner structure on Valhalla, almost completely out of range and certainly not as "easy" as the more tempting targets on the middle hill. Once the gunner decides to move on to easier targets, the Banshee moves in from behind for the kill. This video also shows just how unpredictable the 'Hog's movements are. The driver inadvertently avoids a fuel rod cannon shot from the Banshee that almost surely would have flipped the 'hog. Fortunately for the Banshee, the double kill came only a second or two later. Observe how the Banshee kills the gunner first, and then does a quick sweep to take out the driver -- always disable the 'hog's gun before trying for the driver... NOT the other way around.



[Edited on 02.27.2010 1:43 PM PST]

  • 09.05.2008 6:47 AM PDT
Subject: Air Superiority: Advanced Banshee Techniques (Video Demos Included)
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Destinypedia - The Wiki for Bungie's Destiny
Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Aerial Dogfights

As I stated in my original Banshee thread -- avoid "dogfights" unless they are absolutely unavoidable. Dogfights may seem cool, right until you get lasered or gunned out of the sky by someone on the ground who's been watching you orbit the battlefield in one place. Keep the Banshee low and fast at all times, and let your teammates handle the other air vehicles.

That said, in some cases, a dogfight is either too tempting to resist (see the easy Banshee kill in Video 1 at 2:57-3:03) or completely unavoidable. In these cases, STAY LOW. For those of you familiar with real-life dogfighting techniques or combat flight simulators (where height gives the attacker the advantage), this may be counter-intuitive. Unlike those situations, however, the Banshee travels at equal speed in all directions when in full boost, and its maximum pitch angle is MUCH higher when flying upward than downward. If you are above an enemy, you may find that he or she is shooting you and you are unable to even establish an angle to reach him or her with your guns. Additionally, staying low is good due to how easy it is to lose an aerial target.

Video 8 shows a dogfight between a Banshee and a Hornet. Note that the dogfight is pretty much unavoidable due to the Hornet's position and the nature of the map. The Banshee uses left- and right-rolls to avoid the Hornet's gunfire until it can get directly underneath it. The Banshee then drops power to get low, falling all the way to the ground. Having lost sight of the Banshee, the Hornet panics and turns around, running out to the edge of the map. With the Hornet's back turned, the Banshee pops up and opens fire. The dogfight ends when the Hornet's pilot gives up and ejects.

Dogfights like these put the normally fast-and-low Banshee in a slow, high, and vulnerable position, making it not only an easy target, but a desirable one as the enemy air vehicle's teammates attempt to rescue their teammate. You should use teamwork and communication to ensure that your team controls anti-vehicle weapons before engaging in aerial battles.

Being Skyjacked

There are lots of rumored techniques out there to prevent skyjackings. The only truly reliable way is to stay fast. You cannot be skyjacked while in full boost. Techniques such as trying to "scrape" opponents off the Banshee using a wall, flips and rolls, or ejecting early from the Banshee are unlikely to work.

If you are skyjacked, the technique that I've found that works best is to jam the Banshee into a tight space. In Video 9, the Banshee misses a kill on Valhalla and gets skyjacked. The Banshee quickly jams itself into the downed Pelican, stopping the Banshee, slowing the skyjacker's escape, and allowing the Banshee to be immediately recaptured. Even this technique is not reliable if the enemy skyjacker is a skilled and experienced Banshee pilot, so as always, the best strategy is to avoid skyjackings entirely.


Conclusion

The Banshee is an awesome tool and my favorite weapon in the game. I encourage everybody out there to pick it up once in awhile and see what you can do after reading the techniques and strategies in this thread and the original Banshee tips and tricks thread. Please add to this thread with your own techniques, strategies, tips, and demonstrations.

Happy flying!

[Edited on 09.05.2008 7:17 AM PDT]

  • 09.05.2008 6:48 AM PDT
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And the Shadow fell upon the Land, and the World was riven stone from stone. The oceans fled, and the mountains were swallowed up, and the nations were scattered to the eight corners of the World. The moon was blood, and the sun was as ashes. The seas boiled, and the living envied the dead. All was shattered, and all but memory lost, and one memory above all others, of him who brought the Shadow and the Breaking of the World. And him they named Dragon.

zOMG ur a mod rite?!?

Seriously though, I just read the conclusion for now. Looking forward to read it all later:)

  • 09.05.2008 6:51 AM PDT

"The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced. The arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance." -Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 B.C.

I skimmed it, looks like a very informative and well though out post.

*Leaves to finish reading*

Looks like a pinned topic material.



[Edited on 09.05.2008 7:22 AM PDT]

  • 09.05.2008 6:52 AM PDT
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Those low-flying ones are hard, I think! I always worry about getting boarded, and it's hard for me to fight the natural urge to get higher and try to take advantage of the wider view from up there.

  • 09.05.2008 6:55 AM PDT
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Damn foman, if I ever face you on valhalla I think I might quit!Congrats on the kills though ,I dont even have a hundred :(

  • 09.05.2008 6:57 AM PDT
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dang, you put a lot of thought in this.
and i suck with the banshee and hope to get better so thanks for the tips.

  • 09.05.2008 6:59 AM PDT

Hello & Welcome to Bungie.netâ„¢

Please Mind for Random Retards

Foman is the master of the Banshee & the www (Well Written Words). Nice post Foman I'll try & read it all. Or at least half...

  • 09.05.2008 7:01 AM PDT

"...the forerunner of change, of conquest, of trade, of massacres, of blessings"

Heart of Darkness, JC

always enjoy your banshee tips. looks like another great thread. watched a couple of vids so far. very nicely put together!

  • 09.05.2008 7:01 AM PDT

The WorkPLace
(Formerly 'Halo 3 in The Work PLace')

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Nice one Fo. Great post and some great vids.

Really helpful insight to good banshee skills.

  • 09.05.2008 7:06 AM PDT
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Awesome strategy.

My main problem seems to be that when I go to splatter, I get jacked.

My other problem is shield preservation - how do you manage your shields?

  • 09.05.2008 7:12 AM PDT

There is nothing wrong with Halo:Reach. We all just have our gripes about everything we don't like. Not liking something doesn't make it broken.

I almost never use the Banshee, but I like to play a little Lasertag so the habit of noting the Banshee respawn time is already existant.

I wait until I know it's about to appear and give a single warning to my teammates, if I don't hear a reply or my teammates don't recover I blow it up, sometimes when not bearing a pilot.

This does two things for me. One it set the respawn up again so that they can't get it, two it sets a deathtrap.

Some players only occasionally glance over there for purple, I have on occasion blown it up before it was piloted and seen multiple people still end up over there, only to meet the business end of my laser/sniper

If you can't control it, you can still use it. It's appeal on Sandtrap makes it a perfect trap, I rarely set the same thing up on Valhalla.

Aside from that when I get a teammate in one, I normally play AA for him so he can focus on other things. I am the type to forewarn them that trying to rush the flag will result in a laser betrayal, because grabbing the flag means he left the Banshee behind, and an enemy team with two Banshees is a devastating force.

  • 09.05.2008 7:16 AM PDT

Looks like you're the "Go-to Man" for the Banshee.

There's some very useful techniques here that I will definitely take on board (mind the pun) the next time I use the Banshee.

Overall, I would like to thank you very much for providing this; terrific work!

I do have a couple of questions though.
When would you advise to use the 'left & right rolls' as opposed to the 'upwards roll'. Also; what are the best times to use the Fuel-rod gun? For example; if I'm chasing a group of players (at a distance), should I attack with:
The Fuel-rod or Plasma cannon? The try following it up with a splatter?

: )

  • 09.05.2008 7:17 AM PDT

RIP Logan ~B.B.

Posted by: FSOG
Damn foman, if I ever face you on valhalla I think I might quit!Congrats on the kills though ,I dont even have a hundred :(


I still have a vid save of him and Predator absolutely destroying people in banshees for an entire game on Valhalla. It is ariel poetry.

Unfortunately, even if you know all of Foman's Banshee secrets, putting them to use is still hard. Not only do have to pull them off with the controller, but you have to have the mental aspects down too, patience and strategic thinking are important.

I still suck with the Banshee, but I have been picking up some of Foman's wheelman tactics in the warthog.

  • 09.05.2008 7:20 AM PDT
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Yeah, their steering in those vids is amazing.

  • 09.05.2008 7:22 AM PDT

Nice write up Foman. Thanks for taking the time to do all that AND to share it with the community.

  • 09.05.2008 7:22 AM PDT
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Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Posted by: Cocomaan
Awesome strategy.

My main problem seems to be that when I go to splatter, I get jacked.

My other problem is shield preservation - how do you manage your shields?
That's a good point; the Banshee is the one of the weakest and easiest-to-destroy vehicles in the game. Your shields will be lowered astonishingly fast when taking direct fire. Staying low and fast, and only engaging enemies in quick bursts will not only continue to surprise the enemy, but also allow your shields to recharge in between shots.

If you watch some of the kill-demonstration videos in my first posts, such as "Vehicular Manslaughter," "Three Kills," and "Riot & Splatter," you can see examples of the "dart in, dart out" technique. To the other team, you'll be as intimidating as Batman to the badguys -- appearing out of nowhere, devastating the enemy, and then disappearing just as quickly.

  • 09.05.2008 7:23 AM PDT

Holy crap Foman. This is like drivers ed for Banshees.

  • 09.05.2008 7:25 AM PDT
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i have been having good games when I am in the Banshee.
I normally get 5 - 6 Splatters a game and a Splatter Spree.
A couple of times my Tool of Destruction has been the Banshee.
I agree with FoMan, it is an awesome tool in the game.
I wish the Hornet could do the things a Banshee could... :(

Rune (")('-')(")

  • 09.05.2008 7:26 AM PDT

I'll make your girl do backflips.
The WorkPLace

Sick write up Fo!

The technique you use when we play CTF is brilliant as well. The way you fly right above one of us in the hog with the flag protecting us is key!

H3ITWP...get pitted! ...and workPLaced!

  • 09.05.2008 7:27 AM PDT
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Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Posted by: dazarobbo
Looks like you're the "Go-to Man" for the Banshee.

There's some very useful techniques here that I will definitely take on board (mind the pun) the next time I use the Banshee.

Overall, I would like to thank you very much for providing this; terrific work!

I do have a couple of questions though.
When would you advise to use the 'left & right rolls' as opposed to the 'upwards roll'. Also; what are the best times to use the Fuel-rod gun? For example; if I'm chasing a group of players (at a distance), should I attack with:
The Fuel-rod or Plasma cannon? The try following it up with a splatter?

: )
Thanks!

For left- and right-rolls, I would advise using them all the time when flying around unless you need to be firing. These rolls provide extremely fast lateral movement while letting you maintain your speed. With a bit of controller manipulation, they also prevent the Banshee from moving in a straight line, making it more difficult for lasers and turrets to hit you.

For upwards "flips," I typically only use them when I need to reverse direction in a hurry, such as in the beginning of the "Laser Kill" video above. These flips are slower than left and right rolls, and actually cause the Banshee to "hover" in space, making it easier for turrets and lasers to spot you.

For the fuel rod cannon, you have to use your best judgments as to when it's best to lead off with a fuel rod shot. You may be too far away to be accurate with the cannon, or simply not have the shot, while the faster-moving plasma cannon can reach the enemy with more accuracy and speed. Of course, the fuel rod is much more devastating and has the added benefit of being able to flip over ground vehicles. Really, it depends on the situation.

Hope that helps!

[Edited on 09.05.2008 7:38 AM PDT]

  • 09.05.2008 7:35 AM PDT

I don't join any group that spams me in PM so don't try it.
SPAM applies to anything that is copy and pasted, it is very obvious when you do so don't say you wrote it. Also if you argue with me on the nature of things contained in this signature, you will be blocked and never removed. If you send to me in XBox live you will be Avoided, Blocked, and a complaint will be filed for harassment.

lollololol Foman made a Wall o' Text. No offense. Good tips.

  • 09.05.2008 7:38 AM PDT

Does anyone even read these?

Good read Foman, I'll try out your tips. You put quite a lot of thought into this.

  • 09.05.2008 7:42 AM PDT