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  • Subject: Two questions about The Flood...
Subject: Two questions about The Flood...

I decided to play some H:CE earlier tonight because I felt like using the original pistol again for a while. I ended up playing through The Library, Two Betrayals, and Keyes on Normal, all of which are Flood levels. I noticed a few things about my encounters with the Flood, and I wanted to ask two things about them...

1. On both Two Betrayals and Keyes, you can find fully loaded sniper rifles. The one on Two Betrayals is in that cave along with all the rocket launchers just before the valley with the Banshees in it that you need in order to get to the third pulse generator. The one on Keyes is on a ledge just before reaching the huge pool of coolant that actually goes above your head. I noticed that in both cases, once you pick the sniper up, the only enemies you really have a clear shot at in the next available area to use it in are Flood combat forms. On Two Betrayals, all the potential Covenant you could use it against are in vehicles, and on Keyes, they are around to the left of that bend in the path, just out of sight.

I didn't think anything of it at the time. In both Halo 2 and 3 you can kill the Flood with sniper rifles, and I never realized that you couldn't in H:CE any of the other times I've played it. But evidently, if you shoot either combat forms or carrier forms with the sniper rifle, the bullets pass right through them. All it serves to do is waste ammo and alert them to your position. You'd think it might make carrier forms tip over, but it doesn't even do that.

Can anyone explain this? Why can you not kill the Flood with the sniper rifle?

I will just note one thing that if you shoot carefully, you can hit infection forms and it will kill them.

2. There were several times, especially on Keyes in those big bends in the hallways once you get back aboard the ship, that there are so many enemies in certain parts of the ship so frequently, that I thought a few times they might actually be spawn areas.

In some FPSs (CoD:W@W comes to mind...), the creators make what are called "spawn areas." Essentially, parts of the level where enemies will continually spawn over and over until you advance past the spot they spawn at. So if you do the logical tactic of hanging back and killing them as they come to you like everybody does with the Flood, you will never advance because it would keep spawning them endlessly.

There were a few times, especially on Keyes like I already said, where there were so many guys in such a concentrated area and so frequently, that I almost thought it was a spawn area. As far as I can tell, there did end up being a finite number of enemies in each area, and there were just so many that I took it as spawn areas, but I'm curious as to if any do exist in H:CE or any of the Halo games anywhere.

  • 10.29.2009 10:50 PM PDT
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EXTREME PREJUDICE

1. There is a reason why the sniper doesn't kill them, but I don't remember. In H2 and H3, you can hit the actual infection form which is why I believe they are able to be killed with the sniper.

2. Yes, there are areas in the game where an infinite amount of enemies will spawn. Several on Keyes - the large pool of coolant where the sniper is found, the openings in the hallway ceilings and the control room; and The Maw - the door where you first encounter the Flood. There are a few others, but I'm pretty sure they are only found on Keyes and The Maw.

[Edited on 10.30.2009 6:01 PM PDT]

  • 10.30.2009 6:00 PM PDT
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R.I.P. Halo 2
11/9/04 - 4/15/10

- B( )B

1. My theory is this. Since flood combat form's flesh is so sponge and decayed and the sniper fires an armor piercing bullet, it just tears strait through them without causing harm to anything other than what the bullet hit. The bullet doesn't cause the insides to explode like it normally would.
2. Yes, I'm pretty sure there are a couple spawn areas, but 98% of the time there is a set number of enemies.

  • 10.31.2009 6:36 AM PDT
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Nice Original Post!

I have not played H3, so my comments are limited to CE and 2......Legendary Campaign comments as well.........

The sniper rifle is best used in 2 Betrayals and Keyes to take out covies, and to use as a long range guide for any rocket launcher shots. In 2 Betrayals the fight in the bowl near the end of the level is crammed with Covies, in and out of vehicles and shades. They best use of the SR is to take very long range shots to take out the Wraiths without getting close enough to take any return fire from anything. Typically you can take out the Wraith in the open part of the bowl (near the entrance in the cliff face) from only a few steps inside of where you jump up from the ice rink. Using the SR allows you to scope in on the position of that stationary Wraith and take it out. It is alot of fun to watch the grunts scramble around wailing and screaming (not that you can hear it from that far away) when it goes up in flames. In order to take out the second one, which moves around alot, you have to move in far enough to actually trigger the flood. Once they have been dispatched the Wraith settles down more consistently and you can have at it. I actually do not use any SR rounds until both wraiths are down, and ususally just to take out the Jackals and the Hunters. Everybody that is left I take a more difficult approach with. The Jackals just seem to deserve SR headshots, since they piss me off!

As for Keyes, the SR is pretty much there just to allow you an easy way to take out the Hunters and the Elites that are mixing it up with the Flood down at the coolant pool. You would think that a pool down by the beach would be a restful place, but not today! For the most part, I just let them take each other out till the Flood are the last standing, then go down and take them out. The SR is nice because it gives you a better view of the carnage! Typically I only take a pot shot or two at the Elites dodging their way around infection forms, just to soften them up a bit for my Flood beach buddies.

As far as the point about not being able to kill CE flood with SR rounds, I liked that part. If I had to guess about why in H2 they can now be killed with well placed SR rounds, I would wager that in order to get the SR more play in H2 they made it a usable weapon FOR the Flood, it allowed it to be dropped by dead ones and picked up by the MC. Otherwise it would not be seen much in flood levels and it could not be used.

To my knowledge there are only 2 infinite spawn areas in the game. One is the hallway junction at the beginning of Keyes, where if you do not follow Cortana's advice and jump, you get an unlimited number of flood coming at you, killing you if you stick around, or forcing you to make the jump. There is no way to last more than a few minutes of Legendary with all of these spawners, not possible. Not even the Bad Cyborg guy has been able to last more than 6 Min (if memory serves). The second infinite spawn area is also on Keyes and is the SR coolant pool discussed above. The Carrier forms will spawn alllllllllll day long if you keep taking them out. I have spent alot of time on Keyes culling flood and those are the only 2 places that never run out. All of the other spots that have long Flood spawns typically end at the 7th wave (figures, right! This is Bungie's favorite number!)

Good Post Spartan!

  • 10.31.2009 9:10 AM PDT

Most of the questions have been answered, I think.

I know of at least 7 infinite spawns(lol7). All of the area outside of 343 Guilty Spark is an infinite spawn. Most of the Library is infinite spawning. Four are on Keyes; first is the big hole; second is that coolant pool with the Carriers; third is a hole in the ceiling down the corridor to the cargo bay, where a blast door opens and a dozen Flood pour out. The last two are on The Maw; the seventh is the far end of the corridor before the Engine Room & Armoury, where the Sentinels are fighting the Covenant, while the last infinite spawn is the Engine Room.

  • 11.01.2009 12:43 AM PDT
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Hya Little!

I hate to be contrary, but some of the infinite spawn spots you have listed do eventually run out, I know, I have spent expended a ton of ammo making sure. The hole in the ceiling, the engine room/armory areas are not. They do eventually run out. As far as the actual engine room, the flood wane alot, but the sentinels do keep generating. The library has NO infinite spawns, they all do run out. That is one of my fave levels to expend every round of dropped ammo/weaponry and they do run out eventually.

  • 11.02.2009 10:09 AM PDT

Thanks, womy. If I ever find out what happened to my game disc, I'll be sure to check those out!

  • 11.02.2009 8:53 PM PDT