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  • Subject: Here's some help on Legendary.
Subject: Here's some help on Legendary.

"You have the brain of a 5-year old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."

If you're looking for advice on beating Legendary, here's my two cents. Before flaming please read the entire thing. So, without further ado......





THIS IS FOR SP CAMPAIGN MOSTLY, BUT WORKS FOR CO-OP AS WELL.
It's easy to get stuck on any level if you don't take the right approach. Here's my philosophy on things, some are obvious, others aren't so much. (I must say I learned most of these from people in the forums, but here's my strategies in a nutshell)

1. Grenades are everywhere, use em if you got em. There's no sense in saving grenades, they are everywhere. This is always my first option when entering a fight, thin out the numbers a bit before taking any damage. Who knows, you might set off a plasma grenade chain reaction, and take out an entire battalion of Covenant without firing a shot

2. Save your med packs, and remember where they are. Use every health bar that you have, or close to it, before picking up a health pack. There is no sense in picking one up when your health is in the yellow, bypass the med pack and later on retrace your steps and pick it up when you absolutely need it.

3. Learn to juggle. Ammo can be in short supply in some levels, and it can be damn near impossible to find the weapon you want when you absolutely need it. I find it extremely useful to line up 3-4 weapons of choice and constantly pick up the one in front of you. This way you will keep throwing the weapon you drop in front of you. You can move at about half the normal speed this way if you just hold down the "X" button. It's not that quick, but hey, you're playing on Legenday, it's going to take some time anyway.

4. The covenant weapons are your friends. You will never beat the game on legendary using mostly human weapons. I find that the needler is very underrated. If you can unleash a full clip of needles before anybody notices you, it can take out any Covenant in the game. This is especially true with Elites. Fill them full of pink death and your mission will become much easier (however, this is sometimes tough to do with Jackles and their shields). Along the same lines, use the plasma pistol and human pistol in tandem. Fire an overcharged plasma shot at anything with active shields. Many times before this shot reaches the enemy you will be able to scope in on their head with the human pistol. A split second after the overcharged shot reaches the enemy put a few rounds in their noggin, and away they go.

5. Take em on one by one. Never take on more than one or two Covies at a time if you can help it. Try to lure them to you, while taking cover, and then let em have it. Not only does this even the odds a bit, but they are bringing their weapons to you! In many fights you will have to switch weapons a lot. It's much easier to pick these weapons up when they are ten feet in front of you, instead of in the middle of their buddies.

6. Let them kill each other. This has a couple different meanings. When facing a group of Covies , say 2 Elites, 2 Jackles, and 5 Grunts, stick the plasma grenade to a Grunt. They will invariably run around in the midst of all of them, therefore taking a bunch of others with them (see above, chain reactions). If you stick one to an Elite, it will kill them (obviously), but most likely they will be running at you before it blows up. Don't bother throwing them at the Jackles, it's tough to miss their shields and it will be more than likely a wasted grenade.

Also, on the later levels, when the Flood, Covenant, and/or 343 GS's minions are fighting each other, take this time to go to the bathroom, get a sandwich, etc.. Never fire into an ongoing battle, it will just attract attention. Let them kill as many of each other as they can, then head into battle.

7. Kill the easy ones first. Nothing is more maddening than nearly having an Elite killed then you get shot to hell by 5 Grunts/Jackles with needlers and plasma pistols. Get rid of the little guys first, from a distance if possible, then concentrate on the Elites/Hunters.

8. The rocket launcher. As with grenades, smoke em if you got em. (unless you need them for a wraith tank) This death bringer should be used just like grenades, to thin out the numbers a bit. If you wait too long to use it, you may end up killing yourself from the splash damage in a close quarters battle.

9. Vehicles. Always, always, always, take a ride if you can. While the Warthog's chain gun can be effective, a good driver can take out a TON of Covenant just by running them over. Just take some time to learn when and how to fishtail when they dive out of your way, and before you know it you'll have a grille full of blue and purple guts. This goes for the Ghost too, but it's less effective, and you have to be aware of how much damage you have taken. Also, it goes without saying, since you've got unlimited ammo in these things, use it.

10. You don't have to kill them all to win. Although this can be a fun challenge, if all you're looking to do is beat the game on Legendary, head for the next door when you have a chance. There's no shame in running across that bridge at full speed bypassing enemies, you're saving Earth for Christ's sake.

11. Start the level over if you have to. It sounds obvious, but we've all done it. It is damn frustrating to be stuck in one spot with low health, and low ammo. If you've tried and failed to pass that room fifty times, start the level over, concentrating on what you need to do to prepare for that battle again. It may take some time, but it's a hell of a lot less frustrating than replaying that same damn room again, and again , and again.

I realize most people already know all of this, and more. This is just meant to help out those who are having trouble beating the game on legendary. We all deserve to see Sgt. Johnson and the Blue Elite playing a little grab ass.

Please add to this however you deem necessary. I'm sure I have forgetten a lot.

Good Luck,

Paul E Walnuts

[Edited on 8/31/2004 3:12:33 PM]

  • 08.31.2004 1:45 PM PDT
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are you INSANE! iam not going to read all THAT! do you even realize how much writing there is there. i don"t have much time i got to get to the high school and see what the mother piece of crap looks like inside!

  • 08.31.2004 1:55 PM PDT

"You have the brain of a 5-year old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."

Insane? Probably.

Just killing time my friend. There ain't -blam!- on TV at this time of day.

  • 08.31.2004 1:58 PM PDT
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Thats not alot and it does not take long to read.

  • 08.31.2004 2:05 PM PDT
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I've just read it and it didn't take too long. The majority of it is obvious to me (and probably the better players) but they are all good tips for Legendary. I personally only stumbled on the greatness of the Plasma Pistol and Human PIstol combo ('The Maw', POA's Cafeteria) against Jackals and Elites.

One thing though...
Don't try to waste Needler on Hunters. Most of the time that arm of theirs will be there to harmlessly bounce it away. Although, if you get it in their back then the explosions can cause some damage.

  • 08.31.2004 2:25 PM PDT
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Posted by: big guns
are you INSANE! iam not going to read all THAT! do you even realize how much writing there is there. i don"t have much time i got to get to the high school and see what the mother piece of crap looks like inside!


Here's the thing -blam!-: If you don't want to read it, we don't need to hear about it. Just because you can't read doesn't mean we can't.

  • 08.31.2004 3:06 PM PDT
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I like to think I dont need help but hey...great advice. I never do no.11 there cos if I'm down to 1 bar I just cant resist the challenge of finishing on that one bar. Sometimes I crave customizable health in SP so I could play entire levels on 1 bar of health- on legendary of course...but that would be just sick...

  • 08.31.2004 4:10 PM PDT
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i have already beaten it on legendary and i am trying to perfect it by using a human weapon and one assault rifle i never use 2 covenant weapons and i sometimes use 2 human weapons and i try avoiding the rocket launcher so i get better

  • 08.31.2004 5:17 PM PDT
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sweet guide man and 1 thing 2 add when ur in legendary take ur time and don't run up its the leading cause of death in my house (my friends not me) but ya take time and take em 1 by 1 wit the pistol wenever u have 1

EDIT:Actually its the second leading cause of death (i'm the first)

EDIT AGAIN: :)

[Edited on 8/31/2004 10:34:12 PM]

  • 08.31.2004 10:30 PM PDT
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if i were writing this i would add two notes on the plasma pistol and the plasma nade. they are a powerful combo, and easy to use even if your a noob. when your against an elite just charge up the pistol and throw a plasma nade on them, it takes them out from a range if you have good throwing skillz. if its you vs an elite and no grunts around just charge up the plasma pistol and whack him to death. their melee does nothing compared to them shooting you with a plasma rifle! 4 shots and you've lost health!

also when fighting jackals, i've seen a lot of success in videos and i've adopted the skill of throwing frags into masses of jackals. on legendary a jackal can absorb a shot from a plasma grenade, even when it lands right next to them. frags blow them straight to heck. this really is the only use for frags against the covenant since they barely do any damage to elites and hunters and its rarely worth it to use them on grunts.

my favorite combo is either dual pistols or all heavy weapons (sniper rifle and rocket launcher). the pistols are a powerful combo when combined with nades. the sniper rifle can be used for close combat if you master zooming in with it. zoomed in is always better even if they're 2 feet away from you because it lets you see where your shooting better than a little beed with no crosshairs. the rocket is selfexplanatory. however, against the flood i prefer a pistol because the flood can jump at you and cause you to kill yourself. pistol shotgun combo is best vs the flood. most definately.

  • 09.01.2004 2:43 AM PDT