ALSO COVERS ALL S4 HALO 3 MULTIPLAYER M A P S! ;^S&^£& -?nS fl&9 PRIMA" OFFICIAL G A M e " G U I 06 \ ,,a#*'*Cat. BUNGiE Prima Games Imprint of Random House. I 3000 Lava Ridge Court, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95661 www.primagames.com PRIMA Official Game Guide ////////////////////s/////////////////////////// Written by: The Prima Games logo is a registered trademark of Random •avid S.J. Hodgson House, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Primagames.com is a registered trademark of Random House, -«*" HB Inc.. registered in the United States. l\W> by Prima (James. All rights reserved. No part of this book i ic reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electror ncchanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informal toragc or retrieval system without written permission from Prima tames. Prima Games is an imprint of Random I louse. Inc. icnior Product Manager: Mario Dc Clovia Associate Product Manager: Shaida lioroumand \ssislanl Editor: Jenkey llu opy Editor: Carrie Andrews ^*°<mm4 A )esign & Layout: Bryan Nell & Jotly Selt/cr lanufaciuring: Stephanie Sanchez & Suzanne Goodwin Mulfciplayer 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Micro: Pandora's Mighty Soldiers lalo logo, Xbox, the Xbox logo, are trademarks of the Micr ompanies. iungie, Ihe Bungie logo, Buiigic.net, and the Bungie.net log egistcrcd trademarks, and Ihe Superintendent is a Irademar .I.C. and arc used with permission. All rights reserved. Division Co-Leader Roster Manager VI," "AO," and "RP" are trademarks owned by the Entertainment Softwar Association, and may only he used with their permission and authority. PMS Doom/Liz Sarver Battles/Small Teams Co-Manag or information regarding whether a product has been rated by the ESR8, PMS Ixlipse/Kayla Hansen Practice Co-Manager jsrn.org. I or permission to ! 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Some game tricks require precise liming nd may require repeated attempts before the desired result is achieved. paywaykeiick SBN: 978-07615-6288-7 PMS Shadowleet/Mariah Farrar Jbrary of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2009904 Righty Is Law/Lauren Woodward 'rinted in the United Slates of America PMS Arkathia/Destinie Rogers PMS Nitemarc/Ebony Winston PMS Padme/Alexandria Bybee PMS Meow/Amanda Godfrey-Wils' About: the Author //////////////////S////S///////////S//////////// lanehester. David began his career in 1995, writing ;hor Thanks and Acknowledgements :>r numerous classic British gaming magazines "om a rusting, condemned, bohemian dry-docked To my loving wife Melanie; Bryn, Rachel, Samuel and Ben; Mum, Dad, ierman fishing traw ler floating on the River Thames, and Ian; The Moon Wiring Club. Boards of Canada, Laibach. Kraftwerk, leeing the United Kingdom, he joined the crew and The Knife. Ron Bennington and Fez Marie Whatlcy (and the rest); and G for Gol-Goroth. Who lives where it's cold as December. Who )a\ id helped launch GameFan Books and form Gamers' Republic, is worshipped by Shantaks but is also forgotten. For reasons I cannot as partly responsible for the wildly unsuccessful incite Video Gaming remember. nd Gamers.com. He began authoring guides for Prima in 2000. He Thanks to Shaida Boroumand, Mario de Govia, Jody Seltzer. Bryan as written over 60 strategy guides, including: The Legend ofZelda: Neff. all at 99 Lives, Clan PMS, and all at Prima for their tremendous Wight Princess, Assassin s Creed, Half-Life: Orange Box, Mario help and support on this project. Mil Wii. and Fallout 3. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife This project would not have been possible without the help and -fjjt-foot statue of Great Cthulhu. dedication from Alicia Brattin, Jonathan Goff, Carlos Naranjo, everyone We want to hear from you! E-mail comments and feedback to at the Halo 3: ODST Test department, and all at Bungie. One thousand dhodgsonfa. primagames.com. PRIMA Official Game Guide • I N T R O D U C T I ON • W e l c o me to T h is G u i de • How to Utilize This Book • Campaign Missions Welcome to the official guide to Halo 3: OOST. Months in the making and involving copious and meticulous tactical Chronicling the campaign advisement from both Microsoft and Bungie, this guide undertaken by your ODST has many aspects that can help your battles through New squadrnates, this chapter Mombasa and beyond. The following breakdown of each chapter showcases what to expect. Preferred weapon combos, maps, and every choke point is revealed, • Basic Training and strategies to survive are showcased, no matter what difficulty you're playing on. The chapter you're currently reading. After you meet the ODST • Firefight Missions strike team selected for Campaign and Firefight missions, a basic primer (covering different elements of this game compared to Halo 3) is revealed, as well as some general • Arms and Equipment • Halo 3 Multiplayer Maps weapon, Turret, Grenade, vehicle or other piece of equipment, is inspected. Notes on availability ai overall takedown tactics, where appropriate, are shown, along w maps oner ma: information, including tun item placement, gameplay strategies, ••i and many sniping and ambush • Know Your Enemy The Covenant is amassing forces • Appendices j vicinity of New Mombasa. Knowing what they are and how to effectively fight them is your key to success. Tried-and-tested tactics for Whether you need to know the Skull defeating Grunts, Jackals, Brutes of all types, Hunters, Drones, and Engineers are revealed here. everything you need, all in one place. Every Achievement is also detailed, every one, including the infamous Vidmaster Challenges. Introduction-Map Legend Flag/Flag Base I * I Covenant Landing Pad (multiplayer) 0 *^& J Choppe ! Covenant Crate I Missile Pod ..jtral Bnrr (multipla ^ Drone Hive ! Hill (multiplayer) Stack Sha Territory [multip Spike Grenade *T* ft I^IQ-P— Pleae note the color coding of icons, each color represents the level on which you will find the corresponding icon: O D ST PRIMA Official Game Guide Most of her dossier is classified, but Dan Mickey loves being an ODST. More than he • is a known Naval Academy graduate and ft ; 9 did being a pilot. More than he did being a ' former intel officer on thi crew chief on a Pelican gunship. He is no Say My Name, one of two ships from the stranger to battle and has a fair number of notches in his belt, but he is unique among his ODST brothers in that he has never ruination visited upon a human colony-world by the ODST: Buck Romeo sees his true vocation as a He has had the ladies' man. But just because he's a lover doesn't mean he can't be a fighter—and a damned fine one at that. He keeps his Reach. That he has su 'vived through gear clean, his suit looking sharp, and Truly, if he was any bett<w , he'd be a his body lean and s trong. Off the battlefielc , he may not Spartan. shining example of the UNSC, but on it, he is a consum combatant. ODST: Dutch ODST: Rookie on Mars did well to prepare him for the arduous tasks of a heavy-weapons specialist and to drive in the ODSTs. Behind the ith's head rictus, the Jolly Roger, and layers of black and gray armor is a man of di convictions and respect for those he serves alonqsidi Training Lobby ODST Uniform Capabilities ODST Heads-Up Display O D ST PRIMA Official Game Guide ~~\ Your ViSR database is a wealth of ' /•" topographical i knowledge, the example «—-,„ and after shown) are a reading up on it in the your cause, so instructions don't ignore manual, you'll them. When soon understand how best to utilize it. One of the most useful a weapon prompt appears in the middle of your screen, it features is the waypoint (pictured) that you can flag yourself. means you're standing near a weapon you can swap. Do This appears on your compass (in green) and on your map (as so depending on the situation. When your VISR updates an a green reticle). This is the most useful of your NAV system' objective, that appears, too, but you don't need to enter your inventory because you can use it (especially in Mombasa Database menu immediately; the objective appears under your Streets] to flag a place you've already been, so you don't get compass a second later. Always look for your HUD to display lost in the maze of sloping sidewalks and mezzanines. Even when you've reached a check point so you know that when you better, human teammates can flag areas for you to explore, die, you return to this location. Finally, your sense of hearing which may have a particular enemy you want to face, a is important; from the hiss of a primed Plasma Grenade to terminal you wish to interact with, or a cache of weapons to the chatter of Grunts, you really need to listen more; it adds find. to your tactical knowledge of a particular choke point. Differences in Control • instruction manual, when playing as an ODST, much of the controller functionality is les played as a Spartan, However, there are a few differences you should be aware of: VISR mode (©); Instead of deploying equipment (Spartan), VISR Database (Si: Also a Carnage Report in ODST you engage the VISR; think of this as an enhanced Freight mode, this database (Map menu) in the flashlight. Campaign allows you to check where you are, wher~ • goal is, waypoints you or your teammates have flagge Throwing Grenades flEDJ: ODSTs do not have the skill what your objectives are, and what information you've to dual-wield, so this control is taken up by Grenade collected from terminals. Throwing, which allows immediate lobbing of your selected View Waypoints (OJ: Your VISR negates the need for a Flashlight, so this allows you to bring up w Select Grenade Type (W>): Instead of swapping weapons a visual, onscreen reference complete with distance-to- or reloading, <B» now cycles through your Grenades. target data. If you're lost, simply bring this up and you '~ between your two main weapons is achieved by won't be. • U s er P r e v i ew a r id P r e a m b le • Moving and Stamina The basics you've learned before apply when traversi New Mombasa; you should keep moving to avoid becoming prone and targeted by multiple foes. A Facing down a foe at this range is usu Jk There are no medics here; that in ally frowned upon; no unnecessary risks, creasingly red glow around your helmet You should seek cover trooper! vision is telling you something.... User Preview and Preamble • Packing Health Know Your Environment Unlike Spartans, ODSTs do not carry additional equipment with them, aside from Turrets, but they do access a new type of item: the Health Pack (aka the Medikit). Dispensed by Optican Medigel Dispensary Kiosks controlled by a friendly Superin your inventory. Learn which plazas are likely tendent throughout New Mombasa or found scattered on the ground, Health Packs to be more active with snipers. Remember restore lost Health and Stamina so you don't die. However, your Stamina (a regen that stepping near Grenades that are about, erating attribute that acts as a buffer between taking damage and losing Health) to explode is the best way to achieve an replenishes if you wait a few moments (unless the Black Eye Skull is active); this offers unwanted death. Note that you can enter the same modicum of protection as it did previously, despite your lower Health, as some buildings and access upper balconies; Health does not regenerate like Stamina does. Therefore, you may continue fighting, this is better than struggling returning to claim a Health Pack after a subsequent bout of violence, as Health Packs New Mombasa has secret weapon caches, are a finite resource. Health Pack etiquette is a key tenet of Firefight missions, too. filled with UNSC-approved hardware. • Enemy Scum and Difficulty Levels The Covena: but there is a "Know Your Enenr lino general tactic: ENEMY ICON During Rookie missions (which You must keep calm and be patie primarily in Mombasa Streets), enemy placei somewhat randomized and usually takes plat of a Covenant Patrol (Grunts or Jackals and Check points play a key here, too. Kr two), Jackal Sniper's (embedded on o bnlconx they are triggered allows you to reac Stealth is advisable. Attacking from the sides is better than from the front, as you won't be caught LEGENDARY ICON y level you choc by as many bullets and die. Headshots are a necessity in order to conserve ammunition and remove threats as quickly as Campaign mode on Heroic and Firefight, on Normal to begin with. The differences between Easy, Normal, Heroic possible. Throughout the Campaign chapters, we'v and Legendary all lie in the damage enemies and yourself flagged preferred weapon combinations to help yoi take, how accurate your foes are, how prone they are to achieve this goal. making mistakes, and available arnrnunition and items. The correct weapon combo is a must, and it is Legendary difficulty is almost mind-snappingly hard: In usually a variation on the Plasma Pistol (for taking ision on this settinc out enemy shields) and the Magnum (for ending ar unshielded Covenant's life with a headshot). Finally, guidance is golden; the tactics presented in adopt knov alter numero this book have been play-tested and where flagged playthroug are preferable during playthroughs on Legendary. L It is also worth having a working knowledge of Achievements. Some are general, but " some are specific to a particular mission (these are tagged in the walkthrough as such). However, some Achievements require you to perform a particular activity, such as shooting foes with a certain weapon. In addition, check this guide's Appendix for the Achievements list so you don't forget to attempt an Achievement you're not aware of. • Weapons and Grenades leoretically carry up to iupport," which slows you down and must be dropped in o Campaign and Firefight chapters of ve refer to "weapon combos"; these simply mean O D S T PRIMA Official Game Guide that simply lets you live longer. Reloading with <•> when there's a temporal lull in the action allows you to I Wu start your subsequent attack with as many bullets as ——t possible. Failure to complete J^ Staggering around with a heavy Turret A When there's something on your target this results in you automat- sacrifices speed and agility in favor of viewfinder as big as this, targeted shots ically reloading, usually while massive firepower, are preferred over inaccurate spraying. you're being cut to ribbons. ' 1 I Accuracy is a key tactic, too, especially on harder difficulties. Unless you're firing a mounted turret, the "spr; method of raking the general area where you saw a foe and hoping some of your bullets hit is an incredibly poor way to play. Short, quick, targeted bursts conserve your ammunition, make you more accurate, and don't result in an embarrassing death gurgle. Also, it is sometimes difficult to discern when to utilize a powerful weapon (such as a Rocket Launcher). Many players have ended their days as a twitching corpse still hanging on to a fully loaded Spartan Laser, so don't be afraid to fire. Heed the Remember, you can walk over bullet-based weaponry that is lying around and instantly receive ammunition, instead of scavenging and swapping out ordnance. This isn't true of plasma-based weapons (such as the Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol, or Beam Rifle), which have ammunition that cannot be cannibalized from scavenged parts. In those cases, you must find a new weapon or one with more ammunition than your current one. apons with splash damage—those that cause destruc re also key to your ongoing quest to stay alive. You carry up to 12 GGrreennaacd es [three of each type), and all are found whei / bodies or locate UNSC equipment. Note that some Grenade :kets are fantastic •ger entities, such as Huntei A Incoming! Cycle through your Gre gular gunfire and for stoppir nades so you're using projectiles most suitable for a certain situation. If you're collecting Grenades, don't use explosives to kill foes, as this CAUTION is more likely to discharge their own Grenade supplies. Allies and Vehicles >.#SMh', - __. •% Meet up with a team of friendly Marines and they're SP**W. ready and willing to follow you, even into certain death!