Top 20 Halo: Reach Survival Tips

Weapon Of Choice

Using weapon combos is key to defeating Halo: Reach’s toughest foes – here’s our pick of the combinations.

Sniper Rifle/Assault Rifle – this obvious combination covers all bases, letting you

Energy Sword/Gravity Hammer – equip either of these as a secondary weapon and draw the enemy in close with a rifle, revealing these dangerous close-quarters weapons once they’re in range.

Plasma Pistol/Needle Rifle – a charged Plasma Pistol shot will knock out any enemy shields, allowing you to finish off the enemy with a quick, three shot super-combine attack from the Needle Rifle.

Plasma Launcher/Needler – if the blast of a plasma grenade doesn’t kill your enemy, then quickly whip out the Needler and fill them full of shards to finally finish them off with a super-combined charge.

Know Your Enemy

Who you’ll fight, and how to kill them.

Grunts – these little blighters come in a variety of styles, but are the weakest of all Covenant forces. Shoot their backpacks for a quick, explosive kill or simply charge in and thwack them with a melee attack for an easy kill.

Jackals – hitting these enemies are the hardest part due to their large energy shields. Shooting the gun-hand will cause them to stumble, exposing head and body shots, but a charged shot from the plasma pistol will knock their shields offline.

Elites – since Elites are the toughest of the bread-and-butter Covies troops you’ll need to be wary. A clean headshot (or five) will bring them down, but disabling their shields with the plasma pistol first will move things along a little quicker.

Hunters – these behemoths take a lot to finally grind them down. Let them swing at you then evade around to their rear where a swift shotgun blast to the exposed area will bring them tumbling to the ground.

Engineers – many may recognise these foes from ODST. Keep an eye out for the pinkish glow from your Covenant enemies to detect the presence of an Engineer. While harmless, the protective shields they create mean they should be priority.

Brutes – you’ll need a ton of bullets to defeat these aggressors. Watch out for their Gravity Hammer and blast away at their head to slow them down. Alternatively, throw a couple of plasma grenades to their feet and watch them fly.

Armour Abilities

You’ll have to collect these during each mission, so you’ll need to learn what each does and how best to utilise them.

Sprint – you’ll start most missions with these equipped, letting you – unsurprisingly – sprint for up to four seconds. This is useful for charging between cover, quickly approaching for a melee attack or just minimising the time spent on foot.

Drop Shield – one of the most useful abilities in the game, having this protective dome surround you will get your out of a lot of sticky situations. All incoming fire – and grenades – is reflected off, as well as providing a handy curative effect.

Armour Lock – using this ability will make you invulnerable to all attacks – even a Wraith blast – but immobilising you at the same time. After recovering, an EMP blast will disable any nearby shields, which is helpful when surrounded by Elites.

Hologram – direct this disguise into the path of the Covies to distract their gunfire off yourself, letting you charge in for melee attacks or find some cover. Each hologram will last for ten seconds, but will fade if it takes too much damage.

Active Camouflage – there are few uses for this during the campaign, since it’s best used when standing still. You can move slowly and stay invisible, but at the expense of a more energy use. Try to use this to stay undetected in stealth missions.

Jet Pack – with the power of flight, this ability gives you the height advantage on your enemies. But you will need to be wary of your Jet Packs fuel tank, letting it recharge periodically. You won’t be invincible with this ability, remember, so use it only to reach tactical positions rather than bursting into battle.

Heavy Metal

There are a variety of vehicles given to you throughout Halo: Reach, so make the most of them with these tips.

Warthog – to master everyone’s favourite Halo vehicle, take into account it’s high flying and prone-to-toppling nature. When battling other lighter vehicles, don’t charge for them, instead circle your opponent as an ally blasts away with the mounted turret.

Scorpion – what this makes up for in firepower it lacks in vulnerability due to its huge size. Too many hits will quickly destroy this vehicle, so move slowly around corners, leaving as little of the body exposed as possible.

Falcon – as with the Scorpion, it’s easier to get carried away in this vehicle’s hail of shells. Be protective as well as wary of your altitude, since you won’t even have anywhere to bail out should you take too much damage.

Sabre – being fast and manoeuvrable, as well as packing a healthy shield the prevents most all damage, means the Sabre has few problems to contend with. You will, however, need to watch you don’t fly into anything, since even the slightest contact will cause instant death.