Halo 3 Mythic (SLASO) Walkthrough v2.0

Halo 3 Mythic Walkthrough v2.0 by Daniel Morris

Covenant 2.0

Full run, Bungie.net Fileshare

This is without a doubt one of the longest missions in the campaign, and you'll be facing almost every type of enemy in the game with the only exceptions being Flood Pure Forms and Sentinels. Be prepared to spend at least a good hour on each run and do LOTS of planning ahead of time. If you start the mission off with a good game plan, you'll finish on top of the world. Ironically, this is one of the few missions where my "sections" and Bungie's "chapters" actually coincide.

Tower One
Tower Three + Dogfight
Scarabs
Citadel

Though the writing isn't quite as sexy, this is actually meant to serve as a replacement strategy for 1.0.

Part-1:

    As soon as the Pelican lands, go ahead and skip the first battle by heading out into the ocean and walking around the beach skirmish. Your ODSTs will get owned by the Covenant, but they probably never stood a chance anyway. Make your way to the canyon leading up to Tower One where the Shade and small Covenant force have yet to spawn. You shouldn't need directions on how to do this, but just in case, Version 1.0 just happens to have a video.
    When you hear the phrase "Beach head secure, Commander," that's your cue to backtrack and destroy the Shade turret and small group of Grunts and Jackals that have just spawned. Again, this can be viewed in Version 1.0. When you're done, head back up the hill.
    Walk all the way to Tower One until you see the Grunt scrambling to get to his Ghost. Kill him with your Battle Rifle, then peer over the edge and use your Spartan Laser to destroy the Wraith. If you shoot it in the back, you have a chance of taking it out in a single hit. Otherwise it could take up to three. No big deal in either case. Jump into the vacant Ghost as soon as the Wraith is destroyed and boost back down towards the beach as quick as you can. This will allow safe passage for the Warthog and Mongoose who will promptly rendezvous with you at your current location.

Pass off your Laser to the passenger of the Hog and drive back up to Tower One. Park near the Beam Rifle crate and let your Marine deal the damage to the remaining three Ghosts. Personally, I like to lend a helping hand by grabbing one of the Beam Rifles and sniping the enemies around the Shade located on the left side of the canyon.
Typically when one Ghost goes BOOM, one of the others will start strafing back and forth between trees and boulders making it extremely annoying to kill from your current position. The other "blind" Ghost that won't actually shoot at you will either be lingering around in view or behind Tower One. At this point, go ahead and have your Marine destroy the Shades, then drive down to the base area. hop out of the Hog, and let your Marine laser the Ghost. The Prowlers will emerge seconds later. Same technique. Let the Marines do all the work. They certainly should after putting you through all that mess on The Storm... I usually pitch in by trying to snipe the gunners. The process should look like this...

Should be a cakewalk so far.
Retreat back up the hill and grab a fresh Beam Rifle once both Prowlers are down, and then return to the Hog. Drive up to the area just before the Tower entrance just behind the trees. Park your Hog on that small hill, and let your Marine Laser the crap out of the troops trying to prevent access to you. Jump on top of the Hog in the meantime and start sniping to help speed up the process.

It shouldn't take you long to literally level the playing field, at which time I'd pick up some additional BR ammo from the pods dropped by the Pelican, swap out your laser for a Beam Rifle located on the ramp just to the left of the entrance, grab the Active Camo near the crate a few feet from the door, and head inside.
Let's give 'em the slip. As soon as you're near the glass pane, cloak yourself, head left, jump on top of the doubled-up crates, jump through the little "window" and activate the lift. Have a look, and see how it's done, son...

Prepare to drop... errr... jump as soon as the lift reaches the top. Head right and trade out the Beam Rifle for a Plasma Pistol. Wait for the first of two Brute Minors to appear on the left. Kill his armor with a charged shot. Move around behind the glass barrier and do the same to the other one on the right. Kill them both with BR head shots. Now grab that Beam Rifle, stand against the back wall, and use it to kill the Captains. This should keep you out of harm's way in terms of their Brute Shots.
Here's a tip. Kill the last Captain in front of the glass. Typically if you do it this way, the Weapon Chieftain won't activate his Invincibility. I've noticed, however, that if you do it from behind the glass, he's more likely to use it, which means you won't get to later. Use the assassination method described in the Tips & Tricks 2.0 section. With any luck, you'll have an Invincibility powerup to use later.

Activate the Tower, and start your descent. All but three enemies will be bunched up at the exit. Those three little stragglers are Grunts waiting in the back area. Deal with them like so...

Now you can just sit back and pick off the rest of them with ease.

When you run out of Battle Rifle ammo, you have a crate of Carbines on the bottom floor near the back door, and another Carbine crate on the opposite side of the lift. When you're done, grab the Power Drain near the Carbine Crate and head out the door. A Marine will arrive with a Transport Hog, but being the speed demons that we are, let's take the Mongoose instead. BEFORE you hop on board, pass the Beam Rifle on to your Marine, retrieve your Laser, and start heading towards the beach with your Marine riding shotgun. Grab a Fuel Rod Cannon along the way.

Part-2:

    Pass your Laser on to the Hornet Pilot and hop in the driver's seat. You should have two passengers at this point; one with a Laser, and the other armed with a Beam Rifle. All you need to do here is just sit back and take the Banshees one at a time. Let your machine guns help you figure out where your missiles are going to go. Additionally, when a Banshee gets close enough, your passengers will start pinging away at it. This lets you know it's within "lock-on" range. Take advantage of it. When you get close enough to the Anti-Air Wraith located on the small island in the center, destroy it from a distance. If you want, there is also a Beam Rifle crate located on that island, so feel free to pick one up if you choose. Why should the Marine have all the fun?
    Continue to down the Banshees all the way to Tower Three. When you approach the tower itself, take out the Mortar Wraith first if it hasn't already recklessly driven off the side (remember kids, drinking and driving is BAD!), then the two Shades, and lastly the Anti-Air Wraiths. Why save them for last? Destroying the AA Wraiths will trigger the Ally Phantoms to show up with a squad of Elites. If you want them to live, I suggest taking out all other major ground forces beforehand. Don't forget about the War Chieftain armed with a Fuel Rod Cannon! He's located in the small watchtower-like structure in the middle.
    Here is where your passengers really shine. They will lay the hurt down on the Brutes with deadly accuracy. Assist them with your machine guns, but I wouldn't use the missiles too much. Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish the Elites from the Brutes from a high altitude. Clear the area like so:

    Then land the Hornet, grab a Beam Rifle (if you don't already have one), and head towards the entrance. Just as you approach the door, another platoon of Brutes will rush out into the open. Remember that Power Drain we snagged? Use it! The Brute armor will drop almost instantly, and they will become easy targets.
    Enter Tower Three...
    The drones will descend from the lift, and a pair of Hunters will charge in from below. Use the Beam Rifle against the Drones. Killing 8-9 of them will cause the rest to retreat. Should be one shot each with the Beam Rifle. Now use your Fuel Rod Cannon against the Hunters like this...

Note that if you run out of ammo, you can always grab more from the crate outside farther away from the tower on the left hand side (if you're facing the ocean). With the Hunters dead, I'd highly recommend passing the Fuel Rod Cannon along to the Arbiter similar to what we did with the Rocket Launcher on The Storm. Enter the back area and let him lay waste to the Brutes. When they retreat back to the corridor, you can peek around the corners and either stick them with Spike/Plasma grenades, or use a Plasma Pistol dropped by one of the fallen Drones.

    Head to the lift once they're all dead, but don't go too far. The remaining Drones will return. Again, let the Arbiter and his Fuel Rod Cannon of death deal with them. Drop a couple of Plasma Pistols on the lift, run back outside to retrieve your Laser from the Marine, and head up the lift with both the Carbine and the Laser in hand. Do NOT drop one of these critical weapons on the lift itself. There is a high probability that it will get stuck in the geometry. Wait until you reach the top to drop your Laser for a Plasma Pistol.
    Atop Tower Three you will be dealing with four Brute Stalkers and a War Chieftain wielding a deadly Plasma Cannon. The Stalkers themselves aren't that much of a challenge. Wait until you see the blur and use a plasma weapon to disable their shields. Then, follow up with either a sticky or a Carbine head shot. It's the War Chieftain you might have issues with. I hate this guy. He's a pro at dodging your Plasma Pistol (there's a 100% one in the left crate by the way, just in case you need it). And in terms of the laser, he'll wait until you're just about to fire before dodging out of the way. Golden bastard...
    Do the best you can. Kill his shields with a Plasma Pistol overcharge, then use your remaining Laser shots to finish him off. You want a video? It just so happens we have one.

Juggle all the remaining weapons into a corner when you're done so they can't be used by enemies later. Switch your grenades over to firebombs as well. Now grab a couple of Plasma Rifles and "hit the switch, Chief!"

And enter the Flood...
A wave of Infection forms should now be swarming your way. Level them with your Plasma Rifles and toss a firebomb or two for good measure. The Combat forms will come next. There will be at least one shielded Elite and one Human. Another human form will stand behind the giant flaming booger (hey if you can think of a better description, I'd like to hear it!), and the rest will form from the fallen Brutes. Use the pillars for cover and watch out for anything with a human weapon. I'd recommend keeping the Plasma Rifles to deal with the remaining Infection forms as well. This bit will definitely get your heart racing, but it should still be a relative breeze. Watch and learn.

Part-3:

    This is yet another one of those areas where a video kinda seems pointless. Your objective here is to trash everything with the tank between here and the Scarabs while using your comrades in both the Mongoose and Gauss Hog as backup. It sounds simple enough, and as long as you're careful and don't let enemies get too close, it will be.
    The Prowler will rush as you approach the first area. Shell it. If you aim low, you might even be able to flip it, disabling its gunner entirely and making it easy to finish. The War Chieftain will poke its head around the corner soon enough, so your best bet is to strafe back and forth with the tank as he lobs those fuel rods. Don't be surprised if he scores one or two direct hits. It's fairly typical and usually won't result in you losing your shields. Every time you want to check, simply hop out of your tank and see if the Chief is "sparking".
    Moving on, blast away the sniper tower as soon as you see it, then the Shade right next to it. As you get closer, two Ghosts will race out from the corner. You know what to do. Show them the way to Hell... right over the side of that cliff into a pit of fiery death. Backpedal if you need to.
    Keep going. Again, destroy the sniper tower and the visible Shade across the way. The Fuel Rod-wielding Captain may get tossed to the side, or he may die. We'll find out eventually. Within seconds, A prowler will come racing along the opposite side with a course straight for you. Level it with the tank, and when you do, his twin Ghost buddies will follow. Don't be stingy; give them the same treatment. One more Prowler should dawdle behind them. Same deal. Same death.
    Move along the edge until another Shade comes into view in the "crater". Light up the fireworks, and move through the cave just to the right of its remains. If the Captain from before is still alive, end him without mercy. Otherwise, keep going until you reach the other side. It would also be a winning idea at this point to snag the Fuel Rod Cannon located in the crate just inside the cave.
    Through the exit, a Wraith will start shelling mortar your way, but as long as you don't move too far to the left or right, it won't actually hit you. Its shots will either be to far, or short ranged. Kill it, along with everything around it, and make the final push for the Hornets.
    For dealing with the Scarabs, I did a type of hybrid method for dealing with both the hulking machines themselves and the enemies protecting them. First off, only one pilot will actually exit the Hornet. Reward him by pushing him off the cliff. This way he won't jack it later. You will probably need both, so it's best to keep both available. Now take the Hornet with the pilot still inside, and let him ride shotgun.
    Zoom straight forward, and the Scarabs will plummet from the sky. Land on the one to the left, hop down on to its left hind leg, then ninja your way to the core. Bash it to death, jump off, make sure no other enemies are around, and book it away from the Scarab. BOOM! Keep your eyes peeled and make your way back up the cliff side to retrieve the second Hornet. Before you do, though, grab the tank and start picking off the enemies on ground level. There should be a few Ghosts and a Prowler. Don't hesitate to hammer the Banshees with your shells of death either if they get too close. Also, try to take out the enemies onboard. When you feel things are safe, hop into the remaining Hornet, and repeat the same steps you used to kill the first one. As soon as it's disabled, hop down and run away. Scan the area for weapons. If you can, get ahold of a BR or Carbine to pair with your Fuel Rod Cannon. Otherwise, you can settle for the pilot's Magnum. Finally, cautiously make your way over to the platform leading inside the Citadel and follow the Arbiter inside.
    Below is a visual on how to accomplish this method.

Part-4:

Immediately jump to the side. Grunts are about to start lobbing wave after wave of grenades in your general direction. Peek up from time to time to see what's left. Use your Magnum to kill the closer Grunts and the Fuel Rod Cannon for the ones in the very back (who also have Fuel Rod Cannons). If you have either a BR or Carbine, it's a jack of all trades, so feel free to put them all out of their misery with it. I'd let the Flood handle the Jackals and the Brute, or you could pick up a Plasma Pistol from one of the downed enemies and use that against them as well.
Be careful when you approach the door. Two more Fuel Rod Grunts will emerge. Kill them with either stickies, your FRC, or a mid-ranged weapon. Here's your video.

Jump on top of the roof with a couple of Plasma Pistols once the area is clear, and use the position in the video to range-shoot the Brutes in the next area. When you've tagged as many as you can, drop down and trigger the Jump-Jet Brutes fixed on the other side to launch themselves in your direction. Backtrack to the roof, and give them the same treatment. With their armor gone, the Flood can infect them and bring them over to your side. You say you want proof pl0x?

    The Captains on the far side are too far away for you to do this from the roof, so jump down when the area is safe, and range-shoot them from ground level. Use your FRC or mid-range weapon to kill the Fuel Rod Grunts guarding the opposite end.
    Now for the Chieftain...
    With all the Flood around, he'll be doing a LOT of wild swinging. I wouldn't recommend trying to ninja your way into a fancy assassination here. Instead, take out his shields with a plasma overcharge, and just let the Infection forms kill him. Eventually he'll become overwhelmed and won't be able to stop the infection.
    Proceed to the final area. If I were you, I'd juggle those weapons AWAY from the bodies that you see laying on the ground. This will prevent resurrected Combat forms from gaining an advantage over you. Be sure to grab a Plasma Pistol as well. There should be one near one of the Grunt bodies.
    Once you feel comfortable, deactivate the Ark.
    When the controls are yours again, charge that Plasma Pistol, and be prepared to "plasma-punch" the Elite Combat forms. A single hit with the charge will bring down their shields, and in most cases, the follow-up punch will be lethal.
    Proceed forward, but don't let the Arbiter get too far ahead. A few Infection forms will crawl along and try to build up a stronger army to hold you back. Don't let them. When you reach a certain point, three Elite forms will jump down from the top of the first structure. Let the Arbiter deal with them, but have your Plasma Pistol ready just in case.
    Through the door will be a few more Combat forms (usually one with a shotty, so watch out!) and two Carriers. Again, let the Arbiter shine here and deal with them. Wanna see how?

In the next zone, the Sentinels will swoop in from out of nowhere to lend a helping hand. Use it to your advantage. In fact, from this point onward, you can pretty much let the Arbiter and the Sentinels do all the work for you. Be sure to watch out for the Sword Flood that will emerge from the door on the far end. He can easily kill you with a single melee, and you've come way too far for that.
Use the above method for the final area as well, and use the FRC to clean up the mess if need be. Drop down into the pulsating hole on the other side and claim victory over the mission.