Halo 3: ODST Mythic (SLASO) Walkthrough

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Halo 3: ODST Mythic Difficulty Guide

For those of you returning from the blood soaked trenches of Halo 3's Mythic madness, welcome back the crossfire! ODST, as many of you are well aware, is an extension to the Halo 3 campaign experience. It uses the same engine (though polished), and many of the same enemies you encountered in the previous game. You'll notice a few additional variants of some old foes, and a various new tactics and tricks thrown into the mix that you didn't encounter in the previous installation, but that just makes things more interesting.

For those of you who are NEW to the Mythic experience, allow me to take this opportunity to welcome you to the ultimate Halo campaign challenge. If you thought Legendary was tough, you're about to be taken for a ride. What is "Mythic Difficulty" you say? It's not something you'll find on the main menu to the game's UI, nor will you encounter the words in the list of game achievements or medals. Nope. Mythic is community made difficulty which cranks the game up to max madness... Legendary, all skulls activated, scoring, and NO deaths whether you're talking solo or cooperative play. You can read more about the difficulty mode itself in our massive thread located on Bungie.net. (You can also explore the Mythic Guide released for Halo 3.)

I'll give you a second to digest that.

Ready to continue? Okay, here we go. If you're just joining us, and you've heard of the Mythic experience before yet were a bit intimidated by the insanity of it all, I have some good news for you. ODST is all around considered to be FAR EASIER than Halo 3 when it comes to Mythic. Not only are the missions shorter, but you'll also find yourself with an abundance of health packs to help keep you in tip top shape.

So how do the overall game mechanics differ from Halo 3? Drastically, to say the least. Let's go over a few of them now.

For the first time in the Halo series, you're stepping away from the protection of armor shields, and slipping into the combat digs of an ODST, the best of the best in the UNSC. Surprisingly, even though you're no longer a cybernetic organism, you seem to be able to withstand a LOT more damage than you could as a Spartan. And even though Blind has hindered you from viewing your status screen, you won't need it to figure out how much stamina you have remaining, which in ODST is your replacement for shields. In the old games, you had a progress bar displaying your remaining shields, but in ODST, the more damage your stamina receives, the more red your screen becomes no matter which skulls are on or off. So YES, in Mythic you can figure out how much stamina you have left based on the bloodbath hindering your view. That would be the downside of knowing your stamina, of course. Your screen continues to get more and more distorted and can become a bit of an annoyance after a while.
Earlier we mentioned ODSTs being able to take more damage. Remember those pesky Jackal Snipers in Halo 2 & 3? Well, they're not so pesky anymore! An ODST can now absorb multiple Beam Rifle rounds before taking the plunge. This, in my opinion, was one of the biggest improvements to the series. No more fatal wounds in the toe...
Ranged shots and trick shots from Halo 3 are far less effective in this game. If you aren't sure as to what these are, please refer to the Mythic 2.0 tips and tricks guide to fill you in. In short, these shots were often used to overcharge the armor right off the Brutes. In ODST, they seem to have a larger field of view and can see those distance plasma charges coming from much further now, so don't rely on them.
The health situation here is a bit of a tradeoff. Jackals can no longer have their plasma pistols disabled by holding a charge for X amount of time. This means that the "pet Jackal" option for recharging your shields easily is now out of the picture. On the flip side, however, the health system from Combat Evolved is now back in the picture, and apparently the New Mombasa EMTs got the memo. Pairs of hemo-packs have been placed all over the city for your convenience. I wonder what purpose those things serve when the UNSC isn't at war... local "get-high" stations for meandering citizens? Hmmm...
Your grenades can't be thrown as far. This may be one of the most difficult things to get used to since it's hard to make the constant readjustment from Halo 3 multiplayer to the ODST campaign. It should also be noted that a direct "stick", even with a plasma grenade, is no longer a guaranteed kill. My advice? Don't rely on them, The plasma pistol continues to be your best option for dealing with Brute power armor.
Brutes can now berserk if enough damage is done to their armor. It doesn't necessarily have to be completely removed in order to send them into a frenzy. This makes them particularly dangerous because they can no longer be stopped by a simple headshot. It should also be noted that a Brute's long-ranged berserking jump no longer results in a guaranteed kill. This is great because now it can be a little more difficult to "dance" with one considering your slower moving speed.
Engineers have now entered the picture. While they've been with the Covenant for a while according to canon, this is the first time we've actually experienced them in combat. They have a nasty habit of providing low-grade shielding to any nearby allies no matter what the species. Make killing these your top priority. On Mythic, two overcharged plasma pistol rounds will bring one down.

And there you have it. A few tips to help you make the Halo 3 to ODST transition. Now let's get dive right in and get to the good stuff, shall we?

Part II: Mythic ODST Q&A

Q. What is Mythic??
A. Solo Legendary All Skulls On with zero deaths and zero saves. Each mission must be run from start to finish without dying, saving, or quitting.

Q. What is the difference between Mythic Difficulty and SLASO?
A. Not much. However SLASO simply defines the game as being played solo legendary all skulls on. Mythic, however, states that there must be zero deaths and zero saves per mission, thereby making Mythic a far greater and more specific challenge. The same rules apply to co-op in the sense that no player may die in order to successfully complete the mission on Co-op Mythic.

Q. Is there any special ending for beating the game on Mythic?
A. No. It's the same as the Legendary ending. I imagine the people who would've been able to witness a Mythic ending would have been too few for such an effort. Bungie knew this.

Q. Do you get any new armor or reward for beating it on Mythic?
A. No. You do not unlock anything simply for beating the game on Mythic. That is, unless you have yet to beat the game just on Legendary in which case you would obtain the normal achievements associated with it.

Q. Do I have to have the silver skulls on for it to count as Mythic?
A. Yes. All skulls means ALL skulls.

Q. Can I have a friend help me complete the game on Mythic?
A. Well then it wouldn't be solo Mythic now would it?

Q. Do you have to turn on campaign scoring?
A. I've decided to update this to cause less confusion. In a word... yes. While it doesn't affect gameplay directly, it's the simplest way to prove your success to the rest of the world and is a requirement to become a member of the Quest for Mythic group.

Q. What are the "Kamikaze" videos?
A. A separate, speedier, and more skillful avenue for certain areas of the game. Just like the "Slow & Steady" methods, they have been tested multiple times and are proven to work. However they do require excellent reaction time, a vast knowledge of the road ahead, and a fair bit of experience with Mythic.

Q. How would you rate Mythic in ODST compared to Halo 3?
A. Overall, it's much easier. At least half of the missions can be raced from start to finish in most cases. And apparently ODSTs may not be able to jump as high or run as fast as Spartans, but they sure as hell can take a lot more damage!

Q. Do I have to beat Mombasa Streets in order to complete Mythic campaign?
A. It's entirely up to you. If you select it from the menu, it technically has no end. Therefore, it makes it impossible to complete it as an individual mission. As such, it is not a requirement.

Q. What is the easiest mission?
A. Uplift Reserve. It's even easier than Floodgate. I inadvertently snagged the Vidmaster Classic achievement on my first Mythic run...

Q. What is the hardest mission?
A. Coastal Highway. Some even consider it more difficult than The Ark. Not only do you have to keep yourself alive through swarms of Brute-controlled Ghosts, Banshees, and Wraiths, but you also have to watch out for your buddy Dare and her new pet...

Q. Do you get a medal, emblem or achievement for doing this?
A. Nope. If you're going to do it, do it for the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment.

Part III: Weapons

You'll notice right away that the battle rifle has been scrapped for the magnum. No fear, fellow Halo brethren. The magnum highly resembles its overpowered counterpart from the days of Combat Evolved. Like the BR, it has a scope, and a single pull of the trigger can down an unshielded enemy with a shot to the melon. It also has a very swift rate of fire to accommodate for the lack of spread.

Another unique item added to the mix is the Halo 2 Brute plasma rifle. It's basically just like the blue counterpart wielded by the Elites, only it shoots a bit faster with a quicker overheat. And yes the plasma is red rather than blue. It's a nice change of pace, and most effective against Jump-Jet Brutes.

The SMG also seems to have carved out a role for itself in ODST as the ultimate anti-Drone device. And trust me, in this game you'll need one. It can tear through swarms of unshielded Drones like you wouldn't believe, so be sure to have one of these handy when going up against them.

With the talk of smaller weapons such as the Magnum and SMG, it is also a good time to mention that dual-wielding has been removed this time around. No worries, though. It was pretty much a useless ability anyway. You won't need it for ODST at all. Come to think of it, it wasn't really all that necessary in Halo 3 either...

Part IV: Bad Guys

Straight away you'll notice the lack of Flood and Sentinels in Halo 3: ODST. To make up for it, Bungie has decided to increase the variety of Covenant foes you'll encounter. Some of these additions make the game new, interesting, and exciting, while others just serve as an overall frustration. Which is which? Let's discuss...

Grunts and Brutes are pretty much the same as they always were. Not much change here at all except for the Brutes' increased resistance to grenades, yet weaker delivery in hand-to-hand combat. Grunts, of course, still stick themselves and make a beeline straight for you when you kill their leaders.

The Jackal change is very slight and somewhat insignificant, but you may now notice that they can wield needlers in addition to their regular arsenal of plasma pistols, carbines, and beam rifles. And again, the sniper variants can no longer one-shot you anywhere on your body, so you can breathe that long awaited sigh of relief.

Engineers are new to the Halo series in terms of gameplay. Like the old school Sentinels, overcharged plasma pistol shots are the key here. On Mythic, it takes two of these charges to bring one down. They provide a protective shielding to all of their Covenant allies within a certain range. This applies to ALL species in addition to Brutes even if they've lost their power armor. They can be a pain to deal with, but generally speaking they MUST be destroyed before moving on to the rest of the group. Otherwise you'll be wasting quite a bit of that much-needed ammo. The only times you'll encounter these floating, bulbous squids are in the Mombasa Streets, Kikowani Station, and Data Hive. The rest of the missions are squid-free.

Drones have perhaps seen the strongest increase in variety as you'll now encounter a number of different colored variants. Blue, red, green, and gold are just some of the ones added to the mix. Some of these Drones have weak shields protecting them, so if you thought Drones were a pain before, you'll really be pulling your hair out when you comes across these guys. Perhaps the most distinctive addition to the Drone family is the "Leader" variant. Not only is he equipped with strong shielding, but also is armed with a rapid-fire Brute plasma rifle. He's no coward either. These guys LOVE to charge your location and pour on the plasma. You'll find one of these badasses in Data Hive at the conclusion of the massive Drone encounter towards the end of the mission, so be sure to bring your electrified, giant flyswatter.

Hunters are last on our list. Remember those fuel rod throwing terrors from Halo Combat Evolved? They're back and more terrifying than ever! You'll oftentimes see one of these per pair of Hunters and they are definitely the more dangerous of the two types. A single salvo of fuel rod mortar can send you hurling back to the beginning of the mission.

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