Halo: Reach Mythic Guide - ONI Sword Base

Halo 3: ODST Mythic (SLASO) Walkthrough by Daniel Morris

ONI Sword Base

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The Tru7h about Tip of the Mythic

   Starting off strong with a spectacular cutscene of vehicular mayhem, Tip of the Spear picks up where Nightfall left off. The Covenant have set up several anti-air batteries dubbed "Tyrant" guns (Thanks, Bungie! I love you!!!) to protect a strange spire that seems to be a major source for Covenant activity.
   In terms of actual difficulty, this is one of the easier ones. You'll have vehicular support throughout much of the mission, and there are a few skips to give you a helping hand as well. As for ammo, for the most part you'll have plenty of it to spare, so feel free to kill as much as you want without having to worry about hearing click-click later. Health packs are equally plentiful, so if you accidentally get pegged a few times, regeneration is literally right around the corner in most cases.
   The chapters outlined in the mission are as follows:

Tempest Perimeter
Hand Over Fist
The Spire

After the battle-intensive cut scene blows your mind, load up and get ready to clean up the mess!

Tempest Perimeter

   Your Warthog crashes to the blood-soaked ground in a fiery blaze, and as your vision steadily recovers, you suddenly realize the source of the crash... Kat was driving.
   Snatch your grenade launcher up from the dust and sprint forward towards the cliff side over on the left. Be careful here. It's extremely easy to lose your footing and plummet to your death. Once you make your way behind the rock shown in the next video, use your grenade launcher to decimate the—fuel rod turrets? Hmph. That seems a bit overpowered... Nevertheless, you can easily use the boulder for cover while arcing your shots at the twin batteries. Five each will do the trick, and oftentimes the gunner will flee the scene after the first direct hit. Note that even splash damage is somewhat effective too. This is will likely be the only area in the campaign where the grenade launcher can be deemed an asset, so enjoy it while you can.
   While the Grunts and Jackals may take a few shots at you from afar, the real threat here is the concussion Elite leading his troops. Even when you're hunkered down behind the boulder, the splash damage from this weapon can still hurt you, so try not to piss him off. Let Kat handle it for you.
   Peek out from your hiding place from time to time, and when your foes have their attention diverted elsewhere, make a break for the hill ahead. The Pelican should be dropping in at this point to pass along a much needed Rocket Warthog—another new addition to the Reach fleet. This next video puts a visual spin on things.

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   A few tidbits regarding the new Warthog; first off, when the cannon is in use, one pull from the trigger unleashes the same number of rockets no matter how long you hold it down. Tapping the trigger is just as effective. It has a brief cooldown period in between launches, so it's preferable to hit your target the first time around (as if I really needed to tell you that). The downside to this is that typically if you miss your target with one rocket, the rest of them will likely miss too, which leaves you vulnerable to attack.
   Keeping these things in mind, jump into the driver's seat the instant it touches the ground and take off to the next area. Since a gunner will already be mounted on the rear, don't bother waiting for Kat. She'll be fine on her own. You'll drop down a shallow ledge and round a corner. As soon as you do, jump out with the hog's passenger side facing forward. Three Skirmishers with needle rifles will instantly open fire the second you're in their sites. Use the hog for cover as you pick them apart with your DMR.
   I'd advise dropping your grenade launcher at this point and picking up the needle rifles lying around. You'll need them later. Then jump back into the jeep, but instead of proceeding forward, we're going to sneak off into the cliffs to deal with another menace first. When you reach the next clearing, you'll notice a Ghost patrolling the area, though sometimes he likes to hide behind the hillside under the bridge. If your Marine is still alive, jump out of the hog and let him deal with it. With an AI manning the gun, the rockets will actually home in on their target, allowing for a much quicker kill. Otherwise, you've got cleanup duty, so jump on the gun and smash the Ghost to pieces as shown here.

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If you need additional health after the encounter, there's a health pack just up the hill near all the Covenant crates. If your Marine is still alive and you're feeling merciful, get him to jump off the hog, push him away, and drive off without him in the direction you came. Otherwise, you won't have to worry about it. Either way, head back to where the Skirmishers were stationed and drive the hog up the incline. On rare occasions, a golden BOB has been seen standing around up here, but usually he isn't a threat even in the unlikely event that he spawns.
Your target at this point is the Tyrant gun. The game suggests that you infiltrate the base of the cannon, eliminate the hostiles, and cause a disruption in the core. I have an easier way...

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   It only takes a few missile salvos to destroy it from the outside and keeps you out of harm's way. Being on the cliff, of course, keeps you out of reach of meandering infantry as well so you can safely destroy the battery with zero opposition. Otherwise, you'd be tangoing with a Revenant, an additional Ghost, several Elites and Jackals, and a very worthy Elite General holstering a concussion rifle.
   Oddly enough, the Rocket Hog isn't the only vehicle that can lay waste to a giant Covenant anti-air cannon. The Scorpion, Wraith, and Revenant are also excellent candidates when it comes to nuking them from a safe distance.
   You may also be asking yourself why we left our Marine behind earlier? The answer is simple. In order to use this method to destroy the Tyrant gun successfully, you need to be the gunner. Marines don't see it as an enemy, and even they did, you're putting quite a distance between you and the cannon for their targeting skills to really take effect. And if you try to do it yourself when a friendly AI is around, they'll assume you want a ride...
   The sirens will sound once the gun has taken enough damage and is about to *asplode* from the inside-out. The second it does, commandeer the driver seat and speed back down to where you blew up the Ghost before. Two things will happen at this point. A friendly Pelican will swoop in and drop off a portable bridge (that just happens to be the exact length needed to fill the gap...) which will allow you to cross to the other side. While that's happening, a Phantom will join the party and bring his Wraith buddy along with him. If you're fast enough, and you should be without any issue, you'll be able to make it across the bridge well before the Wraith gets a handle on things. Plus, with the Pelican there, the Phantom will be shooting at something other than you, giving you a nice clean getaway.

Hand Over Fist

   Round the next corner and drop down while doing your best not to flip. A pack of jittery Skirmishers will be there to greet you with needle rifles. Speed through as fast as you can. Should your hog go the way of the tumbleweed and you need health, there's an extra pack at the base of the incline.
   Once you're through, you'll be approaching the mining facility. A group of Marines will already be engaging a team of Grunts and Jackals backed by a long-ranged Shade turret. Your first priority is to take out the Shade, so drive up close to the drop-off, hop in the gunner seat, and make short work of the machine. Then bring the hog closer to the bridge and do the same to the troops.
   With the immediate area clear, you can take proactive measures by grabbing additional BR ammo from the bridge, then idling over to the left where you can both see and headshot the two Skirmishers on the far left side of the facility like so...

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You should now be able to make your way over to the mining facility with zero opposition. There will be an Elite looking down on you from the top walkway, but using Sprint to reach the wall will keep you out of harm's way. A pair of health packs can be found up the stairs dead ahead if you need them, but again you shouldn't. Collect the needle rifle ammo from the dead Skirmishers and get ready to pull a quickie on Bungie.
At this point you should be packing a DMR and a needle rifle with a fair amount of ammo. For the most part we're done with the DMR, but it'll serve as a nice backup weapon if things go sour during this next trick. If you're ready to skip the mining facility altogether, watch the next video.

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   I'll be straight with you here. The jumps from beam to beam can be a little bit tricky if you start getting the mid-game Mythic jitters, so take a few deep breaths beforehand. The Jackals and Grunts lining the catwalks will be able to see you and manage to land a few potshots, but it's nothing to be overly concerned about. However, you don't want to kill them either. Otherwise this will trigger the Zealot and a pack of Grunts to spawn in the next area, and to make matters even more complicated, you'll have an Ultra bearing down on you from the mining facility as well.
   Following the path in the video will lead you to a platform occupied by only two Jackals. This is where the needle rifle starts to come in handy. Taking one shot will cause the Jackals to lower their shields and dodge making the two follow up shots that much easier to land.
   Make your way forward and drop down through the hole in the wall. At the base of the drop, you'll notice a crate harboring a plasma launcher. Guess what? Time to ditch the DMR. You'll find this new toy very useful within the next few minutes.
   You'll notice two abandoned Covenant vehicles just through the door; a Ghost and a Revenant. If you've been itching to drive the latter, you finally have the chance. Again, it works very much like a light Wraith, but the plasma mortar isn't nearly as effective as it feels like it should be. In other words, its bark is worse than its bite.
   Commandeer the Revenant and move down until you see an Ultra and Grunts emerge from their hiding spot. Hop out and kill the Grunts with your needle rifle. If you can manage to splatter the Elite on the way down, awesome. Otherwise, we'll worry about him later. For now, focus your attention on the next Tyrant gun ahead just beyond the gap.
   There are two ways to tackle this next area. Your overall footing on the game will depend on which one best works for you. First off, know that the area is occupied by a pair of Wraiths, a pair of Hunters, an Elite Ultra, and several Grunts, Jackals, and Skirmishers. There are also a few Drones hiding quietly inside the Tyrant gun, but you shouldn't have to worry about them no matter which route you take. We'll go more into detail about Drones later in the game...
   Both methods start off with using the Revenant to destroy the Tyrant gun from afar. Simply lob mortars at the weapon until it blows up as shown below.

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