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Frank O'Connor talks a little bit about the next Halo project it's is now in the very early stages of development. Read below for more details. Source: CVG 343 Industries is gradually reallocating its teams to work on the next major Halo project, an executive at the studio has told CVG. Frank O'Connor, the franchise development director for Halo, said that "a lot of people at 343 are already prototyping ideas and software and art for future Halo products". He added: "I can't say more than that, but work on the game started actually before we launched Halo 4 and continues apace as we cycle staff through the team's vacation breaks. We're excited about the next game." O'Connor didn't explicitly state that the next game is specifically Halo 5, though Microsoft has already confirmed that it is building a second trilogy of Halo titles. Many within the 343 Industries studio are still working on post launch content for Halo 4, the latest being the curation of a major international Halo 4 tournament. It has also developed a plot-led series of co-op games called Spartan Ops, which has been widely praised by critics. A second season of the co-op mode, however, remains up in the air. "Spartan Ops season 2 is yet to be decided, we're looking at how the first season does," said O'Connor. "We got such great responses from [live-action web series] Forward Unto Dawn and Spartan Ops that we're pretty happy with it and we're learning a lot of really interesting stuff for the future," he added. "You are going to see a spectrum of Halo support though the next year and beyond." View full article

Source: CVG Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver is taking on scores of new staff as it begins to work on a next generation games franchise. The studio, which has been rebranded as Black Tusk, is expected to double its headcount to 110 development workers by the end of the year. Black Tusk studio manager Mike Crump says the team is "working on Microsoft's next big entertainment franchise". "We're not working on an existing franchise, we're looking to build the next Halo here, for example, which is really exciting," Crump told regional newspaper The Vancouver Sun. "We are building something from the ground up," he added. According to its official website, "Black Tusk Studios is dedicated to creating immersive, AAA games that push the limits of Microsoft's entertainment platforms." In May, the online CV of an art director at the studio seemingly let slip that the team was working on "a core AAA shooter experience using Kinect". View full article

Here we have another small insider for Halo 5, again mot much is revealed as it is still in very early stages. Read the article below for details and a couple of questions answered by 343 Industries franchide development director Frank O'connor. Source: Product Reviews. There are some things you’ve got to ask when in the middle of an interview, and in respect of the Halo 4 launch and the future of this franchise, it had to be details about Halo 5 and Xbox 720 that an interviewer would try and find segments of information. This is exactly what happened when Brier Dudley performed an interview with Halo development director at 343 Industries, Frank O’Connor, and asked about Halo 5. From the answers given above you can pretty much count on a Halo 5 arriving at some point, unless Halo 4 is a complete disaster, and the fact that it will be crucial to the the Xbox 720 launch. You can read the full interview in this article, which delivers some interesting information but certainly lacks the finer details we’d all want to know about Xbox 720. The interviewer had been digging for juicy details and they would’ve been hoping for something to slip out during questioning. This post has been promoted to an article

Here we have another small insider for Halo 5, again mot much is revealed as it is still in very early stages. Read the article below for details and a couple of questions answered by 343 Industries franchide development director Frank O'connor. Source: Product Reviews. There are some things you’ve got to ask when in the middle of an interview, and in respect of the Halo 4 launch and the future of this franchise, it had to be details about Halo 5 and Xbox 720 that an interviewer would try and find segments of information. This is exactly what happened when Brier Dudley performed an interview with Halo development director at 343 Industries, Frank O’Connor, and asked about Halo 5. From the answers given above you can pretty much count on a Halo 5 arriving at some point, unless Halo 4 is a complete disaster, and the fact that it will be crucial to the the Xbox 720 launch. You can read the full interview in this article, which delivers some interesting information but certainly lacks the finer details we’d all want to know about Xbox 720. The interviewer had been digging for juicy details and they would’ve been hoping for something to slip out during questioning. View full article

There have been talks discussing what halo 5's story will be, obviously they aren't going to into all details about it yet but some interesting things have been discussed about the next story and also about it being on the next gen console. Read the article below for more details. Credit to Lil Dog for finding this. Source: Examiner "Halo 4" brought Master Chief back in a fitting way this holiday season, but this is only the beginning for what's still to come from the series and on next-generation systems. According to a report from Product Reviews on Thursday, apparently people are in favor of seeing the next few installments on next-generation platforms. "We could simply see 'Halo 4': Next-gen land with improved graphics for the Xbox 720 at an event next year, but we’d favor something totally new in the form of 'Halo 5' with some major improvements in physics and graphics, which would be the bonus for the second and third games in this trilogy if they launch on the Xbox 720. "If 'Halo 5' hasn’t been worked on this year then launching it next year might bring something with limited work done, so again this is why we’d prefer to see a 'Halo 5' more thought-out with a release date in 2014 on the next-gen Xbox," the report stated. It went on to discuss how the next installment of the series could perhaps explain more about how Master Chief came to be. "Some of the ideas we’ve seen for the 'Halo 5' story include the possibility of an episode in the theme of “Search for Spock“, which could see Master Chief leave Earth looking for Cortana, although we also hear that a lot of fans want to see how the Spartans were created and how they were broke to make them a Spartan. "This would also deliver a lot more insight into how MC had been created, and what process he had to go through," the report stated. View full article

It has been reported that there may be two versions of the next gen xbox. I was not able to embed the video here but here is a link to the video and article Source: IGN Article and video: http://uk.ign.com/ar...f-the-next-xbox View full article

It's been said 343 Industries are looking to hire people with MMO experience. Could this mean a future Halo game will be an MMO game? Read the article below for more details. Source: Gamespot Microsoft has put out a call for staffers with massively multiplayer online game development experience to join 343 Industries to work on future Halo projects. Two job listings at 343 Industries were posted yesterday, both for software development engineers who will work on "building the next generation of backend services to power Halo 4 and our new game saga." These job listings follow additional requisitions posted last week that indicated 343 Industries was staffing up for mystery "incubation projects." A Microsoft representative declined to comment. If Microsoft is building a Halo MMO, it will not be the first time the company has done so. The Microsoft-owned (and now defunct) Ensemble Studios spent three years on a Halo MMORPG codenamed Titan that reportedly held a $90 million budget before it was canceled in 2007. Microsoft shipped Halo 4 earlier this month to a warm critical reception and day-one sales of $220 million. Halo 5 and Halo 6 have been confirmed as part of the Reclaimer Trilogy, though platforms for these games have not been revealed. Job listings from July suggest 343 Industries is at work on a Halo game for a next-generation platform. Microsoft will reportedly have its next Xbox on store shelves during the back half of 2013. View full article

Here is a little insider of the nex gen xbox read the article below for details. Soucre: CVG Xbox World has used its penultimate issue to publish an 8-page feature containing "everything we know" about Microsoft's next-gen console plans. The mag has good form when it comes to next-gen Xbox leaks, having revealed in January Microsoft's plans for augmented reality, directional sound, and a four-player, finger-tracking Kinect, all of which were later confirmed in the now infamous leaked planning document in June. Editor in chief Dan Dawkins told CVG: "Xbox World has been at the cutting edge of Durango coverage for over 12 months. Unless something really dramatic changes, everything we reveal in our penultimate issue will be revealed long before E3 in June." According to the mag's final 'exposé', the next-gen Xbox - which it speculates is likely to be called simply "Xbox" - will introduce Kinect 2.0, use Blu-ray discs and feature directional audio, a TV output AND input, 'innovative controller' and - at a later stage of the console's life - AR glasses. Current codename 'Durango' dev kits boast a CPU with "four hardware cores, each divided into four logical cores" and an impressive 8GB of RAM, XBW reports. Xbox World has used the Microsoft leaks and industry sources to come up with a 3D mock-up of what it expects the next-gen Xbox to look like. "We built ours with the same glossy face and patented VapourMG magnesium alloy Microsoft uses for its Surface tablet, and modelled the silver band after its new 'Wedge' touch keyboard and flexible Arc Touch mouse," it writes. "The future will be black, sharp and curved." To read the full 8-page feature, buy the latest issue of Xbox World online or on Apple Newsstand here (UK) or here (US). PSM3 features an equally large feature on PlayStation 4 and you can buy that on iOS here (UK) or here (US). View full article

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The Halo bulletin. Read below for more details Source: Halo Waypoint Over the past few days, babies were born, presidents were elected, and games were released—one of which just happened to be Halo 4. To say we’ve been overwhelmed by the response to our game would be an understatement. We’re humbled by your feedback and blown away by how many of you are spending significant amounts of time traversing our virtual battlefields. Here is a teeny-tiny peek into our day one numbers: More people played Halo 4 in the first 24 hours than any other Halo launch day in history. We’ll be sharing more details on Monday, but that should whet your appetite for the hard stats that are coming. Thank you for playing our game and stay tuned for additional updates, because we have some amazing things planned for the future of Halo 4. Midnight Madness It was a very surreal moment when the clock struck midnight on November 6. A day almost four years in the making, a single tick of the clock marked the occasion as stores around the world began releasing Halo 4 into the wild. From a to Jen Taylor and Steve Downes dual wielding Sharpies and smiles, over 10,000 midnight launch events around the world played host to a variety of different festivities, making the launch of Halo 4 a night to remember. Check out this pictorial recap showing how your fellow community members celebrated the release of Halo 4. The vast majority of 343 attended a launch event, and we had a blast celebrating the release of our game with you. We hope you had a good time, too! Halo 4 Housekeeping While the launch of Halo 4 went off without a hitch for the majority of you, a small percentage of players are experiencing a few different issues. We are tracking these issues and providing regular updates in the following forum thread: Issues being investigated. Please utilize that thread for reporting any and all problems you may be experiencing (we also have a Halo 4 FAQ, so check to see if your issue has been covered there first). We kindly ask that you utilize that thread for actual issues with the game. While we absolutely care that you think Cortana’s thighs are too large, that is not the appropriate place to make that post. You know who you are. Here are a few of the more common questions (and their relevant answers) we’re seeing right now. Y U No have game manual?! In an effort to save the world (and by world, we of course mean trees), we created an in-depth online interactive guide. You can access that here: http://www.halowaypo...n-US/Halo4Guide. How does the install process for Disc 2 work? Disc 2 contains largely multiplayer content. You can put it in at any time, even before Disc 1, and install the content. You will get a slideshow, some music and a progress bar. After a few minutes, you can remove that disc and never deal with it again. Everything multiplayer, including Spartan Ops, Forge and Campaign can then be launched from Disc 1. My Disc 2 is failing to install. HELP! If you’re experiencing issues installing Disc 2 content, choose “Spartan Ops” or “War Games” in the menu. You will see a message saying you need to install the content. Please choose the “Download from Xbox LIVE” option. If you have done a partial install with Disc 2 (i.e., your last install was either corrupt or interrupted), delete the old package before attempting the reinstall process. You can delete the old package by following the below steps: 1. Go to the Xbox Dashboard 2. Go to the “Settings” tab 3. Select “System” 4. Select “Storage” 5. Select “All Devices” 6. Select “Games and Apps” 7. Select “Halo 4” from the list of games 8. Select “Spartan Ops Season 1.0” 9. Select “Delete” 10. Select “Yes” to confirm 11. After it deletes that package, select “War Games” from the list 12. Select “Delete” 13. Select “Yes” to confirm My Xbox crashes every time I try to go to Halo Waypoint from Halo 4. Fix it! You fix it! You can do that by deleting Halo Waypoint and reinstalling it. What’s up with the daily XP cap? The daily XP cap is intended to preserve the integrity of the progression system. In other words, it’s in place to provide an early gate from players running amok in their progression. When we launched, we had a bug where double XP tokens were being consumed even when you went over the cap. That has since been fixed. In the coming weeks, we will be monitoring how many players are hitting the cap so we can respond accordingly. Sometimes I see a different set of hoppers, and my SR gets set back to 0. Why does that happen? What you are seeing are “fallback hoppers”. When you enter this mode, you will see a UI notification. It shows up on the “Find Game” screen for War Games. In previous Halo titles, you’re dependent on the servers to get the information you needed for Matchmaing, and if they go down, you can’t play. Fallback hoppers are a new functionality for Halo 4, and they allow people to continue playing Halo 4 when there are server issues. In order to preserve the integrity of the online experience, there are some limitations to this functionality: • Reduced XP earn rate, counted as offline XP • Players in the fallback hopper cannot play with those that are using the regular server hoppers • Player customization is disabled (no armor, loadouts, emblem) Since the server isn’t actually available in fallback hopper mode, you’ll be missing functionality that the server provides. This includes: • Spartan Ops • File Share • Service Record • Commendations • Challenges • Double XP tokens You will automatically be switched to fallback hoppers if you fail to download a necessary file. You’ll remain in fallback hoppers for up to 10 minutes after the services return. When in this mode, it’s a good idea to relaunch the game on a regular basis, so you can reenter the regular hoppers as soon as they’re available. Now that we’re done with the housekeeping, we’d like to say that we hope your experience with Halo 4 has been nothing short of pleasurable. If that’s not the case, definitely let us know here. Next Week's Matchmaking Playlist Update As you read the above title, you’re probably thinking, “We get a Matchmaking update already?!” and the answer is yes, you do indeed get a Matchmaking update already. Welcome to Halo 4, Spartans! Halo 4 Matchmaking updates will occur on a more frequent basis than what you’re accustomed to with Reach. Instead of monthly updates, we will be providing weekly updates, with the goal being to provide fresh content on a regular basis. We will maintain a static set of playlists and feature one or two “rotational” playlists on top of that. We will be monitoring trends and statistics closely so we can react accordingly to your preferences and likes. For instance, if one of our rotational playlists consistently holds a higher population than one of our static playlists, we will consider swapping them out based on player demand. The process will be fluid and based on numbers, and we’re extremely excited about the benefits of our new approach. So, what brand new playlist do you get next week? You get everybody’s favorite “Boom, headshot!” game type. Oh yes, it’s time for SWAT! By the way, please excuse the sobbing you might be hearing right now. It’s Frankie, weeping his man-tears of joy. Now, on to the nitty-gritty of SWAT in Halo 4. We’ve carefully balanced the damage resistance to allow both the Battle Rifle and the DMR to compete against each other in SWAT. Another change is that we’ve removed the shield HUD; so combined with disabled radar and no ordnance, you get even more visibility during a match. Below are the exact number of shots it takes for each weapon to kill. • DMR – 3 bullets to the chest, 1 bullet to the head • Magnum – 3 bullets to the chest, 1 bullet to the head • BR – 7 bullets to the chest (this gun shoots three bullets in a burst, so the first bullet of the third burst will kill the player), 1 bullet to the head These are the maps that will appear in the SWAT playlist. • Haven • Adrift • Complex • Abandon • Solace Here are some strategies for those unfamiliar with the SWAT game type. • Aim for the head! • Use a DMR for long range encounters and a BR to sweep hallways. • A Magnum is more effective than melee at very close range because of its incredibly fast fire speed. • Use callouts with your teammates; communication allows you to work more efficiently as a team. • Pick up a DMR or BR off of an enemy. Having both weapons is a big advantage. • Learn the maps to keep your reticle at headshot level. And finally, here’s a preview of our planned settings. Mode SWAT Teams 4v4 Score to Win 600 [60 Kills] Loadout 1 DMR, Magnum Loadout 2 BR, Magnum Grenades Disabled Shields Disabled Damage Resistance .8 – Headshot = Instant kill Motion Tracker Off Infinite Ammo On Shield HUD Disabled Ordnance Disabled We hope you love SWAT in Halo 4. After you’ve had a chance to play it, be sure to visit the Matchmaking section of our forums to leave your feedback about this particular game type. See you next week, and thanks again for joining us on this amazing journey. We appreciate your support, more than you know. <3, bs angel View full article

Source - http://blogs.haloway...Bulletin-118... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46U5I8lEyOY&feature=g-all-lik View full article

Microsoft increasing USB drive space for Xbox 360 storage. Read below for more details Source: gameinformer.com In March 2010, Microsoft allowed users to connect USB and hard drive devices to the console but only allowed a maximum storage space of 16GB. The new dashboard update this fall has increased the size to 32GB. "The more our customers use their profile and download digital content, the larger the file size necessary to store that content and move it between consoles gets," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "Therefore we increased the size of the memory to enable our customers to take more of their Xbox profile with them on the go." This story was first reported by Joystiq. View full article

343 Industries promised weekly Spartan Ops episodes and it's sticking to that promise. Episode 2 will be out on Monday. Read below for more details Source: Computerandvideogames.com Spartan Ops: Episode Two, which contains five new missions and an accompanying new CG cinematic, will be available for free via Xbox Live next Monday, November 12 at 11am GMT (3am Pacific). We've got a teaser trailer for you here, and below that, some blurb on what to expect from events in Episode 2 (left until last in case you're on a super-stringent spoiler blackout). http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TByBdJAUoD4 This week on Halo 4: Spartan Ops -- The mysterious artifact recovered from Requiem takes control of vital systems on board the UNSC Infinity, forcing the Spartans of Crimson and Majestic back down to the planet to look for a way to free the ship. Commander Lasky and the UNSC need you, Spartan...get back in the game! View full article

Images of the Forward Unto Dawn Mega Bloks toys. Read below for more details Source: LittleEnglishHaloBlog.com They also claim this is the first time they've produced a Master Chief figure, though I'm sure the dozens of green Spartans could probably pass for him. It also includes this light up mini-Cortana which is pretty damn sweet. The set is available from Amazon UK for £250 and Amazon US for $325, better go get it added to your letter to Santa now! View full article

Microsoft rewarding players with a max of 600 Microsoft points for playing Halo 4. Read below for more details Source: Gameinformer.com Who said gaming doesn't pay? Xbox Live Rewards members can score Microsoft Points for their time spent playing multiplayer matches. You may not want to quit your day job, however. The program is laid out on Microsoft's Xbox Rewards site. Members earn points by accruing time in Halo 4 multiplayer. Spend 35-70+ hours and you'll get 100 Microsoft Points. If you play between 70-140 hours, you get 300 Microsoft Points. The highest tier is for players who frag their way through more than 140 hours. The prize? How does 600 Microsoft Points grab you? For players who already plan on creating a couch divot, it's a nice bonus. If you think it's a worthy time investment in and of itself, you may want to think this through. You're earning about five cents an hour at the highest tier, which you could probably make scouring for change in parking garages. Oh well. You can also earn 200 or 100 MS Points for spending 3,000 or 1,500 points respectively on Halo content, with a cap of 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Also, you need to fulfill the requirements before November ends. Set aside a little over six hours a day in multiplayer, and those 600 Microsoft Points can be yours! View full article

The patch for the rank reset glitch. Read below for more details Source: Halo Waypoint Halo 4 is officially here! Thank you to everybody who celebrated the occasion at one of our launch events, and we hope you’re enjoying the game. We have been overwhelmed at the response, and we’re grateful for your continued support. As you can imagine, there are a tremendous number of new players connecting to Halo 4 right now. We’re aware that some users are experiencing occasional issues connecting to the Halo 4 services, and we are currently narrowing down possible solutions. We will be providing regular updates across all our channels, so stay tuned to the following places for the latest information: • Halo Waypoint Twitter • Halo 4 Facebook • Halo Waypoint Forums Please report issues in this thread. Thank you for your patience, and we’ll continue working around the clock until the situation has been resolved. 3PM Update We are narrowing down possible solutions. While we continue to investigate, we are aware of issues impacting the following server-side functions: • Spartan Rank (typically drops to 1) • Spartan Ops • File Share • Service Record • Commendations • Challenges • Custom Loadouts • Armor Unlocks Once you are able to connect to the server again, you will need to recreate your custom loadouts but your armor and SR should return to their normal state. We apologize for the inconvenience, and many thanks for your continued patience. 6PM Update We’ve seen improvement and are still closely monitoring the situation. We'll provide another update this evening. Thank you for your patience. View full article

This guide features the locations of all 7 terminals hidden throughout Halo 4's campaign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CWIeTucsak List of Terminals: Requiem: 00:20 Forerunner: 00:35 Infinity: 00:50 Reclaimer: 01:03 Shutdown: 01:15 Composer: 01:34 Midnight: 01:55 View full article

Halo 4 Legendary Gameplay walkthrough with IGN. View full article

There are 7 Terminals in Halo 4 in Chapters 2-8, each unlocks a video on the Halo Waypoint website and Xbox app. One bonus Terminal is already unlocked (the first video). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHDqGfVSEhs View full article

Xbox360achievements have given us some tips on beating Halo 4 on Legendary. Read below for more details Source: Xbox360achievements.org Halo 4 is launching all over the world now and in the next few hours... heck, it's even out in Australia, so we thought we'd bring you some helpful pointers so that you can beat the game on Legendary, on your lonesome, and net those two big cheevos. "I think I said pre-launch that Halo 4 (read our review here, by the way!) was shaping up to be the hardest Halo yet, and having just come off the back of a mammoth Legendary session, completing the hardest Halo yet on the hardest Halo difficulty setting, I can tell you one thing: I was right. I like saying that, by the way. That’s not to say that Halo 4 is impossible, far from it. But with new enemies, new larger environments and new weaponry, you’re going to have one hell of a ride if you want to complete it on Legendary. That’s where we come in with our ‘unlucky for some, definitely not unlucky for you’ 13 top tips at beating Halo 4 on solo Legendary. Obviously, some skill is required, but if you follow all of the tips below, it should make everything so much easier. It is recommended that you play it on Heroic first to get a feel for the new enemies and how the levels shape up, but that’s not entirely necessary if you pay particular attention to our section on the enemies below. Notice I said Heroic too, don’t play it on Normal as the jump from Normal to Legendary is enough to kill the will of even the strongest man! Oh, and the insinuation that Heroic in Halo 4 is harder than Legendary on other Halos? Just not true. Also, there will be no spoilers here, so you can read on without a care in the world. Here goes... 1. Utilise all of the weapons on the battlefield – There are often times when playing on Heroic I’d skip past power weapons of sorts, knowing that I won’t need them in the long-run because I had enough on me to take the fight to the bad guys. When you ramp the difficulty up to Legendary, that all changes. Beam Rifles that you’d walk past because you already have one are weapons to go back to once you’ve used the ammo in your current gun. Fuel Rod guns that you just don’t need because you have an Incineration Cannon are good stop-gaps so that you can save your IC ammo until you truly need it – like on the odd Banshee or against a pair of Hunters. So, our advice is to pick them up, use them on Elites, Knights, whatever, and then go back for your original weapon once you’ve used all of the ammo up. It’s a valuable tactic that should prove to be one you use again and again. Be careful you don’t go through some doors though as some may close and never let you back through to collect your original weapons. 2. Vehicles are the way forward – Common sense, right? Well, yes, but sometimes though it might not seem possible to take a vehicle any further, but trust me, where there’s a will, there’s a way… within reason! So, for example, after you’ve tackled the open section in Chapter 2 (very early on), you can use the enemy grav lift to take a Ghost with you further into the level. When trying to gain access to the Forerunner facility and facing off against tons of foes, you’ll thank us for this tip. Another example, in Chapter 4 (at the very end), you have to make sure you take the Scorpion in the lift with you, so keep it alive until the end - first time through on Heroic I had lost it at this point. It’ll make the next area a lot simpler. The little things like this make Legendary so much easier. 3. Know your enemy – Knowing the easiest way to kill enemies in Halo 4 on Legendary is actually more key than anything else, and it wasn’t until the end of my first playthrough on Heroic that I'd honed my tactics against each foe. We’re going to break each enemy type down here so you know the easiest way to tackle them. You’ll thank us later. Promethean Watchers – Watchers aren’t particularly hard creatures to take down, but it’s essential to dispatch these ASAP, if not first. Why? Simply because they're basically the best battlefield aids that the Prometheans have at their disposal. They’ll shield allies while their shields restore, they’ll construct powerful beam emplacements, they’ll throw your grenades back at you, they’ll shoot at you and they’ll even create more Knights to take down, which can be a pain. Focus on the flying disc type creatures early on, probably at range with a Light Rifle, or if they’re close range a Scattershot or a Suppressor will make quick work of them. This is an invaluable piece of advice. Promethean Crawlers – The Crawlers can be relentless foes if you don’t know what you’re doing, but if you do, you can make quick work of a whole pack of them before they make their mark. You’ll want to use a ranged weapon with supreme accuracy, whether that’s a Light Rifle, Magnum, Covenant Carbine, Battle Rifle, DMR, etc. One shot in the mouth – the glowing yellow part – or to the head, thereabouts, and this beast will explode into a ball of hot yellow acidic matter. Using the Scattershot or Suppressor will work eventually but you’ll have wasted a lot of ammo. If they’re surrounding you, smack that melee button. Promethean Knights – This is the main one to pay attention to. When you first cross the Knights it can be an overwhelming affair, especially if they’re accompanied by a Watcher, however, once you work them out, they’re not as dominating as they first appear to be. The trick here is to get them on their own (take out everything else first – Watchers first, then Crawlers, then Knights) and then get as close as you can with the Suppressor and let rip. Make sure you get to some close by cover first, so you go in with full shield. Don’t get too close either as they’ll take a swipe at you and if they do come towards you for a hit, back off slightly while still firing. The blue discharge is their shield dissipating, so keep going until they disintegrate. It’ll likely take one and a half clips if you’re accurate. The Scattershot super-close can take three shots, maybe two, depending on your connection, but these aren’t as readily available as the Suppressor is. When you get towards the end with 5-7 Promethean Knights at once, things do get tricky, but try to isolate and lure them in. The best distraction and assistant is the Autosentry armour ability, so try to have that with you whenever possible. Some Knights even drop them, so keep an eye out for that. Elites – As with other Halo games on Legendary, the best way to take down an Elite is using the “n00b” combo – charge blast the Plasma Pistol, hit them with it to take away their shield, and then follow it up with a headshot using a pinpoint accurate gun i.e. Magnum, DMR, BR, etc. The Needler is effective too, as is the Light Rifle if you can execute headshot after headshot. Just keep your distance and stay close to some cover you can quickly duck behind. Hunters – You’ll face many pairs of Hunters in Halo 4’s campaign, luckily there are usually weapons around to take them down with. The trickiest pair is easily the first set, towards the end of Chapter 3, so try to make your blows count there. When they're distracted by the Sentinels, throw a Sticky Grenade on the weak spot on their back. Rinse and repeat. There should be enough grenades lying around. With the second pair in Chapter 4, you should be in a tank. The third pair, in Chapter 7, there should be a Sticky Detanator lying around in a side room and on the wall (you’ll want to get the achievement associated with this chapter involving the Hunters and the Sticky Detonator while you're at it). And finally, the fourth pair, Chapter 8, try and keep hold of the Incineration Cannon that you can pick up from a Knight earlier on in the level. Grunts – Pop in the head with a Battle Rifle, DMR, Covenant Carbine, Magnum, Light Rifle. It’s as simple as that. Line up the headshot though, so as to avoid wasting ammo. Jackals – One shot in the head and they die, like the Grunts, so adopt the same strategy. If they have a shield, shoot their hand (left side of the shield) and when they’re recuperating, shoot them in the head – you have to be quick and this may take practice but it's a handy move. Halo Legendary veterans will know this tactic. Jackals with long-distance weapons, take them down ASAP with the BR, DMR, Carbine, etc. because they can cause a lot of damage. 4. Headshots are key – Seems like a simple thing to suggest, but it's important. Sometimes it might be easier to load the previous checkpoint than to continue if you miss your headshots… especially if you miss shots with power weapons or the DMR, the Battle Rifle - actually, any UNSC weapon, as the ammo is few and far between and they are generally the stronger weapons. Two headshots with a sniper rifle could take down an Elite, but miss the headshots and it could take as many as four. It’s the difference between failure and success. Practice taking down Jackals with shields in two shots. I’d recommend turning on the Grunt Birthday Party skull too so you know when you’ve connected with a headshot on a Grunt – that way you don’t waste ammunition shooting at a falling corpse. 5. The right tool for the right job – There’s no point firing a Suppressor at a Watcher from the other side of the map, it’s just pointless. Use the right piece of kit for the right job. Take down a Watcher with a Light Rifle; shoot Crawlers with precision weapons; and get close and take down Knights with the Suppressor. Don’t use a power weapon on a standard Grunt and save your grenades for times when you really need them. Use the Binary Rifle on Knights and Elites, use the Sniper Rifle, Beam Rifle, etc. exclusively on Knights and Elites. Be sensible, and if you only have two weapons in your arsenal, then search for something close by to use temporarily. 6. Big things can come in small packages – “Oooohhh, look at that Grunt there, he’s so cute… I’ll just pop him in the head. Wait, what’s that!? What the hell!? He has a Fuel Rod Cannon!! Ruuuuuuunnn!!” On Legendary there seem to be more and more Grunts armed to the teeth with some bloody strong weapons. Our point is simply to pay attention to these folks first and take them down before they do any serious damage. They’ll often have a jetpack, so look out for that trait when they’re on the battlefield. Just because they’re small and weak by definition usually, don’t discard them. Whip out your accurate ranged weapon of choice, whether it’s the Light Rifle, Battle Rifle or whatever, and then quickly take them out with a headshot. Then when you can, pick up their weapon and turn it on their allies. 7. Stick to cover, hang back – In Halos gone by on Legendary, it was a case of hanging back when you had AI with you and then sweeping in to mop up the rest. Halo 4 doesn’t really present that many opportunities to do this, mainly because Master Chief is a lone wolf. In Chapter 3 there’ll be a few instances on the way to the second pylon and then to the end where you should hang back and let the action play out before you jump in, otherwise you’ll be faced with a mammoth task while wasting ammo in the process. When you do get friendly AIs to assist, use them as distractions more than anything, because chances are they won’t last long. War is tough, and Master Chief knows it. 8. Don’t get frustrated, if all else fails, seek a different approach – Sometimes there’ll be moments in the campaign where your usual strategies don’t work. If they don’t, try something else. In fact, just try anything to get through, but make sure you’ve hit that checkpoint first – it’s essentially a license to experiment. For example, taking on a Knight with an Incineration Cannon isn’t like taking on a normal Promethean Knight with a Light Rifle. Chances are you’ll have to distract it using the Autosentry, maybe sneak closer using the Hardlight Shield as protection and then unleash on him while he reloads. Heck, there might be points where you’ll have to spam grenades at groups of enemies, use different weapons that you have at your disposal, come from different approaches... Basically, do something unconventional and against what you’ve been doing for the rest of the game. The main point is to not get frustrated. You’re going to die a lot. Just accept that. And if the method you’ve been trying for an age isn’t working, there will always be another tactic that might be more risky but could get you over the finish line. It’s all about finishing, no matter how messy it might seem. 9. Make use of those armour abilities – Some armour abilities in the campaign are completely useless, others are invaluable. For instance, the Promethean vision is only likely to help you in Chapter 4 briefly, whereas the cloak doesn’t really seem to ever help, and neither does the Hologram. In fact, it’s all about the Hardlight Shield and the Autosentry. The Hardlight Shield is good last minute cover, but in all honesty, it’s ALL about the Autosentry, which is like an AI turret that fights your corner. Not only is it a perfect distraction for the enemies you’re trying to takedown on the battlefield, but it’s also accurate and does a fair bit of damage. It’s great for ammo conservation amongst all else and is even dropped by some Promethean Knights, so it’s quite readily available. Don’t be afraid to wait behind cover and let it recharge either. Seriously, get this, use this, fall in love with it as it becomes your most valuable asset when playing on Legendary. 10. Don’t use power weapons until absolutely necessary – I mentioned this a bit earlier, when talking about utilising all of the weapons on the battlefield, but I feel I need to stress this point further. Don’t use a Fuel Rod cannon to take down a Grunt, unless you’re just using it to pick up your original weapon, but even then, use it on an Elite, on a vehicle, something that deserves it. You can take down a Grunt with one bullet, why waste a Fuel Rod shot? If you’ve played Halo 4 through on Heroic beforehand then you should know what’s coming for the most part, whether you have vehicles to take out or Knights with Incineration Cannons. These are the times to save the power weapons for and the best time to use them. You don’t want to find yourself taking on a pair of Hunters with a Magnum and a Covenant Carbine. 11. Even the Master Chief gets scared – Sometimes running and bypassing enemies is a perfectly viable option, so remember that. It was an option in other Halos (Reach is a good example) and it is here too. There are a couple of really good examples early on in the game in Chapter 2: when you have to bypass the Covenant and the Prometheans in a battle on the planet’s surface – if you try to take them out before progressing, it could take you an age; and on your way to the second pylon, where you have to take out the three field generators to unlock the grav lift to the top of the pylon – simply take out the shields zipping round with the Ghost, and then take the Banshee up to the top. It’s not cowardly or cheating at all, it’s necessary if you are to keep your sanity and finish the game in a reasonable amount of hours. So if it’s possible, just peg it, staying behind cover where possible as it doesn’t take that many shots to bring you down. Bear in mind that it isn’t always possible though and in order to open some doors and hit checkpoints you’ll need to clear the way first. 12. Scavenge and don’t get ahead of yourself – 343 Industries have put some really interesting weapons in some really interesting places, and all you need to do is explore a little. Players who climb places they maybe shouldn’t be climbing and heading into rooms to rummage through whatever may lie there will generally get their just rewards. We’ve found Sniper Rifles lying on top of ships, Sticky Detonators on boxes off the beaten path, ammo on corpses and what not, so it pays to explore and scavenge. The truth is you’re not going to spend much time with the UNSC weaponry during the campaign on Legendary, mainly because the ammo on the battlefield is sparse, so getting your hands on any weaponry that can give you an advantage will certainly aid your cause. 13. Turrets are your new best friend – We’re not talking the Autosentry armour ability here - although that’ll probably be your Legendary playthrough BFF - we’re talking UNSC fixed turrets and Covenant plasma turrets. If they’re around, jump on them to thin out the numbers, being careful to jump away if you’re close to death. If no-one is around and you have to continue on into the level, grab them and take them with you. Not only will this save on ammo and what not, but it’ll allow you to make quick work of the next few batch of Covenant or Promethean patrols, which will make you feel like you’re making progress AND saving your ammunition. View full article