Posted February 9th 2005

• Using a normal set-up
• Using a horde set-up
• First rush
• Chain-gun carnage
• Mopping up
• High comedy
• Protected passenger
• Extra marines

The top pass is the first narrow gap you reach around the left cliffside, up the hill from where dropships 1 and 3 hovered. When using just a normal rockslide megabattle set-up for this battle, drive to that area but preferably taking a detour towards the lifeboat then through the central part of the rockslide, in order to release the lifeboat group and hopefully suck everyone into the battle (see Sucking in the enemy for more explanation). If you don't draw everyone in like that, you'll only get a comparatively mild version of the battle and will still be left with stragglers after the main action. Park up and get ready. Within seconds, covies will be coming up the hill towards you from the left or right or both. Time for you to start earning your pay!

Much later on, I found a way to make the battling far more intense. Just start with a far area horde set-up or modified far area horde set-up, in which there are few or no enemies near the top pass, and drive straight there. Ideally you'll have the entire covie contingent heading up the hill towards you in pretty short order (some from within the rockslide), leading to some fantastically intense action as they converge. Say hello to a whole new world of hurt!

Sock trouble

I cannot emphasize just how good this battling can be, except to say that it's blown my cyborg socks clean off. You need to experience this! The nature of the battle can vary quite a bit according to the enemy's initial layout as this will influence their arrival pattern, so it's worth trying out some different set-ups over time. Also, it's convenient if hardly any of the enemy are initially more than about halfway up the hill towards the tree, as this gives you a good chance of settling into position without taking much fire. It may help if you don't give them much time to spread out after chasing you towards the far area during your set-up work.

Immediate carnage

A welcome aspect of this set-up is the immediacy of the carnage. It takes only a few seconds to drive in and take up position, and then WHAM! - the enemy starts arriving in numbers and all hell breaks loose. Perfect for when you just want a quick high-intensity blast.

Most of the rest of this page will primarily have this super-intense version of the battle in mind. I rarely even use the old set-up method any more, now I've got horde set-ups ready for use.

There's some excellent rocky cover just before the pass, and you can bet you'll be grateful for it as you attempt to fend off the first rush of enemy. If I've driven in solo, sometimes I'll jump out just through the pass then run back through. Other times I'll jump out before the pass and let the empty hog slide out of the way. That way I'm in position quicker which might help me keep the enemy at bay. If there aren't too many Elites around, maybe I'll even gun the hog at a nearby enemy and leap out whilst they're busy diving clear, though I might take some fire as I run for cover.

Early grenades

If there are enemies by the tree or ever closer, often the first thing I do is lob a quick-acting frag grenade to give them something to think about. If they're further back though, I've got time to land a plasma grenade to meet them by the tree. Enemies often collect and pause there, making a great target for grenades. If you can hold off the first few Elites and Grunts with weapon fire, there should be a good few plasma grenades littering that area, ready to be set off in one big bang.

Pistol and needler

I'll maybe use my trusty pistol to bring down a few Grunts and Jackals, or concentrate on bringing down an Elite if it looks like there's enough time before my shield starts taking a hefty dose of plasma. Alternatively I'll attempt to wreak havoc with a needler, which is a fine thing to have for taking care of Elites heading your way. If you can stick your head out long enough to send out a good stream, you'll have the satisfaction of seeing or hearing an Elite go up in a spectacular pink bang as he runs straight into it. Highly recommended. In one set-up, I've got 5 or 6 Elites heading up the hill over a period of thirty seconds or so, and on a good day they all get blasted into pink clouds in a glorious spell of utter carnage and mayhem. It doesn't get much better than that!

More often than not, I hear a bang rather than see it, because I've already ducked back behind cover. Elites with plasma rifles can really eat into your shield fast, and those Jackals are pretty trigger-happy with their overcharge shots too, so you'll need to be pretty economical about sticking your head out. When you see that an advancing Jackal has overcharged his plasma pistol, one tactic is to momentarily show enough of yourself to tempt him into firing, at which point you dodge back under cover, then immediately back out to take advantage of the safer situation. Pepper that ugly hide with lead!

Grenading from cover

When a bleeping shield forces you to stay under cover, that needn't keep you from dishing out more pain, as you can potentially lob a shallow grenade over the cover rock without being exposed. I say potentially because rock geometry varies and it may or may not be suitable. Sometimes the rock has been chest high, other times it's towered above my head. If the masses are getting too close, you can buy a bit more recharging time by placing a grenade a short distance away from your cover, just off to the front right. Not too short mind; been there, done that! Or you could bounce a frag grenade off the cliffside, hopefully taking out the front few blips on your motion tracker.

Retreat!

If things get too hot, you can always retreat through the pass and try to stop the covies from coming through. At this point however, you've effectively switched to a Top pass retreat plan, discussed at length elsewhere.

If you drive in with Warthog buddies and park up just before the pass, and leave the gunner onboard, you're in for a different type of battle. Fighting alongside that deafening chain-gun while the gunner gets vocal about the pain he's inflicting can make for a supremely atmospheric time. I've certainly had some of my most enjoyable battling this way.

Despite the presence of the gunner, the battle can be really tough. With my best set-ups on Heroic (my usual level for the megabattle), I still have to work seriously hard to keep the enemy back. Typically I'll lob a few frag grenades right away to help clear the nearest enemies, and follow up with a few plasma grenades to help stall the glut of enemy flooding up to the area of the tree just down the hill. Then I'll settle down to administering widespread pistol-based migraine, as a sort of free public service. When Elites are present I'm liable to send in streams of needles to take them out with a bang. With any luck the explosion might set off a chain reaction among the plasma grenades that often litter the ground. That said, the needler can feel frustratingly slow when you've got all those Elites dodging around in front of you. In addition the gunner frequently kills enemies that you were already taking perfectly good care of, which is wasteful of your efforts and needles. So you may prefer the immediacy of a plasma weapon.

No grunty grenades allowed

An important function of the pistol throughout this battle is to quickly take out any approaching Grunts, whose grenade lobbing poses a major threat to the hog. Because they might flank you, you have to stay sharp. Whilst occupied with the hectic frontal assault, I'm also trying to remember to glance at my motion tracker periodically, to check for grunty assassins. That said, they sometimes creep in, which is too slow to show on the tracker. Inevitably some little fin-backed pixie will take me by surprise once in a while and I'm alerted by the ftt-ftt-ftt of his needler as he closes in on the hog. You know a throw is imminent, and that's when the speed and accuracy of the pistol can save the day.

Positioning

When it comes to positioning the hog, one method I like is to swing it around so it'll be facing down the hill or towards the right a bit. This way the passenger has much better protection against enemy fire. I usually leave him seated to begin with; I'm too busy trying to hold the enemy back, and in any case the intensity of the fire would probably kill him in seconds. When things are a bit less hot I'll make him dismount. With any luck he'll lob a grenade or two to help out; because let's face it, his assault rifle isn't doing much! Sometimes I'll also make the gunner dismount, and we'll fight the rest of the battle on foot. I'll quickly drive the hog forward out of the way, letting it slide down towards the tree; and if it squashes anything when it gets there, so much the better! Once the hog is down there among the loose grenades, it can be fun to lob in a grenade at some point, to send it skyward along with the enemy.

During the battle I might switch around between the hog's left and right a few times. On the right I've got a better view of any approaching enemies, and I think it also helps the crew survive by attracting enemy fire away from them. If the incoming fire gets too hot, I'll switch and use the cover rocks by the top pass for a while. I'll leave a bit of a gap between the hog and the cliffside, partly to give me ease of movement, and partly so that when I'm on the right I'll be able to get a shot at any sneaky Grunts coming through the top pass.

Once most of the Elites are down I'll take on more of a free-roaming role as cover won't be so important. One fun thing I sometimes do is clamber up on the large rock just ahead to the left (forming one side of the lower pass). From there you get a great view of the remaining multitude of Grunts and Jackals, who thought they'd found shelter from the big bad cyborg. Give them a nasty surprise from on high.

Crossfire

With Warthog buddies you can have enormous fun setting up a crossfire. Often I'll gun the hog into the lower pass that runs parallel to the top pass, leap out as it slides to a halt, and quickly take up my usual position behind the cover at the top pass (maybe running around the back way to get there, to avoid taking fire). The great thing about this situation is that the enemy tends to focus on the hog, leaving you to pile in the punishment from their flank, such as sending explosive streams of needles into unsuspecting Elites. Glorious!

However, the hog is rather vulnerable to grenades in that situation, and quite often comes to an sticky end from some unseen critter. You'll hear "Everybody duck!" or whatever, and you just know things aren't going to end well. For a different crossfire in which you can better protect the hog, swap the positions. Park the hog just before the top pass, then take a position in the lower pass. Again, the enemy will tend to focus on the hog and you can hit them from the side. This time however your cover won't be as good, and you're probably best off with plasma weapons for close-up fighting. I like to surprise Elites from the side with an overcharge shot, then switch to the plasma rifle or add a grenade.

Something else you can do from that position is nip around behind the enemy to give then a nasty surprise. But that had better wait until most of the Elites are dead, or you could end up getting a nasty surprise yourself! When things have become less intense, you can get a bit more playful. It's quite fun to listen out for approaching Grunts or Jackals and drop a grenade in their path, or bounce a frag off the rock behind the tree. There are few things more satisfying than hearing the sound of an unseen Jackal who's just seen a grenade land right in front of him. Also keep in mind that the rock is sometimes low enough to get on top of, to surprise enemies from above.

For another good crossfire situation, park the hog near the top pass and move yourself off to the right. You'll be quite vulnerable in open ground though, so it's important to be alert and mobile. If your shield is getting low you can back further away to get sheltered by the curve of the hill; but that leaves the hog unsupported. You'll often be under fire from Jackals on your right, some from a long way off, but they shouldn't be overwhelming as long as you make sure you dodge any plasma balls. You can pistol-snipe any that start to get too annoying. If you've got more time, try some long-range grenade practice; very satisfying.

I love this job!

Different Marines have different shouting styles on the chain-gun. So if you want a change, swap your Warthog buddies around before driving in. You can even go off to pick up a new gunner from one of the other survivor areas. The hilltop group is the easiest. You'll find Sergeant Stacker up there - the guy in a cap with a southern drawl. He's very talkative on the chain-gun and pretty funny with it too ("Damn I look good!"). He's easily the pick of that group. But my favourite has to be Sergeant Johnson.

If you care to get in the line of fire so the gunner accidentally kills you, you may hear some amusing lines you might not have heard before, as the gunner realizes he's really gone and done it now!

Once the enemy is broken, I like to use a plasma pistol and needler to have fun taking care of any stragglers with extreme prejudice, especially the Jackals, and especially when they have the effrontery to actually fire at me. Big mistake! A plasma ball takes out his shield, revealing him for the miserable bag of leathery hide that he is, and then I'll aggressively pile in a full clip of needles. BOOM! That'll teach him! Or maybe I'll tag him with a plasma grenade, for the pleasure of seeing his comical agonized reaction.

Often you can be left with distant Jackals in the far area, who've been crouching behind their shields and sending plasma balls your way. Blowing them to kingdom come with carefully lobbed grenades is a lot of fun, especially when they make pathetic efforts to dive clear. Too late, beak-face!

This battle plan has to be the best ever for comedy potential, perfectly showcasing that aspect of Bungie's amazing work. Quite apart from all the multiple explosions you can cause among the congested enemy, be it by grenade or needler, you'll tend to see them take quite a lot of friendly fire. In particular, when defending out in front of the pass, closing enemies often take friendly fire from those further down the hill, especially plasma balls sent in by Jackals.

Adding to the fun factor, you've got large numbers of Grunts and Jackals intermittently running around screaming or with shields over their heads, which is highly amusing, especially if you've just tagged them with a plasma grenade, something you've got great opportunity for. This sort of character behaviour adds so much to the proceedings; it's brilliant stuff. Actually the numerous Grunts chatter almost constantly, and you'll probably hear more Grunt lines here in one 3-minute battle than you would in an hour's worth of normal Halo play. No doubt about it; if you love those grunty fellows, this is the battle plan for you!

Sometimes I go in with a passenger but no gunner, and swing the hog around as I park up just before the pass. If you get it right, the hog can partially or totally protect the passenger from enemy gunfire, something I'd already seen a few times in other situations such as when battling at the Marine plateau. This can give some amusing situations in which a whole load of enemy are standing at close range sending in an absolute cacophony of fire while the passenger sits there chewing gum and evaluating his situation with masterful statements such as "I need some backup now!". Meanwhile I'm bravely cowering behind the hog in my shiny tin plating. Well, even a cyborg has to draw the line somewhere!

When using a normal set-up (i.e. not a horde set-up), it's possible to've deposited lots of extra Marines near the top pass beforehand, ready to help out. It's a great place for adding extras, and I've had some sensational fun with a large squad. Frag grenades flying all over the place! Highly recommended.

© 2004-2010 by Rockslider