Utilise all of the weapons on the battlefield There are often times when playing on Heroic Id skip past power weapons of sorts, knowing that I wont 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 youd walk past because you already have one are weapons to go back to once youve used the ammo in your current gun. Fuel Rod guns that you just dont 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 youve used all of the ammo up. Its a valuable tactic that should prove to be one you use again and again. Be careful you dont go through some doors though as some may close and never let you back through to collect your original weapons

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 theres a will, theres a way within reason! So, for example, after youve 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, youll 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. Itll make the next area a lot simpler. The little things like this make Legendary so much easier.

Know your enemy Knowing the easiest way to kill enemies in Halo 4 on Legendary is actually more key than anything else, and it wasnt until the end of my first playthrough on Heroic that I'd honed my tactics against each foe. Were going to break each enemy type down here so you know the easiest way to tackle them. Youll thank us later.

Promethean Watchers Watchers arent particularly hard creatures to take down, but its 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. Theyll shield allies while their shields restore, theyll construct powerful beam emplacements, theyll throw your grenades back at you, theyll shoot at you and theyll 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 theyre 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 dont know what youre doing, but if you do, you can make quick work of a whole pack of them before they make their mark. Youll want to use a ranged weapon with supreme accuracy, whether thats 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 youll have wasted a lot of ammo. If theyre 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 theyre accompanied by a Watcher, however, once you work them out, theyre 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. Dont get too close either as theyll 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. Itll likely take one and a half clips if youre accurate. The Scattershot super-close can take three shots, maybe two, depending on your connection, but these arent 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 Youll face many pairs of Hunters in Halo 4s 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 (youll 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. Its 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 theyre 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.

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. Its the difference between failure and success. Practice taking down Jackals with shields in two shots. Id recommend turning on the Grunt Birthday Party skull too so you know when youve connected with a headshot on a Grunt that way you dont waste ammunition shooting at a falling corpse.

The right tool for the right job Theres no point firing a Suppressor at a Watcher from the other side of the map, its 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. Dont 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.

Big things can come in small packages Oooohhh, look at that Grunt there, hes so cute Ill just pop him in the head. Wait, whats 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. Theyll often have a jetpack, so look out for that trait when theyre on the battlefield. Just because theyre small and weak by definition usually, dont discard them. Whip out your accurate ranged weapon of choice, whether its 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

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 doesnt really present that many opportunities to do this, mainly because Master Chief is a lone wolf. In Chapter 3 therell 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 youll 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 wont last long. War is tough, and Master Chief knows it.

Dont get frustrated, if all else fails, seek a different approach Sometimes therell be moments in the campaign where your usual strategies dont work. If they dont, try something else. In fact, just try anything to get through, but make sure youve hit that checkpoint first its essentially a license to experiment. For example, taking on a Knight with an Incineration Cannon isnt like taking on a normal Promethean Knight with a Light Rifle. Chances are youll 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 youll 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 youve been doing for the rest of the game. The main point is to not get frustrated. Youre going to die a lot. Just accept that. And if the method youve been trying for an age isnt working, there will always be another tactic that might be more risky but could get you over the finish line. Its all about finishing, no matter how messy it might seem.

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 doesnt really seem to ever help, and neither does the Hologram. In fact, its all about the Hardlight Shield and the Autosentry. The Hardlight Shield is good last minute cover, but in all honesty, its ALL about the Autosentry, which is like an AI turret that fights your corner. Not only is it a perfect distraction for the enemies youre trying to takedown on the battlefield, but its also accurate and does a fair bit of damage. Its great for ammo conservation amongst all else and is even dropped by some Promethean Knights, so its quite readily available. Dont 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.

Dont 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. Dont use a Fuel Rod cannon to take down a Grunt, unless youre 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 youve played Halo 4 through on Heroic beforehand then you should know whats 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 dont want to find yourself taking on a pair of Hunters with a Magnum and a Covenant Carbine.

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 planets 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. Its not cowardly or cheating at all, its necessary if you are to keep your sanity and finish the game in a reasonable amount of hours. So if its possible, just peg it, staying behind cover where possible as it doesnt take that many shots to bring you down. Bear in mind that it isnt always possible though and in order to open some doors and hit checkpoints youll need to clear the way first.

Scavenge and dont 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 shouldnt be climbing and heading into rooms to rummage through whatever may lie there will generally get their just rewards. Weve 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 youre 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.

Turrets are your new best friend Were not talking the Autosentry armour ability here - although thatll probably be your Legendary playthrough BFF - were talking UNSC fixed turrets and Covenant plasma turrets. If theyre around, jump on them to thin out the numbers, being careful to jump away if youre 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 itll allow you to make quick work of the next few batch of Covenant or Promethean patrols, which will make you feel like youre making progress AND saving your ammunition.

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