Halo 2 Tips



Lockout Guide

Assassinating turret users 
A word of advice, when you try to assassinate someone who is using a stationary turret in multiplayer, you must be EXACTLY behind them. If you are angled even a little bit, it your attack will just be a normal melee.

Banshee suprise attack
When your flying the banshee and you have a decent weapon you can suprise a person by boosting torward them and right before you hit them you do the rising roll manuver(hold 'a' and down) and land right on top of them and kill them without having them realise what happened.
It wouldn't be a good idea to do this unless you are willing to give the enemy a chance at a banshee or it is almost destroyed..***

Burst fire of dual SMG's
You can eliminate the recoil and increase the accuracy of the dual smg combo by rapidly alternating the two triggers in a L-R-L-R-L-R-L-R fashion quickly to fire. It is still better to lay into both at extreamely close range since the increased accuracy won't make up for the drop in rate of fire as much the closer you get. When you learn to alternate triggers slower the closer you get to your enemy and then lay into them when you are right next to them you can kill fairly well with the combo. It works for the PR/SMG combo as well but the shots on the PR are more innacurate at longer range.

Close combat with the brute shot 
The brute shot isn't exactly the cutting edge of death when it comes to medium-long range combat. However the weapon is surprisingly effective in close combat.
The small grenades the weapon fires aren't too powerful, however they can leave the enemy disoriented. In multiplayer try getting up close with the brute shot and firing a few grenades into their face. The blast should disorient them and allow you to charge in the weapons blade to finish them off. Its pretty fun, try it out.
[editors note: the most damage that a brute shot can deliver is from above, so watchout for that guy hanging out on top of buildings and natural formations]

Covert sword usage 
Generally speaking it is never a good idea to run around with the sword in the open, but even in close combat situations it is better to keep the sword on secondary until you are just about to use it, preferably with a mid to long range weapon out. The enemy will see the other weapon and move in to try and take advantage, then you can pull out the sword very quickly and kill them before they can properly react. This technique is rarely expected and eliminates a lot of the likelihood of the enemy dodging. The hesitation they take in registering you pulling out the sword will be more then worth the slight pause before you are able to lunge.

Dodging the sword  
When somone has the sword and is about to lunge, SIDESTEP! Most of the time you can avoid the lunge and shoot them, or if you are lucky, hit them in the back.
[editors note: sometimes it is the obvious that needs stated]

Smart Nades Drop'em while moving...  
If you find yourself in a poor position when you're being closely attacked on foot by an enemy, you can use corners to your advantage. If there is a corner available, turn it and quickly toss a frag against the wall (the one pertaining to the corner you just rounded). Preferably, you should toss it as close to the bottom of the wall as is feasible. Of course, you should keep moving as you don't want to get caught in your own blast. The idea here is that the enemy pursuing you will be so greedy for the kill that he/she will walk right into the blast, giving you an opportunity to finish them off with whatever weapon you have. I can't tell you how many times I have turned the tables on the opposition using this technique.
You can also use frags to quickly finish off an enemy with a surprise attack. If your within close proximity to an enemy who is oblivious to your presence, try tossing a frag at his/her feet before shooting. The blast plus your fire should make quick work out of them.
One last tip. Don't underestimate the long range capabilities of your nades. Experiment on different maps and during game play to see just where and how you can utilize nades (frags in particular) to either get a kill or blast a weapon towards you from long range.

Smart jumping melees
It's well known that jumping melees more damage, but you shouldn't jump in the middle of a fray just to get a better whack. So, if your reticle is red, 'roll' your thumb over the 'A' button en route to the 'B' (Default settings work best). You get minor elevation and the full damage of a real jumping melee.

Explosive Barrels
Explosive barrels can be found on most maps:
Lockout
MidShip (these ones are pretty much useless)
Zanzibar
Colossus
Foundation
Waterworks
Headlong
Ivory Tower
Fire on them as an enemy is walking by to deal plenty of damage, as well as throw weapons towards you.

Get a jacked ghost back
When killing via the ghost, consider packing an extra sword along. If your ghost gets boarded, then you can just lunge at them before they have a chance to zoom away

Ramps and Grenade bouncing
The good ole frag-nade is probably the most under-utilized weapon in multi-player.
When you are approaching an up-ramp, and you know your enemy is just waiting at the top of it, a good way to get him to move and perhaps even kill him, is to bounce a 'nade UP the ramp.
You can do this by aiming at the last few feet of the up-ramp as you approach it. The nade will simply skip up over the edge and almost immediately explode in the face of any waiting enemy.
This tactic is especially useful on Colossus and Ascension, when teams tend to try to take and hold the high ground. The nade bounce is particularly effective on the central 'bowl' of Ascension, where the enemy often clusters in Crazy King. Simply stay back and hidden behind the 'lip' of the bowl and lob a couple of nades at the upper edge of the lip of the bowl. They will bounce up and over, often exploding at the head-level of any inside the bowl. A couple of nades followed quickly by a dual-smg/pr-smg assault will often result in triple-kills or kill-taculars if your enemy is bunched tightly in the bowl.

Health and shield recharging rates
There is health in Halo 2 and it is not simply your shields. Everyone knows that you can take a few non-head shots after your shields go down, but you are not at full health simply because your shields come back up. In fact, it may take up to 6-7 seconds after your shields come back up before you are at full health (depending on how much damage you took after your shields went down).
As an example of this, take a plasma pistol charged shot and take down someone's shields. Then shoot that player with 5 gutshots using the magnum (a 6th gutshot will kill). Now get another charged shot ready and the moment the player's shields come back up, hit them with the charged shot and then you should be able to kill them with one gutshot (maybe two if you weren't quick enough with the charged shot). If you wait about 6-7 seconds after shields are up before hitting the player with the charged shot, it will again take 6 gutshots to kill them, so health does replenish and it doesn't take long after your shields come back up.
This may explain why it seems that sometimes in the heat battle when your shields have just come back, that you might die quicker than normal, you were not at full strength even though your shields were at full strength.

Hiding
If you can hide behind it, use it. I don't know how many times I've been being shot at and realized that cover is near me after I'm dead. If your shields are down, or are close to it, hide; going into battle with 1/3 shield is just stupid.

How to dodge rocket launchers
The new rocket launchers have a tracking feature, allowing them to home in on vehicles.
To dodge a rocket in a Banshee, simply perfom an aerial manuevour (A+Control Stick) moments before the rocket hits you. It takes some timing, but it's possible.
For pretty much anything else, simply hide behind a rock, or drive away horizontally to the rocket. And get behind something as well.

How to kill tanks
In multiplayer when someone gets a tank they can become an invincible force. But knowing the weakness of tanks can help you make short work of them. To take down any tank, guass hogs are useful, because each shot will take a big chunk of the driver's health. The tank won't be able to track the hog if the hog maintains it's distance. Also, wraith tanks are vunerable in the rear, but completely invulnerable to frontal fire. Just to make a note, plasma weaponss don't work that well against armor.

How to use the SMG recoil to your advantage
The SMG recoil does suck, but it is realistic and there are ways to deal with it. One such way is to aim at an enemies feet, and then let loose with your SMG(s), letting the recoil carry you up the body, inflecting a fair amount of damage. This method means exposing yourself for a fair bit, so it may be better to start from the knees/lower chest and work your way up to the head and then quickly duck behind cover, and don't fire for too long since once your at the head you most likely will not deal that much more damage, and you'll end up looking at the sky. Hope this helps you a little bit. 
The Best way to deal with recoil is to start pointing at the head and just barely hold the joystick do thus keeping your shot at the head.

Immediate braking!
We all know to pull the left trigger to stop the rear wheal. Well to stop All FOUR and stop on a dime... Press A

Instant kill combos (almost) Without the best weapons
Some of the best combos you can use are in order of most deadly-to least useful.
1) The most deadly combo isn't a combo it is a weapon switch between a charged plasma pistol/battle rifle(carbine)
2) Second is the plasma rifle+smg combo, this combo is extremely good for sneak close range attacks because the plasma takes the shield out fast and the smg kills fast.
3) Third plasma pistol+smg combo this is good because the charged plasma takes out the shield and the smg finishes them off
(the next two combos require a little skill with aiming)
4) Fourth plasma pistol+magnum combo, this is good because if aimed right you can kill them in 2 shots of the human pistol because they have no shield due to the plasma pistol
5) Finally this combo is in my opinion the best it is at the least powerful part because it takes some skill to use it. The plasma rifle+magnum combo. This combo is so good because if you go automatic pr on them it takes the shield fairly fast and you can take them out with at least 2 shots.

Jump Melees
If you jump when you melee someone, it does significantly more damage. For example, one jump melee and one burst to the head will finish someone with a Battle Rifle.

Jump N' Crouch
This tip is especially useful on multiplayer, however applicable all over.
To try and make those extra-long or high jumps to places you previously thought in-accesable, all you have to do is crouch after you jump. This can give you the extra clearence to get to all kinds of new places.
For example: on midship you can jump up to the the platforms that run alongside each edge of the map, from just where you exit the base.

Kickin' It Old School: Single-Wielding
Just because Halo 2 allows for dual-wielding doesn't mean you have to use it. If you are faced with a large group of enemies, it's sometimes safer (and easier) to throw a grenade, wait for the explosion, and mow down the survivors. Not only does it stun them so they won't fight back for a second or two, but you can conserve ammo for later in the level.

Lunging with the sword
People tend to lunge a lot when sword fighting. But rather than doing a normal lunge, do a lunge while jumping. Chances are, if you jump then they won't react fast enough with a lunge of their own.
This is very useful when you must make the tie-breaker between you and another sword wielder or if you're outnumbered by two to one by sword wielders as your lunge is just as fast but an air lunge takes much less time to recover from. Air lunge the first guy and then jump back and then jump and lunge again. If both are close then proceed normally but instead of jumping again lunge while jumping back as the direction you are going doesn't affect the direction of the lunge itself.
If you are fighting in single player then you can air lunge and then ground lunge a split scond later, quickly killing the elite/brute. Unlike the normal lunge, since air lunges come down from above, crouching will not evade it. I do it in a diagonal fashion, that eliminates the possibility of both running under and crouching simultaneously.
Sidestepping might work although they might be too confused to react that quickly. If someone uses it against you, jump up and lunge him in the air. But you will probably die.
Just one thing-next time, jump first. Whoever jumps first has about an 85% chance of success. But if you are familiar with what to do, you could very likely hit that 15% if they jump earlier than you. But you're familiar, you shouldn't even have to take the risk. Anyways, it's safer not to so jump earlier. If you do it correct, a newbie won't know what happened. That is, not until they see their dead bodie next to a guy with an energy sword.

Melee after plasma shot(v1.1 updated)
As you may already know, after the new update for halo 2,melees became much more powerful and a very good way I found to use this super-melees is this: in a situation of close fighting, you can kill a dude by just releasing the plasma shot (from the plasma pistol fully overcharged), then hitting him right in the face with your fist, because of the update, now you can kill a lot of 'unaware-of-your-new- technique' Spartan by doing this new 'combo' at the right time without letting him do almost anything to you.

Melee after Shotgun Blast
One way to improve your kill count is to get in the practice of executing a melee attack immediately after firing at close range.
If the blast doesn't kill them, the melee should.

Plasma Pistol and SMG
Simply devastating. When fully charged, the Plasma Pistols energy blast will completely strip your opponent's shields. Better yet, it will home in on enemy positions, albeit slowly. Once the brunt of the Plasma damage is dealt, a quick spray from the SMG will instantly flatten your foe. This combo works best with the SMG gripped in your dominant hand (usually right) and the Plasma Pistol in your weaker hand (usually left).

Dual Needlers
Though feeble on its own, Needlers are definitely a force to be reckoned with when they work together. Their strength lies in the double-damage nature of the needle projectiles; enemies receive damage when the needle impacts, then take additional damage when it explodes. The trick is to shoot slightly ahead of moving opponents, giving the slow-moving, heat-seeking needles more time to plunge deep into soft, exposed flesh. Booyah!

Control Freak
Take the time to customize your control scheme, as many players find that switching up the placement of hard-to-reach functions (like melee attacks or grenade switching) makes combat easier. Feel free to play around with analog stick sensitivity, though the default setting is perfect for most players. Also, experiment with inverting your analog movements.

Know Thy Circle-Strafe
Two words: absolutely critical. Though many console FPS fans may be unfamiliar with this tactic, circle strafing is well known to many hardcore PC shooter fans. The idea is to move around your target while shooting, which makes you a tough-to-hit moving target while keeping him pinned in the center of your destructive perimeter. Does it work? Yes yes, it does.

Jumping the Gun
Jumping can help you dodge enemy fire, but it also makes you an easy target. Halo 2's huge, floaty space jumps often leave you in compromising mid-air position. Because it s easy for enemy snipers to predict your arc and cap you at the apex, it s best to jump as infrequently as possible. If you feel you must jump while entangled in a heated brawl, try jumping over an opponent s head; it'll confuse him and buy you a few more precious seconds.

The Art of Concealment
Crouching makes you a smaller target, but it also removes you from enemy motion-sensors, a fact you can exploit with crouch walking. When crouch-walking, you can often creep past foes, then spear them with the Energy Sword. Crouch jumping is another useful tactic; when you crouch at the apex of your jump, it gives you a slight boost. Many of the multiplayer Halo 2 levels feature small nooks and secret sniping perches, all inaccessible without crouch jumping.

Halo: Reloaded
Here s another area where console players lag behind the hardcore PC veterans. Keeping your weapon fully loaded should be a constant consideration. Does it make much sense to walk around with just two bullets loaded? Of course not, so be aware of your weapon s ammo level, and if you see a moment to reload, take it, even if you re only adding a few extra shots. You might not get another chance later.

Holding still makes an easy target 
Never stop moving. If you are in the heat of battle, don't stand there and shoot at your opponent, especially there are multiple enemies. Try jumping up and down, while strafing around your opponent. Continue shooting at your opponent while moving, or else you will just be a fish out of water.

Nose up
When in a ghost, after getting some air, press A to pull the nose up a little so you don't flip over.

Overshield Tricks
While the oversheild is charging up (immediately after you pick it up) you cannot take any damage!
This is especially useful if you are about to die in a fight and you pick up the overshield. (example - running backwards into the overshield on the ramp on ivory tower)

Perma-cloak
Get the Envy skull and activate it while crossing a checkpoint. Then, save and quit. Turn off your Xbox, and then on. Resume your game, and you'll now be perma-cloaked. Helps for getting hard-to-reach skulls, like IWHBYD.

Plasma Pistol in Multiplayer
In multiplayer, experiment with having one player constantly run around with two charged PPs. Enemies can be tracked independently and disciplined teammates close by can efficiently kill shield-dropped enemies as the PP guy takes cover to move or recharge. This takes a team with excellent communication and clumpiness[staying together]. Try pairing the PP with grenades, the magnum, the BR and carbine (obviously), and the shotgun. The PP/Magnum combo is particularly underused. Though it's no secret to anyone, I think players are suspicious of their ability to get a headshot after a bolt. I say try it: the magnum's rapid firing will probably take care of that. Even getting a PP bolt on someone can often mean a teammate will get a subsequent kill even if you can't.

Da Bomb
Grenades come in two flavors: Fragmentation and Plasma. Both grenade types inflict huge damage, but each has its unique strengths and weaknesses. Though easy to find, Fragmentation grenades suffer a bit in the damage department; Plasma grenades, on the other hand, have huge blast radiuses and inflict crippling damage. Better yet, Plasma grenades can stick to enemies and vehicles for an easy one-hit kill. But unlike the stealthier Fragmentation grenades, glowing Plasma grenades are impossible to miss.

Live By the Sword
Frankly, the Energy Sword is overpowered for most multiplayer matches. What other weapon in Halo 2 can inflict such tremendous damage with so little effort? The secret is to lock on (target an enemy and wait for the reticle to turn red) before attacking. Done properly, the Master Chief will launch at the target and impale him. This attack will generally kill enemies in one hit, and is extremely tough to defend against.

Die By the Sword
You can win by exploiting your biggest asset brains. No-talent Energy Sword hacks love to wait in corners (making them invisible to motion sensors), then spear opponents as they walk by. Cheap! You can try to strafe around the lunge attack, but it s difficult. Instead, try waiting patiently in a corner of your own; the Sword-wielder is sure to get restless and come looking for you, making him Shotgun-fodder. Also try sticking a Plasma Grenade to Sword-wielders as they approach.

The Problem with Plasma
It s easy to belittle the Covenant Plasma weapons, particularly the newly-nerfed Plasma Rifle. But with the proper approach, these energy weapons can be extremely powerful. One big plus is that you don t have to reload these guns or keep track of ammo, at least not in the traditional sense. But you will have to deal with overheating. The secret is to fire in controlled bursts; if the gun completely overheats, you'll be left temporarily defenseless.

Grand Theft Halo
It s entirely possible to hijack an enemy s Ghosts and Banshees; press and hold X when near an enemy vehicle. Sneaky players will bait you into hijacking their vehicle and then immediately bail out as you board the craft. This opens you up to a devastating counterattack from your intended prey, who can now blast you while you struggle to gain control of the vehicle. This bait-and-switch tactic works especially well with the Wraith and Scorpion tanks.

Melee Madness
In Slayer games, it s not always best to blindly shoot any enemy you see. If you think your opponent is unaware of your presence, try trailing him until he stops moving and then sneak up and deliver a one-hit kill melee attack. It s oh-so satisfying!

The Big Guns
Two guns aren't necessarily better than one. Larger two-handed weapons can inflict massive damage, and often sport features like zoom scopes. Best of all, they give you the freedom to throw grenades.

Rocket to Russia
Halo 2's potent Rocket Launcher returns with a zippier firing rate. But its most useful new trick is the heat-seeking mode, which enables rockets to track enemy vehicles (press and hold R). When fighting infantry, aim for their feet and let the splash damage do the work, don't try to hit them dead-on, or you'll just waste precious ammo.

Battle Rifle Spectacular
The Battle Rifle may be an acquired taste, but once you figure out its tactical place, it's an essential weapon. Basically, the Battle Rifle is the love child of the Sniper Rifle and the SMG. Its three-round bursts aren't hugely damaging, but you get 12 bursts per clip. Better yet, it sports potent zooming abilities, which makes it ideal for medium- to long-range fights. It's also perfect for chipping away at enemy vehicles.

Shotgun Wedding
Simply put, the Shotgun owns close-quarter brawls. What it lacks in range and firing rate, it makes up for with brute force. If you fire from point-blank range, the Shotgun can annihilate a fully armored opponent instantly. Try to land head shots to inflict extra damage, and be sure to keep it fully loaded at all times!

DJ Dinobot
Though the Energy Sword is carving out quite a name for itself as the arme du jour, I'd like to call attention to one of Halo 2's unsung heroes: the Covenant Carbine. In many ways it feels similar to the old-school Pistol. Though the Magnum does a bit more damage up close, the Carbine has better range (plus a scope), no recoil, and a deeper clip. It won't overheat at critical moments like the other Covenant weapons. Plus, it's advantageous to have a hand free for grenades. For sheer carnage, go with the Dinobot Special: Use the Carbine to peck at your enemies; if a fool gets close, roll a grenade, switch to the Energy Sword, and swoop on the beotch.

Dr. Zombie
First and foremost: don't stand still! Lingering too long, especially in open spaces, makes you a perfect target for any snipers. Speaking of snipers, low overhangs and corridors are the best way to stay out of the enemy scope. If you're caught in crossfire, kick into reverse and blast away to take out anyone who may pursue you. Try jumping as you reverse, too; it may look silly, but it makes you an even more difficult target. Always keep an escape route in mind, and don't forget to duck!