Halo Wars Skirmish/Multiplayer Strategy Guide Sup. My gamertag is BKLounge686, and I am an avid Halo fan. My main played games are Halo 3 and Halo Wars, with a little bit of other FPS games like Half-Life 2 and COD, any of them. I also have a PS2 with many FPS games. My Halo 3 rank is a Brigadier General, and my Automatic difficulty level in Halo Wars is currently at 123. Anyways I’ve decided to write this guide for Halo Wars. This guide is only going to cover Skirmish and Online Multiplayer; I will not cover the campaign here, but if you have questions I will be happy to respond. I will go over different strategies for 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 Leaders, as well as strategies for different maps, but those will not be as in-depth. Map strategies will mainly be for special features for each map, like the timed light bridges on Terminal Moraine or the Sentinel factories on multiple maps. I will not go over EVERY SINGLE combo of Leaders because that will take too long; I will just go over my best strategies. Also, I am not so good with certain leaders, so I will spend less time on them if any. Please do not steal my information. I worked hard to think of these strategies and was kind enough to share them with you. If you wish to use my information, please email me for permission. My email will be posted at the bottom. If I do find out you stole my work, I will hunt you down and get my friend to steal your account (just kidding) (or am I?). Anyways please don’t steal my work. Thanks. This is my first attempt at a guide, although I always thought I’d be good at writing them. That took a while to get to this: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. General Tips on game play a. What to always do b. What should be avoided c. General Gameplay Tips, Unspecific 2. Individual Leader Characteristics a. Covenant i. Prophet ii. Chieftain iii. Arbiter b. Human i. Cutter ii. Anders iii. Forge 3. 1v1 Tactics a. Covenant Leaders i. Rush ii. War b. Human Leaders i. Rush ii. War 4. 2v2 Tactics a. Covenant and Covenant i. Rush ii. War b. Human and Covenant i. Rush ii. War c. Human and Human i. Rush ii. War 5.3v3 Tactics- I will not go over every individual combo because that would take forever. I will just let you know the 3 best tactics I’ve used and seen used. a. Prophet-Brute-Arbiter b. Prophet-Brute-Cutter c. Prophet-Arbiter-Forge 6. Map-specific Tips a. Beasley Plateau b. Chasm c. Blood Gulch d. Release e. Fort Deen f. Tundra g. Pirth Outskirts h. Crevice i. The Docks j. Labyrinth k. Repository l. Terminal Moraine m. Frozen Vally n. Exile o. Non-map-specific Features 7. Contact Information 8. Legal Junk 1. GENERAL TIPS This section will just cover the basic, soon-to-be common sense things to do, either at the start of the game or if preparing for the long-run. There are things that should be done, things that shouldn’t be done, and just general unspecific tips. a. WHAT TO ALWAYS DO: There are many things that should always be done in any gametype: i. Always use your starting unit to search for crates, which helps a lot in the beginning of the match. ii. Get a Temple/Reactor early. These are critical for having a prolonged fight. iii. As a Covenant, always build a Shield Generator on your bases; usually one on the first one, and two on the others. iv. Use the Covenant Leader Teleporter for quick movement of new troops. This helps get units to the action quicker and with surprise. v. For Human Leaders: build at least 1 turret in front of your base, usually later in the game. Covenant Leaders should have a shield for protection. vi. Build up a small army of cheap units like infantry or Leader Units for a preliminary defense. vii. LEADER RECALL if your Leader is almost dead! viii. Use Leader Powers when appropriate (duh). ix. Last but certainly not least: Upgrade Supply Pads and Warehouses. Kind of common sense, right? b. WHAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED: I’m not saying that these should never be done; I just do not recommend them. i. Do not leave your base completely unguarded in the beginning. ii. Do not spend resources early on improving units (I break this rule all the time, but I am able to hold off on my own with just a Leader for a bit). iii. Do not just let your units run wild and attack whatever. Try to segregate them into squads and micro-manage them. iv. Do not focus on building one, strong unit, like a Scarab. v. Last but not least: Don’t believe that your opponent is doing the same strategy all the time. c. GENERAL TIPS Just some unspecific tips to use for any Leader or Map. i. Take over Bonus Reactors and Forerunner Supply Pads. These help by providing points by killing rebels, the crates rewarded after killing all rebels, and saving or giving you money. ii. Turrets cost relatively a lot in the beginning, but they help against a rush big time. iii. Go for many units early, and then upgrade them. A fast army is good to have. iv. Bigger is not always better. Better to have a bunch of weaker units than something like a Scarab. Big units take a long time and a lot of resources to make and they can only attack one target at a time. v. Quantity over Quality: More units are better than one superunit because they can be divided up easier. Example: I took down a Scarab with a bunch of Elite Honor Guards. Scarabs can only attack one Elite at a time; Elites ganged up on it within its field of fire and busted it. vi. Multi-task in two ways. First, divide up your army into squads and make each squad attack different targets. Second, flip between your base (to make more units or upgrade them) and the battle (to control the fight). vii. Look for crates. They help your small resources cache expand early; each crate gives you 30 and they are mostly in bundles of 3. viii. If you want to build a Field Armory, make sure you destroy it when you’re done upgrading what you want, otherwise it just takes up space. ix. If the battle seems like it will take 15 minutes or longer, build a second base and load it with supply pads and reactors. x. If you are building only one type of unit, like only vehicles or marines, eventually build two of the building that makes them, having one on each base. This helps in two ways: first, you can build units two at a time; second, you can upgrade in one building and build in another. 2. INDIVIDUAL LEADER CHARACTERISTICS This is just a quick description or each leader and his/her individual powers. a. Covenant Leaders i. Prophet of Regret - Leader Power: Cleansing Beam- calls down a beam from an orbiting ship to plaster units with plasma. Upgraded to increase strength and width. WILL HURT OWN UNITS! However, the Prophet is unaffected in terms of health; if flying, he will get knocked down if in the beam. - Leader Upgrades: Blessed Immolation: get Fuel Rod cannons on chair; Ancestral Perversion: get Protector Units that attack nearby units; Divine Absolution: upgrades to a full-fledged flying unit. - Special Unit: Elite Honor Guards: they can only attack ground units and are really effective against infantry; upgrade to get cloak Y ability and personal shield. Cost 150 resources ii. Brute Chieftain - Leader Power: Vortex- uses hammer to create a vortex that draws in debris, which causes more damage. Upgraded to increase power and size. WILL HURT OWN UNITS! Chieftain is unaffected. - Leader Upgrades: Inheritance: basic attack can stun units; Birthright: pull units towards him; Destiny: increases range of stun. - Special Unit: Brutes: good against ground vehicles and buildings; can be upgraded to get jump packs and an electric stun to their Brute Shots. iii. Arbiter - Leader Power: Rage- FUN! Arbiter goes nuts and does massive damage; controlled by player. Upgraded to restore health per unit killed, decreases cost to sustain it, and makes him and surrounding units stronger. - Leader Upgrades: Fiendish Return: reflects some damage; Vicious Blades: increases attack strength and damage reflected; Ghastly Vision: constant camouflage. - Special Unit: Suicide Grunts- Y ability makes them explode upon contact; very strong attack, even against buildings, but kills them. Upgrade to run faster when charging and increase splash damage. b. Human Leaders (all Human Leaders can use the Pelican Transport to move units, the Disruption Bomb to stop Leader Powers, and the Regenerator to heal units) i. Captain Cutter - Special Ability: MAC Blast- shoots a large gun from space to do massive damage. Can be upgraded to increase the number of rounds from 1 to 4. - Special Unit: Elephant- can be locked down to spawn infantry; upgraded to go faster, get more armor, and get a defensive turret when locked down. - Super Unit Upgrade: ODSTs- gives Marines a Shotgun and makes them stronger. Can be dropped from space on any un-fogged area. Really fun and annoying. ii. Professor Anders - Special Ability: Cryo-bomb- freezes units and buildings so they cannot attack or build units; also, frozen Reactors do not work. Can be upgraded to increase size and make it kill most air units. - Special Unit: Gremlin- EMP gun that stuns non-infantry units. Cannot attack air units and weak versus infantry. Can be upgraded to increase range and make the EMP chain through adjacent units. - Super Unit Upgrade: Hawk- gives Hornets a laser gun. Really fun. iii. Sergeant Forge - Special Ability: Carpet Bomb- bombs a stretch of land; only damages ground units, but sometimes when placed directly underneath air units, some will be damaged. Can be upgraded to strengthen it and increase length of run. - Special Unit: Cyclops- Building killer; cannot attack air units. Cool animation upon killing infantry and vehicles. Have a Y-ability that allows them to throw debris at enemy units. Can be upgraded to heal friendly units and improve speed. - Super Unit Upgrade: Grizzly Tank- gives Scorpions a second cannon and tons of armor. Really strong, both in health and damage dealt. 3. 1v1 TACTICS- Strategies to use when you’re all alone. I’ll only give one rush per leader and one long-term strategy. If they don’t work, then you’re doing it wrong. Just ask me if you need assistance. a. Covenant i. Most Covenant leaders will have roughly the same strategies with few differences; mainly, upgrade the Arbiter in reverse order, and use the Chieftain’s Leader Units. What you must do in the beginning is to build Warehouse, Temple, Warehouse. While they are building, use your starting unit to find crates. Try to steal enemy crates first, but don't forget about your own crates. When your Leader is built, send him towards the enemy base, gathering crates along the way. Immediately start the attack with your Leader, first hitting any buildings that make units. When you have enough money, upgrade your Leader’s basic attack, and then build another Warehouse. Upgrade a Warehouse while that is building, then follow that with a Shield Generator. Upgrade all your Warehouses, then upgrade your base to a Citadel. Build either a Hall or a Summit (depending on what your opponent is making, build a counter-unit to it), then another Warehouse. While these are building, upgrade the Leader Power While your Leader is attacking the base’s surrounding buildings, start making units in whatever building you made and set your Rally Point on the teleporter to that they automatically teleport to your leader. Use them to help your Leader destroy the enemy's buildings that make units, then attack the Reactor/Temple. When that is gone, hit the main base. Removing extra buildings makes the overall main base weaker, but it doesn’t award any additional points. If anything is about to be built, be it units or turrets or buildings, get to them before they become a threat. Spawn-kill units and keep your counter-units for them in front of the base to take them out. If a building is under construction, destroy it before it finishes; they have less health when being built. Just remember to keep building units to end the enemy's pain faster. ii. If the rush fails, then you need to recall your Leader and use your Leader to get another base. On that base, build two Warehouses and a Shield Generator. Keep building units, but put your base on lockdown. Upgrade your second base and put down another Warehouse and Shield Generator. Upgrade those Warehouses, upgrade your unit in your Hall/Summit, and wait to go into the Age of Doubt. When you do, upgrade your Leader’s combat attack first, then upgrade your units in your Hall/Summit. On your second base, upgrade it again, and build another Hall/Summit, and whatever you didn’t build before. At the Summit, build an Engineer to heal your Leader if needed. Then upgrade your Leader Power, keep building more units, and then WAIT. While waiting, upgrade your Engineer to make him heal units faster, and send him behind your base to keep him safe. Now you may be asking "Why are we waiting? And what are we waiting for?" The answer is simple: playing defense gets more points. Max out in population, go into the Age of Reclamation, and upgrade everything! Also, get to researching stuff in your Temple, most importantly Followers. Then max out in population again. When the enemy attacks, play defense hard. Use your counter-units against the units they were made for. Use your Leader for a bit, then try to quietly send him away towards the enemy base. While playing defense, keep building more units, and send your Leader to the enemy's main base. Do this because if the enemy is Covenant, it will most likely have one Shield while others have two. Or if the enemy is Human, it will take longer for their units to get back. When playing defense, constantly select all units and send individual unit types to counter specific units. Then use your Leader to attack. Wait for the enemy units to let off the attack, then start sending in units via the Leader teleporter. Then, do the same thing that you were doing while on defense. If counter units run out of units to counter, then use them to help your Leader attack buildings. Also to help out, use your Leader Power against clustered groups of units to remove them quickly. The key here is persistence. Keep building and sending in units, never letting up and giving your enemy time to rebuild. This should merit a victory with a ton of points as well. b. Human i. Human tactics are different for each Leader. - Cutter should go with two Supply Pads and a Reactor and build an Elephant after your Warthog finds crates. When the Elephant is built, send it over close to the enemy base and lock it down. Build more Supply Pads and spam infantry out of the Elephant. Get about 5 Marines and a few Flamethrowers and go attack the enemy base starting with Turrets and units, then buildings that make units, then Reactors or Temples, and finally the base itself. Remember to use the Grenade ability as many times as possible. Constantly send out Marines, and replace any Flamethrowers that you might lose. Eventually build another Reactor and a Barracks so you can upgrade your Marines. If you need to, MAC either a main building or a large group of enemy units to speed things up. Tip: When rushing with the Elephant, try to spare an extra 300 resources to train a Spartan. Then put that Spartan in the Elephant. This not only makes it stronger, but also it cannot be hijacked by enemy Spartans. - Anders should also build two Supply Pads and a Reactor, but upgrade your Warthogs to get chainguns. Then build Warthogs constantly while building more Supply Pads. Once you have about 4-5 Warthogs, go attack the base. Build a second Reactor and upgrade to get the Grenadier. Eventually build another Reactor and then an Air Pad. Upgrade your Hogs first, then go for Hawks while still cranking out Hogs. - Forge should build two Supply Pads and a Reactor. Then build another Reactor and a Vehicle Depot. As soon as your Depot is done, build a Scorpion. My record is starting construction of a tank in less than three minutes. Build one or two of them, then upgrade your base. Build two more Supply Pads and build more tanks. When you have about three of them, send your Warthog to the enemy base and use your Pelican Transport to drop off the tanks closer to the base, then attack. If done within 6 minutes, the enemy should have little defense since they are probably upgrading units or preparing a Warthog or Infantry rush. Send in about two more tanks, then wait and upgrade a Reactor. If there are a lot of enemy units, don't forget to Carpet Bomb them. When the Reactor is upgraded, upgrade your tanks to get Canister Shell, making them more effective against infantry, especially Leaders. If it isn't working with just tanks, although it should, upgrade Warthogs and use them for a quick backup. Still focus on upgrading your other Reactor, just in case things don't go as planned. ii. Human tactics are different for each Leader, but are mainly about getting the superunits. - Cutter should go for ODSTs, but not ONLY ODSTs. Upgrade a Reactor and get a second base. On this base, build Supply Pads, a Field Armory, and either a Vehicle Depot or an Air Pad, your call. Upgrade to get the Medic, then upgrade your second base. Research Reinforcements, then start upgrading other units. Eventually go for ODSTs still but don't focus on them. On your base, just build more Supply Pads, and upgrade other ones. When you get ODSTs, don't build them. Focus on fully upgrading other units, and start building those. Also try to upgrade your MAC blast. When you have about 20 population, make sure you have 1000 resources, or that you will have them when you start the attack, then attack. As soon as you attack, drop in ten ODSTs and immediately use their Y-ability to blow up some units or a building. Then wait for the ODST drop to FULLY recharge to ten. When it is, drop in ten more and use their Y-ability again. Don't forget to MAC Blast though. Use it on large groups of units first, then take out individual buildings. P.S. Make sure to take out the Covenant Leader early, either with other units or by dropping in ODSTs and rocketing him. The Leader is the Covenant's main advantage besides the Shield, so take him out early to reduce damage caused by him. - Anders should work on Hawks and any other unit that takes out the enemy's counter-air units. If against a Human, build Cobras. If against a Covenant, build Wolverines. Upgrade them, too. Do the same thing on the second base as you would with Cutter, and when you have half your population in Hawks, attack with them first but keep your support units close by for a quick counter. When the enemy inevitably sends in counter-air units, send in your backup. Take out their counter units quickly and then hit the bases. Since players usually go for counter units to Human superunits, this strategy will most likely work, at least against Covenant guys. Since Human players will have their super units and counter units, use your Hawks to take out their super units and use your other units to take out their counter units. - Forge should just focus on getting Grizzlies and air units. Since the enemy will build counter-vehicle units, like Cobras and Hunters, build air units. These counter units cannot hit air units, so remove them first. Do the same thing with a second base, and make three Grizzlies, put Spartans in them, and fill the rest of the population with air units. While attacking with air units, if the enemy sends in other units, send in your Grizzlies to remove them quickly. Don't forget to Carpet Bomb their units. 4. 2v2 TACTICS- Basic tactics to use when you go in with the buddy system, which actually helps a lot here. Same thing as with 1v1 stuff; just one rush and one long-term. However, these strategies are not perfected and are merely what worked for me most of the time. They are more vague than 1v1 and 3v3 strategies because I don’t play 2v2 as much as those. a. Covenant and Covenant- this should only be used if you expect to win fast, and I mean FAST! This setup is mainly for rushing; Covenant are more geared for rushes, while Humans are better for a long-term war. IMPORTANT: Make sure to attack the enemy player that will cause the most trouble in the rush first to make sure he will not counter effectively. ALSO IMPORTANT: For the long run, attack the better player. This depends on a number of things, like rank and what character the player is. The main guy to go for first is Forge. He will most likely be upgrading (or trying to upgrade) tanks, leaving him under the watchful eye of his teammate, who can be taken down quicker with two rushing Leaders. i. Basically, the same thing goes for 2v2 as with 1v1. Build in this order: Warehouse, Temple, Warehouse, using your first unit to find crates. Send your Leader towards the enemy base. This is where it gets different: focus each player on a different unit. Have one player make his special units, and have the other player build either a Summit or a Hall, depending on the enemy and what they are doing. If a Summit is built, build Banshees. If a Hall is built, build Jackals first and then build Hunters. Just be sure to upgrade the non-special units at least once. However, if one of you is the Arbiter, just focus on upgrading his Leader Power, then have him build a Hall. If one of you is the Chieftain, have him build Brutes only, since they are the best Leader units. For the Prophet, have him build Elite Honor Guards instead of Jackals because the Honor Guard is very strong against infantry units. Then the same as 1v1 applies: teleport them to your Leader and attack important buildings first. ii. If the rush fails, then recall your Leader and start to build counter units to the enemy units. If the enemy is made of both Humans, counter their super units. If they are Covenant, then just adjust on the fly, but still make Jackals to take out the Leader. Also similar to 1v1, but have each player focus to counter one type of unit. For example, if facing Cutter and Anders, build and upgrade Jackals and Vampires. Devote about two-thirds of your army to the counter units, and then have both players build special units for support. Just make sure to attack one enemy base at a time; do not split your army because that makes it easier to destroy. Also, make sure the enemy does not recapture the base you just destroyed. b. Covenant and Human- Probably the best combo. It doesn’t matter what Leaders you are, because they are all pretty good combos. Also, don’t forget to use the Disruption Bomb to block enemy Leader Powers. i. Have the Human player stay back and start working on super units. Meanwhile, send the Covenant guy off to attack. Attack the Human player first; if two Humans are the enemy, attack Forge, because Grizzlies are the hardest to take down out of the super units, even with Hunters. If your rush starts to falter, have the Human guy send in some upgraded Warthogs which he should be making alongside super units. If playing against two Covenant guys, have the Human build Flamethrowers and the Covenant guy build Jackals, but upgrade both first. Against two Covenant guys, focus on stopping the inevitable rush. Then, as soon as their Leaders die or retreat, send in your Covenant Leader and any remaining Humans units immediately towards the base whose Leader was weakened worse or killed. ii. A little different. Have the Human Leader focus on getting super units. Meanwhile, have the Covenant player build counter-units of the enemy's counter-units to your Human's super units. If confused, here: if your Human is Forge, build Jackals to take out Hunters, or Hunters to take out Cobras. If your Human is Anders, build Vampires to kill enemy Vampires, or Hunters to destroy Wolverines. If the human is Cutter, this is different because Cutter should only use ODSTs as support and not as his main army. Complement his forces with Banshees, which are effective against mostly everything. Just don't forget to upgrade Leader Powers for both players. c. Human and Human- The hardest combo to defend against a Covie rush, but if you survive the chance of winning increases. Just don’t forget to Disrupt enemy Leader Abilities around your base. i. NOT ADVISED! If you have two Humans, the best thing to do is defend against the rush unless you have two Cutters. Two Cutters should use the Elephant Rush. If you don’t have two Cutters, build flamethrowers to defend against rushes. They work surprisingly well against Leaders and infantry units. Warthogs with chainguns work well too. Two important things, though. First, focus on the Covenant Leader first while ignoring other units until he is dead. This way, units will stop teleporting in. Second, if they come and you find yourself unprepared for some reason, put your base on lockdown and build flamers. When you have about ten of them ready, unlock your base. This way, your defense won’t be spawn-killed upon being built. Just be careful while fighting the rush. The Covenant Leader will run around the base and teleport in units. Surround him by sending flamethrowers around both sides of your base, then dropping the Disruption Bomb when you have him pinned. Then take him out and start going for the rest of the units. Hold off the rush, and then immediately go on the offensive, before the enemy can recover. ii. Much better suited for two Humans is the long term war. Have the Human with cheaper super units upgrade them first, then the other. When you have two armies of super units, attack. Against Human and Covenant, hit the Human first to take out his probably-already-built super units, but watch out for the Covenant Leader and reinforcements. Against two Covies, attack either one first; it doesn’t really matter because they both use pretty much the same tactics. Against two Humans, take them out in this order: Forge, Anders, Cutter. Forge’s Grizzlies are super strong, so take them out before they're ready. Ander’s Hawks are strong, but they can be easily countered with Wolverines. Cutter can be countered by Flamers or tanks, but watch out for them dropping in behind you. 5. 3v3 TACTICS- For the most fun; the way Halo Wars was meant to be played. For the record, two friends and I can take out Heroic AIs in 8 minutes. READ THIS PART, I'M REALLY GOOD HERE. a. Prophet-Brute-Arbiter - This is basically an all-out rush against one player by all three Leaders. Use the Prophet to take out Rebel/Flood units around Teleporters or Forerunner Reactors because of his shield, and share amongst yourselves these bonuses. Then, have each Leader attack one player’s starting base, usually a Human Leader. If there is a Covenant Leader or two, focus on killing them first, then destroy the Human’s base. Have the Prophet build either Banshees or Wraiths, have the Chieftain build Brutes, and have the Arbiter just use his Rage Mode to kill any enemy units. If you keep it up you should be able to destroy one base at least, which slows down that player immensely or completely knocks him out of the fight. If you have some downtime, use the Prophet to take the enemy’s bonus Reactors, and immediately start the attack on the next player. However, if the first player was not defeated, look for his second base; it should be non-upgraded and unprotected. If for some reason the rush fails, have the Prophet and Chieftain build the same units they were building before, but upgraded, and have the Arbiter focus on getting a couple of Scarabs and some Engineers. Use the Engies to heal your Leaders, and then have them follow the Scarabs wherever they go. Send the Scarabs to one player’s base and have all three Leaders attack another’s base. Make sure your fully-upgraded Brute army is close-by, and be ready to boost in the Banshees or teleport in the Wraiths as soon as your Leaders go in. When the Leaders engage, boost the Banshees in, jump the Brutes in, and/or teleport the Wraiths in. Have the Leaders focus on killing enemy units and have your armies focus on surrounding buildings and then the base. While this is going on, make sure your Scarabs are handling the situation at the other base. The opponents will be torn between which attack to defend against, causing one to ultimately succeed most of the time. Then, use the armies to converge on the final player’s base. b. Prophet-Brute-Cutter - This isn’t much different than the above strategy because this still focuses on the main rush to win. Have the Prophet and Chieftain build the same units as above, and have Cutter do an Elephant Rush. From the Elephant, build Marines and some Flamethrowers, using the Marines to help take out the base and the Flamethrowers take out enemy infantry, along with the Covenant Leaders. If need be, MAC either an important structure or a large group of enemy units. Then proceed to the next base, keeping in mind to upgrade units eventually. If this rush fails, it is still similar to the above tactic with the Prophet and the Chieftain. Use Cutter to fully upgrade to ODSTs and his MAC blast, and use the Leaders in the same way as above to start the attack. As soon as the attack begins, have Cutter drop in 10 ODSTs and immediately use their rocket ability to take out or severely damage a building or turret. If you can spare the time, Cutter should also try to get some Hornets or Scorpions up to help with the attack, since ODSTs are mainly a support unit only. The main difference between this and the above strategy is that instead of attacking two bases at once, you throw your entire force at one base to crush it immediately. c. Prophet-Forge-Arbiter - This again is similar to the first strategy in dealing with how the Prophet and the Arbiter act. As Forge, there are a few different approaches you could take. They all involve Wolverines, Grizzlies, and Spartans. The main units you need to make are the Spartans, and when they are done blow up the Barracks to build a Vehicle Depot. Use the Spartans to destroy some Rebel bases or whatnot to gain some experience. Then either build three Wolverines or three Scorpions and put your Spartans in them. Make a second base with a Field Armory and a Barracks, and while this is being built upgrade your vehicles. When the vehicles are upgraded all the way, focus on upgrading your Spartans. In all honesty this is all I use; whenever my friends and I do 3v3s I am Forge, and the other two players are able to keep the opponents busy long enough so that I can get fully-upgraded units, and when fully- upgraded Spartans are in fully-upgraded vehicles they become among the strongest units in the game. While Forge is working on his stuff, use the Prophet and the Arbiter to harass the opponents, either by stealing their bonus structures or by demolishing a building or two on their base. While doing this, don’t forget to be building units as well! Again, the Prophet should build Banshees and the Arbiter should save up to get two Scarabs. If your Prophet is competent enough, when the Scarabs are built have each player attack a different opponent; if not, pair the Prophet with Forge’s guys. If Forge is having difficulty, have him back off and build more units, depending on what the enemy had. If the enemy had purely anti-vehicle units, then send the Prophet to attack that player and send Forge at a less-prepared opponent. If the enemy had air units and you had three Spartan Grizzlies, build a bunch of Wolverines and have them wipe out the defenses, following up with your tanks. Spartan Wolverines have few problems taking out even an entire army of air units. If fighting a Covenant Leader, D-bomb him and either Canister Shell or Volley his butt for an insta-kill. This should nearly seal the deal, but if your Forge runs into another Forge who filled his population with Grizzlies, you need him to fall back and wait for his teammates to finish off their opponents, lending a hand when needed, and then combining to take out the Grizzly army. 6. Map-specific Tips- Each map is unique. This section will inform you of the different perks available on each map and how to use them. a. Barrens 1v1- There is a Forerunner Healing Spire in the middle, which heals units as long as they are not taking damage. There's also two Bonus Reactors, one on each side. b. Beasley Plateau 2v2- The thing in the center gives you more reinforcements in the form of ten more population. Also, there are two free building pads and a Turret close to each base, which can be used instead of upgrading a base to get two more pads. You should either build supply pads or a building that makes units that isn’t on your base. c. Blood Gulch 1v1- There are Bonus Reactors and Forerunner Supply Pads here. Use them to cheaply upgrade your tech level and get extra supplies. Also, there are teleporters to quickly move units d. Blood River 1v1- Has Sentinel bases, Bonus Reactors and Bonus Supply Pads. There’s also a light bridge crossing the river, but it doesn’t change at all. e. Chasms 1v1- Everyone should know this base by heart after the demo. Just in case, there are Forerunner Supply Pads close to each base, which, when occupied by infantry, acts as a Supply Pad. I’m not sure if it counts as an upgraded one or not. f. Crevice 2v2- Fun map; has Bonus Reactors in the middle and the outer rim and it shifts between day and night. In the night, Flood supposedly attack your base but it's not too bad. g. The Docks 2v2- Actually nothing that special except each starting base is right next to the ally’s, so turrets have overlapping fields of fire. h. Fort Deen 3v3- There are Teleporters which send you in front of the enemy bases, which are VERY good for speeding up the rush. i. Exile 3v3- Another Flood map with Flood bases, this one has two Bonus Reactors on each side. j. Frozen Valley 3v3- Each side has one Bonus Reactor. Also, in the middle of the map is a Forerunner Healing Spire that heals units. k. Glacial Ravine 3v3- There is a Sentinel Factory on each side of the mountain range which can produce Sentinels and Super Sentinels. Each unit has a timer that denotes when you can build another one of that unit next. l. Labyrinth 2v2- No Rebels, but Sentinel bases instead. It has two Protector factories that make mini-Sentinels called Protectors that you can assign to follow units. There are three types: one that gives the unit a shield, one that heals units, and one that attacks enemies. m. Memorial Basin 2v2- There are empty building pads guarded by rebels that can be used to make one building. This map has the most ground- based cover out of any map. There is also a Bonus Reactor on each side behind the bases and two Bonus Supply Pads on each side in the middle. n. Pirth Outskirts 1v1- I’ve only played here once, but I think there are Bonus Reactors lying around the sides and that’s all. o. Release 1v1- There are Flood Containment controls that when activated release Flood units at the enemy base, which get stronger the more you activate it. Also, the Rebels are replaced by Flood bases. p. Repository 2v2- Also has Sentinel bases, but has a central Sentinel Factory that you can build Sentinels or Super Sentinels out of. q. Terminal Moraine 2v2- There are Bonus Reactors along with extra building pads across light bridges that turn on and off at 30-second intervals. r. Tundra 1v1- I don’t play here much, but I know there’s this mega turret in the middle that fires a really strong round at anything, as long as you have it garrisoned with infantry and some resources. It takes a while to recharge. s. Non-map-specific Features- There are many features that are on multiple maps. - Sniper Towers: When infantry are garrisoned in these floating Covenant sniper towers, they gain A LOT of health and a wider field of view; advised to use if trying to secure a path or hold a chokepoint, but otherwise don’t bother with them. - Cover: Not as common as Sniper Towers, but they are basically the ground- level version of them such as crashed Pelicans and Warthogs. - Shield Walls: If an infantry unit garrisons in the tower next to it, it activates a Shield Wall that ground units cannot pass. These are not very common, but are extremely useful when they are on a map. - I have a feeling that something is missing here, but I cannot remember if there is anything else or not. If there is, or if I got them all, let me know. 7. CONTACT INFORMATION If you have anything to ask of me or to tell me, you can email me at invadergir686@aol.com, or send a message to me over Xbox Live. My gamertag is BKLounge686. Also, if you decide to email me, just make sure the subject has “Halo Wars FAQ” somewhere in it so I don’t delete you as spam, and put whether or not you have a question, a revision, or additional info (just copy whatever it is exactly as I have it written and put that in the subject box). And please, no friend requests, just messages. If you want to let me know that my guide is awesome, just tell me. I appreciate any and all comments, positive or negative, just as long as they are within reason. But I cannot accept everyone's friend request; too many people send me them, but my friends list is very exclusive. And for emails, please try to use proper grammar. I tried to for this whole guide, I'm sure you can spend a few more seconds doing the same. I appreciate good grammar mainly because it helps me understand exactly what you want me to help you with. On that note, please keep questions detailed and specific. This helps me identify your problem faster and allows me to give a better answer. I can help you by but not limited to giving you more tips, providing more detail about the strategies, or discussing different strategies. Also, I can answer almost any Halo 3-related question because I am just so gawdly at it. One last thing: Please go to www.playhaven.com for more specific guides and stuff. I have written some Halo Wars stuff for it and there are many other people who have written guides for many more games. Check it out; it's a brand-new guide site that's awesome! Well, that’s all I have to offer. Sorry if it seems like a lot of text; I have a lot of info in here. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and the best of luck to you online! © 2009, 2010 Brian Konieczny This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site for otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. This document cannot be reproduced without the expressed written consent of me, Brian Konieczny, and the NFL. Wait, never mind, not the NFL. Thanks GameFAQs for kindly posting that info online. Any information not from my own head came from the Halo Wars instruction booklet, which is that booklet that came with the game when you bought it.