Loadout
With the loadout of a DMR, plasma pistol, and sprint, you can easily kill every enemy type in the Halo Reach campaign. In almost all missions, you can easily find these weapons because DMRs are located throughout each map, many enemies drop plasma pistols, and you usually start with sprint. When you cannot find a DMR, you can use the same techniques with a magnum or needle rifle.
A headshot with the DMR, magnum, and needle rifle impart infinite damage on any enemy without shields or a helmet. This is very useful because no matter how much health the enemy has, a single headshot will kill them, so these same strategies work on all difficulties and skull combinations. For enemies with helmets, shoot their helmet until it pops off, and then you can kill them with a single headshot. For enemies with shields, use an overcharged plasma pistol to remove their shields and then a single headshot to kill them.
Brutes and Hunters are the only two enemies that the DMR/plasma pistol combination cannot easily kill. If you have enough DMR ammo, you can kill Brutes with three to five headshots, but the DMR helmet strategy is not ideal in low ammo situations. In a mission with a large number of Brutes and no Elites, such as “Exodus” or the holdout section of “The Pillar of Autumn”, swap your plasma pistol for a needle rifle. Three body shots with the needle rifle will cause a supercombine explosion, killing the Brute. You can also use a sniper rifle instead of a needle rifle because a single sniper rifle headshot will kill both Brute minors and majors.
DMRs are also not practical against Hunters because they rarely expose their weak spots and have extremely high health. Because the head of a Hunter is permanently protected by an invincible helmet, you cannot kill Hunters with headshots. Explosives, on the other hand, are much more successful against Hunters because the collateral damage will hit their weak spots even if the explosive is only near the Hunter. For missions with Hunters, save up your grenades beforehand so you will be fully stocked during the fight. Throw frags at the Hunters feet so they roll under them and explode behind them, damaging their rear weak spot. Stick them in their weak spots if possible, but anywhere on their body works too. With fuel rods and rocket launchers, shoot at their feet to avoid missing. If none of these weapons are available, there is almost always a shotgun near a Hunter fight. Move around to the Hunters back, shoot them once in the weak spot, and sprint away before they melee you.
Sprint is the best campaign armor ability because it allows you to quickly travel between areas, escape from areas with too many enemies, outrun melee threats, and run away from explosions. Almost all the other armor abilities are practically pointless in the campaign, although the drop shield is good if you find yourself constantly needing health. However, if you play carefully, you will not need a drop shield and they are relatively rare. Evade is a better version of sprint, but is only available in multiplayer and firefight.
Below are some tips for using the DMR and plasma pistol combination:
1. Overcharged plasma pistol rounds lock-on and follow enemies. If your reticule turns red when pointed at the enemy you wish to shoot, let go of the trigger and the shot will automatically home on that enemy. To achieve a lock-on, you must be close to the enemy and point at them for around half a second.
2. Overcharge plasma pistol rounds often cause enemies to stop when hit. This is especially useful for charging enemies with energy swords or gravity hammers.
3. The semiautomatic shots from a plasma pistol are especially effective against shields. However, it is faster and more efficient to use a single overcharged shot because it will remove all shields in one shot and homes.
4. The DMR is much more accurate when fired slowly. Be sure to fire especially slowly when removing Brute’s helmets to conserve ammo. This technique is known as passing your shots.
5. It is important to note the size of enemy heads. The Grunts and Elites have huge heads, so are easiest to headshot. The Jackals and Skirmishers have medium size heads, so zoom in for higher accuracy when shooting them. The Brutes have the smallest heads, so be especially patient and pace your shots when fighting them.
6. The DMR has a 3x scope, so it is useful for picking off unshielded enemies from afar. However, it is almost impossible to hit a target with a plasma round from a distance, so Elites should be taken out up close without zooming in. You also should not zoom in when fighting Grunts up close because they have large heads so make easy no-scope targets.
7. When zoomed in with the DMR, you cannot see your health or radar. It is usually best to shoot a few shots, come out of zoom, reload, survey your surroundings for threats, and then continue sniping. This way, enemies cannot sneak up on you, and you will never empty an entire mag. It is important not to empty a magazine because then you will always be ready for a charging enemy.
8. If you have any plasma weapon equipped and walk over a plasma weapon of the same type with more energy remaining, you can swap out for the more full weapon by holding x.
Enemies
Grunts: Grunts are the most abundant infantry in the covenant army. However, as implied by their name, they are also the weakest and easiest to kill enemy. All Grunts have very large heads, no shields, and rarely wear helmets, so are easy to kill with a headshot. They also tend to wield low power weapons such as needlers and plasma pistols, so do not inflict as much damage as other enemies. Grunts usually fight in packs of three to five and stay near Elites or Brutes if possible. Grunts are only mildly aggressive and rather unintelligent, rarely rushing the player and moving in very predicable patterns.
The most threatening aspect of Grunts is their use of grenades. Of all of the covenant infantry, Grunts throw the most plasma grenades. In addition, they usually throw grenades shortly after one another, requiring the player to doge three or even four stickies at one time. In addition to this, Grunts also have a suicide attack, in which they will light two plasma grenades in each hand and charge the player. They will detonate themselves once they come within killing distance of the player. Furthermore, even if you can kill the suicide Grunt, it will drop its plasma grenades when it dies, which can damage you with splash damage. In most cases, the entire pack of Grunts will begin their suicide attack at the same time.
Grunt minor: Grunt minors are the weakest type of Grunt. They are only capable of wielding plasma pistols and needlers.
Grunt major: Grunt majors are nearly identical to Grunt minors, and are much more abundant. They have different shaped methane tanks and color schemes, but share the same intelligence and health. They are also able to wield fuel rods and plasma launchers 17 wsm Ammo for sale , but this is very rare.
Grunt Spec ops: Grunt spec ops wear similarly shaped amror to Grunt majors, but their armor is jet black. Grunt spec ops are very rare, and are identical to Grunt majors in every way besides appearance.
Grunt heavy: Grunt heavies are uncommon in the campaign, and usually appear operating vehicles such as ghosts and turrets. You will also occasionally find them fighting on the ground, when they will usually use fuel rods, yet they can also wield plasma pistols and needlers.
Grunt ultra: Grunt ultras are the most powerful types of Grunts because they are equipped with a helmet. To kill them, shoot them twice in the head with a DMR or magnum, once to pop of their helmet and once to kill them with a headshot. You will usually find one Grunt Ultra per pack of Grunts. Almost all Grunt ultras wield plasma pistols, although they very rarely will wield needlers and fuel rods. If fighting Grunt ultras when you are using a needle rifle, it will require two shots to pop off their helmet. For this reason, it is more efficient to shoot them three times in the body to cause a supercombine explosion.
Jackals: Jackals are another common infantry in the covenant army. Similarly, to Grunts, Jackals usually stay in packs of two to four near stronger infantry. They mostly use plasma pistols and needlers as well. However, Jackals are much harder to kill than Grunts because they have smaller heads and carry an energy shield. To kill a Jackal with an energy shield, shoot it once in the hand, causing it to drop the shield, and then once in the head to kill it. This is a somewhat challenging maneuver, so I would suggest doing this zoomed in when possible. Notice that shooting a Jackal’s hand with a needle rifle will not cause it to drop its shield.
