General Strategies for Firefight

Firefight is so much fun! However, even on Normal difficulty it can get pretty challenging to stay alive. This little guide will help you remain alive, even maybe helping you get your Vidmaster achievement.

This one is pretty simple. Hang back and use your super-awesome Magnum to snipe enemies, mainly Grunts and Jackals, and then use the scoped-SMG to take down Brutes. However, you cannot hang back all the time. You will need to move in for certain circumstances. When Black Eye is on, you will need to do two things. First, be extra careful not to get hit by anything super powerful, like a Fuel Rod or Beam Rifle. Second, if you do get hurt, you will need to punch someone. If the Mythic skull is on, you will need to switch out your starting guns for non-bullet-based ones. A Carbine and Plasma Rifle combination works well.

If left unattended, the Engineer can kill you; not directly, but by keeping other units alive far longer than they should be. Engineers are those floating, glowing things that hover around some maps. They provide energy shielding to units within a certain distance, which makes them incredibly hard to take down, even on Easy. The best way to take them out is with an overcharged Plasma Pistol shot. This is a one-hit kill made even easier because of the bolt's tracking ability. Hit it once and it dies. Otherwise, use non-bullet-based weapons, and avoid slow-moving projectiles like Rockets or Fuel Rods.

This sounds kind of arbitrary, but grenades help. A lot. Use these things to kill large groups of Grunts, to make small clusters of Jackals flinch, or to take out a Brute's shields. This makes them so much easier to kill, and you get enough back from them after they die.

Also arbitrary, but necessary. Headshots take out bad guys in one hit unshielded. Especially helpful against unshielded Brutes and Grunts, this also does a little more damage even to shielded Brutes.

Surprisingly not a lot of people know this tidbit of info. The Jackal's energy shielding has a small opening on the left side of it, where it holds its Plasma Pistol (all Jackals are left-handed shooters). Hit this part once to make the Jackal flinch and turn sideways. Then pop it in the head. Boom. Headshot.

While this may seem silly, it is actually helpful. The explosions from the Grunt's head can be powerful enough to cause damage, making Brutes stumble, Jackals flinch, and even killing other Grunts if they are close enough. They also make nearby grenades explode. Plus, it's extra incentive to get headshots on them. YAY!

Drones are annoying but weak. A quick burst of the SMG will take down unshielded Drones, and the same from a Plasma Rifle will kill the shielded ones. When Mythic is on, use the Plasma Rifle always.

This makes everything a whole lot harder. Since normally you would be using your starting Magnum and SMG, these will need to be exchanged. The Mythic skull makes all bullet-based weapons just about useless against anything. However, you still need a long-ranged, headshot-capable weapon and a short-range, fast weapon. So, switch your Magnum with a Carbine and your SMG for either a Plasma Rifle (preferred) or a Spiker.

I know this sounds nooby, but on higher difficulty levels this is a godsend. Use the overcharged Plasma Pistol to remove shields from Brutes, then pop them in the head with a Pistol or Carbine. This takes out threatening Brutes a lot faster, including Chieftains. This also gets you an achievement if you do it fast enough ten times.

These guys are tough. However, they are not invincible. Use a plasma-based weapon to take down their shield (yes, they actually have a shield, it just isn't visible). Then, use a headshot-capable weapon a bunch of times to take off his headdress. After his head is free, pop a cap in it. Just don't waste sticky grenades or needlers on it, they bounce off.

You only get four health packs per set (I think). Use them sparingly. If you take just a bit of health damage, don't go running for a band-aid. Only use these if you are about to die; when your health is so low a gust of air could kill you.

The Sniper Rifle and Rockets are even sparser than Health Packs. Try to avoid using them unless absolutely necessary, and even then, use them carefully. Use Rockets only on Hunters or Chieftains (you don't have enough for both). Use the Sniper only on Brutes. Use the Spartan Laser only on Wraiths and maybe Chieftains once. Anything else can be taken down conventionally.

Some maps have vehicles. Use them whenever you can. These things have unlimited ammo and can take a lot of damage. For Covenant vehicles, use the boost ability to ram enemies when you get too close to shoot them; also use this against other vehicles (except tanks) to blow them up. For the Warthog, stay back and use the chaingun to take out enemies at range. And run away from guys with Fuel Rod guns and Stickies!

Here's a tip that not a lot of people realize: the Chopper can fire faster than it normally does. Most people just hold down the trigger. However, Choppers fire faster and more accurately if you repeatedly click the trigger. Test this for yourself; this works in Halo 3 Multiplayer as well, so use it.

Going in by yourself is boring. Going in with a team is fun! When you go in as a team, you need to give orders. Have one person take the Chopper, another take the Laser, and another take the Sniper, while you go around with a Plasma Pistol weakening everything. I'm not saying that the just-stated strategy is the best; I'm just saying that you need to divide the workload.

If you are playing for a long time, you need to take a break. Since you cannot pause it, you may think this is impossible. However, there are safe zones on every map; they are located where the spawn is. Simply tell your teammates where you are going and go there. Enemies will not go in there, so you are free to use the bathroom or get food or whatever you need to do. Just don't take too long or your teammates might get mad.