Tip of the Spear/Walkthrough

This is a walkthrough for the Halo: Reach level Tip of the Spear. It is written for play at the Legendary difficulty, but contains notes for lower difficulties. This is the fifth level of Halo: Reach. For this mission you are joined by Catherine-B320. Your Mission is to Eliminate the Covenant Anti Aircraft Batteries. Your initial loadout for this mission is your M319 Individual Grenade Launcher an M392 Designated Marksman Rifle and 2 M9 Grenades. It is important to note that as this walkthrough at the Legendary difficulty, all strengths of enemies reflected are at the Legendary level.

See What Happens When You Let The Woman Drive
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off. No time for lollygagging here. Looking ahead you can see a large group of Grunts and Jackals moving to attack you. Stay away from the Warthog as cover because it's going to explode and if you are standing next to it you will too. Use your Grenade Launcher to lay into the gaggle and put a serious dent in their numbers. If you are having trouble getting use to the arc of the grenades or how they work, revert the checkpoint and start over. You need to be able to drop the grenades right into the thick of the group before they disperse to have the most effect. Once your enemies have thinned use your DMR to kill the stragglers. Your should be standing near where you started. There are two Shades of the Fuel Rod Cannon variety just out of your sightline. They have a fairly high rate of fire, and you need to stay out of their sights while you deal with the Elite Ultra shooting at you. Once you've killed him, bring the Grenade launcher back out and drop a couple of grenades on each Shade to knock them off their stands. Now a Pelican will swoop in and drop you a fancy Missile Launching Warthog. Sweet.

Impossible is What Spartans do.
Hop in the Drivers seat. If you really want you can play musical weapons with the trooper and give him your Grenade Launcher. If you get Kat on the Missile Turret and him firing grenades, it makes the next section a whole lot more explosive. Drive off and approach the first Anti-Aircraft Battery. You're going to want to do this in sections. You can't just drive up and kill it. Start by clearing the area below the plateau. There is a Ghost and a Revenant, as well as assorted ground troops, but the Grenade Launcher and Missile Turret are pretty efficient at killing enemies. Once the lower ground is clear, you are going to need to take a little risk. Drive up to the high ground until you can see the enemies pouring out of the AA battery. Withdraw as fast as you can and leave your Warthog Where it can defend the pass. Hop out and head over to the Deployable lookout tower. Go up and look over at the battery. You should have a good view of most of the enemies. Use your DMR to kill anything you can see, except the Elite General with a Concussion Rifle. Once you've taken care of those you can see, go back to the Warthog. Hop in and head up. Obviously you can't just go up and stand still, but with some creative driving you can avoid taking hits while completing the neutralization of hostile forces. Now that you've killed everything run into the bottom of the AA battery and shoot at the shield with the Assault Rifle you took from the Trooper. Once the shield drops, toss in a grenade and Run. Watch the pretty, pretty lights as the Gun goes boom.

Construction Delays can be a Killer.
Get back in the Warthog and drive off the opposite way you came in. Eventually you will see a broken bridge. Stop. You'll hear some comm chatter and way even encounter some Wraith Plasma being fired close to your head. Don't advance yet. Wait until you see the Pelican drop the temporary bridge repair. Now you can go. You're going to encounter some Jackals and a Wraith and you could waste time killing them, but don't bother. Keep driving, over the bridge and around the corner.

Stop Or My Spartan Will Shoot!!
See the large structure across the way, that's your next objective. You'll notice a squad of soldiers on the same side of the bridge that you are on being attacked by Covenant Forces. Advance until you are near the bridge but not directly in line with it. Hop out and get on the turret. At this point because of the way the game is scripted no one should get in to drive. Start by taking out the Shade at the far end of the bridge. Then move to the front of the Covenant forces at the bridge and clear your way back with the rockets. The enemy should be pretty easy pickings. Once you've cleared the front door, get out of the 'Hog and advance. you may want to root around in the dead soldiers to pick up any ammo you can. Still you are probably going to be pretty light on DMR ammo at this point. Once you cross the bridge you'll get an intel update about your Zealot friend from Winter Contingency. Advance up the walkway, you'll encounter some Skirmishers with Needle Rifles. Kill them and take their weapons and ammo. Keep going, your going to run into Grunts and Jackal Majors. Use grenades and your DMR to clean up to the Armor Lock, grab it and advance. bring up your Needle Rifle. Kat should be in line with you providing fairly decent cover fire. Here you'll run into an Elite Major who after a few hits will withdraw to a Plasma Turret. Use the Needle rifle to drop his shields then SuperCombine him. Advance, and grab the turret. Once you pass through you will encounter another Elite Major across the way, use the Turret to penetrate his shields, then drop it and supercombine or headshot him. Look all the way across the area and the Zealot will appear, you should be able to use your DMR and Needle rifle to take him at range. Once he's dead (or in the unlikely scenario he gets away) grab your turret again and advance. You'll have to deal with a couple of Grunt Majors above, then when you drop in the hole there are a few more that need killing. Move forward and you'll receive an ordinance icon on the floor indicating a Plasma Launcher. Hopefully you still have some DMR ammo left, if so swap your needle Rifle for the Launcher, if not swap the DMR for the Launcher. Head out and hop in the Revenant. Kill the few Grunts that are here and take out as many of the Ghosts before anyone can get in them. Kat will join you in the passenger seat.

Didn't I Do This Already? Why is She Trying to Kill Me?
Now you have to advance on the second AA battery and eliminate it. You'll encounter a few Jackals and Grunts before you get there, and you will learn one very important thing about the Revenant cannon. It is extremely ineffective against Shielded Jackals. Once you see the AA battery you want to turn right and go counterclockwise around the cannon to clear. You are first going to encounter a pack of Shielded Jackals. Do not advance on them, Get out of the Revenant and engage them with the DMR or Needle Rifle, whichever you kept. Now get back in your Revenant and advance. You'll encounter the Wraith keep strafing it and try to stay out of range of the turret gunner, it's a little tedious but once the Wraith is dead you can mop up the low ground enemies easily. Next you have two choices. You can deal with the Hunters now, or you can deal with them later. Either way you have to kill them, but sometimes (not every time, mind you) you can end up with only one hunter to kill instead of two if you deal with them later. Now a Phantom is going to drop in and leave a few minor enemies for you. drive over and blow them away. A UH-144 Falcon will come in with Jorge-052. Get in the Jump seat with the Launcher, because there's more killing to be done.
 * Deal with them now. Advance on the ramp up to the plateau. You'll see them coming out of the AA Battery withdraw and begin strafing. Know that two hits from them will kill you. Keep firing until the first one is dead. At this point several Drones will fly out. Get out of the Revenant and Kill them. With either the DMR or Needle Rifle you can one shot them. Then work on Hunter Number 2. Once He's dead proceed to neutralize the Cannon.
 * Deal with them later. Go to where you faced the first Jackals on the low ground. There's a little raised area with a some Needle Rifles and a Drop Shield Grab the Drop Shield and then use the Revenant's boost ability to ramp over the edge onto the plateau. Fire several shots into the AA cannon's reactor area. You should be able to kill it before the Hunters get a bead on you. If you're very lucky the ensuing destruction will kill one of the Hunters. Back over the ledge you came in on. Swing around and Kill Hunter number 2.

If They Run They're Covies. If They Stand Still They're Well Trained Covies
Once you are in the air, you are going to see a whole lot of targets of opportunity. Just start shooting grenades. Using the EMP/delayed detonation can be interesting, but you are honestly better off just shooting them off and letting them explode on impact. Focus on the Shade Turrets specifically, because they're really the only threat here, but there are a variety of enemies running around just begging for a grenade. Soon you're going to encounter a Really Big Spire with shielding. Which is your next objective. Deactivate the Shield protecting the spire.

I Believe I Can Fly. I Believe I Can Splatter Your Brains at 500 Yards.
Once Again, get up, Dust yourself off. Grab a Jet Pack. This is really just a cool Jump Jet that can assist you in getting to places you couldn't otherwise get. It's extremely useful here. Advance and use your DMR to take out the Skirmishers with Focus Rifles. Then work on the Grunts and Jackals and Elites. Make sure you grab one of those Focus Rifles as you advance. As you approach the top of the path you'll encounter a lone Elite Minor manning a turret, kill him and advance to the overlook of the Spire. From here you'll encounter a lot of Grunt Majors below you. Take them out then look to the base of the Spire. There will be a great number of enemies clustering there including an Elite Major. Use the DMR and Focus Rifle to kill as many of them as possible. When you've cleared this area, you need to watch the edges of the Spire, all the Grunts that were on the second level, will come out and advance on your position. Use your Focus Rifle to quickly dispatch them. Grab the new Focus Rifle off the ground, and pick up a Needle Rifle and head into the Spire. There is a transport corridor to the Top in the center.

Going Up. Next Stop, Housewares, Dining, Destruction
This Part is a little tricky, but if you do it right, you'll be done in no time. When you come off the transport go out and turn right, when you see the Grunt Ultras toss a Plasma Grenade and stick one of them. This will probably kill two or possibly all three. Edge out to that side, be very careful. You will see a grunt Heavy with a Fuel Rod Cannon. Head shot him with the DMR/Needle Rifle. This will draw out the Elite Ultra with his Energy Sword. Withdraw to the open shield floor and use the Focus Rifle to weaken his Shields. He will quickly close on you, use the Jump Jet here to get out of reach. Drop a Grenade on him and he'll withdraw. Once he's withdrawn. get your self back on the platform, and bring up the Needle Rifle again. edge to the other side and kill the other Grunt Heavy, then use the Focus rifle to kill the Ultra finally. You've Sanitized the Spire, so go deactivate the shield then get out and watch the cutscene.

Legendary Notes

 * Overcharged Plasma Pistols are by far the biggest threat in the level. They leave your vehicle disabled and open to assault. When given the opportunity to thin out the enemy before riding into an area take advantage. Also use aggressive driving techniques and brake slides to ram and splatter enemies.
 * Revenants are ineffective against Shielded Jackals. you just end up knocking them around, not killing them. Get out and use a DMR or Needle Rifle to finish them off.
 * You can't take your Plasma Launcher with you when you get on the Falcon. Use it wisely against the Hunters and AA Battery.
 * When assaulting the Spire your Jump Jet can provide you with a number of advantages, from closing on the enemy quickly to hijacking a Banshee, use it effectively and it will help keep you alive for the entire area.
 * Good Skulls on this mission are Cloud and Tough Luck. Catch is unfortunately not so good due to the amount of time you need to spend in a vehicle.
 * Another way to eliminate the Ultra Elite with the Energy Sword, is to have it pursue you outside to the platform of the Spire. When it gets close enough jump off the edge and fly away with your jetpack. The Elite should fall to its death.

Notes for Lower Difficulties

 * This mission plays exactly the same for lower difficulties. The only thing that changes are the ranks of the enemies that you face.