Avalanche

Avalanche is a multiplayer map featured in Halo 3. It is featured as one of the three maps in the Legendary Map Pack that was made available on April 15th, 2008.

Setting
Avalanche is a large Forerunner power station set on the front of a huge glacial shelf on the reborn Installation 04. The structure pulls its power out of the densely compacted ice that constantly builds up behind the station before it falls into the ocean below.

Design
Avalanche is a re-imagination of Sidewinder, a map in Halo: Combat Evolved, removing certain design elements, such as the tunnel in between the two bases, while adding new ones, such as the many Man Cannons. The Man Cannons now are much more powerful than those located in other maps, being able to launch players halfway across this huge map. New Forge objects have been created just for this map and can seriously change gameplay. These objects include shield doors to block entrances and exits, large sniper perches that will stay in place if put in the air, and Forerunner ramps and such like that can be used to make an entirely new base if you are creative enough. The map itself is centered around two bases at each end of a U-shaped snowy valley, and to add an interesting dynamic in one-sided objective games, there's a asymmetry in vehicles; the assaulting team has exclusively UNSC vehicles at their disposal, while the defending team has Covenant vehicles to begin with. The map is set to prefer objective gametypes, but works well with BTB slayer as well.

Gameplay Features and Changes

 * A number of man cannons and a large cavern area have been added to the original 'Sidewinder'.
 * The Forerunner structures serves as giant man cannons, and can launch players halfway across the map.
 * In one-sided objective gametypes, the attacking team has UNSC Vehicles, while the defenders have Covenant and Loyalist vehicles.
 * All UNSC vehicles will now feature snow camouflage colors instead of the traditional green UNSC color scheme.
 * The Scorpion Tank is only available to the assaulting team on one-sided objective based games; during team slayer, neutral and multi objective games both sides will have the Wraith Tank.
 * A bottomless pit is located in the center infantry area of the map. This pit can be crossed by the man cannons there.
 * Energy doors can now be placed in Forge to cover up exits.

Vehicular Balance
As seen in a recent overview of the map released by Bungie, one-sided objective games have a Human vs. Covenant vehicular setup, while symmetrical game-types will have all UNSC vehicles (presumably). Here are the lists of the vehicles that are included:

Asymmetric game-types:

Defenders - Wraith, Ghost, 2 Choppers, Banshee.

Attackers - Scorpion, 2 Mongoose, 2 Warthogs, Hornet (although it is a downgraded variant with no missiles and less effective chainguns).

Symmetric game-types:

Both teams have a Wraith Tank, Mongoose, 2 Warthogs and a Hornet. A Ghost can also be found in the middle of the map, near where the Spartan Laser and Trip Mine spawn.

Getting Out of Avalanche
To get out of Avalanche, go into Forge mode and spawn a set of teleporters. Place the receiving end on one of the far ledges that is near the giant sea of ice. Place another on an easy place to reach. Go through the teleporter and place a respawn point. But be careful, if you go too far, you'll die instantly. Also, if you go into Edit Mode and head upwards you can reach another part of the map but you will die if you venture too far out. Another way to get out from there is to go back to where you first placed the teleporter. Face the wall and push against it whilst rising up in Forge mode. Then, head towards the right and you should be able to go further up to a snowy area. Go any further than the snowy area and you will die.

Another simple way is to go inside of one of the bases, to the back where the glowing cylinders are located behind the glass wall. You can either spawn a new teleporter, or use the one readily available near the wall. Simple spawn a two-way or a receiver node while against the wall, and it should spawn behind it. Drop it and hurriedly get into the teleporter as a Monitor before it falls, as it will disappear. From there you can make floating objects so that one may walk around in these areas.

An even simpler way is to spawn a machine gun turret close to the wall at the back of the bases, and then climb onto the turret. After that you look upwards, and go into monitor mode. You should be behind the wall, and can move about, looking at the blue generators.

Forge
There are many new items to be placed in Forge. These are mostly Forerunner-themed, to keep with the style of the map. A few of these items are:


 * Forerunner-style walls
 * Energy-Blockers (effectively, shield doors that cannot be walked through).
 * A Sniper perch, which is in one picture turned upside-down, thus being able to hold a Scorpion tank.
 * Forerunner ramps also had been added.
 * Items called Forge Filters that change how the map looks, mainly color and shade effects. If you combine certain ones, they can make cool effects.

Trivia

 * G4 TV is having a contest in this map for the Recon armor.
 * During production, Avalanche's code-name was "Cottonball."
 * Avalanche is the only current Halo 3 level that features a Hornet, though not as powerful as usual by default. It is also the only map that features a Scorpion by default, though only in One-Sided Objective game types and only for the attackers.
 * Avalanche is the first and only Halo 3 map to feature teleporters by default.
 * Avalanche is the first multiplayer map in the entire series in which the vehicles get an appearance makeover.
 * The map is set on the Installation 04 (II) and resembles the Halo:Combat Evolved map Sidewinder and the campaign level Halo, although the campaign level has no trees like the new map.
 * Even though the Ark's artificial sun can be seen in the sky above, the Ark itself is nowhere to be seen.
 * A structure in the background is identical to the shield towers on The Covenant.
 * The map was actually rebuilt from the original Sidewinder map and includes the same overall shape, a mid-section joining the bases and near-parallel bases separated by rock. Avalanche is slightly larger than the original Sidewinder, and the sky's setting is also slightly darker.
 * Avalanche contains the most vehicles of any Halo 3 multiplayer level, even more than the number on Sandtrap (excluding Elephants). It is also slightly larger than Sandtrap.
 * The snow camouflage vehicles are the Hornet, the Warthog, the Mongoose, and the Scorpion.
 * Many design elements of the map seem to have been drawn from the Halo 2 map Containment, such as the new design of the bases.
 * If you run or jump too quickly onto the man cannons in the caverns, you will simply fall to your death.
 * On rare occasions, death screams will sound high pitched regardless of the gender of the player.
 * Avalanche is the second map to ever have Brute Choppers by default.
 * Avalanche, and Snowbound are currently the only maps to have one way-mirrors (inside the bases). They are also the two only Halo 3 maps that have Snow-terrain.
 * Using the simple "clipping teleporters through walls" trick, players can zoom around the generator type area in the bases.Be aware that not everything in there is solid, and there is another barrier a certain distance away from the glass wall.
 * A glitch can sometimes cause one of the Wraiths to become invisible and over powered. This has been fixed by Bungie in matchmaking but may still occur in custom games offline.
 * Near the blue base if you look to the right there is an ice formation that looks like Master Chief's helmet.
 * The map is rumored to be haunted by a "Ghost" just like the majority of the other Halo 3 multiplayer maps.
 * Despite speculation this map does not expand on the scarab Hunter-Mystery.
 * The Machinima series - Arby 'n' the Chief has been using this map as a popular setting for episodes 8 and 9.

Strategies

 * The easiest way to avoid getting killed by a laser is to either posses it or make sure someone on your team controls it.


 * One can assign a player to be the laser man for the team.


 * The laser man's job - Jump out the base mancannon, and run for Invisibility and the Bubble Shield. If the other team gets there first,you still have the element of surprise from the active camo.


 * Take the laser and stay around the other side's camo area (pick it up if it's there) and try to take out the opposing teams vehicles. Any viable target. Once those are gone, take the Ghost and enjoy the fact that there's close to nothing on the map for the next minute and a half that will be able to destroy you.
 * If the opposing team's Warthog starts charging, all you have to do is bail out of the Ghost and hit them with a Spartan Laser.


 * It's all about map control.


 * The toned-down Hornet is not a very good offensive platform on its own, quickly being dealt with by other Hornets or Warthog-gunners. Use it to quickly transport teammmates or quickly defend your base. If you do want to assault the opposing team's base, have a teammate use the Wraith for ground control.  Your enemy will have to decide which target to focus on first, allowing the other to effectively take the threat out.


 * Because of how the Hornet moves, it is very easy to force a Hornet pilot to bump into a tree or wall, causing the Hornet to lose control temporarily. This is a great time to strike, as the guns on a Hornet do not rotate.


 * When going through the central cave, watch out for anyone opposite the mancannon pathway, as many players like to jump up the sloped wall and camp there with a Shotgun to quickly eliminate anyone who passes by.