How to Use It Effectively - The Mongoose

The first video demonstrate the ability to splatter opponents who don't watch their radars (of course good players would have killed the driver). At around 1.03 the mongoose driver does some evasive wobbling to avoid getting head-shotted by DMR fire, and he takes cover behind the base itself.

In this second video the mongoose driver assists the flag carrier to quickly return the flag. This is one great feature of the mongoose because it is a smaller target than all other vehicles and is the quickest too.

Effective Use

It's quite a short story when it comes to using the mongoose effectively. Most times you will utilise the mongoose to quickly collect power weapons or to transport an objective like the flag. Because of having no firepower and being exposed from every angle, if you get fired upon your best option is to flee behind cover, out of range or to bail out and start shooting back.

In rare cases you may be approaching an opponent and may be able to attempt a splatter. But this could prove dangerous as the mongoose tends flip over instead of killing your opponent. Think of the mongoose as a quick transportation tool only, and you can't go far wrong with it. The mongoose is a means to an end, the end being a quickly obtained power weapon, an advantageous position or a flag capture.

How to Use Hologram Effectively

The first time the player uses hologram he sends it across the bridge. The second time after a lapse in fighting he aims the hologram to the floor next to where he is standing. The players then runs across the bridge in a straight line pretending to be the hologram. After the enemy dismisses him as a hologram he opens up fire and kills the other team.

Genius.

This next video uses the hologram to confuse the enemy and claim a nice double kill. Good work.

Part 3 - Advanced Online Multiplayer Tactics: Giving You The Advantage

Halo Psychology- 101 

All players will do these things when the game begins:

• Run for a DMR. (a good habit, I'm not slating this one)
• Rush for the Power Weapons (Rocket, Sword, Shotgun, Sniper rifle) (again a good habit, but if done incorrectly, ie: without support, can lose you control of the weapon and start the game off badly)
• Rush for the nearest Vehicle (usually a Banshee or Tank, or worse a mongoose or warthog [alone in a warthog lol!]) 
• Run headlong into the middle and engage the first opponent(s). 

This comes from several years of online experience observing, not just the enemy but also your own team mates, and my own movements. These things aren't bad in themselves. You always need to get better weapons. But rushing in all the time will only work for so long. Once you face a team of well drilled opponents you will be dead before you can call for help or retreat.

The first two points in the above list are good things to do. Especially if you use your map knowledge. When it comes to playing as a team, it is better that all of you have a DMR as your primary weapon. As a team of DMR users will most likely always win vs a team using pistols and assault rifles. 

Some players may squabble if there are not enough DMR nearby. Avoid getting upset or team killing if you don't grab a DMR. It's not the end of the world, just use your map knowledge and head for a different one. 

When it comes to attaining a power weapon , like the rockets, you will stand a good chance of claiming it, or taking it off a player who has rushed to get it, if you have a DMR than if you purely rush in with your assault rifle. This is a judgement call you have to make each game at the outset. If you get it wrong and die, and gift the power weapon the the other team, you are in a bad position and generally will lose a few (team) kills because of that.

Rushing for a vehicle depends on the game type and map. If it's an objective game then it is helpful to have a warthog circling around and picking up and dropping off players. However if you rush in a vehicle alone and then try and take on the other team alone you will invariably lose each time.

The last point about darting into the 'middle' or straight towards the opposing team is something that should be avoided. To do this try and plan your movements so that you can circle around or perhaps pick off individual/alone players. Use of your map knowledge and radar is key when moving around the map towards the opposing team.

All players will do these things when they spot you:

• Fire- Even if they have an assault rife vs your DMR and are miles away. 
• Charge you down. Opponents will always run towards you no matter what. (generally bad but particularly hilarious if they don't spot you have a sword or shotgun, happens so many times)
• Panic when their shields are down and try to hide behind something and stop attacking. (of course by this time its too late to think about that)
• Hurl grenades if they see you have a superior weapon to them, forcing you to evade. (I love grenades and they can be used correctly)

Recognising a Good/Bad player:

These general rules apply to team mates and to the opposing players as well. After playing for a minute or two into a match you should have an idea of how good everyone is playing. You can tell how good or bad a player is by:

• Their movement around the map, do they know where the weapons are? and do they use them effectively? do they support you and stay together, or not?
• Does this person have murderous accuracy or aim to get headshots?
• Do they pay attention to the radar, or do you have to tell them an enemy is coming from behind?
• Do they just pick up any weapon because it is there? needler (less favoured in online matchups) Or do they just bomb around with only their assault rifle?
• Do they communicate what they want to do and where the enemy are coming from, or not
• Have they got lots of kills like 4 or 5 in the first minute? or after a couple of minutes do they still have 0?

As you can see it is not hard to tell who the good and bad players are even in the opening minutes of a match.

Weapon Feinting:

This is the practice of firing/ using a weak weapon like the assault rifle to draw a target towards you, making him think he has the upper hand. Then (usually after rounding a corner) switching weapons to a sword or rocket launcher.

Many people still don't look at their opponent to see what secondary weapon they have. That big tube thing that sticks up in the air is the rocket launcher.

If your feint fails you can get into trouble. If you fire your shotgun prematurely, a sensible player will back off, throw grenades and always keep enough distance away from you so you can't one shot him. 

If used correctly you can bluff being weak, then pop out the big guns and take the opponent off guard. Also try feinting with crouching around a corner for an even deadlier mix.

Part 2 - Advanced Online Multiplayer Tactics: Giving You The Advantage

Scoring, A Simple Numbers Game, That Many Don't Get

I remember reading about this in a Halo 2 strategy guide way back in 2004/5 and it was one of two strategy guides I bought for the game. The guide focused primarily on online multiplayer, detailing all the release maps and vehicles and weapon locations etc... but the logic and strategy and psychology that the guide taught me is equally as valid now.

One thing it taught me was how to monitor your team score and how your kills and deaths affected that score. It also showed how you can make a difference by paying more attention your team mates as well as the score board to improve and win more of your games.

Let's take a look at what I'm talking about.

In a standard 4v4 team slayer you have 50 kills to score. You have got to achieve those 50 kills before your team gives away 50 kills (deaths). Check. So this means each time you die you give away 1 point. Obviously.

So then you should be in the mind set of scoring 1 kill each time you die or better. Obviously you win if you do better and score a kill without dying or if you score at a ratio of 2 kills (or more) to one death. This means that on each spawn cycle you are scoring more than your opponents are. Which is better than both getting to 49-49 and it being a lucky last kill victory.

So how do you achieve this?

A large part involves

• staying together as a team, 
• controlling the power weapons 
• avoiding giving away your position, but ultimately 
• paying attention to how the game and score progresses.

Yes, you have to pay attention to the score throughout the game. You and your team need to get a feel for how the game is going, and make adjustments to the way you play.

If your scores are tied, then both teams are scoring evenly. Going back to the ratio analogy from earlier, you are getting 1 kill to 1 death. Which means you need to tighten things up. You need to pay attention to the weapons, enemy movement, their tactics and your teams overall effectiveness to the the advantage. 

How? COMMUNICATION!  (the second biggest point/problem in online gaming in that 2004 strategy guide I mentioned earlier on)


use your microphone and remind your allies to stop running at the enemy. Tell your team mates where the enemy are, what weapons they have etc... but speak calmly to your team and use their names to make things clear. People respond to calmness and respect better than hate, an upset tone or sarcasm.

Personally you will get a feel for how much you or a certain team mate is dying. Or you may notice that in the first few minutes a team mate already has 10-15 kills. It comes with practice. Commend good players, help weaker players.

When you do this you begin to score without giving away as many kills to the oppsition. You start drifting toward the 2 kills to 1 death ratio. And your team confidence will take a boost. You all realise that you can win if you work together better.

The next part in the series will look at player psychology and weapon feinting.

Part 1 - Advanced Online Multiplayer Tactics: Giving You The Advantage

Here is a quick list of the topics we will go through together to help you improve your halo gameplay to match and beat other people in Halo's online multiplayer.

These tactics should become an integral part to your playing style to make the best improvements in your gameplay. In part one of this series we will look at Crouching, and Hiding from view and Weapon respawn times.

The rest of the points this series will look into are:

• Crouching/ hiding
• Vehicle and weapon respawn timings.
• Denying Power Weapon control.
• Score Tracking and How You Affect Scoring.
• Player psychology, the enemy and you. When to engage, how to pick targets, what to do, spotting a good player vs a bad one.
• Weapon Feinting.

PART 1  -   Crouching and Hiding

A small part of Halo that so many still do not utilize, is crouching. Why is this? Psychologically many just want to rush into battle and don't even consider crouching to be a relevant part of the game.

Crouching makes you invisible to radar! Everybody who looks at their radar is blind to your exact location when you crouch. Adversely if you crouch too much you won't get into any battles, and will lose your team the game because you are reducing the overall team effectiveness.

There are appropriate times to consider crouching. The first is to set up an ambush. This is best done in common walkways or specific rooms that get a lot of traffic. Ambushes focus on the use of a combination of crouching and perhaps using an armour ability and/or a power weapon. The use of a shotgun, sword, rocket, or an assassination move are the best options when constructing an ambush.

When is the best time to start crouching in general? There are at least four occasions: 

• when you are out of an opponents visual or radar range, allowing you to 'creep' into position. 
• when a frantic battle takes place and there is a lot of radar activity.
• when being pursued by an opponent, crouch after rounding a corner, and switching to a sword or shotgun.
• When shooting with a DMR, crouching slightly improves long range accuracy, by reducing the bloom.

The objective of crouching is to confuse an opponent, or to remain hidden from them entirely. Because when people don't see you, you have the advantage!

Vehicle And Weapon Respawn Timing

I'm not sure of the exact figures for each specific weapon and vehicle respawns on all of the maps, you'll have to search for that yourselves. However the exact timing can be deduce by learning it in game and by regularly checking for a specific power weapon, during the course of a match. Power weapons like the Rockets spawn around every 3 minutes, so that there are 4 respawns during a 12 minute match.

This is another important aspect of the game to master, as basic control over the weapons begins with knowing when they appear and basing your movements around that. It's not so much about being able to know the exact time as it is about getting the feel for when a weapon appears, and checking once or twice if you're not sure.

And it's the same with vehicles, they all have their set amount of time before they respawn. Don't be hovering around a vehicle spawn for minutes on end, as this only sacrifices your team's overall effectiveness/synergy. A good example is the falcon on spire, lots of people want to get it and trek all the way there, then lingering around for minutes on end. This is a waste of time and team effectiveness.

Of course knowing exactly where all the weapons are is a basic map knowledge that you build up over time. There are many MLG articles about the exact timings and weapon maps (see below) to save you going through each map yourself to learn where a certain weapon comes from.

Most weapon maps look like this. But its a good idea to try going into the map and having a quick run around just to get the feel of where some of the key weapons are, and how long it takes to spawn after using them etc...

Part 2 - we will be looking at two more aspects that are considered advanced for Halo Reach, these are: denying power weapon control, and how you affect the scoring of a match.