How to Use It Effectively - The Banshee

The Banshee was given it's name by the shrill shrieking noise it makes during flight. So when you hear it coming you need to deal with it fast. The reason why a Banshee is such a potent killing machine is because the gunner and the pilot are one. The pilot is always pointing at where he intends to shoot. Add to that the very agile nature of the craft, it being relatively small and able to perform flips, makes this vehicle a very evasive and effective killing machine.

A banshee needs to watch out for other aircraft and in particular scorpion tanks, which could blow them up in one direct hit.

Being agile mean that the Banshee is fairly weak, only able to withstand so much small arms fire. High velocity bullets like sniper rifles will rip the craft apart in a few shots.

When piloting a Banshee your key objective is to stay on the move and avoid lots of attention. Not easy when you are flying high in the air with no cover, right? The Banshee's greatest strength is it's ability to quickly kill enemies using the fuel rod gun (secondary fire weapon). Infantry, and light vehicles get one-shotted with ease.

Try to focus your fire on infantry, who make easy prey. However if an enemy is virtually underneath the Banshee don't circle around to the ground in an attempt to desperately get a difficult kill as this will make you an easier target for grenade sticks, plasma pistol and grenade EMP effects and sky-jacking attempts. Instead break off and find a new target.

Spotting infantry is easy from your vantage point in the sky. You need to get a feel for how to set up for an attack. To set up effectively you need to bear in mind where your target is, could he run for cover? does he have teammate support who may attack you? are there any enemy vehicles nearby? If using the fuel rod gun, ensure you get within range to allow for travel time of the projectile to hit the target accurately.

The same applies for attacking ground vehicles. The only big difference is when taking on an enemy tank. Depending on it's strength the tank will require two shots from the fuel rod gun to destroy it. From the front tanks have stronger armour. Try to get behind the tank and attack from the rear, this will prove deadly to them, and will ensure that you don't get fired upon, putting you under less pressure at least initially.

When attacking another Banshee you need to be aware of a few things. An important point is to keep at a range that allows you to fire with the standard canons, but allowing you some time to evade (roll or somersault) to avoid a fuel rod gun shot. You can also use somersaults to get above and behind an enemy to get the advantage over them. Another good tactic is to bring the battle down to the ground, luring an enemy Banshee nearer your allies who can then fire or sky-jack the enemy vehicle and claiming it for your team.

Notice in this video that the Banshee pilot always keeps moving, performing somersaults and boosting around. This makes him virtually unable to be hit or attacked, which is exactly what a Banshee pilot should be doing.

One thing not to forget is that all covenant vehicles possess a boost ability that allows for quick movement, but at the cost of being unable to fire whilst boosting. A Banshee can use this ability to snap around the map very quickly and instantly rain death on unsuspecting victims, in a lot of cases for the entire length of a match.


A Banshee can control the map, control the players on both teams and can ultimately decide the game, if used effectively!

Try to take out a Banshee wherever possible, as you will find it much easier when one is not threatening you and your team throughout the course of a match.

How to Use It Effectively - The Wraith

The Wraith is the Covenant's battle tank. It is bulky, slow, but very powerful and like the Scorpion it has two seats, one for the driver and one for a secondary gunner. The Wraith fires a massive plasma bomb that is heavy and deadly. Because of this it travels in an arcing trajectory, which allows the Wraith to hit targets over hills and behind obstacles.

Just like the Scorpion, the biggest threats to a Wraith include hi-jackers, other tanks and aerial attackers. However the wraith does have a limited boost function, which can be used to escape a jack attempt or to attempt a splatter on an infantry opponent who rushes you.

Try to avoid tight and enclosed spaces, and always have supporting infantry nearby to protect you from jacking opponents.

Advanced tactics of the Wraith include firing across long distances to a known enemy location, whilst you are under no immediate threat. The main canon never overheats, so you can fire it all day long. This tactic will only work for a limited time as people will catch on. But this can still allow you to catch a few players off guard grabbing some kills.

When going up against another tank try to position yourself near cover so you can fire at your target, cover while the main canon reloads, then come out of cover and resume firing. Sometimes the fight may be up close and personal with another tank, avoid hitting at point blank range as this will cause you to take damage from your own shots. Make good use of the boost function to evade shots. This requires good timing.

When attacked by an aerial opponent you have two choices:

1) fire back and attempt to hit them, or
2) bail out and take cover.

Trying to hit a distant aerial target is virtually impossible for any player, unless the target happens to stray too close or if he's clearly not paying attention to you. If you get caught out you can always bail out of the tank if needed, just remember that it takes a couple of seconds to get clear. Sometimes even if you think you have cleared the tank, it can explode and still kill you.

The Wraith driver in this video keeps to his team's side of the map, staying near his allies for support. He engages in tank vs tank combat and executes a well timed dodge with the boost function, avoiding destruction. 

One thing in particular you will notice is he always keeps moving. This is important because once you slow down in the Wraith you become a slow target and a big opportunity for hi-jackers and other vehicles. Note that it is necessary to lead you target quite a lot due to the slow speed of the plasma bombs. 

When threatened by a hi-jacker from directly infront, consider boosting into them to get a splatter, neutralising the threat. 

Practice with the Wraith to get used to the arcing trajectory of the main canon. You can fire over the entire length of a map and steal some quick kills, but your primary objective is to get used to hitting targets at medium range who are in direct (or indirect) line of sight.

Have fun.

How to Use It Effectively - The Scorpion Tank

Here is an 8 minute video of the scorpion in action on Hemorrage, however note that the latest updates have changed this to the wraith now.

The Scorpion tank is the most effective vehicle you can use in Halo Reach. Because of the destructive force and direct shot of the main canon a driver can easily kill and infantry and vehicle targets usually in one shot, with the exception of other tanks.

However one particular weakness with the scorpion is the ease with which the vehicle can be hi-jacked, particularly from players using sprint or evade. Because of this a driver will need to be aware of approaching and rushing infantry.

Another issue with the scorpion is space. The scorpion's footprint is huge (the largest in the game). Because of this huge footprint the scorpion easily gets affected by changing terrain or caught up in smaller obstacles. Terrain will affect the angle of you shot, causing you to miss. And getting a tread caught in nearby obstacles can hold in place allowing nearby enemies to attempt a hi-jack.

Its always a good idea to have a secondary gunner around to provide extra defence against infantry attackers.

The main focus for a scorpion driver is to watch for enemy vehicles, in particular other tanks and enemy air vehicles (banshee or falcons), then to take care of infantry. The scorpion can run head on into battle to rack up several kills quickly.


Care needs to be taken when going tank vs tank. The best strategy to adopt is hiding the tank beding cover (like a hill or other obstacle) and poke the main gun over the top. Avoid missing shots as the reload time can mean the difference between staying alive or not. Other tanks generally take two shots to destroy, sometimes three. Beware that the canon can be destroyed by a good shot, rendering the tank unable to attack. If this happens just abandon the tank before it gets destroyed.