Halo CE in MCC: The Truth and Reconciliation walkthrough

Halo CE in MCC: The Truth and Reconciliation walkthrough Mission spoilers. For Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary in The Master Chief Collection, not Campaign Evolved. The sniper rifle makes the opening feel like you've been handed everything you need. Then you get inside the ship and an invisible Elite comes running at you with a sword. This mission asks you to change how you fight several times, and saving some of that rifle ammunition makes the change a lot less painful. The route is a night approach through the canyons, a fight beneath the gravity lift, the ship's interior, the prison cells, and an escort back to the hangar. This is a normal completion guide, with advice for Heroic and Legendary. It isn't a glitch route or a guaranteed par-time run. **1. Take your time with the opening shots** From the landing area, use the right-hand approach to the overlooking ledge. Survey the first clearing before walking down into it. You have a sniper rifle and an assault rifle; use the scope to identify the Elites and occupied Shade turrets rather than immediately firing at the closest Grunt. If you want **All According to Plan...**, this first encounter is the attempt. Stay back on the ledge and eliminate the group without being detected. Don't advance into the clearing and bring the Marines into a firefight while you're still trying for a stealth achievement. The separate achievement guide covers that attempt; being spotted doesn't stop an ordinary mission completion. For a straightforward combat run, remove turret operators and threatening Elites from a distance, then use your other weapon when you're close enough to handle the remaining infantry safely. Watch for another Grunt taking over an abandoned turret. The rifle is valuable enough that I wouldn't use it to solve every small problem. A Grunt a few steps away doesn't need the same ammunition you could save for a charging Elite later. **2. Follow the canyon encounters toward the ship** After clearing the first position, move down and follow the connecting path into the next clearing. The outdoor route continues through successive combat areas rather than branching into separate objectives like the previous mission. Stop at the entrance to each area long enough to locate cover and the guns overlooking the approach. Fight from there before walking into the middle. When reinforcements arrive, don't mistake the first cleared group for the end of the encounter. You can replace the assault rifle with a plasma weapon while keeping the sniper. That gives you an option against shields without spending a sniper round every time an Elite appears. Be deliberate at weapon pickups so you don't accidentally leave the rifle behind. **Normal:** use the open spaces to learn where the next path and enemy positions are. You can recover from more mistakes here, but taking every fight at close range still wastes the advantage of your starting weapon. **Heroic:** pick off the enemies that can reach your firing position before moving forward. If an Elite retreats, don't run out past the rocks just to chase it. **Legendary:** avoid fighting a turret, an Elite and a nearby infantry group simultaneously. Remove one source of pressure, recover your shield, then address the next. If you are losing health every time you peek, change the angle rather than repeating the same shot from the same exposed place. **3. Clear the gravity-lift defense** The next major landmark is the lift beneath the Covenant cruiser. Clear the troops and turrets around its base, then deal with the reinforcements arriving in the area and through the lift. Use the surrounding terrain rather than standing directly under the beam. Your Marines can contribute, but you still need to watch the enemies approaching from outside your immediate view. Two Hunters are part of the final opposition here. Their armor is not where you want to put your limited sniper ammunition. Look for the exposed orange flesh and take the shot when you have an opening. Keep space to move sideways when one fires, and don't back into a rock while watching only the other Hunter. On the harder settings, don't rush both just because you've seen a quick kill in a video. Separate their angles as much as you can and take the exposed shot you can actually line up. Once the defense is finished, gather supplies you need and enter the gravity lift with the Marines. Having sniper rounds left matters more than arriving aboard with an impressive number of unnecessary kills behind you. **4. Survive the receiving room** The room at the top is an ambush. Be ready for cloaked sword Elites and enemies entering through the surrounding doors. A sword carrier getting close is the immediate problem, even if another enemy is easier to shoot. Keep turning to check the doors instead of staying scoped in on the far side of the room. Use the rifle when you need to stop a dangerous approach quickly; use your secondary weapon against less threatening targets. Reload when there's a break, not when a sword is already in front of you. Grenades can help against a group arriving together, but be careful about sticking a charging Elite. If it reaches you before the grenade explodes, you've brought the explosion back to your own position. Use the room's cover and keep a retreat available. A small recess is useful until something blocks its only exit. Later Hunters also need dealing with before you continue; don't assume the room is finished because the first wave has stopped. **5. Get around the locked route and open the way for the Marines** After the receiving-room battle, the direct route for your squad is blocked. Return to the receiving room and take the available side passage. It leads around to a two-level room, where you arrive above the lower area. Clear the enemies, then use the control that opens the blocked route for the Marines. Deal with the next opposition and follow Cortana's navigation marker onward. The repeated purple corridors can make it feel as though you're walking in circles. Use the rooms as your landmarks: receiving room, two-level room, then the large hangar. If you're stuck, check for an unused control or unfinished fight before retracing everything back to the lift. **6. Clear the hangar, then take the upper route** The hangar is a larger fight with enemies on different levels and reinforcements entering through doors. Don't focus so completely on the ground floor that you leave an Elite above you free to keep firing. Work from cover, check the upper positions, and use the supplies around the dead Marines if needed. There is also an overshield in this area. A pair of Hunters arrives as the battle develops. **Collectible warning:** the Foreign skull is behind a door used by the Hunters in this hangar. Its access window matters. If you're collecting it, read the separate location guide before finishing the encounter; this is not the first receiving room where you boarded the ship. Once the hangar fight is resolved, follow the opened route and Cortana's marker. The corridor brings you onto an upper level overlooking the hangar. Cross that level to the onward doorway rather than dropping back down and restarting your search on the floor below. Continue through the corridors to the ship's control room. The terminal is on its raised central platform, so stop there now if you're collecting it. **7. Find the occupied brig and release Keyes** The first detention room is not the one containing the Captain. Check its cell controls and supplies if needed, then continue through the connecting corridors to the occupied brig. Clear the guards before opening the cells. Watch for cloaked Elites as well as the obvious targets; a room looking empty at first glance isn't enough. The cell-power control is along the back wall. Activate it after the fight to release Keyes and the other prisoners. Before doing that, make sure your weapons are loaded and you're ready to move. The rescue cutscene is not the end of the mission. **8. Escort him back and leave in the dropship** Keyes now has to survive. Unlike losing an ordinary Marine earlier, losing the Captain sends you back to the checkpoint. Take the lead through the corridors, but don't run so far ahead that enemies reach him behind you. Clear the next doorway before allowing the escort to move through it. Grenades become a worse idea once the prisoners are mixed into a close fight; switch to controlled shots rather than throwing through the group. Return to the control room and deal with its cloaked attackers. The extraction conversation changes the plan: you're taking a Covenant dropship rather than waiting for the Pelican. Fight back toward the hangar with Keyes, follow the navigation marker to the release control on the upper level, and activate it. That triggers the escape sequence. You don't need to return to the outdoor landing zone or find a pilot seat to fly the ship yourself. If you're also attempting **Close Quarters Combat**, check that you're still carrying the sniper rifle with at least four rounds before finishing. Otherwise, the priorities at the end are straightforward: keep Keyes alive, clear the route, and reach that control.