Halo 2: Outskirts — the streets, the beach and the tunnel

Halo 2: Outskirts — the streets, the beach and the tunnel **Halo 2: Anniversary in The Master Chief Collection. Mission spoilers. Normal, Heroic and Legendary advice; conventional route, without the rooftop skip.** Outskirts is where Halo 2 gives you some room to move, then puts Jackal snipers in the places you're about to move through. On Legendary, those alleys deserve more attention than the size of the map suggests. You can survive the opening defense and still lose the next fight before you've even spotted who fired. The route is straightforward once you separate it into sections: defend the building, get through the Hunters' gate, cross the sniper alleys, pass through Hotel Zanzibar, then take a vehicle along the beaches and into the highway tunnel. This isn't the rooftop speedrun. We're going through the encounters on the ground. Blind and IWHBYD are separate collection detours, and I would decide whether you're doing those before starting rather than turning a normal campaign attempt into an improvised skull hunt. **1. Secure the building** Leave the crash site through the doorway and deal with the Grunt in the passage. Outside, clear the nearby Grunts and shielded Jackals, then enter the building across the courtyard. Watch the stairs for Covenant coming down toward you. Keep the battle rifle. A plasma pistol is useful against Elites once one is available, but you don't have to carry the same two guns for the entire mission. Against shielded Jackals, shoot the exposed hand beside the shield, then take the headshot when they recoil. A grenade around their cover is another option. Repeatedly firing into the center of the shield just wastes ammunition. The building becomes your defensive position. Check its stairs and ammunition supplies before the next wave reaches you. Johnson's callouts help identify whether enemies are coming across the street, through the lower approaches or over the rooftops. **On Normal:** the upper floor and mounted gun give you a good view of the fight. Still leave the turret if you're taking sustained fire from somewhere you can't answer. **On Heroic and Legendary:** don't mistake a good view for a safe position. Snipers can cover the exposed upper areas. Use the interior and the ground-floor overhang while you identify them; step out for a shot, then come back in. A sniper rifle or recovered beam rifle is worth keeping when you have a safe chance to pick one up. The defense includes ground troops, Drones and a Phantom dropping reinforcements. When the dropship is firing into the courtyard, shelter inside. Let the enemies come away from it before trying to finish the fight. Keep checking the ground approaches while dealing with the Drones overhead. **2. The Hunters open the exit** When the Pelican can't land in the courtyard, the next route is through the large gate. Two Hunters break it open. The building's mounted machine gun is a useful option for this particular fight. Get on it after you've dealt with the enemies that can shoot you from the sides. Fire at the Hunters while they advance, but get off and take cover when their cannons are about to fire directly at you. If you're fighting on foot, use the building corners to separate their firing angles. Aim at exposed orange areas rather than pouring rifle ammunition into armor. Don't run between both Hunters hoping that one will politely wait while you deal with the other. These aren't CE's Hunters with the familiar easy pistol solution. Give yourself room to move, and avoid backing into a wall when one closes for a melee attack. Once they're down, go through the broken gate. The Pelican rendezvous follows, and Johnson leaves. Your route continues with the Marines toward the next crash site. **3. Take the sniper alleys one corner at a time** Expect a sniper near the route immediately beyond the gate, then more overlooking the streets farther ahead. Keep your rifle ready before exposing yourself around a corner. On Legendary, the beam rifle can kill you with one hit. Waiting to see whether the first shot hurts is not a useful scouting method. Move far enough to uncover one angle, stop behind cover and examine the elevated windows and ledges. Don't keep walking forward while zoomed in on a target you've already killed. That is an easy way to reveal yourself to the next one. Pick up a beam rifle when it's safe. Its range helps with the enemies deeper into the alley, but keep a weapon you can use quickly when ground troops get close. If you miss, break line of sight before lining up another shot. Trading shots with a sniper while standing still is a bad bargain. The main route bends left through the streets toward the hotel. Watch for cloaked Elites as well as the elevated Jackals. Their appearance can vary, so don't assume that clearing a familiar sniper position means the ground ahead is empty. If you die, use what you saw. Identify the firing angle and change the next approach. Repeating exactly the same exposed movement just gets you the same result faster. **4. Hotel Zanzibar** Look for the **Hotel Zanzibar** sign and the Marines fighting near its entrance. Clear the turret and other defenders covering that approach, then follow the route inside. The hotel corridor is dark. Use the flashlight, watch the bend and deal with the Covenant ahead before rushing around it. A grenade can help with a grouped approach, but give it room; don't bounce it back into the Marines following you. Come out on the far side, clear the nearby enemies and deal with the troops delivered by the Phantom. A friendly Warthog arrives below. Take the driver's seat and give the Marines time to occupy the other seats before driving away. A Ghost is an alternative if you'd rather control both movement and weapons yourself. The Warthog is useful when you have a living gunner and can keep the vehicle positioned so that the turret has a clear shot. **5. Work along the beaches** Drive past the crashed Pelican and follow the coastal route through the connected beach areas. Ramps and narrow openings lead from one section to the next. Don't head out into the sea looking for a different road. You'll encounter Ghosts, infantry, elevated snipers and Phantom support. The large artillery pieces make useful landmarks, but you don't need to board them or search for a demolition prompt to continue. With the Warthog, keep moving while giving your gunner a useful angle. Driving in a tight circle beside several enemies can expose the same side of the vehicle repeatedly. If the gunner is struggling to hit something, change the angle instead of sitting still beside it. On Heroic or Legendary, it can be worth stopping **behind cover** to deal with an elevated sniper yourself. Stopping in the middle of the beach to aim through the windshield is a different matter. If the Warthog is badly damaged or you've lost its crew, consider a usable Ghost rather than protecting an empty wreck for the rest of the mission. Clear the immediate danger before getting out. You are much easier to kill during a careless vehicle swap. Before the highway entrance, there's a small building with useful weapon supplies on its upper area. Outskirts' terminal is a separate stop on the ground floor of the beach building described in the collectible guide. Make that stop before committing to the tunnel. **6. The highway tunnel** Enter through the opening from the last beach area and follow the roadway. From here, the main route is linear, although the traffic, barriers and Covenant positions make it look busier than it is. Keep enough distance to see what's around the next bend. A Ghost's boost is useful on a clear stretch, but it also prevents you from firing while you're boosting. Ease off when you need to attack rather than holding it down into a roadblock. The Scarab fires through a break in the tunnel overhead. Stay on the highway route; this is not the mission where you climb aboard it and finish that fight. Farther in, you'll encounter Shadow transports and more defensive positions. You can fight your way through, or pass a position when there's a clear route. Destroying every vehicle isn't a separate mandatory objective for the level to end. If you do engage, focus on the guns and exposed occupants instead of parking alongside the whole convoy. Continue past the final Covenant position toward the tunnel exit. That ends Outskirts and leads into Metropolis. No special rooftop route is required to get there—just a careful first half and a vehicle you can still control in the second.