Halo 2: The Arbiter — through the station and into the Banshee

Halo 2: The Arbiter — through the station and into the Banshee *Halo 2: Anniversary in The Master Chief Collection. Mission spoilers. Conventional walkthrough, not a speedrun.* The sword is tempting. You've just been handed one, you're surrounded by friendly Elites, and the first enemies haven't noticed you. That doesn't mean the whole mission needs to be a sword charge. The Arbiter gives you a useful choice between getting close quietly and keeping enough distance to survive when the room wakes up. This is the first playable Arbiter mission, inside the suspended mining facility over Threshold. Your Covenant squad is friendly. The Heretics and the Sentinels are your enemies here. You aren't fighting the Heretic Leader's final encounter yet; that comes in The Oracle. **Before the first room** Follow your squad down the ramp and let the opening doors finish their sequence. You begin with an energy sword and plasma rifle, plus active camouflage in place of Chief's flashlight. Camo is temporary. Use it to make a particular crossing or approach, not as permission to stand in front of an enemy indefinitely. Check its recharge before starting another move. On higher difficulties, give yourself a shorter, safer job for each activation rather than trying to cross an entire occupied room. For Normal, sword and carbine make a comfortable combination once you find a carbine. On Heroic or Legendary, a plasma pistol and carbine give you a way to break an Elite's shield and finish from cover. Keeping the sword instead is workable, but means accepting more close-range risk. There isn't a required weapon loadout. **1. Get through the opening patrols** The first interior gives you sleeping Grunts and patrolling Elites to approach quietly. Let an Elite turn away, use camo to close the distance and attack from behind. Clear nearby sleepers before they become several extra weapons firing at you. If the alarm goes up, fight from cover. It doesn't fail the mission. Don't chase the idea of a perfect stealth opening into an unnecessary restart. Pick up a carbine when one becomes available and check the space beyond your first victim before stepping out to collect it. A Heretic Elite surviving a sword lunge can leave you exposed at exactly the wrong distance. Have somewhere to retreat rather than assuming every lunge ends the fight. The next substantial chamber has conveyor machinery and walkways over an open drop. Stay on the solid perimeter while clearing threats across it. Don't let a lunging attack carry you off an edge, and don't backpedal into the pit while watching an enemy instead of the floor. Work through to the elevator area. Deal with defenders around the approach, replenish ammunition and use the elevator control to descend. This is the lift taking you into the hangar, not the end of the indoor section. **2. Open the hangar for your reinforcements** The hangar is a two-level room with a docked Seraph in the middle. You arrive above the lower floor. Use the elevator structure and surrounding walls to break enemy sightlines before moving around the room. Clear the immediate patrols and watch the Sentinels as the fighting develops. A flying target drawing your aim upward can leave an Elite walking into your side. Keep checking the ground approaches between shots. Your objective is the hangar-door control at the far end. Reach it and activate it to open the outer doors for the friendly Phantom. This is a mission switch, **not** the collectible terminal. Give the reinforcements time to arrive. You have friendly support now; use it instead of sprinting into the middle of every enemy group. Save grenades when allies are mixed into a fight, and don't fire on the Phantom because you've spent the previous missions treating those ships as enemies. More defenders appear during this encounter. Their exact doorway pattern isn't something to build the entire fight around. Stay near usable cover, clear what has actually emerged and check another doorway before moving out to loot. The onward route opens on the lower level, beneath the elevator area. Enemies come through that opening, including a sword-wielding Elite. Deal with them before leaving. Running past a fresh group can turn the next corridor into a fight with enemies both ahead of you and behind you. Before proceeding, collect ammunition and replace a depleted sword if you want to keep using one. **3. Through the corridors and the second conveyor chamber** The passages after the hangar suit a slower approach on Heroic and Legendary. Work from one corner to the next. Let enemies expose themselves to your firing angle rather than walking into the middle of their room to get a better look. Prioritize a Grunt holding a fuel rod gun when you have a clear shot. A small enemy with an explosive weapon is still the immediate problem. With Elites, take the shield down before trying to finish with the carbine. If a Sentinel is keeping you pinned, address it before committing to a ground target that will hold your attention. You eventually reach another chamber with blue-lit tracks carrying gas containers. Enemies can emerge as you advance. Move far enough to reveal the next threat, then return to the cover you've already cleared if necessary. You don't have to keep moving forward just because the door behind you opened. **Terminal stop:** the later conveyor room, after the hangar, contains Inspector. Its terminal is on the raised area reached by the far-right ramp, near the far exit. Switch to Anniversary graphics and interact after clearing the room. Don't backtrack to the earlier hangar switch looking for it. Continue through the interior passages. Quiet approaches are still useful, but a sleeping Grunt isn't a guarantee that the whole corridor will stay asleep. If an alarm releases another Elite, stop and deal with the changed situation. Trying to finish the route you imagined before the alarm is how a manageable encounter becomes a rush through several active rooms. **4. Reach the window and the Banshees** Keep following the interior route until you reach the large window overlooking the exterior landing area. The Heretic Leader speaks to you and escapes in a Banshee. Shooting the glass isn't how you stop him. Defenders come through a side doorway. Clear them, then use the opened route to get outside to the remaining aircraft. Wait until the immediate area is safe before climbing in. If you're collecting Grunt Birthday Party on Legendary, this is the detour point. The skull is beneath the facility, on the middle of three hanging cylindrical structures. The separate collectible guide covers the landing. If you're just finishing the mission, stay with the pursuit rather than diving underneath looking for the next objective. **5. Follow the Phantom around the station** Once airborne, follow your friendly Phantom and the mission's directions around the exterior. You will fight enemy Banshees and weapons positions on the station's platforms. The aircraft isn't a stationary turret. Keep moving, turn back for another pass and use evasive maneuvers when enemy fire catches you. Boost is useful for repositioning; it isn't a reason to charge directly into a platform covered in weapons. Use the Banshee's guns against exposed targets and its bomb against suitable ground positions, leaving enough separation that your own explosion isn't happening underneath you. Don't try to inspect a fuel-rod Grunt at close range. When enemy aircraft arrive, deal with the ones threatening you instead of staying fixed on a ground target. The Phantom provides support, but it doesn't remove the need to watch your surroundings. Clear the indicated emplacements as the pursuit progresses. If the Phantom hasn't moved on, look for surviving defenders around the current objective before flying away to an unrelated section of the station. Check ledges and turret positions, not just the center of the platform. A badly damaged Banshee is a reason to look for a safe replacement on a cleared landing area. Don't get out on an occupied platform while enemy aircraft are still circling. On Legendary especially, being caught on foot out there can end a run very quickly. **6. Clear the final landing area and go inside** At the last platform, remove the defenders before landing. Watch for reinforcements and avoid hitting your own arriving squad with another bombing pass. Set down on the platform, get out and enter the doorway to finish the mission. You haven't missed a boss fight. The pursuit continues in The Oracle. The useful rhythm here is simple: clear enough space to move safely, use camo for a specific approach, and stop treating the sword as the answer to every enemy. Once the flight starts, trade that same patience for controlled passes rather than hovering in front of a gun emplacement.