Halo 3: Crow's Nest — clear the hangar, rescue the Marines, then get out

Halo 3: Crow's Nest — clear the hangar, rescue the Marines, then get out **The Master Chief Collection. Mission spoilers. Normal route, with Normal, Heroic and Legendary advice.** Crow's Nest makes you revisit the same parts of the base with a different job each time. That's where it gets confusing. A room being familiar doesn't mean the fight is finished, and the first evacuation area isn't where Chief eventually leaves. Keep these stages in mind: **defend the south hangar → return to Ops → reach the barracks → clear the landing pad → retake Ops and rearm the bomb → escape through the south hangar's service elevator.** This is a conventional clear, not a route built around hammer jumps or skipping the barracks. **Arm yourself and reach the south hangar** Take Black Eye's opening-room detour now if you're collecting skulls. Otherwise, head down from the Ops Center and use the weapon racks before opening the door with its green control. Bring a battle rifle. There's plenty of work for a precision weapon in this mission, and being able to remove a Jackal without crossing the entire room is worth more than having two short-range weapons. Follow the caves and corridors into the vehicle-access tunnel. After the explosion around the Warthog, clear the Covenant along the roadway. Continue to the **left-hand corridor leading into the south hangar**. Don't keep walking down the vehicle tunnel looking for an outdoor exit. **Hold the hangar through its waves** Clear the initial opposition, then deal with the troops arriving by Phantom. A quiet moment between drops isn't the objective finishing. The upper control room gives you ammunition and a useful firing position. Watch the routes upstairs: an elevated position stops helping once enemies have reached it behind you. Use precision fire on the smaller enemies, and combine plasma damage with headshots against Brutes. **Normal:** the mounted guns can do a lot of the work, provided you leave them when incoming fire becomes too heavy. **Heroic and Legendary:** don't remain on a fixed turret just because its ammunition hasn't run out. Keep access to cover and an escape route. Watch both sides of the landing area rather than staring at the nearest Brute while Grunts work around you. A detached machine-gun turret is useful for the next section if one is available. Carrying it is an option, not a requirement for progressing. When the return-to-Ops instruction arrives, retrace the route out of the hangar. **The first Drone fight and the return to Ops** On the way back, you'll reach Marines under attack by Drones. If you want to save the Marine being lifted, shoot the Drone holding him promptly. Fight from the enclosure and cover around the entrance rather than walking into the center of the swarm. Automatic fire helps when they move across your sightline; controlled shots work when they settle. Clear the encounter so the route back into Ops opens. Inside, the bomb and the evacuation plan are introduced. **You aren't personally doing the final bomb interaction here.** Follow the instruction to rescue the Marines, resupply, and leave through the upper door toward the motor pool. **The motor pool and its hammer Chieftain** This is the big Brute fight before the barracks. Don't spend your first seconds running up the center to meet the whole group. The trailer in the left parking area provides a workable starting position. Use it to isolate approaching enemies, but keep watching the floor and the objects around it. Grenades and Brute Shot explosions can make apparently comfortable cover unsafe. Remove exposed enemies in manageable groups. A plasma pistol and battle rifle give you an alternative when turret ammunition runs low. Move when the Chieftain charges; if he activates invincibility, wait out that protection instead of emptying your weapon into it. On Legendary, surviving the first part of this fight isn't a reason to get careless against the last two Brutes. Reload before advancing and check the upper area for anyone still firing down. Clear the room, collect what you need, and use the onward door at the rear to reach the drop into the service passages. **Service tunnel and barracks** Follow the pipe-filled passage toward the Arbiter. There are Drones here too, but this is a different section from the mandatory fight on your return to Ops. Avoid casually shooting or colliding with them if you're trying to pass without starting another swarm. **Grunt Birthday Party stop:** before the final drop out of this passage, take the hidden-ledge detour if you're collecting it. Dropping straight to the lower route takes you past that opportunity. Regroup with the Arbiter and use the door control into the barracks. Marines are mixed in with the Brutes. Aim at the captors, not vaguely into the room with explosives. Work through the barracks sections using their side passages and cover. The upper access routes can give another firing angle, but you don't have to perform a special jump to finish the level. Keep checking ahead before rounding into the next group; the later Brute carrying a plasma turret deserves attention before you step out into his fire. Open the onward door and take the elevator with the survivors to the landing pad. **Clear the landing pad—but don't try to leave with everyone else** Jump-pack Brutes move around the upper structures here. Stay near cover at the elevator side initially and engage them as they land rather than standing exposed in the middle of the pad. If the next event hasn't started, check the rooftops and raised positions for remaining Brutes. An enemy out of immediate view can leave the encounter unfinished. After the area is secured, Johnson appears through the large lower door. The others evacuate; Chief's next job is to get back to Ops because the Covenant have disarmed the bomb. **Follow the route Johnson came through**, not the barracks elevator you just used. **Retake Ops and rearm the bomb** Fight through the vehicle-access route. Remove the plasma-turret operators and watch the elevated Jackals near the motor-pool approach. Refill your ammunition before entering Ops. The important difference in this fight is the **fuel-rod-carrying Chieftain**. Don't treat him like the earlier hammer enemy who has to reach you first. Keep solid cover between attacks, and avoid trying to absorb a direct blast while finishing a reload. On higher difficulties, deal with the mounted plasma turret overlooking the room as well. Once you have a safe approach, reach the large bomb and use its interaction control. Listen for confirmation that it is armed. Merely killing the defenders doesn't perform that step. **Escape through the south hangar** Go downstairs from Ops and take the original route through the caves and vehicle corridor to the **first south hangar**. You're not returning to the landing pad where the Marines left. There are still enemies on the route. Clear what blocks your exit; don't turn the escape into a search of every room. The lighting, explosions and Cortana interruptions can make familiar corridors harder to recognize, so keep following the hangar objective. At the rear of the hangar, enter the service elevator and activate its control. That starts the descent and the end of the mission. There is no terminal to collect in Crow's Nest, and you don't need to destroy an escaping Phantom before you can leave.