**Halo 3 in MCC: getting through Cortana without losing your way**

**Halo 3 in MCC: getting through Cortana without losing your way** *Full mission spoilers.* Cortana is my favorite character in almost any series, so coming back for her matters to me. Actually finding your way through this place is another conversation. High Charity has become a mess of tunnels, drops, and rooms that look far too much alike. This is the straightforward route, not an out-of-bounds shortcut. **Before going in** Keep one weapon for enemies in your face and one for enemies attached to walls. A sword or shotgun can handle the first job; a carbine or other accurate ranged weapon helps with the second. A sword alone won't solve a room full of ranged Flood firing from above. Use cover to recover your shields before crossing open floors. Carrier forms are particularly unpleasant in narrow passages: set them off at a distance, then deal with the smaller infection forms. Don't retreat into a dead end without checking it first. **1. The first drop and the Pelican** Follow the opening growth-covered passages and drop through the fleshy opening in the floor. You reach a large chamber with a crashed Pelican on an elevated area to the left. Remember this room. The mission ends back here. The Pelican has useful supplies, but it isn't your destination yet. Return toward the interior and take the passage onward, away from the aircraft. Work through the organic doors and further drops rather than trying to climb every wall that looks vaguely like a ramp. On Heroic or Legendary, check approaching combat forms for swords. Let them come into a controlled firing lane instead of charging into a crowded room to collect their weapon. **2. The bridge-shaped chamber** Eventually you drop into a broad room that still resembles a Covenant bridge underneath the infestation. Ranged forms can attack from elevated positions; don't stand in the middle trying to find the exit while taking fire from several directions. This is the collectible stop: **Tilt is above the room, and the special Cortana terminal is underneath its central floor.** Neither requires going farther toward Cortana's actual prison. Use the separate collectible guide if you want them. For the main route, move toward the far side and find the passage behind the wall there. The exit isn't the skull's elevated ledge. Replenish ammunition before entering the next long, heavily contested passage. **3. The climbing room** The corridors lead into a tall chamber with several levels. Your goal is the opening at the top, not a ground-floor doorway hidden behind the Flood. Work your way up the rising path around the room. Clear enemies overlooking your next landing before climbing into their line of fire. On higher difficulties, take the room in sections: recover behind solid geometry, remove a ranged attacker, then advance to the next piece of cover. Cloaking can help you cross an exposed stretch, but activate it when you are actually ready to move. Spending most of its duration looking for the next ledge defeats the purpose. This route does not require a grenade jump or a particular amount of explosive ammunition. **4. Cross the reactor room and recover Cortana** The next major room has narrow walkways surrounding a deep central space. Cross the connecting walkway toward the opposite side and follow the onward doorway and corridors to the small chamber containing Cortana. Break the glowing containment field with melee attacks and recover her. Don't waste your ammunition trying to destroy the reactor before this objective; the reactor comes next. **5. Expose and destroy three pylons** Return to the reactor chamber. Fight enough of the new Flood to reach the central control safely, then operate it. This exposes **three** reactor pylons. Shoot their vulnerable sections or use explosives until all three are destroyed. Stay aware of the walkway edges while aiming. A successful shot isn't worth walking backward into the pit. A new route opens across the bridge. Follow the marked exit and drop through the hole beyond it. You are not expected to reverse every jump from the trip in. **6. Follow the escape route back to the Pelican** The return cuts through familiar areas with newly opened shortcuts. Clear the Flood directly blocking your escape rather than wandering back to inspect every room. In the bridge-shaped chamber, continue into the onward corridor; the route opens through the infestation and leads through another drop. Eventually you return to the first large chamber. In solo play, the Arbiter arrives to help with the Flood. Head to the Pelican, enter its rear compartment, and use the cockpit-door interaction to leave. If you get turned around, identify the last major landmark—reactor, bridge room, or Pelican chamber—before moving again. Walking in circles while the Flood close in is considerably worse than taking a moment behind cover to get your bearings.