**Halo: Reach — getting the package through The Pillar of Autumn**
**MCC campaign walkthrough. Major ending spoilers.**
This is Reach's mission called The Pillar of Autumn, not the opening level of Combat Evolved. You're still Noble Six, and the ship is the destination rather than the place you're escaping from.
The route has several distinct jobs: get through the vehicle section, cross the ship-breaking yard, clear the warehouse approach, secure Keyes' landing zone, and finally take over the mass driver. The weapons that solve one of those jobs aren't necessarily the ones you should spend on everything before it.
**Opening cliff and the supply building**
Follow Emile through the rock passage and inspect the Covenant below before descending. You do not need to attempt the famous falling assassination to progress. Use the ordinary route down and clear the enemies blocking the way to the supply building.
Take ammunition and a useful precision weapon before boarding a Mongoose. A heavy weapon is worth keeping for the tougher encounters later, but don't sacrifice every available headshot weapon just because a launcher looks more impressive.
Get into the driver's seat and let Emile join you. The next section is a drive through a battle, not an invitation to dismantle every Covenant vehicle in the valley.
**Drive through the Scarabs**
Keep following the road through the dropping troops and the two enormous Scarabs. Don't stop beneath one to investigate whether you can board it like a Halo 3 encounter. Your objective is farther ahead.
Steer deliberately around obstacles. On Legendary, the cost of getting stuck is much greater than the cost of easing off briefly before a turn. Keep enough speed for the broken-bridge jump, straighten your approach, and don't make a last-second sideways correction while leaving the ramp.
Once across, the road is blocked and the mission returns to an infantry fight. Leave the Mongoose rather than repeatedly trying to force it through the barricades.
**Wraith and infantry at the roadblock**
Use the available building and terrain as cover while clearing the occupied approach. Remove marksmen and exposed infantry before committing to the Wraith's firing lane. Mortars punish a position you keep returning to without looking.
The conservative route is to thin the defenders from cover, then deal with the vehicle when it has less infantry support. You don't have to perform a rooftop skip or hijack to finish this section. If you do close on the Wraith, make sure you're not simultaneously crossing the fire of the surviving tower occupants.
Restock before taking the path toward the cave. Don't enter the next sequence carrying a heavy weapon with no rounds just because you started the mission with it.
The encounter with Carter and the Scarab is resolved by the story. Continue with Emile after the cutscene rather than searching for a separate Scarab core objective.
**Caves and the ship-breaking yard**
The next cave contains Drones and other Covenant. Give yourself room to shoot upward and avoid chasing one flying enemy around a corner while several remain behind you. Work through to the shipyard.
The large dismantled ship and surrounding industrial structures make the next battlefield look more complicated than the actual route. Clear the enemies covering your path, use the stairs and interior passages, and advance toward the marked exit rather than circling the entire hull.
On Heroic and Legendary, inspect higher walkways and distant firing positions before crossing exposed ground. A needle rifle is useful against susceptible unshielded Brutes; a DMR remains valuable for the smaller enemies and careful headshots. Use the weapon for the target it suits instead of applying one gun to the whole yard.
If you're collecting, the Legendary pad is on a rooftop in this shipyard area. The any-difficulty pad is in the windowed corridor after leaving it. Check those before committing to the next section; the companion collectible guide describes both.
**The Hunters and warehouse**
After the intervening interior route, you reach the yard with two Hunters and supporting enemies. Remove the smaller attackers first so they aren't shooting you in the back while you're watching a Hunter's weapon.
Use the available space and solid obstacles to break the pair's line of fire. Work on exposed flesh rather than repeatedly shooting the armored shield. A heavy weapon you've preserved can shorten the fight, but don't empty it into an obstructed shot simply because you're impatient with the encounter.
Keep both Hunters accounted for. The one you aren't shooting is often the one that turns a promising flank into a death. Let Emile draw attention when he is actually engaging; don't assume his position or behavior will be identical after every checkpoint.
After clearing the pair, proceed into the warehouse. Watch the stairs and the sword-wielding Elite in this stretch. A close doorway is a poor place to discover an intact Elite shield and an empty magazine at the same time. Back up, break its shields with an appropriate weapon, and finish it from a position that leaves you an escape route.
Continue through the remaining upper passages to the exterior overlooking the Autumn.
**Clear the landing zone for Keyes**
Emile takes the mass driver while you fight at ground level. Your job is to make the landing zone usable, and that requires surviving the incoming Covenant rather than sprinting to an empty landing marker.
Begin from cover and use the height available around the entry. Clear the exposed infantry, then reposition as reinforcements arrive. The aircraft delivering them are dangerous too; don't stand under a Phantom to save a few seconds on a Brute kill.
Watch for Chieftains and fuel-rod enemies. A charging hammer threat needs immediate space. A distant fuel-rod attacker needs its firing line broken. Those are different problems, and trying to solve both by standing still with a scoped rifle is unreliable.
Keep a precision weapon supplied and preserve a useful answer to shielded Elites for the climb after the handoff. Dropped Covenant weapons are legitimate replacements. There is no requirement to carry the same loadout from the Mongoose all the way to the end.
When the objective changes and Keyes arrives, approach the Pelican to deliver the package. The scene that follows changes your next destination; it is not the end of gameplay.
**Reach and operate the mass driver**
Fight up toward the emplacement. Clear the Elites around the approach, including the Field Marshal, rather than charging up the stairs while they still have a clean angle on you. Use cover and shield-stripping weapons to avoid a prolonged close-range duel.
Enter the mass driver. Its shots need to charge, so select a target and follow it while charging rather than firing reflexively whenever something moves. Destroy the attacking Phantoms and Banshees, checking high and side approaches as well as the center of the screen.
This sequence is especially punishing on Legendary. If you keep dying in the chair, a documented alternative is to activate the encounter, leave the gun, and shelter near the stairs until the cruiser is ready to be hit. That still requires returning to the emplacement at the right moment; it is not an automatic win or a guaranteed safe wait.
Listen for Keyes' instruction to fire at the cruiser. Aim for the exposed glowing weapon area underneath it and release a charged shot. Do not keep shooting distant escorts while the final target is available. With ordinary settings this finishes the encounter; skull-modified health can change the number of hits, so this is not a LASO timing prescription.
If you're after **Collection Eligibility Confirmed**, keep your look input held to the right as the ending cinematic begins. The brief cryopod view is a separate collectible moment, covered in the achievement companion.
Let the mission finish recording. Reach also has **Lone Wolf** afterward; delivering the package doesn't turn that final playable sequence into a menu you can safely forget when checking the whole campaign.
**Halo: Reach — getting the package through The Pillar of Autumn**
· Games / Halo: Reach