**Halo 4 Spartan Ops: Departure, all five chapters**

**Halo 4 Spartan Ops: Departure, all five chapters** **MCC guide. Episode 1 mission spoilers.** Departure gives you a little of everything: a vehicle fight, sniper lanes, Promethean structures and a recovery mission that turns into a defense. A single loadout isn't going to solve all five chapters equally well. Bring a precision weapon you can use comfortably. When the chapter supplies a vehicle or a better weapon for the next fight, use it. There is no reward for stubbornly keeping a nearly empty starting gun. **1. Land Grab — clear the quarry and destroy four cores** Start with the nearby Gauss Warthog if you want a mobile opening. Let a Marine take the gun when playing solo, or give a teammate the turret. Keep the gunner facing a usable angle rather than driving so close to the target that the weapon cannot follow it. Head toward the first marked core, clearing the Covenant vehicles and emplacements that control the approach. Destroy the core, then work toward the next. Wraiths and Ghost reinforcements are a reason to keep moving; parking in the open to admire the shot invites a mortar round. An available Wraith is another option, particularly if the Warthog is damaged or the gunner isn't dealing with the targets you need. Its range lets you attack the lower quarry without driving directly into every infantry group. Follow the descending quarry route to the remaining objectives. There are **four power cores** altogether. Once they are destroyed, the chapter still asks you to clear the Covenant reinforcements. Follow the marked surviving enemies rather than assuming the last core ends the mission. Work back toward the extraction side, including the hill where the final resistance gathers. Clear it and reach the Pelican. On Legendary, avoid pursuing a lone Grunt while a Wraith has a clean shot at your vehicle; remove the threat controlling the battlefield first. **2. Sniper Alley — open the shields, then mark the power source** Descend from the starting structure and clear the first group. Use the marked console to lower the first barrier. Before moving into the newly exposed ground, look up at the raised positions for Jackal snipers. That habit matters throughout this chapter. Don't follow an Elite down a lane while ignoring a sniper above it. Take the long-range threat out from cover, then move between safe positions. At the next shield, clear the enemies and activate **both controls**. Continue down the opened route, dealing with the fresh drop-pod and Phantom reinforcements as they arrive. The downhill section includes close threats as well as snipers, so leave yourself room to retreat when an Elite closes in. Use the resupply when it arrives: the chapter provides a rocket launcher, railgun and sniper rifle. Choose for the enemies still in front of you, not just because the weapon is powerful. A sniper rifle helps clear a difficult sightline; explosives are more useful against a cluster you can actually hit. Continue through the rocky passage toward the final objective. Clear the remaining hostiles, then designate the energy source when instructed so Infinity can strike it. Extraction follows the completed objective, not simply reaching the bottom of the hill. **3. The Challenge — shut down the arrays** This is the competition with Fireteam Majestic, but don't let the radio banter push you into an unnecessary death. Your practical job is to restore communications, shut down the marked systems and secure the pickup. Disable the comm jammer first. Then follow the tower objectives as they appear. Crawlers and Watchers arrive around the structures; deal with Watchers early so they don't keep adding support to an encounter you're already trying to finish. Use precision shots on Crawlers rather than spending heavy ammunition on isolated small targets. Save heavier weapons for a threat that actually needs them. While one player works the objective in co-op, another can watch the approaches instead of standing beside the same switch. Move from the first tower to the second and then the final marked target. When all systems are disabled, the chapter still has a cleanup fight before extraction. Collect the resupply and clear the remaining Prometheans marked by Miller so Dalton can land. If the next step hasn't appeared, check the current marked objective and the remaining enemies. Running laps around a structure won't replace an interaction you haven't completed. **4. Sacred — get the data, then reopen the way out** Enter the Refuge and move through the atrium toward the power fluctuation at the far end. Clear the Crawlers around the star map, then use the console to start the data transfer. More Crawlers appear, so move away from the switch once the interaction is done and give yourself room to fight. On the return journey, Knights block your route. The entrance then closes and turns the apparent extraction into another encounter. Don't stand pressed against the sealed door expecting it to reopen while enemies shoot you from behind. Use the room's space to separate the threats. A heavy-weapon Knight is a more immediate danger than a distant Crawler; get out of its firing line and take a different angle instead of trading shots from the middle of the room. Replenish from the Promethean weapons when your starting ammunition runs low. Miller identifies the door-control console. Reach it, activate it and clear the enemies still preventing extraction. Only then head out for the Pelican. The route is in and back out, but the return trip isn't an empty walk through the rooms you already cleared. **5. Core — open the dig, recover the artifact** Fight into the Cauldron and deal with the plasma turret covering the opening area. Move up the ramp, clear the Covenant and activate the first marked switch. Two more power-source controls then become the way through the next door. Activate both, with the area around them under control. **Optional Roses vs Violets stop:** at the first switch, face it as if you were going to use it, then check over the low wall to your right. Look down toward the lava for a small radio/box on the rocks and shoot it. This is the Episode 1 Red vs. Blue trigger; you don't need to jump down into the lava. Continue the chapter for the altered radio exchange. Beyond the opened door, clear the next Covenant position and use the shield controls to reach the dig. The fight shifts to Prometheans around the object you came to investigate. Clear them, then activate the marked switch that raises the artifact. That starts another defense. Keep an eye on incoming Crawlers and Knights instead of looking only at the artifact. Use cover with an exit route: a position that lets you retreat is more useful than a tight corner that a Knight can trap you in. When the landing zone is secured and transport is ready, collect the artifact as directed and finish the extraction. You aren't being asked to leave the chapter and personally complete Fireteam Castle's anti-air assignment; that happens through the mission's radio sequence. **Check the episode before moving on** Make sure all five chapters have registered in the mode you intended. **Departure** is the MCC episode-completion achievement. **Roses vs Violets** is a separate optional trigger, not a requirement to finish Episode 1. If you're working on Smooth Operator, each chapter needs its own **solo Legendary** clear. Doing four alone and bringing a friend for the fifth doesn't complete the solo episode's contribution. Keep the chapter names and the solo/co-op distinction together in your notes, then move on to Artifact.