**Halo 5: Guardians — the five cores and the fight to reach Blue Team**

**Halo 5: Guardians — the five cores and the fight to reach Blue Team** *Halo 5: Guardians campaign on Xbox. Full finale spoilers.* For the final mission, you're back with Locke and Osiris. Exuberant Witness is helping you reach the Cryptum holding Blue Team, and the route eventually opens into a snowy valley with five gravitational cores to destroy. There is quite a bit of fighting after the last core. Keep that in mind before using every heavy weapon you find or assuming the mission is about to cut straight to its ending. **Follow Exuberant through the facility** In the opening room, check both elevated sides around the Cryptum hologram for intel. You can also inspect the holding cells and collect weapons before leaving. Follow Exuberant outside and onto the transport platform. Let the sequence play out, then follow the icy passage into the first battle. Covenant and Prometheans are fighting each other here, so take a moment to see where the larger enemies are before joining in. The raised central position is important: the snipers there can punish you while you're busy looking at ground-level targets. Remove them when you have a clear angle, then use the fighting between the factions to approach the remaining enemies from cover. Don't run between a Hunter and the enemy it is already shooting at. On Heroic and Legendary, consider leaving a heavy weapon available for the Hunters rather than spending it on the first Grunts you see. Once the area is manageable, check the raised center for intel and restock before following the exit. The next encounter is entirely Promethean. Clear the enemies advancing toward you, then work on the heavier opposition and the two beam turrets covering the far end. Aiming at a Knight while a Watcher and several Soldiers have clear shots into your side is a bad trade. Reduce the number of firing angles first. Exuberant opens the large door beyond the fight. Take the available ammunition before stepping into the valley. **Alpha, then a circuit of the valley** **Alpha** is the first core ahead. Covenant arrive by Phantom while Prometheans join the fighting. There is a Mantis on the right side of this opening area, giving you a useful combination of sustained fire and missiles. Use the core's surrounding structures as cover while clearing the landing. Once you can fire safely, destroy the core. Check the crashed Phantom on the left for intel before driving on. The remaining cores can be tackled in different orders. **Alpha → Beta → Gamma → Delta → Epsilon** makes a straightforward circuit, but the game doesn't require you to follow that order. Use Artemis to identify the named objectives when the ice formations start looking alike. **Beta:** Take the right-hand route from Alpha toward the shielded cave. Break the barrier and fight the Hunters and supporting Elites inside. Keep enough space behind your Mantis to reverse out of the entrance when its shields need to recover. Clear the cave, destroy the core, and open the way onward. **Gamma:** Leave Beta toward the Cryptum and follow the snowy route toward the crashed Pelican. Watch for Shade turrets and Ghosts as you move into the open. Gamma is near this Pelican section. This is also where you should stop for the cockpit intel and Tough Luck skull before leaving the ridge behind. **Delta:** Cross back through the central yard toward the next marked core. Fresh Covenant opposition can make that crossing busier than it was before. Near Delta, beam turrets and elevated snipers deserve your attention before you stand still to shoot the objective. Use the large Forerunner structures to interrupt their aim. **Epsilon:** Continue around to the remaining core. A side cave near this section contains another Mantis if you need a replacement. Deal with the defending Prometheans, including the Knight, then destroy the final core. Those are navigation points, not a reason to drive past enemies firing into your back. On Legendary especially, bring the vehicle back behind cover when its shields drop. A few seconds spent recovering is better than losing it halfway through the valley. If you want **Icy Cool** or **Double Stuff**, leave the appropriate cores intact until you're ready. Both require Heroic or higher. Blowing everything up immediately removes your opportunity for that attempt. **Finish exploring before using the override** The valley holds most of the mission's intel, spread across wreckage, tunnels, and high ice ledges. Finish that sweep before committing to the interior sequence. The companion guide lists the ten pickup stops. After all five cores are destroyed, return toward the Cryptum and clear the forces around its access point. Get out of your vehicle and activate the marked override. Cortana takes the Cryptum, and Exuberant leads you to the structure containing the relay access. Enter on foot with ammunition. The Mantis has done its part; the ordinary route through the final building is a Spartan fight. **Defend Exuberant** The last arena has a central mechanism and raised sides connected by accelerator pads. Learn where those pads land before you're desperately looking for an exit. Soldiers arrive first, with Splinter Turret Captains among them. The right-side ledges provide sniper rifles and rockets; there are more weapons around the chamber. Take a firing position that lets you see the approaching enemies without leaving every side of your body exposed. Exuberant eventually asks you to activate **two auxiliary stations**, one on each upper side. Use the objective markers to locate both. Restock before activating the second: more enemies arrive afterward. The next fighting includes Crawlers and Watchers, followed by Knights. Keep moving when a Knight closes on your position. The upper ledges are useful, but they don't make you unreachable; Knights can get up there too. Use heavier weapons against the Knights while the squad helps clear support units. If you're carrying a detached turret, remember you can drop it to move faster. It is better to leave ammunition on the floor than to get pinned while trying to preserve it. Once the required enemies are defeated, go to the central objective. Another mass of enemies appears, but Exuberant shields the team and takes you down. Follow that sequence rather than treating the new appearance as another ordinary wave to clear from the balcony. **The relay** At the bottom, head along the corridor toward the relay. The Guardian's pulses interrupt your movement and damage your armor as part of the finale. Keep advancing when control allows; this isn't a new sniper attack you can solve by hiding behind the previous doorway. Reaching the relay triggers the final action and the ending. Let the cutscenes finish, then check the mission-completion and campaign achievements against the difficulty and mode you actually played.