**Halo Wars 2: Manifestation — the Proto-Gravemind and the four turret positions**

**Halo Wars 2: Manifestation — the Proto-Gravemind and the four turret positions** **Awakening the Nightmare finale. Full boss spoilers.** The last fight rewards preparation before the boss more than frantic rebuilding during it. Once the Proto-Gravemind is active, you have to keep opening damage windows while protecting the artillery that makes those windows possible. Start with a proper army. The critical-mass challenge becomes much harder if you trigger the encounter with half your upgrades still researching. **Stabilize and prepare** Repel the opening attack and improve the base. Collect nearby resources, build the production you need and put together a mixed force with healing support. Keep the heroes with the main group, but control endangered support units separately. Engineers are worth protecting; replacing the frontline is much less painful when the survivors can heal. Advance toward the first blocked approach and clear the Flood from the marked minibase site. Build the first Mega Turret there. Before revealing the tentacle target and opening the boss route, finish your important upgrades, reinforce and check that the home base can survive without the entire army standing beside it. Set rally points that will bring replacements to a safe position near the fight. **First damage window** Give the Mega Turret vision of the obstructing tentacle so it can fire and open the route. Enter the central battle area. The target sequence is: 1. Break the armored carapace. 2. Destroy the exposed sacs. 3. Attack the vulnerable core. Change targets as the boss changes state. Continuing to fire at a protected section while another weak point is exposed wastes the opportunity. Keep ground units moving away from tentacle strikes. Use part of the force to control nearby Flood while the heavy damage dealers work on the weak point. After the first quarter of its health is removed, the boss retreats and critical mass begins building. That is your signal to move toward the next turret site, not to keep shooting into the hole. **Build the next three Mega Turrets** The first turret opens the encounter. Three additional positions are used as the fight develops, for four turret positions in the full route. Follow the newly available paths and marked sites around the arena. At each one: - Remove the Flood occupying the build location. - Start the minibase and Mega Turret. - Protect construction from the counterattack. - Add defenses and useful forward production. - Return to provide vision of the boss. - Repeat the carapace, sacs and core sequence. Build with the next push in mind. A forward production building shortens the journey for replacements; defensive upgrades help keep the turret alive while your main army returns to the center. The objective not to lose a Mega Turret remains active throughout. Leaving every new emplacement entirely unguarded can undo a successful boss attack. **Keep critical mass below the challenge limit** **Before This Gets Out of Hand** requires completing the mission without the Proto-Gravemind exceeding **50% critical mass**. Treat that as a ceiling, not a target. Move promptly between damage windows and construction sites. Heal while moving or building when practical, and keep reinforcements coming instead of returning the whole army to the original base. If the meter is rising while you are fighting scattered enemies far from a turret objective, refocus. Kill what blocks your next step, secure the firing position and force the boss out again. Use Lich Vanguard during a dense battle where it can actually earn kills. The separate bonus asks for thirty Flood kills with that power, so check the counter before the ending. **The final lock and Retriever** The last stage adds another requirement. When ordinary artillery is no longer enough to open the core, follow the marker to the Flood-covered Sentinel lock. Clear the route, destroy the biomass and call in the Sentinel reinforcement. The Retriever becomes your unit: select it and order it to attack the Proto-Gravemind. Bring the rest of the army back onto the exposed core when the opportunity opens. Do not leave the Retriever idle at its arrival point while wondering why the boss is still protected. **Phoenix Logs** - **An Uncomfortable Truth I:** in the northern section, just west of the canyon containing supplies and power. - **An Uncomfortable Truth II:** along the path toward the northwestern Sentinel launch-bay area. Collect the first during preparation where possible. For the later detour, send a small protected group while the main force keeps the mission moving. On a critical-mass attempt, watch the meter instead of sending everyone away from the next turret objective. Completing the finale earns **Clean up your Mess**. The critical-mass achievement is an additional restriction; finishing with the meter low is not enough if it crossed fifty percent earlier.