**Halo Wars 2: getting more out of the Banished than a pile of heavy units**

**Halo Wars 2: getting more out of the Banished than a pile of heavy units** The Banished can hit hard, but the interesting part is how much control they can bring to a fight. Healing, shields, cloaking, artillery and movement abilities can keep an army working long after a careless frontal attack would have fallen apart. Start with the ordinary economy. The Scarab can wait until there is an army and a base capable of supporting it. **Spend the opening on income, ground and information** Build Harvesters for supplies and Power Extractors for power. Send the starting units to collect nearby resources while construction runs. Use a suitable fast scout to check approaches and expansion sites instead of leaving the whole force parked at home. Build enough early units to protect those collectors and contest useful ground. If the opponent is already gathering an attack, invest in the response before adding another expensive economic commitment. Look at which resource is actually limiting production. A queue of unaffordable units is not a growing army. Upgrade or expand the relevant income, and avoid buying several unrelated upgrades while the units you need are still missing. Once you have pushed the enemy away, take the nearby ground that the victory made safe. A battle is more valuable when it leads to income, an objective or a defended expansion rather than a long chase after one retreating scout. **Match the counters to the enemy force** The shared Banished roster gives you several distinct jobs: - Grunts supply the basic infantry presence and objective-taking force. - Hunters answer vehicles. Cover them against infantry that can reach them. - Reavers answer aircraft; their mobility also helps reposition the anti-air screen. - Marauders provide a mobile ground force. - Wraiths provide heavier ground firepower. - Banshees give an air option, but need to avoid concentrated anti-air. - Engineers keep the fighting units repaired and should remain behind them. - Shrouds offer protection rather than direct damage. - Blisterbacks provide siege fire in their deployed role and need a defended firing position. The units available and the best supporting powers vary by leader. Check the actual roster rather than assuming a campaign formation is available unchanged in a skirmish. Against a mostly vehicle army, start by adding the appropriate counter and protecting it. Against aircraft, ensure the Reavers can actually reach the battle. Building the correct unit at home does not help the army that is already fighting on the other side of the map. **Give the Shroud a clear job** A Shroud can conceal nearby units while its cloaking mode is active. Outside that mode, its point-defense system attempts to intercept incoming projectiles. It does not replace a damage-dealing unit. Choose the protection you need for the current fight. Concealment can help a force approach or hold position, but detection can expose it. Point defense is useful support, not a promise that every attack will be stopped. Place the Shroud with the units it is protecting and keep it out of the enemy's first volley. Sending it ahead by itself wastes the reason you built it. The same positioning discipline applies to Engineers. Pull damaged units toward support instead of moving the healers through the enemy line to reach them. **Siege with an escort, not with the whole army standing still** Set up artillery where it can work, then screen the approach with combat units and anti-air. Keep sight on the target and watch the routes that lead around your firing position. When the enemy moves to flank, reposition before the siege force is surrounded. A slow unit can still be saved if you notice the movement early; waiting until attackers are already beside it removes that choice. Do not send all the fast units chasing retreating infantry while the expensive siege weapons remain exposed. Use a small pursuing force only when the main position is secure. **Use the leader's strengths deliberately** Voridus rewards offensive use of Infusion and can generate resources through Combat Spoils while attacking structures. Pavium brings tools for supporting production and defensive positions, including Burnout and longer-lasting healing through Enduring Will. Those are different reasons to take a fight. A Voridus attack should make use of the areas it contaminates and the pressure it creates. A Pavium defense should put its support where the enemy must engage, not scatter it over empty ground. With any leader, save the resources needed for the power your plan depends on. A healing or defensive ability that is ready but unaffordable is not an emergency reserve. **Make the Scarab part of an army** Before investing in one, ask what will keep hostile aircraft, specialist counters and flanking units away from it. Keep repair support nearby and avoid squeezing the entire supporting force into one vulnerable cluster. If the economy cannot replace ordinary losses while you save for the Scarab, improve the army you already have first. A supported force taking useful ground is doing more for you than an empty battlefield and a half-funded super unit.