The Oracle (Level): Difference between revisions

Its time for you to be reintroduced to the flood who have somehow been released on this station. They generally behave pretty much the same as in Halo 1, though their arsenal has been expanded accordingly and their melee attack is now often a one-hit kill. The exploding carrier forms seem to do less damage than in Halo 1, while the infection forms seem to do considerably more. The combat forms have acquired a few more tricks, like driving vehicles and using shields, but that's a problem for a later day. Although it won't affect you on this level, eventually you'll find that the shotgun does not seem quite as effective as it used to be; in its place, though, the energy sword has stepped up as the ultimate flood-killing device.  

If you restart the level, you should keep the fuel rod gun, but lose the unlimited energy sword. Therefore, be especially careful with your checkpoints throughout this level and make sure to save and quit only when you are satisfied that you are in a good spot, unless it doesn't matter to you.  

Now, head through the doors, ignoring the battle raging beneath you, until you drop down into a room with green stained walls with a number of dead Combat Forms on the floor. The [[Heretic Leader]] will soon pay you a visit in the form of a hologram. Once the message cuts off, a number of infection forms will enter the room. A new twist to battling the flood is introduced here: infection forms can now reanimate dead combat forms, as long as the bodies remain intact. Fortunately, you can preempt this little surprise by destroying all five of the dead combat forms with the sword before the infection forms start appearing. Having eliminated the threat of the combat forms, there's really nothing to this first battle, just a few infection forms which your team will mop up easily, but it's best that you don't try to save the Grunts, as they are so vulnerable to the flood. They die after one infection form attaches to them and plus even if you do manage to save them the next battle will most likely kill them. After a few waves, the door will open and you can proceed onward until you reach a round platform, where you'll find the flood and some sentinels already engaged in battle.  

(From Col. Knadan, if you ended the Arbiter with a Fuel Rod Cannon you should still have it, you can do one of two things with it at the elevator.  A. give it to one of your allies at the beginning of this part, or B. swap it for a weapon on the ground and save it for giving to your allies or keeping it after the elavator.  That's it.)

Once you kill off the first group, the platform will begin its ponderous, twisting descent, stopping periodically to allow waves of about 2-4 flood (and, less frequently, a few sentinels) to attack you. The encounters are fairly chaotic, and essentially amount to waiting around for the flood to appear and then hacking them to bits with your sword. However, there are a few observations that might make your life a bit easier. In general, your job will be to kill off the flood combat forms as quickly as possible while you let your elites deal with the sentinels and infection forms. Ideally, you want to kill the combat flood as soon as they land, before they have a chance to close with your elites and beat them up with melee attacks.  

Your main priority is to keep your two elites alive at all costs, as they provide a huge amount of assistance to you in this battle, and in the next one as well. Not only do they draw fire away from you (and with their recharging shields, they survive much better than your marines), but they will also tear apart quite easily any sentinels that show up, which is fortunate, as you are not really equipped to counter sentinels at this point.  

Your cloak can often help you out as a defensive measure, giving you a few valuable seconds of breathing room when your shields are down to disengage and head for cover to recharge. This tactic is always useful, but perhaps more so here because, trapped as you are in a relatively small, confined space, you don't have very good avenues of retreat. Likewise, moving beneath the elevated ramp and staying near the spindle in the center can at least help to shield you from the sentinels while your elites blast them apart. Note that the steel canisters around the edge of the platform will release a few infection flood if broken, so be careful if your shields are low. It may occur to you to try switching your fuel rod gun temporarily for a carbine or plasma rifle so you can join in the fight against the sentinels. It's certainly a reasonable option, as long as you keep track of it and don't let it get knocked over the edge, though. Note that if you do hand it off to one of your minions and he dies, it then becomes an enemy-dropped weapon, which will soon disappear unless you pick it up again. Grab a [[Plasma Pistol]] or [[Sentinel Beam]], it will be useful against both the Flood and Sentinels.

Other than that watch your motion tracker, keep an eye on where your elites are firing, and try to position yourself to intercept each wave. Make sure to destroy any intact combat form corpses after each battle to prevent their resurrection. Remember that all it takes to kill a combat flood is one sword slash. The lunge, while often useful for its mobility, is overkill, and actually can be a disadvantage when used in the wrong situation (e.g., when you're faced with two or more enemies) due to its slower rate of attack. It can also cause you to lunge off of the platform resulting in you falling to your death.

When the platform stops at the bottom, continue onward through the doorway and down the hall. Eventually, you'll find yourself on the second floor of an open, two-level room lined with breakable windows. Below you, a battle between the heretics and the flood already rages; the flood will always be victorious, and it's up to you to choose at what point you want to join in. In generally, it's probably safer to wait until the battle is over before you move in (even through a few combat flood will drop in to pester you). Unfortunately, though, you have no control over your elites, and they may or may not jump down into the fray at their own whim. If they do this, its a good idea to follow their lead, and then try to keep them alive as long as possible.  

Again, this is a fairly chaotic battle. There are some helpful observations to consider for it though. Clearly, the safest approach is to stay out of the open, along the edge of the room where you can use the columns for cover as necessary. After the first wave of flood is eliminated, another group of heretics will appear from the same entrance that you did, so you may want to remain underneath that side to avoid fire from above. Shortly thereafter, more waves of flood will show up to harass you and the heretics alike. If the infection forms really begin to annoy you, you might consider temporarily switching your fuel rod gun for a sentinel beam; just make sure you don't lose track of it, or forget to pick it up when the battle is over.  

Shortly after you kill the last of the combat forms, the airlock door at the end of the room will open and a group of heretics (2 elites & 3 grunts) will show up. Staying in the vicinity of the door so you can attack while they're still bunched up in the entrance can make them a bit easier to handle, as the next video shows.  

If you dropped your fuel rod gun at some point during the previous battle, don't forget to retrieve it before moving too far into the airlock, or else the doors will lock behind you and you'll be out of luck.  

Once you're outside, a phantom will drop off reinforcements and blast the Flood gathered on the bridge. The next area presents you with a choice of two symmetric routes where you'll encounter a few scattered elites and grunts, as well as larger group of 2 elites & (sometimes) 3 grunts that appear from the door at the top. As the next video shows, split up as they are, your enemies shouldn't provide much of a hindrance. The limited line of sight on the winding pathway and the abundance of cover (not to mention your cloaking device) should help you get close enough to make short work of them with the sword.  

Inside, you'll find a vast room dominated by the presence of a central ramp winding upward to an elevator platform. The heretic leader flees to safety behind an impenetrable energy barrier, any efforts to kill him before he reaches safety will be unsuccessful. Fortunately, during the cutscene the Arbiter comes up with a plan to flush him out.