Drive an AA Wraith: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 17:09, September 28, 2023

In the campaign and Firefight modes of Halo 3 and Halo 3 ODST, a glitch allows players to drive an Ogab'd-pattern anti-aircraft Wraith (and a normal Zurdo-pattern Wraith in Halo 3: ODST) in any level it appears in. The glitch is a timing-related exploit that allows a player to kill the vehicle's driver and enter the cockpit before the Zurdo-pattern Wraith self-destructs.

It is to be noted, however, that the Wraith will self-destruct once you leave it. Avoid leaving the Arbiter or any Marine in the turret; they will die when the vehicle self-destructs, and the deaths will be counted as betrayals.

Explanation[edit]

Anti-Air Wraiths and, in Halo 3: ODST, normal Wraiths cannot normally be piloted because of a function Bungie attached to the vehicle: when the driver dies or exits, the vehicle self-destructs. This is why killing the driver before completing the glitch prevents it from working, and why the vehicle self-destructs when a player exits the cockpit.

The glitch that allows players to pilot an Anti-Air Wraith is a timing exploit. If a player kills the driver while holding RB, they will enter the vehicle the moment the driver dies—and before the vehicle self-destructs. The span of time at which the vehicle is pilot-less will be so brief that the game will fail to notice it, and thus will not destroy the vehicle.

Walkthrough[edit]

Single-player walkthrough[edit]

Find an AA Wraith on any level where one can be boarded. The Covenant is an excellent level for the purpose.
Kill the gunner, if necessary.
Stand on the front hatch of the Wraith and melee it off. Weapons like Rocket Launchers or Spartan Lasers with a good melee force will smash open the hatch in one hit without killing the driver.
- On higher difficulties or with the Tilt skull on, you will probably have to board the Wraith and melee the hatch until it falls off, as a normal melee attack won't even dent the hatch.
After the hatch is off, melee the driver to knock his helmet off. Do not kill the driver, or the glitch will fail.
If you boarded the Wraith, jump off of it. Jump on top of the Wraith without boarding it. Once you see the pilot's head, crouch and position yourself so you do not see "Hold RB to board Wraith".
Melee the driver's armor off. After that, while holding RB, kill the driver, preferably with a Head Shot-capable weapon or continuing to melee him to death. Once he dies, you will immediately enter the Wraith.

There are some problem areas with this glitch. In particular, hijacking an Anti-Air Wraith becomes nearly impossible if the Wraith notices the player. If the player manages to jump onto the Wraith without being shot or splattered, the Wraith will continuously drive and back up in a circular motion, attempting to escape. Such erratic movements make it extremely difficult to keep a steady aim at the driver's head, and impossible to position oneself so that the "Hold RB to board Wraith" prompt does not appear. A player can counter this by stopping the vehicle with a Plasma Pistol overcharge or a Power Drain.

Cooperative Walkthrough[edit]

In cooperative play, two players (Person A and Person B) can cooperate to perform the glitch. On Local play, it does not matter which player acts out which role. On Xbox Live, however, only the host can act as Person A; if a client player acts as Person A, then at best they may end up "driving" the vehicle after it has exploded.

Find an Anti-Air Wraith.
Get Person B to board the Wraith, while Person A stands at its front or side and holds RB.
Person B should melee the driver and gunner normally.
As soon as the driver and gunner are killed, Person A will immediately enter the vehicle.

This method addresses the problem of accidentally boarding the Wraith when trying to drive it. By boarding the Wraith, Person B prevents Person A from accidentally doing the same. This guarantees that when Person A holds RB, they will enter the vehicle and pilot it.

Note that the Wraith will still explode when Person A exits it—even if another player is manning the turret.

Trivia[edit]

When piloted, the vehicle uses a temporary reticule that seems to be used for vehicles that lack unique reticles. This same reticule could be seen in several ViDocs and in the Halo 3 Beta, when using locked vehicles like the standard Wraith. It is possible that the Anti-Air Wraith is drivable because it is a modified version of the standard Wraith; it is also possible that Bungie once intended for it to be usable by players, but removed this capability due to the vehicle's immense firepower.
Notably, there is an animation that is seen only when the player gets out of the vehicle - the turret being contracted into its compartment. However, if the player starts The Covenant at Rally Point Alpha and gets a loading point (past the Banshees) and goes to Theater, the player will see the two Anti-Air Wraiths spawn with a gunner, but without the driver. The turret will be contracted, and strangely, the Anti-Air Wraith will not explode.
If hijacked, the main weapon can be fired at a rate much greater than is seen during normal gameplay; all one needs to do is button-mash on the right trigger. This is most likely because there was no wait between shots programmed, since it was not intended to be driven.
When doing this glitch on higher difficulties, Heroic and Legendary on Halo 3 (all difficulties on Halo 3: ODST), overcharging the plasma pistol will disable the Wraith, causing the Wraith to be still, giving the player a good opportunity to successfully hijack the Wraith. When the player attempts to hijack the Wraith, and the Wraith is not distracted, the Wraith will move erratically, and it is almost impossible to hijack the Wraith.
Unlike the Wraith's plasma turret, there is no apparent crosshair for the AA Wraith's turret.
Anti-Air Wraiths are quite rare in Halo 3: ODST. In ODST, all Wraiths, Anti-Air or otherwise, are rigged to explode when the driver dies or exits. This glitch must be performed to drive a Wraith at all (except for the levels Kikowani Station and Coastal Highway).
Hijacking the standard Wraith in Firefight makes it far easier to unlock the Vidmaster Challenge: Endure achievement. The Wraith is very vulnerable to Fuel Rod Guns, the Catch skull, and other Wraiths, however.
In the Season 2: Spark update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Anti-Air Wraiths were made spawnable in Forge mode on the Halo 3 maps Sandbox, Foundry and Avalanche. These Wraiths do not explode when exited.
When Halo 3: ODST's Firefight was added to MCC with Series 3: Recon, the Anti-Air Wraith was added to the list of driveable vehicles in custom Firefight, along with the AV-14 Hornet.

Gallery[edit]

A player successfully commandeering a Wraith in Halo 3.
Two players in an AA Wraith in Halo 3.
A player-controlled AA Wraith engages another Wraith in battle in Halo 3.
A player successfully commandeering a Wraith in Halo 3: ODST.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Era|H3}}
+{{Status|Gameplay}}
-{{ratings}}
+{{#widget:YouTube|id=P8zrJ6zlSaA|width=400|right}}
-[[Image:Pilot AA Wraith.jpg|thumb|right|Player piloting an AA Wraith.]]
+In the [[campaign]] and [[Firefight]] modes of ''[[Halo 3]]'' and ''[[Halo 3 ODST]]'', a glitch allows players to '''drive an {{Pattern|Ogab'd|anti-aircraft Wraith}} '''(and a normal {{Pattern|Zurdo|Wraith}} in ''Halo 3: ODST'') in any level it appears in. The glitch is a timing-related exploit that allows a player to kill the vehicle's driver and enter the cockpit before the {{Pattern|Zurdo|Wraith}} self-destructs.
-This is a guide on '''How to pilot an [[AA Wraith]]''' in any level it appears in.  Follow the steps below to achieve this task. It is to be noted however that the [[Wraith]] will self-destruct once you leave it.
-== Walkthrough ==
+It is to be noted, however, that the Wraith will self-destruct once you leave it. Avoid leaving the [[Thel 'Vadam|Arbiter]] or any [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marine]] in the turret; they will die when the vehicle self-destructs, and the deaths will be counted as [[betrayal]]s.
-# Find an AA Wraith.
-# Take out the gunner if necessary.
-# Stand on the hatch (the door) of the Wraith and [[melee]] it off (Weapons like [[M41_SSR_MAV/AW|Rocket Launchers]] or [[Spartan Laser|Spartan Lasers]] with a good [[melee]] force will smash open the hatch in one hit and not kill the driver). Or, on higher difficulties or with the Tilt skull on, you will probably have to board the Wraith and melee the hatch until it falls off, as a normal melee attack won't even dent the hatch.
-# After the hatch is off, hit the driver with a melee attack so his helmet is knocked off.
-# If you boarded the Wraith, get off and get on (not board) the Wraith. Once you see the drivers head, crouch and position yourself so you '''do not''' see "Hold RB to board Wraith".
-# '''Holding RB''', shoot the driver in the head until he dies (it's better using an [[MA5C_Individual_Combat_Weapon_System|Battle rifle]] or [[Type-25_Carbine|Covenant Carbine]]), once he does you will automatically enter the Wraith. Have fun.
-== Multiplayer Walkthrough ==
-# Find an AA Wraith
-# Get player 1 to board the Wraith, with player 2 holding RB at its front or side.
-# Get player 1 to melee the driver and gunner normally.
-# As soon as the driver and gunner are killed, player 2 will automatically get inside.
-== Video Walkthrough ==
-A video to help show you how to drive the Wraith using the directions from the above walkthrough.
-[[Video:How_to_Hijack_an_AA_Wraith|425px]]
-The important thing which is difficult to notice in this video is that you need to crouch, then start holding RB, then shoot the [[Brute]] in the head. If you do not crouch it is very difficult to actually get in the AA Wraith, even though it may not say "Hold RB to Board", you may simply just destroy it. Crouch to the left of the auto cannon and then shoot the Brute in the head.
 ==Explanation==
-[[Image:Wraith vs Wraith.jpg|thumb|right|A player-controlled AA Wraith engages another Wraith in battle.]]
+Anti-Air Wraiths and, in ''Halo 3: ODST'', normal Wraiths cannot normally be piloted because of a function [[Bungie]] attached to the vehicle: when the driver dies or exits, the vehicle self-destructs. This is why killing the driver before completing the glitch prevents it from working, and why the vehicle self-destructs when a player exits the cockpit.
-The reason you can't pilot this Wraith variant is because of a rule [[Bungie]] included in the development; and that rule is when the driver dies, the vehicle explodes. As you may have noticed, if you attempt to kill the driver in order for it to be unoccupied so you can use it, it will self-destruct when the driver is dead. If Bungie hadn't included this, you could just get in and out of the vehicle as much as you want. This is where the [[glitch]] comes into play. When you kill the driver while holding RB, you are quick enough to bypass this "rule" and get in the Wraith, tricking the system thinks that the driver never left the vehicle. The rule also explains why the Wraith will self-destruct when you leave it; as you have left the vehicle, the system now realizes that the driver is absent from the vehicle, so it carries out the correct action, thus destroying the Wraith.
-==Trivia==
+The glitch that allows players to pilot an Anti-Air Wraith is a timing exploit. If a player kills the driver while holding '''RB''', they will enter the vehicle the moment the driver dies—and before the vehicle self-destructs. The span of time at which the vehicle is pilot-less will be so brief that the game will fail to notice it, and thus will not destroy the vehicle.
-*When piloted, the vehicle uses a temporary reticule that seems to be used for vehicles that do not yet have a reticule of their own. This same reticule could be seen in several ViDocs and in the Beta when using locked vehicles like the standard Wraith. It is unknown whether Bungie ever intended for the player to use this vehicle and decided to remove this capability due to its over-powered nature or it is using an edited Wraith, and found it easier not to take away the driving ability but to make it explode. Another thing of note is that there is an animation that is seen only when the player gets out of the vehicle - the turret being contracted into it's compartment.
-*The plasma cannon of the vehicle has no targeting reticule. It is also of note that it does no damage, and [[Arbiter_%28Character%29|Arbiter's]] arms go through the base of the turret.
+== Walkthrough ==
+===Single-player walkthrough===
+#Find an AA Wraith on any level where one can be [[Naval boarding|boarded]]. [[The Covenant (level)|The Covenant]] is an excellent level for the purpose.
+#Kill the gunner, if necessary.
+#Stand on the front hatch of the Wraith and [[melee]] it off. [[Weapons]] like [[Rocket Launcher]]s or [[Spartan Laser]]s with a good melee force will smash open the hatch in one hit without killing the driver.
+#*On higher difficulties or with the [[Halo 3 skulls#Tilt|Tilt]] [[Halo 3 skulls|skull]] on, you will probably have to board the Wraith and melee the hatch until it falls off, as a normal melee attack won't even dent the hatch.
+#After the hatch is off, melee the driver to knock his helmet off. Do not kill the driver, or the glitch will fail.
+#If you boarded the Wraith, jump off of it. Jump on top of the Wraith ''without boarding it''. Once you see the pilot's head, crouch and position yourself so you ''do not'' see "Hold RB to board Wraith".
+#Melee the driver's [[jiralhanae power armor|armor]] off. After that, ''while holding '''RB''''', kill the driver, preferably with a [[Head Shot]]-capable weapon or continuing to melee him to death. Once he dies, you will immediately enter the Wraith.
-*[[UNSC_Marine_Corps|Marines]] will board the turret when you pilot the tank. Note: If you leave the Wraith with a marine still on the turret, they will die from the explosion and other allies in the area will react to his death as if you had betrayed him (friendly killed).
+There are some problem areas with this glitch. In particular, hijacking an Anti-Air Wraith becomes nearly impossible if the Wraith notices the player. If the player manages to jump onto the Wraith without being shot or splattered, the Wraith will continuously drive and back up in a circular motion, attempting to escape. Such erratic movements make it extremely difficult to keep a steady aim at the driver's head, and impossible to position oneself so that the "Hold RB to board Wraith" prompt does not appear. A player can counter this by stopping the vehicle with a [[Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol|Plasma Pistol]] overcharge or a [[Power drain|Power Drain]].
-*If hijacked, the main weapon can be fired at a rate much greater than is seen during normal gameplay, all one needs to do is button-mash on the Right Trigger. This is most likely because there was no wait between shots programed, since it was not intended to be driven.
+===Cooperative Walkthrough===
+In [[cooperative play]], two players (''Person A'' and ''Person B'') can cooperate to perform the glitch. On Local play, it does not matter which player acts out which role. On [[Xbox LIVE|Xbox Live]], however, only the [[Connection Host|host]] can act as ''Person A''; if a client player acts as ''Person A'', then at best they may end up [[Destroyed vehicles glitch|"driving" the vehicle after it has exploded]].
+#Find an Anti-Air Wraith.
+#Get ''Person B'' to board the Wraith, while ''Person A'' stands at its front or side and holds '''RB'''.
+#''Person B'' should melee the driver and gunner normally.
+#As soon as the driver and gunner are killed, ''Person A'' will immediately enter the vehicle.
+This method addresses the problem of accidentally boarding the Wraith when trying to drive it. By boarding the Wraith, ''Person B'' prevents ''Person A'' from accidentally doing the same. This guarantees that when ''Person A'' holds '''RB''', they will enter the vehicle and pilot it.
-*This is easier on the level [[The Storm (Level)|The Storm]].
+Note that the Wraith will still explode when ''Person A'' exits it—even if another player is manning the turret.
-*When driving, an AA wraith can easily destroy any other vehicle in the game, [[Warthogs]], [[Ghosts]], other [[Type-25_Assault_Gun_Carriage|Wraiths]], and even [[Scarabs]] will fall due to its button mashing fuel rod cannons.
+==Trivia==
+*When piloted, the vehicle uses a temporary [[reticule]] that seems to be used for vehicles that lack unique reticles. This same reticule could be seen in several [[ViDoc]]s and in the ''[[Halo 3 Beta]]'', when using locked vehicles like the standard Wraith. It is possible that the Anti-Air Wraith is drivable because it is a modified version of the standard Wraith; it is also possible that Bungie once intended for it to be usable by players, but removed this capability due to the vehicle's immense firepower.
-*On Xbox Live, this glitch will not work except for the host, but on rare occasions the other player attempting to drive will get into the destroyed Wraith as if it were still working, however it is immobile and cannot fire. This is possibly due to lag, as the aforementioned rule cannot be bypassed quickly enough.
+*Notably, there is an animation that is seen only when the player gets out of the vehicle - the turret being contracted into its compartment. However, if the player starts The Covenant at Rally Point Alpha and gets a loading point (past the Banshees) and goes to Theater, the player will see the two Anti-Air Wraiths spawn with a gunner, but without the driver. The turret will be contracted, and strangely, the Anti-Air Wraith will not explode.
+*If hijacked, the main weapon can be fired at a rate much greater than is seen during normal gameplay; all one needs to do is button-mash on the right trigger. This is most likely because there was no [[Wikipedia:Cooldown|wait between shots]] programmed, since it was not intended to be driven.
-*On the level [[The Covenant (Level)|The Covenant]], two Anti-Air Wraiths are non-drivable and are not boardable via RB. The two Wraiths can be found at the 3rd tower which [[Sergeant Johnson]] was captured.
+*When doing this glitch on higher difficulties, Heroic and Legendary on Halo 3 (all difficulties on Halo 3: ODST), overcharging the [[type-25 Directed Energy Pistol|plasma pistol]] will disable the Wraith, causing the Wraith to be still, giving the player a good opportunity to successfully hijack the Wraith. When the player attempts to hijack the Wraith, and the Wraith is not distracted, the Wraith will move erratically, and it is almost impossible to hijack the Wraith.
+*Unlike the Wraith's plasma turret, there is no apparent crosshair for the AA Wraith's turret.
-*A good way to do this is take a [[BR55HB_SR_Battle_Rifle|Battle Rifle]], melee the hatch off, then shoot the Brute while holding RB.(Good for the Covenant level)
+*Anti-Air Wraiths are quite rare in ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''. In ''ODST'', ''all'' Wraiths, Anti-Air or otherwise, are rigged to explode when the driver dies or exits. This glitch must be performed to drive a Wraith at all (except for the levels [[Kikowani Station (location)|Kikowani Station]] and [[Coastal Highway]]).
+*Hijacking the standard Wraith in [[Firefight (Halo 3: ODST)|Firefight]] makes it far easier to unlock the [[Vidmaster Challenge: Endure]] [[achievement]]. The Wraith is very vulnerable to [[Pez'tk-pattern fuel rod gun|Fuel Rod Guns]], the Catch skull, and other Wraiths, however.
-*It helps to use a charged plasma pistol shot to disable the vehicle while trying to perform this glitch. Since the driver [[AI]] will sometimes continuously spin the Wraith in an attempt to run you over. This causes you to move to a position where you board the Wraith, instead of hijacking it.
+*In the [[Season 2: Spark]] update for ''[[Halo: The Master Chief Collection]]'', Anti-Air Wraiths were made spawnable in [[Forge/Halo 3|Forge]] mode on the ''Halo 3'' maps [[Sandbox]], [[Foundry]] and [[Avalanche]]. These Wraiths do not explode when exited.
+*When Halo 3: ODST's Firefight was added to MCC with [[Series 3: Recon]], the Anti-Air Wraith was added to the list of driveable vehicles in custom Firefight, along with the [[AV-14 Hornet]].
-*If you use a Spartan Laser to shoot the AA driver's head then the shot may rebound and kill you.
-*If you want a long term of play in the AA then the best level to do it on is [[The Covenant (Level)|The Covenant]].
-*This glitch does not always work on the level the Ark. Additionally, when doing this glitch on [[The Ark (Level) | The Ark]], be sure to stay clear of the [[Forward Unto Dawn]], as the wind created by its landing can easily flip the Wraith, which will eject you and destroy the vehicle.
+==Gallery==
+<gallery>
+File:Pilot AA Wraith.jpg|A player successfully commandeering a Wraith in ''Halo 3''.
+File:AA wraith.jpg|Two players in an AA Wraith in ''Halo 3''.
+File:Wraith vs Wraith.jpg|A player-controlled AA Wraith engages another Wraith in battle in ''Halo 3''.
+File:ODST Wraith.jpg|A player successfully commandeering a Wraith in ''Halo 3: ODST''.
+</gallery>
-[[Category: Glitches]]
+{{Glitches}}
-[[Category:The Real World]]
+[[Category:Halo 3 glitches]]
-[[Category: Halo 3 Glitches]]
+[[Category:Halo 3: ODST glitches]]
-[[Category:Halo 3]]