Sandtrap

Sandtrap is a multiplayer map featured in Halo 3.

A birds-eye view of Sandtrap.

Summary

Sandtrap is a vast desert with rolling sand dunes, the second largest multiplayer map in the Halo franchise, the biggest map being Infinity.

It features odd Forerunner buildings and is encircled with a minefield that features vertically-launching mines to prevent players from venturing beyond its boundaries. Six large towers surround the outer extremities of the map, all connected by a large wall. The purpose and origin of these structures is unknown. The September 07 EGM stated that this was the site of a Brute excavation and UNSC forces (deployed from the frigate Aegis Fate, which hovers in the sky above the map) came along and removed them. ^[1] It has a heavy emphasis on vehicular combat. Most of the vehicles in the game are on this map - for example, the "bases" are a pair of UNSC Elephants at opposite ends of the recently unearthed Forerunner ruins.

History

It was first announced in the June 2007 issue of Gamepro. It may also be the "large map" Bungie sparsely talked about in one of their updates. This was not one of the three maps featured in the public Halo 3 Beta. This map was originally named Shrine, but was confirmed to have been renamed to Sandtrap in the July 13, 2007 Bungie Weekly Update.

Spawns

Weapons

MA5C Assault Rifle
Brute Shot
Rocket Launcher
Spartan Laser
Missile Pod
AIE-486H Heavy Machinegun (on the elephant)
Gravity Hammer
SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
Battle Rifle
Shotgun

Equipment

Vehicles

Brute Chopper
Warthog
Ghost
UNSC Aegis Fate (Unusable, in the background)
Phantom (Unusable, crashed near the Banshee spawn)
Banshee
Albatross (Unusable, crashed near one of the Elephants)
Elephant
Mongoose

Game Variants

Raiders: Usually an eight to sixteen person game. First, divide the team evenly, then one team gathers together on an elephant, and make their way around the map (They want to have a few anti-vehicle weapons, but mostly anti-personnel weapons, like the battle rifle). The other team gathers together on mongooses, choppers, and maybe one warthog (usually the guys in mongooses want to carry brute shots, spartan lasers, and rocket launchers; and attack the elephant. The goal is to either a. Make the prerequisite amount of kills, or b. take the elephant from the opposing team, and the two teams roles are switched.It may not sound fun, but it gets better.

Strategies & Miscellaneous

File:BruteMine.jpg

A Brute mine on Sandtrap

Bungie accelerated the respawn timer for vehicles to 15 seconds. Take advantage of that.
Avoid fighting on foot through this large level.
If stuck try heading for the ruins at the center of the map.
Make sure you have plenty of grenades and explosive weapons.
GamePro has stated that Sandtrap "...has few ties to older Halo 2 maps, but it's massive size recalls Relic."
At E3, a map was shown on video. It was said by viewers to be called "Sand Trap" — in contrast to having been called "Shrine" before that point — and was labeled "... the largest map ever to be in Halo." The new name of Sand Trap was confirmed in the July 12 Bungie podcast.
Note that all vehicles at full speed (or players in custom matches where player speed is increased) can outrun the landmines surrounding the shrines. Note that landmines will attack the player even if in a low-flying Banshee. Driving into the minefield might be effective for losing pursuers.(Also note that there is NO safe place in the minefield, not even places where mines have already gone off, they will quickly respawn)
If the player manages to flip the Elephant, when approached, instead of the "Hold RB to flip [vehicle name]" message, the player will recieve "Hold RB to flip... wait, what? How did you do that?"
Some players say that the Phantom is a Scarab because if you look at the top details it's more in a shape of a Scarab than a Phantom. This is false though. In some campaign missions you can see crashed Phantoms which look same as Phantom in Sandtrap.
Close inspection reveals that the minefield outside the map is probably Brute made because the explosives that lift out of the ground have several small spikes. Each mine is shaped like a Spike Grenade, only without the handle.
One fun thing to do is to have two or more pairs of people on a mongoose chasing each other down with heavy weapons, such as the brute shot, spartan laser, or rocket launcher. If you're insane enough, you can grab a hammer and try that as well. This activity is called "Mongoose jousting."

Images

Shrine.jpg
UNSC Battle Cruiser 1.jpg
Elephantwr8.jpg
M808 Scorpion on Sandtrap.PNG
H3 MP Sandtrap.jpg

References

^ Electronic Gaming Monthly September 2007 page 70

Gamepro Magazine, July 2007 edition