Scarab Gun

This article is about the Scarab gun found in Halo 2. For types of Scarab, see Scarab. For other real-world uses of the word, see Scarab (disambiguation).

The Scarab Gun, floating above a traffic cone atop a bridge.

"Think, MASSIVE FIREPOWER! For one level only."

— Frank O'Connor

The Scarab Gun is a hidden Plasma Rifle with the firepower of a Type-47A Scarab's focus cannon. It is hidden in the Halo 2 level Metropolis. Like the Da Vinci Code Objects, the Scarab Gun is simply a placeholder object that generates the Scarab's firing effect.

Overview

The Scarab Gun has similar appearance as a normal Plasma Rifle. It has unlimited ammo, continuous rapid fire, and never overheats. Due to its tremendous firepower and immense splash-damage, firing the weapon at close range will normally kill the player.

Walkthrough

It is recommended for the player to attempt to obtain the Scarab Gun on Easy difficulty. The most popular method is the banshee method, since it can be done on single player, and the player can fly back down to the level normally after getting the Scarab Gun. However, other methods are also described below.

Banshee Method

Since the player cannot fly the banshee into the tunnel, due to an elastic barrier, the banshee has to be lured through the tunnel.

1. Proceed normally as you would till the end of the bridge. Kill all allies and enemy ground vehicles, and commandeer a ghost.
2. To lure a Banshee into the tunnel, simply drive in reverse and fire around at a Banshee. Try to avoid firing directly at the Banshee. When the banshee follows you, you can start driving forward. Keep it from getting too close or too far, as either will make the banshee turn around and try to fly out of the tunnel.
3. Some allies will spawn in a Warthog. The marines are invincible until they reach the jackals/road block in the tunnel. Eliminate them to avoid them from damaging/destroying the Banshee you lured. Feel free to also kill all enemy infantries to avoid interruptions. At the same time, repeat step #3 to keep luring the Banshee into the tunnel.
4. Avoid taking your eyes off the banshee while in the tunnel. It may despawn, especially in co-op.
5. Once you reach the closed section of the roadway and have to detour off into the pipes, you should dismount your Ghost if you have not done so. Lure the Banshee into this detour as you would with a Ghost by firing around it.
6. In the detour hallway, lure the Banshee to the left path that leads to the next section of the campaign level. Try to melee it slowly into tunnel.
7. It will get stuck due to the narrowness of the tunnel. At this point, you should fire off the Banshee's wings.
8. The loadzone is just inside the tunnel. Board the banshee as it's flying through it to prevent it from despawning. The barrier will deload, preventing the banshee from being destroyed.
9. Proceed out of the tunnel and fly off to the suspension bridges. You will see the Scarab Gun will be hovering on a cone.

Note: the Sputnik skull and Black Eye skull are recommended for this, but not necessarily required. The Sputnik skull essentially makes objects lighter while the Black Eye skull allows players to boost their energy shield by meleeing an enemy.

Note: if the Banshee is stuck between scenery objects in the tunnel, simply walk behind it and move backwards slowly to get it unstuck.

Note: Having another player will ease the process.

Banshee Method with AUP

The banshee method can be extremely simplified by using AUP. This is because elites are unaffected by the barrier, meaning you can fly through the tunnel if you AUP an elite. The method is described below.

1. Start Metropolis on co-op, any difficulty except Legendary, and no iron. Do not shoot or throw grenades unless told to! Enable Envy. MCC Only: Enable Piñata as well.
2. Get the marines in the warthog and park them in the back corner. Make sure they don't run out onto the bridge.
3. MCC Only: Punch the second player two times. Make sure nobody picks up any grenades.
4. Drive the Scorpion Tank into the corner and maneuver it against the wall until it "rides" up on the wall/railing facing the water.
5. Move the tank to the left and lower it so it sits on the edge of some windows above the ground.
6. Have the player who died (or got punched) crawl under the tank. The other player should jump off to his death.
7. If done correctly, the player should not respawn. Restart the mission.
8. One player goes forward a bit until they near the first bus/set of ghosts. Make sure they don't shoot at you.
9. The second player should die, while the first player uses camo and moves forward. They should jump and melee when they're about to hit the ground, repeatedly, to delay the other player's respawn.
10. When you see two ghosts boosting towards you from across the bridge, you can let the player respawn.
11. They should spawn as an elite.

The elite can't hijack banshees on his own, so the spartan player will have to hijack a banshee and give it to him. However, the elite can fly the banshee all the way through the tunnel. When he goes through the loadzone in the banshee, the elite player will "despawn" and the player will respawn normally, but the banshee will remain.

Note: If the elite player exits the banshee at all while it's in the tunnel, the banshee will explode. This is because the game, at that point, recognizes that a player is piloting the banshee, and applies the "proper" physics.

Other Scarab Guns

There are actually three Scarab Guns in Halo 2—one on Outskirts and two on Metropolis. The other two Scarab Guns are scripted guns that shoot the scarab beam in place of the scarab itself. As with most scripted guns, they float in the air and disappear after their scripted firing. However, players can still pick these up. Bungie never expected players to reach these Scarab Guns and never disabled their pickup.

Outskirts Scarab Gun

The Outskirts Scarab Gun normally spawns when driving through the tunnel. It fires a beam through a hole in the ceiling, and hits the warthog flying by. There are currently a few methods of obtaining this Scarab Gun.

Out of Bounds Launch

1. On Outskirts with the Black eye and Sputnik skulls on, get a Rocket Launcher and grenades.
2. Get in a Type-32 Ghost and go to the highway tunnel. (Fun fact: if you go against the wall and out toward the water you can slip outside the map.)
3. Go to the edge of the building and turn left. Now go boost forward until you get a checkpoint.
4. When the checkpoint is activated, get out and aim at the ground. Throw a grenade, shoot the ground with a rocket, and, at the same time, jump.
5. With an Overshield, you should fly up in the air.
6. Hold the pickup button and you should (if in the right place) pick it up and land on the wall.

You can simplify the process in co-op. Having a co-op partner means that you can pickup the Scarab Gun without having to land on the wall, and it should not despawn when you fall to your death. You can also use AUP.

AUP Methods

Possessing either a Pelican or Phantom will allow the other player to fly into the Scarab Gun when launching up the wall. Additionally, possessing a Phantom can give the player enough speed to fly through the beam while inside the tunnel. Due to its simpler and more consistent setup, the phantom possession method is described below.

1. At the start of Outskirts on co-op, use debris to block the marines from exiting the room you start in.
2. Do not take ANY shots or throw ANY grenades unless instructed. This is very important.
3. Jump over the debris and scare the first grunt (do not shoot!). Do not progress down the ramp.
4. Have one player grab Johnson's sniper rifle and get into the pelican. They should crouch in the back corner.
5. Kill the other player with exactly 2 shots from the sniper. If crouched in the corner correctly, the other player should not respawn.
6. Restart the mission.
7. Repeat steps 1-4, but don't have the player go into the pelican.
8. Kill the second player with 2 shots. Melee repeatedly while advancing down the ramp and behind the trash can. This will delay the player's respawn.
9. Ensure no enemies shoot at you. Stop meleeing when you hear the phantom.
10. If done correctly, the player should respawn as the phantom.

Note that when you proceed past the first loadzone, the phantom will get stuck under the map. Going through the second loadzone may teleport the phantom correctly, or it will get stuck in the wall again, or it will despawn and the player will appear in a new body. If the phantom gets stuck in the ceiling, go back through the loadzone while adjusting the phantom's position to try to teleport it inside the map. Note that going too quickly back and forth through loadzones will usually result in the phantom despawning. Once you've done this, you can use the launching method described above, or just boost and fly through the scarab beam.

Metropolis Scarab Gun (Alternate)

The second Metropolis Scarab Gun appears just before the scarab rounds the corner and blows up the tank. It fires the initial beam that the player sees before the scarab. Much like the Outskirts Gun, this is a scripted Scarab Gun that despawns after firing, but picking it up will prevent this.

1. On Co-op, at Metropolis, fight until you clear the city center.
2. Before you talk to Corporal Perez, use an alternate method to get on top of the building, such as a grenade launch, or by flying the banshee.
3. Get outside the map on the left side of the top of the building. You should be following where the scarab goes.
4. Once you can see the last area of the map with the bridges, go back. This will prevent the second player from teleporting.
5. Have one player stand where the Scarab arrives. Have the other go into the building and up to the top flight of stairs.
6. A few steps beyond will load the Scarab Gun. This is where you can adjust your setup as needed.
7. When it loads, have the first player perform an Overshield-, Rocket-, Grenade-, or Sputnik-jump (or really any "boosted" jump) into the scarab's laser—or into the blue cloud, if there is one—and hold X, and they will pick up yet another Scarab Gun.

Note that the player doesn't have to live, but the scarab may knock the gun far away if the player dies.

Trivia

• The Scarab Gun has a slightly different appearance than a normal Plasma Rifle. On co-op, when you get the gun, have your partner look at you while you are dual-wielding it with a Plasma Rifle. There is a glow at the tip of the Plasma Rifle, that is not present on the Scarab Gun (although you can do it on single player).
• Obtaining the Scarab Gun in Halo 2 for Windows Vista will unlock the King of the Scarab achievement. Obtaining it in Halo: The Master Chief Collection will unlock the Scarab Lord achievement.
• Interestingly, the safety cone underneath the gun has multiple "Danger" signs on it, showing that the gun might have been put there intentionally to keep it away from others. Also, this is supported by the fact that Bungie put in an actual model (the plasma rifle's model) for the weapon, unlike other vehicles' .weapon tag (weapons are not specified in the vehicle tag).
• If the player gets into the side seat of a Warthog and fires the Scarab gun, the screen (except for the HUD) will go completely white until the player stops firing. That is because, in third person, the weapon's gleam is as large as the Scarab's main gun.
• If you give a marine this Easter egg, he will hold it as if it were a normal plasma rifle, but he will never fire it. Bungie might have expected this and took steps to prevent this in order to balance the game AIs.
• The Scarab Gun was originally used by Joseph Staten to generate the cinematic effect of the Scarab beam firing. According to him, it ended up in the game because he forgot to take it out. However, designer Tyson Green has confirmed that the Scarab Gun was intentionally left in the game as an Easter egg.
• If you grab the gun and make it to the part when the Scarab shoots the Scorpion tank, you can destroy the Scorpion yourself and the Scarab will refrain from firing.
• Scarab Gun appeared as a skull with Scarab emblem on Halo 2 Anniversary and can be played at any level with the Scarab Gun skull on. Weapons wielded by players will function like the Scarab Gun.

Gallery

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  A single shot from the Scarab Gun

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  The result of firing the Scarab Gun when in the passenger seat of the Warthog.