Floodgate/Walkthrough

Halo 3
	Prev:	The Storm
	Next:	The Ark
Floodgate
Level overview
Player(s):	John-117
Objective(s):	Stop the Infestation and find Cortana
Location(s):	Voi, East African Protectorate
Gameplay overview
Default weapons:	MA5C assault rifle BR55HB battle rifle
Available weapons:	Human M90 shotgun Machine Gun Turret Covenant Energy Sword Gravity Hammer
Enemies:	Flood Pure Form Combat Form Carrier Form Infection Form

Floodgate is essentially a reversal of The Storm. Players will have to backtrack from the Covenant Anti-Aircraft Battery to Lakebed A, fighting their way through a massive Flood infection. The level is the first Flood-only level in the game, introducing Combat Forms, Pod infectors, and Pure Forms.

Overview

Finding your way around Floodgate shouldn't be much of a problem—you're backtracking your footsteps all the way to Lakebed A in the previous level. This is the first mission in which you fight the Flood, making it a new experience when fighting the newly evolved Pure Forms. Keep in mind the useful weapons when in combat with them and any other Flood, especially on higher difficulties. This is a good starter mission for engaging the Flood. You can test the best technique of dispatching them without dying, because although there are some instructions about where to go and what to do, there are a billion other techniques that work just as well.

The recommended skulls on Legendary are Tough Luck and Catch. Tough Luck may cost you a few multi-kill bonuses, but grenades aren't a vital part of your arsenal during this mission. Catch is, as in all other Flood-only missions, a consequence-free multiplier—the Flood don't use grenades, so leaving it inactivated is a waste. All other skulls except Famine are okay on this mission, so try activating one of them too. You may not want to activate Fog if you aren't skilled at close combat with the Flood. Due to its short length, this level is arguably the easiest level to beat with Iron activated. Mythic is a consequence-free multiplier, as there are no Covenant enemies present on this level. Tilt is not recommended on this or any other Flood level.

Weapon instructions in this level can be freely followed, as you will receive new weapons after this level - the Battle Rifle and a Sniper Rifle.

Statistics

New in Floodgate

Introduced in this level...

New Enemies:	Pod infector, Flood Combat Form, Flood Carrier Form, Flood Stalker Form, Flood Ranged Form, Flood Tank Form
New Vehicles:
New Items:
New Weapons:	Flamethrower, Energy Sword

Campaign Scoring

Points information

Exterminator Achievement Milestone:	15,000 points
Recommended Multiplier:	6.5x (Tough Luck (1.5) + Catch (1.5) + Thunderstorm (1.5) + Mythic (2))
Time Bonus
0-10 min	3×
10-15 min	2.5×
15-20 min	2×
20-25 min	1.5×

Starting Weapons

Player V Starting Point >	Mission Start	Rally Point Alpha	Mission Start Respawn	Rally Point Alpha Respawn
Master Chief Primary Weapon Solo	BR55HB SR Battle Rifle	BR55HB SR Battle Rifle	N/A	N/A
Master Chief Secondary Weapon Solo	MA5C Assault Rifle	MA5C Assault Rifle	N/A	N/A
Master Chief Grenades Solo	2 M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenades	2 M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenades	N/A	N/A
Master Chief Primary Weapon Co-op	BR55HB SR Battle Rifle	BR55HB SR Battle Rifle	BR55HB SR Battle Rifle	BR55HB SR Battle Rifle
Master Chief Secondary Weapon Co-op	MA5C Assault Rifle	MA5C Assault Rifle	MA5C Assault Rifle	MA5C Assault Rifle
Master Chief Grenades Co-op	2 M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenades	2 M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenades	2 M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenades	2 M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenades
Thel 'Vadam Primary Weapon N'tho 'Sraom Primary Weapon Usze 'Taham Primary Weapon	Type-51 Carbine	Type-51 Carbine	Type-51 Carbine	Type-51 Carbine
Thel 'Vadam Secondary Weapon N'tho 'Sraom Secondary Weapon Usze 'Taham Secondary Weapon	Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle	Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle	Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle	Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle
Thel 'Vadam Grenades N'tho 'Sraom Grenades Usze 'Taham Grenades	2 Anskum-pattern plasma grenades	2 Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenades	2 Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenades	2 Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenades

Walkthrough (In-depth)

It Followed Me Home (Mission Start)

Storage Area

If you're skilled with the Battle Rifle and are trying to get the Exterminator achievement, you may want to look to the right of the path that is about to be described. There, in the distance, if you are quick enough, you may see several Flood Combat Forms assault a small group of Marines. They will begin to retreat, though if you fire at them, they may turn to face you, and strafe instead of running away. For quick kills without using a lot of ammo, aim for their chests to kill the Pod infectors that reside inside of them. When you're done with that, proceed as you normally would...

Backtrack down the path you took to get to the Anti-Aircraft Battery. Make your way down the hill, and enter the Storage Area where you previously fought the Brute Chieftain. There will be a building on your right. Just after the checkpoint—right when a Marine says, "All squads, report!"—a Flood Combat Form will appear on the roof and jump over the street. If you kill this Flood during his jump (or right as he starts to jump), he will drop the Fog skull. Collect Frag Grenades, a Gravity Hammer en route. Retain the battle rifle for the time being.

As you approach the Marines—some of which are gathered behind a pile of sandbags, standing next to weapons lockers— attacker forms will drop down and start attacking your allies. The safest course of action at this point would be to hang back and wait for the Flood to finish the Marines off, as it is very unlikely to save any of them, as a single pod infector will easily make work of them. Additionally, on Heroic and Legendary, additional attacker forms will join the battle from the fenced off area, which can potentially entrap a player if they don't handle the initial group fast enough.

Scour the area for more Shotgun ammo—this is your main weapon during this mission, so always be on the look out for more cartridges. There are four Shotguns in the Storage Area, along with Battle Rifle ammo and the Assault Rifles dropped by your fallen allies, so make sure you have a full amount of ammo before moving on. There will also be a Shotgun to the left of the next room.

Warehouse

Inside this warehouse, engaging the Flood over open ground is clearly suicidal. Though only a few carry weapons, their sheer numbers and the scattered Pod infectors (reanimating additional corpses) make it easy to be overwhelmed. The recommended way of dealing with massive amount of Flood is to launch a brief attack before taking a defensive position and encouraging the Flood to come to you.

Although a few Marines are present in the area, they are likely to be overwhelmed by the attacker forms. Midway through the battle, additional attacker forms will leap in from the stacked containers, some of which are armed with weapons. The player has the option of killing them or waiting them out, as they are scripted to explode into pod infectors after a short time.

There is some potentially useful equipment here, including a Trip Mine, a Bubble Shield, and a Regenerator; these items are common throughout the mission. The most useful is probably the Regenerator, as armed Combat Forms can rapidly deplete your shields.

The next encounter will have a few more Marines and armed attacker forms, alongside two carrier forms. The Marines will be quickly overrun, so don't bother trying to save them and instead focus on finding a good holdout spot, as attacker forms will often try to flank you. A few fusion coils near the carrier forms can be detonated, although they are unlikely to kill much enemies. Try to find a Deployable cover before jumping down; any surviving Marines will not follow the player at this point, so leave them behind. After the encounter, follow the path down to encounter a Cortana Event. Take note of the ammo lockers and fill up on battle rifle ammo.

The confined hallways will contain a large amount of armed attacker forms so players with a deployable cover should drop it just around the corner, which will cause most of them to get stuck behind it. If the cover isn't available, toss a few frag grenades instead to destroy them, as you will be quickly killed if you try to rush them on higher difficulties. Once this group is dealt with, run past the Suicidal Marine and into Lakebed B.

Shadow of Intent (Rally Point Alpha)

Lakebed B

Upon moving past a specific point, a cutscene will ensue in which Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum will drop several Special Operations Officers Sangheili and a Sangheili Major. On lower difficulties, the Sangheili will make easy work of the attacker forms littering the area, but they will be quickly slaughtered on higher difficulties. If the player wishes to keep them alive, do not trigger the cutscene and instead snipe the attacker forms from afar. They will slowly shuffle towards the player, allowing them to be easily dealt with. The only drawback in doing this is that several pod infectors will try to attack the player from under them and revive some preplaced corpses.

While the Sangheili are welcome allies, the player should try to remain behind them or quickly kill enemies before they have a chance to fight, as they are notorious for grenade lobbing and may unintentionally betray the player doing so. Regardless of the route taken, grab additional battle rifle ammo before jumping down onto the lakebed, where a set of two Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifles from a dead Sangheili. As the player moves across to the other end of the lakebed, a group of attacker forms will leap from the chasm while additional will come down from the ramp along with two carrier forms. The attacker forms will begin using heavier equipment, such as brute shots.

(Occasionally, the Catch skull may cause them to grenade themselves off the cliff and to their deaths.)

Factory B

As you enter the factory, avoid trying to fight the attacker forms in the open. Stay near the damaged truck and try to draw the Flood out. Shoot each of them one-by-one as they approach, ideally with the battle rifle.

As you leave the low corridor, additional attacker forms will drop down from the ceiling. They'll generally land in close proximity of each other, so drop your second Plasma Rifle and throw a grenade or two into their midst. Then, retrieve your second Plasma Rifle and dispatch any that remain. Quickly run underneath the walkway to avoid being shot by the second wave. They'll arrive through the door above, so stay alert. Wait at the bottom of the stairway to take out any that run down. The Arbiter will take care of the rest. It could help to deploy a Regenerator at the bottom of staircase. Once the second wave has lost enough attacker forms, the rest will explode into pod infectors.

On the upper level of this building, you can find a second Flamethrower. This isn't the best of weapons to deal with the Combat Forms, but it should make easy work of the Pure Forms outside.

Lakebed A

Another group of Sangheili is usually (but not always) dropped off as you exit the warehouse—they will be deployed if the previous group of Sangheili were wiped out. A second group will also drop towards the objective area but this group will not fight for long. The player will begin encountering Pure Forms, of which one Flood stalker form is found blended in some containers. Additionally, Sangheili attacker forms will begin appearing, and on higher difficulties, one will carry a Energy Sword; try to kill this one quickly, as it will instantly kill the player if it manages to melee them.

Make sure the immediate area is clear before picking up an Energy Sword to replace your Plasma Rifles. If you can't find one, pick one up the next battle. Detach the Machine Gun Turret and carefully walk along the concrete path. A flood ranged form will latch onto a tower and fire at the player; try to kill it off with plasma rifles or force it into cover by firing from the machine gun. If you rush, there is a big chance of being surrounded, so slowly advance, dealing with any attacker forms that draw near, and choose cover that shelters you from incoming projectiles.

At the far end of the concrete path, use grenades to weaken the large groups of Flood before using your Energy Sword to finish them off. With other weapons, it would take forever to kill a Tank Form on Legendary, but the Energy Sword can down a Tank Form in one swipe. Move into the corner of the area and lure the Flood to your position. They'll come in manageable numbers, so they shouldn't be too difficult.

Infinite Devil Machine

Finish your objective by heading into the Flood ship and retrieving what seems to be Cortana. Remember not to fire your weapon—if a stray bullet hits a Flood Blister growing on the wall, it will release several Pod infectors, and since killing them does not earn you any points, there is no benefit in fighting them.

Walkthrough (Brief)

It Followed Me Home... (Mission Start)

Backtrack along the path you took to get to the Anti-Air Battery. On the left side, when first heading south, there is a Gravity Hammer lying behind an overturned vehicle. Swap your Assault Rifle for it.

As you enter the next section, where Marines are waiting for you, Combat Forms will drop from the roof. Take advantage of the Gravity Hammer's splash damage or your Battle Rifle's headshot capability to make short work of the Flood. After the engagement, you may swap your Hammer for a Shotgun if you so desire. Continue through the office behind the door through which you entered this area on The Storm.

Here, you will see a Marine being ambushed by Pod infectors. Your chance of saving his life is slim, though you will have to kill the Pod infectors regardless. Inside the main room, there is a swarm of Combat Forms. Get their attention by shooting or lobbing frags at them, and then pick them off with a Shotgun or Battle Rifle as they climb (or jump) up the stairs to the office. If you still have your Hammer and are feeling daring, you can exit the office, smash a few Combat Forms, and then retreat back to the office; staying outside, however, will get you surrounded and killed.

When the Flood have been dealt with, grab a Trip Mine, a Regenerator, or a Bubble Shield, and then continue forward. The next section after the wall of shipping containers contains additional Combat Forms; kill them. Go up the stairs, across the bridge, and around. Drop through the hole for a Cortana Moment. Pass the two weapons lockers, and then turn right. There are several Flood camping around the 180° turn; counter this by throwing two grenades, and then finish off any survivors. (Frags can be bounced off of the wall, to hit them without exposing yourself.) Pass the Suicidal Marine and continue.

Shadow of Intent (Rally Point Alpha)

Several Elites will be dropped at your location. Aid them in killing the Flood, and then continue. Go through the indoor area. A swarm of Flood will jump down from where a swarm of Drones flew in The Storm. As always, you will be fine if you don't let them surround you.

When you get outside, kill the Stalker Form. If it turns its back and changes form, it can be assassinated. Kill the Combat Forms in this area, then deal with the Pure Forms. Grab the Machine Gun Turret, detach it, and walk down the path to the right, killing anything in your way. When you pass under the metal pipe, be careful because there are several Pure Forms. Kill them and make your way to the entrance to the Flood ship.

Alternatively, if you are skilled at deploying equipment in precise locations, you can place a Deployable Cover in front of the Machine Gun Turret (without detaching it) to create an instant machine-gun nest that is extremely powerful against Pure Forms. Like any machine-gun nest, it is weak against flanking; keep your Elites alive (give supporting machine gun fire) so that they can defend your flanks. If you are playing Co-op, your partners can defend you. One Ranged Form will be out of the machine gun's range, so kill it with your Battle Rifle. Make your way to the entrance to the Flood ship.

Infinite Devil Machine

There are no enemies here and no risk of getting lost, so just charge through until you find Cortana. Don't shoot the Flood Blisters unless you want to make the journey harder for yourself. A swarm of Pod infectors can overwhelm you, especially on higher difficulties like Legendary.

Preceded by The Storm

Halo 3 Campaign Walkthrough for: Floodgate

Succeeded by The Ark