Gravemind Walkthrough

Halo 2
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Gravemind

Weapons

• Plasma Pistol
• Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle
• Brute Plasma Rifle
• Needler
• Covenant Carbine
• Particle Beam Rifle
• Brute Shot
• Energy Sword
• Fuel Rod Gun
• Plasma Grenade
• Fragmentation Grenade
• Shade
• Plasma Cannon
• Anger Skull (Legendary Only)

Vehicles

• Frigate UNSC In Amber Clad (non-drivable)

Normal Walkthrough

Overview

This is the longest level in Halo 2. There's a reason it's the last one to get a walkthrough posted: this level will take you a while. Parts of it are tedious, but it's quite worth it in the end.

A couple of prerequisites: You'll be taking on Brutes for the first time. They don't have shields, but they're quite tough. Brutes have far more health than Elites. Guys at Bungie call them "damage sponges". At least their damage is cumulative, unlike Elites whose shields recharge, so every shot you land sticks with that particular Brute, but they have their own cunning ways of killing you.

Besides just being hard to kill, they also have one trait you haven't seen before. The last Brute in a pack will often go berserk. He will charge at you and attempt to melee you to death. Since he's faster than you when he's going berserk, you usually can't just retreat. So you'll want to be ready to deal with a berserk Brute when you kill his pack mates, by attempting to stick him or shoot him down.

There are two primary ways to kill Brutes in this level. A magazine of needles will kill a Brute easily, and in fact at the start of the level a Needler is the only weapon you have. Be warned, they tend to duck behind cover when threatened with incoming needles, which just wastes your ammo because the needles will harmlessly impact on a wall.

If you have dual Needlers, you'll be able to unload a lethal dose much faster.

However, relying too heavily on Needlers to deal with Brutes is not recommended if you intend to go higher on the difficulty levels. The best weapon to deal with a Brute from medium distance (which is where you'll usually be) is a Covenant Carbine.

The problem is that the Carbine doesn't kill Brutes very efficiently if you just fire randomly at the Brute. That will require about a magazine and a half, and besides using up too much ammo, with a charging Brute you might not have enough time to get in that many shots. Instead, you need to head-shot him. once the helmet is off, all you need is a single headshot. One to three shots should take off his helmet. When you have a headshot lined up, a small dot will appear in the middle of the reticule. Don't take a lot of time lining up your shot, just fire as soon as you see the dot appear and the Brute should go down.

Sniper weapons kill Brutes too, but they take two head shots or several body shots to do it. Brute Shots, seen for the first time in this level, also work pretty well at short- to medium-range. You'll have to learn to aim them a bit high because the shot arcs.

The blade on the Brute Shot is not just for show; the Brute Shot is also one of the best melee weapons in the game as only the Energy Sword out damages it. But unless you can sneak up on a Brute from the back, you'll have to get in several melee hits to kill him, and he will be pummeling you at the same time.

Part 1: Inside Job

Council Chamber

The level starts right as the Master Chief transports in and grabs a Needler dropped by a panicked Grunt.

As the gameplay begins, you are under assault by two Brute Honor Guards. If you can, pick up the other Needler dropped by the other Grunt in the cutscene—it's a bit behind you and to your right. (You can get by with one Needler, but it's harder.) Use the Needlers to fire on the Jiralhanae, as the explosions can kill them easily. As soon as you kill the first Brute, get ready to start backing up quickly, because the other one will go berserk, charge you, and attempt to melee you to death. Pump needles into him as he charges until he's dead.

Now get ready for a Minor Brute with a Minor and Major Grunt, who are about to enter from a door on the side of the chamber. The new Brute is not as tough as the guardsmen you fought a minute ago, but he's still difficult to take down, especially on Legendary. Use the time you have before they enter to grab a Brute Plasma Rifle as your backup weapon—the Honor Guards you just killed have left a couple behind. The general idea is to use the Plasma Rifle on Grunts and save your needles for the Brutes. An alternative is to dual wield the Brute Plasma Rifles (since there are two available) as your main weapon; I find that tedious because it takes a lot of plasma shots to kill a Brute, and you can't aim them that well from across the room. On the other hand, it still gets the job done well.

Use the areas in the corners close to the throne area for cover during the first group's assault, and come out to pick them off one by one. Later, move to the back of the room as more enemies appear. The cover in the back corners is even better than the cover in the front corners.

A Minor Brute will appear on the ledge overhead, armed with a Covenant Carbine. Kill him as soon as he appears, and use the Terminals to jump up to the spectator stand. Grab his rifle and return.

Two Minor Brutes (sometimes one Minor and a Major) will come up to the throne. Needle them if you have any needles left, or use the Carbine or Plasma Rifle if you don't. Then scavenge for weapons, go to the back of the room near one of the pedestals, and wait until Cortana finishes talking about Truth and opens the door for you.

The next room is a pattern you'll see several times. Inside the door is a wall that you go around to get to the rest of the room. Don't do that yet; instead, whip out your Brute Plasma Rifle. Several Minor Grunts, led by a Major, will come charging around the wall; it's easy to dispatch them one at a time. Additionally, they'll furnish you with some more needles, which may be helpful in the next fight.

On the other side of the wall, the room slopes upward to another similar wall, with a door behind it. At the top of the slope, a Grunt Heavy mans a stationary gun. There are also two Minor Brutes up there who will peek out and fire Carbine rounds at you. Use your Carbine to kill them quickly.

If you have no Carbine, or even if you do and the Brutes won't stand still enough to shoot from a distance, you'll have to charge in. Take advantage of the cover along the sides, and take out the Jiralhanae with grenades.

Now to deal with the Unggoy. Use the Carbine if you have one to eradicate the Grunt on the turret, and then use it to kill any stragglers. Reload, have your Carbine ready, and advance towards the door until it opens.

Outside the door is a platform with a Grav Lift at the other end that you'll eventually need to get to. If you watched the cutscene where the Arbiter was tortured, the platform should look familiar. Another Jiralhanae Honor Guardsman will be outside the door a bit to the left; take him out quickly with Carbine headshots—you'll probably need four shots. After killing him, if you need ammo, this is a good time to dash to a weapons locker outside the door and to the left. It has a couple of Carbines to resupply the one you're carrying.

Use your cunning and superior firepower to eliminate the two Kig-Yar and another Jiralhanae. Keep your distance from the lift as Minor, Major, and Heavy Unggoy float up through the lift. Dispatch them before they can inflict too much damage. After that, a Brute Captain will appear from the lift. Kill him with the Carbine.

After dealing with them all, reload your Carbine—there's another Carbine locker at the end of the platform on the right. Pick up the Brute Shot from the late Captain. It doesn't have much ammo, but for the next mini-battle you don't need much, and in fact you can just melee your way through it with the Brute Shot if you prefer. But first you have to get to it.

Go to the end of the platform. Cortana will appear and tell you to step into the Grav Lift. (If you dawdle, she will tease you a bit with a few remarks.) Go behind the Grav Lift and enter it from that side, so you'll be facing the right direction when you land.

Step in, and as you descend, you'll see Minor Grunts and a Jackal Sniper on the platform you're landing on. Take out your Brute Shot and fire a couple rounds, and then take out the rest by meleeing them. You probably want to kill the sniper early—he's the biggest threat, and you're going to want to use his rifle soon. Pick it up as you exit the platform, replacing your almost-empty Brute Shot.

The next room is a copy of the previous, with the two walls at each end close to the doors. It's empty, though, so just charge right through. Open the next door, then run behind the wall, waiting for the Kig-Yar to pass. Stealth is the key to victory in the next rooms, so get ready.

Don't get in a hurry to charge in there. The room is a long passage that curves to the right, so you can't see all of it from the door. It contains a couple of Jackals, several Grunts, and three Brutes. Proceed in until you see enemies and dispatch them one by one. The Carbine works well against the Brutes, as before, but you can use the Beam Rifle if you prefer. Watch for charging Brutes.

When you take down the first Brute, you can either go straight ahead to deal with the rest, or you can jump up on the ledge/hallway on the left. If you want to switch back to Needlers, there's a weapons locker with a couple up there at the beginning of the hall, often with a Jackal hanging around it. If he's there, melee him. The hall will also have at least one more Jackal and a few Grunts, so take care of them. Don't forget the Brutes down at the end. If you take too long, one may sneak up on you. They're probably firing Carbine rounds at you, which at least gives away their positions, so take them out with the weapon of your choice: Needler, Beam Rifle, Carbine, or even grenades if you throw well. You should have picked up a few grenades by now, and there are plenty more coming. Don't worry much about running out of needles either—they're all over the place for the next few rooms.

After you've dispatched the enemies here, rearm and get ready for the next room. It's similar, except that it curves to the left instead of the right.

Don't charge right in, though. When you open the door to the room, two Jackals will come in from the red door on your right and try to flank you. I usually trip the door into the room, and then back up to deal with the Jackals. Then go on into the next room and pick off the Grunts and Brutes in the order in which they stick their heads up, using the Carbine.

At this point, Cortana will tell you there's a lift in the next room. What she doesn't tell is that there are a slew of Brutes in there too, plus a couple of Jackals. When you open the door, if you stand still the Jackals will often walk right in front of you to be slaughtered. Then you can concentrate on the Brutes.

They will appear in three places: directly ahead at the top of the lift, and in the back of the room on the left and right. Be patient and take them all down. Then go behind the central pillar with the lift to get the last Brute, who usually hides back there on the lower level. Since he's hiding, you can sometimes sneak up and melee him, but otherwise, you'll need to go around on the ledge until you can spot him, and then snipe him with the Carbine (or hose him down with the Needler).

Now it's time to load up on weapons before getting on the lift. You're about to embark on one of the more tactical fights of the whole level. You'll want to have a fully loaded Carbine and a Brute Shot. You should find a Brute Shot lying around one of the Brutes you just dispatched; it doesn't have to be fully loaded, as there is ammo available in the next area.

Go to the bottom level of the room, and follow Cortana's advice and get in the Grav Lift. Look down as you move, especially when you get close to landing; You're looking for a Brute with his back turned. He's the reason for the Brute Shot. If you don't waste time, you can take him down with one whack of the Brute Shot, and if you're lucky no other Covenant forces will wake up. That allows you to take your time.

The area you are in consists of the central lift and a U-shaped ledge that runs around the edge. The walkways from the lift extend to the ends of the U. There are three levels, and you're on the top one. The ledge contains a mixed group of Jackals and Grunts scattered all over it. You need to kill them all before proceeding.

If you've been quiet, you can sneak around and whack some of them before they wake up. Some players have managed to whack as many as four of five before the alarm was raised. Start at one end of the U and work your way around it. The left side seems to have fewer Covenant forces, but either end of the U will work as a starting point.

Holding Chambers

Once you've finished that, you're ready to rescue some Marines. There's one group on each of the two levels below you. Cortana can get you into the holding cells, but each one is protected by a two layer defense. There are one or two Brutes and a Jackal or two on the outside of the holding cell, and a Brute or two with a couple of Jackals or Grunts on the inside of the cell.

It's random as to which level Cortana directs you to first. Whichever one it is, move around on the top level until you can sight in on the troops guarding the outside of the holding cell, and fire at them from above. Any weapon will do. Needlers work pretty well against the Jackals if you fire a full magazine, because their shield gets bounced aside and the last few needles hit the Jackal directly. Needlers, Brute Shots, or Carbines will work well on the Brutes. Wh