Sandtrap

Sandtrap is a multiplayer map featured in Halo 3.

Summary


Sandtrap is set in a vast desert (possibly situated on The Ark, as the nearby Albatross known as "03" was said to have crashed in the Ark's vicinity) with rolling sand dunes and some enigmatic half buried structures. They have obviously been dulled and eroded by the sand to quite some extent, suggesting that the structures are much older than other Forerunner structures. They may have been built merely as temporary shelters or possibly bunkers. Another possibility is that these structures were built by the Precursors before the Forerunner's rise to power. The origin of these structures is unknown, but they bear certain similarities to the "temples" on Installation 05.

It features odd Forerunner constructs 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 , which hovers in the sky above the map) came along and removed them; remains from both sides' forces can be seen in the form of a crashed Phantom and a crashed Albatross. It has a heavy emphasis on vehicular combat. All 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. There are also some very interesting sniper spots. For example, if you are inside of the crashed Phantom, it will be hard for other players to see you and the location gives you a very interesting view to take down some unsuspecting players. Also, a large hill gives you a good view over the field from overhead.

According to the holographic displays stationed on the lower sections of both Elephants, Sandtrap has an atmosphere which is mainly composed of CO2 or other poisonous gases, making it harmful to unprotected human life. This may disprove the possibility of Sandtrap being located on the Ark.

Secrets of Sandtrap

 * A popular thread on Bungie.net explores the reasoning of Sandtrap and its relationships with the other maps. Many players have used the Pan Cam feature to explore the Aegis Fate. Many theories have risen, including one that claims that Epitaph is one of the six towers. The thread has over 10000 posts.


 * There are hidden Easter Eggs (or "Da-Vinci Eggs") hidden near each of the towers. It is theorized that these eggs are the real Guardians (to whom the minefield kills are credited) because when you are in the minefield, a faint Sentinel Beam can be seen shooting in your direction. The beam is believed to activate the mines and they can be traced back to the Easter Eggs. At first, it was believed that the tower farthest from you shoots the beam, but close inspection reveals that anywhere from one to three beams will target you in rapid succession, each firing from different towers.


 * The two wind tunnels or air lifts are powered by a green square object. There are only two of these objects hidden underneath each of the tunnels or lifts. To see them, you must get under the map in Theater and fly to them. Another way to view them is by modding a map to have them on the surface.


 * There are several hidden shapes within the walls of Sandtrap. Most of these shapes are just different types of parallelograms, the most common kind being squares.


 * There are several secret rooms on Sandtrap. The most popular one is the one inside the ceiling of one of the bases. The other secret rooms are all within the walls of the long narrow hallway in the middle of the map.


 * There is a small hole within a small gap on Sandtrap where all weapons fire will just simply go through and disappear. If you look through it, the Mirror, Mirror on the Wall effect may occur if you are playing on splitscreen mode with at least one guest controller. It will not work on Xbox Live.


 * The playable size of Sandtrap can be doubled by going outside of the map, where there is more playing space. The explosions of the mines can simply be countered in Forge by placing large piles of every possible type of grenades. These grenades will negate all explosions even though it seems like the explosions are still happening. However, this will only work in Forge and not Custom Games. The reason why is currently unknown.


 * There is an Easter Egg in the central hall where the boxes that say "UNSC" say "USNC" instead.


 * There is a symbol inside the "crypt" of Sandtrap which is the same symbol inside the crypt of sandbox and they are crossed on the hologram on the ceiling and on the double block, stone platform, so they may have a lot in common.

Strategies

 * In Multi-Flag CTF and Assault, a good strategy is to seize the enemy Elephant and bring it to your base in order to repetitively capture the objective. In Neutral Assault, take the enemy Elephant to the very middle of the map and continuously grab and plant the bomb until victory. Beware; stealing an enemy Elephant is quite a task, so make sure to bring several team-mates along with you.
 * On several dunes to the side of the map where the sun is, you can easily see the whole area of the map. Set up here and you can dominate. A common tactic is to take the sniper and use a Mongoose to drive over to the area and snipe. Good secondary weapons are Assault Rifles to dispatch enemies that attack you at close range and Spartan Lasers so any incoming vehicles can be eliminated, and the sniper can continue wreaking havoc from afar.
 * In CTF games, try to sneak up on the flag with a partner. Take the flag from the Elephant and steal the enemy's mongoose that spawns on the elephant's lower level. Your opponents will think that when you steal a flag, you will be easy to kill. But you will be long gone by then.
 * Upon picking up the Spartan Laser at the beginning of the match, be ready to destroy the opposing Banshee, Chopper, Warthog and Mongoose, because more often than not, the enemy will most likely get it ahead of your teammates, and you can eliminate the threat immediately.
 * If you are good at sniping, get the Sniper Rifle or the Beam Rifle and kill any enemy player that goes near the Banshee until one of your teammates gets it or it is destroyed.
 * If you start at the Albatross end of the map, and if you are going for the Sniper Rifle, then always keep an eye out for enemies camping up high on the other side, although a Bubble Shield is an easy way to get past this problem.
 * If you are playing this level on multiplayer Infection, a good way to stay alive is for at least two people (non-Zombies) to form an alliance and get to a Warthog or Elephant. Whoever is the better shot uses the turret and the driver continuously drives around the whole level on the path. As long as you have good reflexes and are a good shot you can usually kill the charging and incoming Zombies before they reach the Warthog or Elephant.
 * Another good Infection strategy is to get a Shotgun and a Battle Rifle, then quickly and inconspicuously move to an Elephant. Get into the cockpit, but don't drive. Simply hide there until Zombies come. You can easily hide there for a very long time. However, this only works when Zombies don't have anything other than Energy Swords.
 * One great sniper spot is inside the crashed Phantom, as it provides excellent cover and allows you to watch the Banshee. Be sure though to carry another weapon that can help you because opponents can become aware of your position and attack.
 * Another excellent sniper spot is the highest sand dune on the outer edge of the map. This area provides a spot where you can see the whole map. However, there is no cover and you can be easily detected. Also, it is usually the first guess as to where a sniper is hiding, due to the relative popularity of the spot.
 * Try and get a team-mate to let you jump on his Banshee and go to the highest building and jump off with a long-range weapon.
 * Slip a Trip Mine under enemy vehicles. This will no doubt come in use.
 * When playing Slayer gametypes, the Warthog is undoubtedly one of the most important things to get kills with. Have a driver drive the gunner along the paths of the map and eliminate any foot soldiers. Beware of the Chopper, Spartan Laser, and other Warthogs, as they are the biggest threat to your 'hog.
 * It is a pretty good idea to camp with a shotgun in the Phantom wreckage, however, a well placed grenade might flush you out. This spot is very useful for Zombie gametypes.
 * The Mongoose is a great vehicle for getting to the combat zone fast. Coupled with a passenger on the back and the ability to drive in the mine field, it can be a fast moving offensive weapon.

Forge

 * The crashed Phantom is a good place to hide hidden weapons. It can also be used to hide Teleporters that lead to safe zones during infection games.
 * There are two ways to "bridge the gap" between the big wall in the center. The first is a simple two-way teleport system, obviously both being on the same channel. This allows for infantry to cross; however vehicles can't go through Teleporters. The way to fix that is to place two permanent Grav Lifts, one on either side, of the gap. This will allow most land-based vehicles going a decent rate of speed to cross, the only exceptions being Scorpions and Wraiths. Be cautious going towards the smaller base (with the Albatross), as you may go through the holes in the top, and flip your vehicle over.
 * Another fun way to "bridge the gap" is to use the Floating Forge Items trick on Crates. This also gives you the opportunity to make a new focus point for some of the attention if it is a Flag, Bomb or Oddball spawn point.
 * Similarly, Crates, Radio Antennae, and similar objects are useful when constructing floating bases using the Floating Forge Items glitch.
 * The map is obviously based on vehicular combat, so consider that when in Forge. Place vehicles like Hornets and Gauss Warthogs, and make sniper towers out of the pillars, adding Barricades for cover, and a Two-Way Node from the top of the pillars to the bottoms. Add Missile Pods and Warthogs to the Elephants, setting both to automatic respawn.
 * It is possible to make the Elephant fly while in Forge. Place all the map's explosives (Fusion Coils and Plasma Batteries) in the Elephant and set the run time minimum to the highest number. Then, spawn a Hornet. Get into the Hornet and fire missiles at the explosives. The Elephant will do flips and get off the ground. It causes lots of lag and noise, but it is still fun to watch.
 * There is a way to indirectly pick up the Elephant in Forge, though it will not spawn where you place it. Spawn a Scorpion tank and slip it inside horizontally from behind the Elephant. You will see hook-like attachments on top of the Elephant. Slip the scorpion under that and lift. It will rise a little then the tank will slip out from under it eventually.
 * Another way to pick up the Elephant is to spawn a closed Drop Pod and move it into the cockpit. Then, you just move the Drop Pod and the Elephant will come too.

Variant
The "Sand Tarp" variant is simply just a normal Sandtrap, with one major difference: The Elephants on the map have been removed, and if Asymmetric gametypes are played on this map, the defender's base will no longer be the large crypt near the Phantom crash site. Instead, attackers will spawn in the crypt, and defenders at the other "open-area" base. Also, one Prowler replaces a Warthog at each base.

Trivia

 * GamePro has stated that Sandtrap "...has few ties to older Halo 2 maps, but its massive size recalls Relic."
 * Unlike other games, the UNSC Aegis Fate is not part of the "floating bitmap in the sky." It is a complete model. Its 'serial' number is FFG-307.
 * Elements of Sandtrap seem to have been inspired from the Halo 3 Campaign mission, The Ark, and the Halo 2 multiplayer maps Relic and Burial Mounds.
 * This multiplayer map is the second largest in the Halo Trilogy, just behind the new DLC map Avalanche.
 * In the Elephant, there is a screen near the Mongoose with description about the vehicle and the map itself.
 * Sandtrap has the highest barrier in the game. If measured with a Sniper Rifle's scope, the map's barrier is over 127 meters (416 feet) at it's highest point.
 * Near the top of one of the temples there is an apparent "Black Hole" that absorbs any explosive attack, for example, if you shoot a rocket into it, it will go through the Black Hole and not explode. If the "Black hole" is looked through at a certain angle in Forge mode, the player can see what one of the opposing players sees, similar to the blue room in Avalanche.
 * A crowbar similar to Gordon Freeman's from the Half-Life series can be found. Coincidentally, "Sandtraps" is also the name of the eighth chapter of Half-Life 2.

Internal Links

 * The Ark
 * Brute