The Ark (level)/Walkthrough

General Walkthrough
Fight the Covenant, use your Sniper Rifle (whenever made available), and watch out for Hunters, that's all there is to the beginning of this mission. When you land, follow the ODSTs to the Covenant. Hold your fire until you are in position, then snipe out the Brute with his back turned and his arms crossed. Continue to snipe Brutes while your allies take out Grunts and Jackals. There are two containers on this site with Sniper Rifles, one by your sniping spot, and another by the floating platform. ODSTs have much longer range than standard Marines, so giving them Snipers or BR/Carbines is an excellent tactic.

The beginning of the level offers a bit of sneaking. The ODSTs will lead you up a cliff path which overlooks an encampment of Covenant. Sniping them is pretty easy from here, probably starting with the Brute Captain with the Brute Shot. If you are playing Co-op, get your partner to find a target, find yourself a target, and shoot simultaneously. If you're good, you can take out all of them before they reach the wall. A second group of Brutes will arrive, some with more Brute Shots, which are really the only thing that threaten your ODSTs. The only other thing to watch out for here is the possibility of being flanked, either by Grunts sleeping at the bottom of the cliff you are sniping from, or by Brutes that make it to the barricade and jump over. If you're busy sniping it's possible that none of your party will notice them until they've started lobbing grenades, etc. You can forestall this either by sneaking around before you start sniping and tapping out a few of the Grunts (you can't take out all of them without being spotted, unfortunately), or, after your initial sniping fusillade, skip back down the cliff path. The ODSTs will draw the fire of the Brutes, and from the side you should be able to easily snipe anyone standing on the barricade and/or Grunts running up to flank you.

Once the Brutes are out of the way, hopefully with all your ODSTs intact, you can mop up the remainder easily (watch out for some Carbine-wielding Jackals). Restock (especially on grenades), and rip a Plasma Cannon from the tower (this would make it a LOT easier), and move on through the tunnel.

When you get to the AA gun, first go to the edge and drop the Plasma Cannon so that it falls on the ground. Watch out for Jackals with Carbines on the AA gun. A good way to open is headshotting the Jackal with the BR. The Brutes will often not even notice, and even if they do seem confused enough that you have time to switch to the sniper and start taking them out (focus on ones with Brute Shots, as usual). If your ODSTs are along, they should be a big help, though they may have trouble with any Brutes that climb the barricade. Mop up the stragglers with the BR.

A Phantom will drop off a Hunter pair (and maybe some Carbine Jackals, who should be priority one). I would suggest you to go back and kill them with the Plasma Cannon, but there's a number of cheap ways to take them out. Don't be afraid to jump right down and dance with them - they're slow, and there are plenty of rocks to dodge around. But, if you're feeling shy, you can either hurl grenades at them from your position above, or you can run around the barricade, hopefully catching the Hunters still watching the ODSTs - then snipe 'em in the back. Sometimes they'll come around to try to flank you (though they're easily distracted from this idea), which also presents a moment when their back is exposed. This is one of the few Hunter battles where you don't have any big guns available, so savor it!

Up the pathway is a Brute with a Brute Shot, and a group of Grunts - no trouble for you with your BR and Sniper Rifle, don't use your Plasma Cannon on these guys, and use as many plasma grenades as possible, there will be more to come. Meet up with the Marines and ambush the Covenant around the Pelican. The gun on the destroyed Warthog still works. When you get to the crashed Pelican, hurry and grab the rocket launcher behind the Pelican. Go up on the hill and wait for a pair of Prowlers to appear right in front of you, and then launch a rocket at each so they drive into them; alternatively you can give your rocket launcher to a marine/ODST, who will blow everything sky-high.

Then, try to get your Marines into the still working Prowlers. If you want to take a Mongoose, get a Marine with the rocket launcher on the back. (It is annoying to get your Marines in the configuration you want.) Another way (and this is the way if you want to save the prowlers but it's harder on heroic or legendary) is to hide behind a wall or behind a deployable cover. Wait until the first prowler comes and the Brutes get off. You can shoot them with the plasma cannon you saved from the hunter fight or jump on the prowler's plasma cannon and hose them down. Don't worry about the second prowler as it will attack after you kill the first wave of Brutes. I do not suggest you try to run them over with a vehicle as they will jump out of the way. Once you have killed the first wave, get on the prowler's cannon or the warthog's turret to near the crashed Pelican and kill the other prowler. I really suggest you use the prowler but you can use the mongoose if you want. Go to the crashed pelican and give the rocket launcher to one of you allies on your vehicle (don't be greedy, since allies have unlimited ammo). Take the AA if you want but you need the BR for the 'drive AA wraith' glitch.

You may skip the next step by turning to the right as soon as you take the jump after the crashed phantom with the turret firing-Grunts, but if you don't read the next two paragraphs, if you do skip it, read on two paragraphs ahead.

Take your force and hit the Covenant before they get into their Choppers. There is a little bit of ammo to the right, and rockets by the Longsword. There is a functional Warthog and a Sniper Rifle behind the fighter. Watch out for turrets around the crashed Phantom. Drop down and go left.

The two main threats in this large basin are the Choppers that drop down from the bridge, and a pair of grunts with Fuel Rod cannons. A good way to deal is to ride around in the basin for a while until the Choppers are taken care of (quick work with a mongoose + rocket-wielding marine), then retreat a bit and snipe the FRG grunts from across the basin before making your approach. You can pick up the FRG if you want and it is really suggested you do as it would a lot more effective plus there is a lot more ammo ahead. A Shade is fighting Sentinels at the end of the bridge; take it out, and the remaining Covenant will be taken out by the Sentinels. You might want to take a Chopper from here, though a mongoose/rocket-marine combo is preferable. I would prefer the prowler as you have to face a pack of brutes, a wraith, and two AA-wraiths.

An even more effective, but proportionally more involved, strategy would be to give the Fuel Rod Gun to another marine/ODST, get your Rocket Launcher marine/ODST and Fuel Rod Gun marine/ODST to each ride shotgun in a Prowler while a third Marine/ODST mans the mounted cannon. This will take a lot of time swapping weapons and forcing AI allies in and out of particular seats, but it will be worth it. While you lose the ability to inflict damage yourself, you are now a highly mobile and extremely powerful tank, assuming your teammates have any sense of accuracy whatsoever (and the AI usually do). This would also likely be very effective in Online Co-op as well. What would formerly be a long, drawn-out skirmish with the AA Wraiths and their infantry/Ghost-mounted backup becomes an instant walk in the park on lower difficulties.

After Johnson says his piece, exit the basin and head left, taking out a few Ghosts on the way.This is your chance to get the 'Famine' skull if playing on normal or higher difficulty, the platform above you has an extension that reaches out across the path. If you jump up the rocks you should be able to jump straight onto the platform and walk to the other end of it, there you will see the skull sitting in the alcove of the last support pillar, grab it and go. At the top of the next hill you'll meet some more Ghosts and a Brute Captain (possibly with an FRG). They are fighting some Marines, who you may be able to save if you can kill the Brute quickly.

There is a functional warthog if you didn't take the first one. Get a gunner and rocket carrying passenger, if not remain with your prowler if it not that damaged. You may use the chopper, but in the next basin it leaves you extremely vulnerable. Work on the tank and stay away from the floating platform; there are a lot of Brutes here with shield drainers which will cripple your vehicle, as well as a turret on the platform. If you have ODSTs on your Hog or Prowler ensure one of them has the Rocket Launcher, they will "rocket snipe" from the cave entrance at extreme range. If you keep moving the Wraith is not a problem; beware the arrival of a few ghosts, however. You may take the wraith if you want just exit your vehicle close to it, board it, and melee the driver to death but don't overdo it. On higher difficulties, there is a Plasma Cannon hiding in the rocks facing the bridge. Once the first basin is clear, you can move on to the LZ, where a pair of AA wraiths are causing problems. Charging right in is difficult; there are two cannons, some Brutes and Grunts with FRGs, and the AA wraiths themselves to contend with. It's easy to eliminate the FRG grunt from the first basin; take out the platform guarding the entrance to the second basin, and you should easily be able to dispatch both AA wraiths from the entrance without even entering. Mop up the survivors. Once you are done, quickly turn towards the plasma cannon (not on the platform). To the right is a ammo crate with a fuel rod gun with 20 shots (this is why I told you to get fuel rod gun earlier, a sniper is not good at close range and the rocket launcher has a lot less ammo. You can also do the AA-wraith glitch but it will be hard.

When the Dawn lands, take one of the Scorpions. If you have ODST survivors from before occasionally 1 or 2 of them will jump into the Pelican to be taken away, ensure that they are not taking useful weapons with them (i.e. Rocket Launcher, Sniper etc) and take them from them to use with your new team of allies. Go back the way you came and hit the new Covenant forces. This part is absurdly easy; just backtrack while blowing everyone away (including some Wraiths &amp; Phantoms), until you get back to the bridge. Enter the wall, resisting the temptation to attack 343GS (or not, if you have spare ammo); activate the bridge and continue on. After going through the wall, a Gauss hog shows up; let the marine gun. Get down to the tanks, or go to the left and destroy 4 ghosts. You can choose to stay in the Gauss hog for a while; they're excellent for destroying smaller vehicles, and it's easy to avoid the Wraith's mortar blasts. Once you've destroyed both lines of Wraiths, a Scarab will show up, at which point a tank is really your best bet (perhaps even a Wraith if you want to commandeer one). The Scarab itself isn't that deadly; the large island provides sufficient cover, and from on top of it you can attack the scarab at your leisure without any worries. If you want to get the Cowbell skull later on, there are some deployable grav-lifts inside where the choppers are, they will come in handy. You can also get down underneath it, but it can step on you ("Scarab beats tank!"), and there's a pair FRG grunts below the island plus the occasional Brute Choppers to worry about. Ideally you shouldn't even have to board; with the tank you can quickly shoot out the back plating once it has buckled, exposing the core. Alternatively, you can keep the Gauss hog and go to the island. Under it are several brute choppers. Drive your warthog to the top and let your gunner just shoot at the scarab. Go down and take the chopper to the top. Wait for the scarab to face you and boost your way onto it (it can jump a LOT farther then you think) and kill them all. One way is to take the plasma cannon and blow everyone away. Destroy the core with the cannon, drop it, get another one, and run.

Go up the tower; a Brute with an FRG will greet you. At this point you probably have an FRG of your own. You can drive the tank partway up the tower, which makes the approach very easy. For entertainment value, do it on foot as you cannot drive with the cannon (which will be very useful). There's a few clutches of Brutes, Jackal snipers, and once you get halfway up the tower a few Brute Stalkers (who more or less stand around).

Watch for sniper and enemies hiding around corners. Meet Thel 'Vadam and your 2 new Marines; keep going to the sleeping Grunts. Bear in mind that your other Marine allies will bizarrely not follow you to the next section. Give your 2 new Marines power weapons, such as Sniper and Rocket Launcher. There is a Brute urinating in the corner; he is distracted until you finish tapping out the grunts, at which point you can beat him to death with no trouble (if you try to take him out first, he often turns around and wakes up the grunts). Keep going and assassinate the Grunt wandering under the ramp. Go through the upper door, assassinate the Brute and beat more Grunts down. Grab a plasma pistol and a BR (from a Marine if need be) and move on or you can keep the fuel rod gun and what ever secondary weapon plus the cannon. When the door opens a Brute spots you; meet him with the noob combo, and repeat for the other Brutes in the room (who are armed with Brute Shots, so stay in cover or flank them through the room on the side). You can also use the cannon or just melee them all to save ammo. Kill the Jackals, swap out your PP, and move on to the Cartographer.

Gawk at the galaxy in the cutscene, then head back inside. If you have any Marines left they might buy it here, unless you gave them some heavy weapons. The noob combo is useful here - you can quickly tear through the defending Brutes that way, before the Plasma Cannon-wielding Chieftain even arrives. The combo also takes out his flunkies, after which he's relatively trivial - plasma grenade his Cannon, or beat him to death, or let your marine rocket him, etc. Next you'll encounter some Brute Stalkers with radar jammers. They are extremely sessile, so you can probably walk right up to them (open doors are a good hint of their proximity) and melee them to death. You might even get Cloaking from one of them. Also, if you are fast and have a fuel rod gun, you can go right and quickly jump down to the lower level and kill the Chieftain with the Gravity Hammer. He just runs and doesn't attack. A decent player should be able to pull it off on Easy, Normal and Heroic. However, this tactic is inadvisable on Legendary as you are now in the middle of a room with little cover and a lot of cloaked Brutes. Once you have taken everyone out, pick up Fire Grenades and keep going. If you are lucky, you should have a plasma cannon, fuel rod gun, brute shot, full grenades, and cloaking.

The last Chieftain and six Brutes are waiting outside. At this point if your Marines survived and are wielding power weapons they will provide extremely effective support fire often killing all Brutes and Jackals. He has a Hammer and invincibility. Subsequently the remaining six Brutes are not too much trouble, since there's plenty of cover, and they are very vulnerable while jumping around. If they're a problem for you, remain in the doorway and take them out one-by-one. Go up to him, throw a fire grenade at him and he will activate his invincibility. Cloak and use your weapon to melee him in the back. Or stick his hammer with a grenade. You can also wait until the invincibility wears off and hit him with a fire grenade.

The last two enemies are a pair of Jackals with Carbines, go crazy with them as you will not need any more ammo.

Cooperative Walkthrough (with Terminal locations)
When the Marines say "Oo-rah!", press A. You will jump out of the Pelican ahead of the ODSTs. Move to the sniping spot, and aim at a Brute each. Fire at the same time. When your enemies are alerted to your presence, they will move more. If you're not a sharpshooter, aim for the Brutes' chests to take down their armour, and a headshot from your battle weapon will take it down.

When the enemies are down, collect ammo (Vadam can get Carbine ammo from the Jackals). Destroy the hologram of Truth if you want to (he's so annoying). Get into the sniper tower, and detach a plasma cannon each. Walk through the cave, and drop the turrets. Snipe some more Brutes, and that Jackal posted on the AA gun too. Switch to your battle weapon and headshot some Grunts. This is more fun with the Grunt B-Day Skull on.

A Phantom should come with a pair of Hunters. Go back for your Plasma Cannons, and kill them with that. Move up the ridge, and take out the remaining enemies. Walk into the hall.

First Terminal: If you didn't get the first terminal, turn to the door on your left, and enter the curved hall. The terminal should be there. After accessing it, and reading the second message, press B to leave, and keep going.

After you see the Longsword fly to its doom, headshot the two Brutes. Give your sniping weapons to the Marines. Take out the remaining Grunts, and walk to the crashed Pelican. A pair of Prowlers are closing in on you, so one of the players should grab the rocket launcher from the Pelican, and the other should cover him on the workable Warthog turret. After killing them, the Prowlers should be intact. Give your launcher to a Marine riding a Mongoose, he'll need it more than you. Mount up, drive a Prowler each.

Drive past the ridge, and let your Marines take out the enemies lurking near the crashed Longsword. There is an intact Warthog with some weapons including a Sniper Rifle. Give that to a Marine. Make the Mongoose Marines (one has a passenger, one doesn't) use the Warthog, it'll be better. Drive to the bridge, and move up.

Let your guys take out the Choppers, and splatter the two Fuel Rod Grunts. Take the Brute too, or else he'll power-drain your Prowler. Take out the remaining enemies.

You may skip the next step by turning right straight away as you take the jump past the crashed phantom with the plasma turret grunt. But presuming you don't kill all the enemies in the basin and go up on top of the bridge.

When Johnson's Pelican arrives, drive off the bridge, and don't wait for him. Eliminate the enemies, and go through the cave. Drive for the Wraith first, and stay point-blank, so it won't disintegrate you with its mortars. Drive left and kill those infantry guys too. Take out the sniper tower and Ghosts, as well as the other enemies on the rock formation.

The next part you can do two ways.

If you really hate your enemies, and want to annihilate, rather than destroy, you'll want the AA Wraiths for yourself. Headshot the gunner with your battle weapon until he dies, and jump on top of the hatch. Whack the hatch off and whack the driver in the head too. Crouch, and if it doesn't say "Hold RB to board enemy Wraith", then headshot the driver. You'll take his place on the tank, but don't get out. Now you can seek vengeance with rapid-fire Fuel Rods.

If you want to do it the old-fashioned way, destroy the Wraiths, and wait for Commander Keyes to give you some Scorpions. Take the Rocket Launchers and Sniper Rifles off your Marines, they deserve a break, and give it to the new Marines. You'll also find a Fuel Rod in a Covenant storage cabinet, give that to them as well.

Get back to the wall, and your tank (either one) should easily kill the enemies. Get to the doorway, and enter. Extend the bridge, and turn around.

Second Terminal: After you've activated the bridge, turn around, and walk towards the wall. The terminal should be there. Do the same thing as you did with the first terminal.

Walk outside, and don't be afraid of the Scarab. A Warthog should give you a ride to the bottom (damn, the gunner just died). Drive it, and let Player 2 kill the Ghosts. Link up with the Scorpions, and destroy the Wraiths. Clear the first and second lines, and wipe out the survivors.

Here comes the Scarab. Drive directly beneath it, its gun won't reach you (Watch out you don't get stepped on). Player 2 should aim for the knee joints. When it's down, Player 2 should get off and destroy the power core. Jump off the wasted walker, and Player 1 will have your ride. Drive away quickly, and get to the spire.

Player 2 should kill that Fuel Rod Brute first, and the Carbine Jackals (on Heroic and Legendary there will be snipers). Clear the rest of the enemies, and get out of the Warthog. Go in through the door, wait for Spark to open the other one (not before he stings a Marine though). Kill the sleeping Grunts and the pissing Brute. Go down a level. If you see a Grunt standing next to a lot of plasma batteries, do not shoot the batteries (though that would be fun), but whack him. Take out some sleepers, and kill the rest.

Third Terminal: Get back to where you first saw the Grunt with the batteries, and walk under the ramp. You'll see a door. Inside that room should be the last terminal on this level.

Go down yet another level, and stick the Brute next to the door. Headshot the rest, and watch out for Plasma Turret guy. Just stick him and it's game over for him. After you've dealt with them, keep moving, and activate the Cartographer.

Run out of the room, since there is a Phantom here. If you have a Fuel Rod or Rocket Launcher you can destroy it by shooting it in the Turbines (eyes). Get down one level. All the light should make seeing the camo Brutes easy.

Burn and shoot your way down to the level below you. If you have Cloaking, turn it on and assassinate the Chieftain, it'll save a lot of effort. Hammer the rest till they're all dead. Level done. Congratulations, you just beat The Ark.

General Tips

 * Once, you have reduced enemy numbers during the first sniper battle, it's possible (though dangerous) to move closer and collect a Plasma Pistol to kill Brutes with EMP/headshot combos.
 * If you're well versed in the art of fighting Hunters, try to finish off the pair you face after the second sniper battle by sticking them with grenades in the orange fleshy opening on their backs. It takes a fairly intimate understanding of their total stamina on your chosen difficulty level to pick the right moment (especially on Heroic and Legendary), but even a wild guess is worth a try.
 * Have a couple of Plasma Pistols at the ready when two Prowlers arrive. The Brutes dropped off are a relatively easy source of EMP/headshot bonuses.
 * Once you acquire a Scorpion Tank, aim to stay ahead of all the other vehicles at all the times. You should definitely be able to destroy the enemy vehicles and the pair of Hunters that attack you as you drive up the slope.

Debriefing
New Allies: Sentinel

New Enemies: Brute Stalker

New Vehicles: Scorpion Tank, Brute Prowler

New Equipment: Automated Turret, Cloaking

New Weapons: Sentinel Beam, Mauler, Incendiary Grenade

Ranger Achievement Milestone: 50,000 points.

Recommended Multiplier: 4+, Tough Luck (1.5x) ''', and Famine (2x) skull.

TIME BONUS

0-15 min - 3x

15-20 min - 2.5x

20-25 min -2x

25-30 min - 1.5x