Tip of the Spear/Walkthrough

This is a walkthrough for the Halo: Reach level Tip of the Spear. It is written for play at the Legendary difficulty, but contains notes for lower difficulties. This is the fifth level of Halo: Reach. For this mission you are joined by Catherine-B320. Your Mission is to Eliminate the Covenant Anti Aircraft Batteries. Your initial loadout for this mission is your M319 Individual Grenade Launcher an M392 Designated Marksman Rifle and 2 M9 Grenades. It is important to note that as this walkthrough at the Legendary difficulty, all strengths of enemies reflected are at the Legendary level.

Forerunner! It's a Fuel Rod! Get behind the Wart— Nevermind...
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off. No time for lollygagging here. Looking ahead you can see a large group of Grunts and Jackals moving to attack you. Stay away from the Warthog as cover because it's going to explode and if you are standing next to it you will too. Use your Grenade Launcher to lay into clusters of the cannon fodder and put a serious dent in their numbers. It's particularly effective on Jackals, since they move slowly and are vulnerable to explosions. If you are having trouble getting used to the arc of the grenades or how they work, revert the checkpoint and start over for practice. You need to be able to drop the grenades right into the thick of the group before they disperse to have the most effect. Skipping the grenade off the ground sets its fuse, so firing into the ground in front of your enemy will ensure that the grenade explodes in midair nearby. Don't bother with the alternate EMP mode unless facing vehicles. Mop up with your DMR. Your should be standing near where you started. There are two Shades of the Fuel Rod Cannon variety just out of your sightline. They have a fairly high rate of fire, and you need to stay out of their sights while you deal with the Elite Ultra shooting at you. Kat should occupy the Ultra's attention, so waste him with the DMR. He's very agile so the Grenade Launcher isn't a good weapon to use when facing him. Once you've killed him, attract the attention of the Shade gunners and headshot them. Now a Pelican will swoop in and drop you a fancy Missile Launching Warthog. Sweet.

Impossible is What Spartans do.
Hop in the drivers seat. It is very tempting to play with the pretty rocket launcher on the Warthog, but the AI drivers are criminally stupid, and the missiles aren't the easiest things in the world to aim. If you really want you can play musical weapons with the trooper and give him your Grenade Launcher. If you get Kat on the Missile Turret and him firing grenades, it makes the next section a whole lot more explosive. Keep in mind that you won't be as effective against fast, annoying infantry like Skirmishers. Since Kat can't die, though, having her on the rockets can be a great help. Drive off and approach the first Anti-Aircraft Battery. You're going to want to do this in sections. You can't just drive up and kill it. You can shoot it with the rocket turret from a distance,but it will consume some time and it will be hard to stop Kat or the Marine from driving you there, so only do so if you've got a friend. Start by clearing the area below the plateau. There is a Ghost and a Revenant, as well as assorted ground troops, but the Grenade Launcher and Missile Turret are pretty efficient at killing enemies. The Revenant is nasty on higher difficulties, and your AI gunner may seem to think that a panicking Grunt is more worthy of death by rockets than the vehicles that can actually KILL you. Keep moving. Eventually Kat and the Marine should take out the enemies. Once the lower ground is clear, you are going to take a little risk. You could simply climb the Lookout Tower and DMR snipe the enemies at the tower, but where's the fun in that? Drive your Warthog to the overturned Ghost near the tower and park. Your gunner should fire volleys of rockets at the enemy for explosive and satisfying results. Use your DMR and Grenade Launcher to kill anything you can see. The Elite General with a Concussion Rifle is a priority, as he can flip the Warthog with his shots and ruin the explosive fun. Once you've taken care of those you can see, run into the AA gun. Melee the shield protecting the core (big and glowing, impossible to miss) and toss a plasma grenade in the reactor. The reactor should explode and emit a warning alarm. If it doesn't go, try again. Then, run for your life. The Gun will explode and kill you in about 10 seconds. Reach a safe distance and watch the pretty, pretty lights as the Gun goes boom.

Construction Delays can be a Killer.
Get back in the Warthog and drive off the opposite way you came in. Eventually you will see a broken bridge. Stop. You'll hear some comm chatter and may even encounter some Wraith Plasma being fired close to your head. Don't advance yet. Wait until you see the Pelican drop the temporary bridge repair. Now you can go. You're going to encounter some Jackals and a Wraith and you could waste time killing them, but don't bother. Keep driving, over the bridge and around the corner. If you really want that Wraith to die, just circle around it and let your gunner lay into it. It should go down after a few volleys.

Stop Or My Spartan Will Shoot!
See the large structure across the way, that's your next objective. You'll notice a squad of soldiers on the same side of the bridge that you are on being attacked by Covenant Forces. Advance until you are near the bridge but not directly in line with it. Hop out and get on the turret. At this point because of the way the game is scripted no one should get in to drive. Start by taking out the Shade at the far end of the bridge. Then move to the front of the Covenant forces at the bridge and clear your way back with the rockets. The enemies here are all Grunts and Jackals, and thus should be easy pickings. Once you've cleared the front door, get out of the 'Hog and advance. You may want to root around the dead soldiers to pick up any ammo you can. There is a DMR lying on the bridge just as you begin to cross you can use to stock up on ammo if necessary. Once you cross the bridge you'll get an intel update about your Zealot friend from Winter Contingency. Advance up the walkway, you'll encounter some Skirmishers with Needle Rifles. Kill them and take their weapons and ammo if you like. Keep going, you're going to run into a few Grunts and Jackal Majors. Use grenades and your DMR to clean up. There is a fuel tank you can shoot the lid off of to save you some ammo on this section. There's an Armor Lock sitting in a crate in the next area, and some Needle Rifle ammo. Since armor lock is basically worthless in campaign, don't bother with it, keep your Sprint. Bring up your Needle Rifle. Kat should be in line with you providing fairly decent cover fire. Here you'll run into an Elite Major who after a few hits will withdraw to hide behind another Elite Major at a Plasma Turret, rather carelessly set up by a fuel tank. Blow up the fuel tank to knock the Plasma Cannon off of its mount and damage the shields of the Elites. Use the Needle Rifle or DMR to finish them off. Look all the way across the area and the Zealot will appear, you should be able to use your DMR and Needle rifle to take him at range. If you want his sword, shoot him but let him get downstairs. If you deplete his shields after he activates his Active Camouflage, he will switch to his sword. Once he's dead (or in the unlikely event that he gets away) grab your turret again and advance. You'll have to deal with a couple of Grunts and Jackals. Go upstairs and drop through the hole in the roof. Kill the Grunts in the area. Move forward and you'll receive an ordnance icon on the floor indicating a Plasma Launcher which you can take. Make sure to take a headshot weapon with you. You can ignore the Launcher entirely and bring your Grenade Launcher or a Plasma Pistol, the EMP will come in handy. Head out and hop in the Revenant. Kill the few Grunts that are here. Kat will join you in the passenger seat.
 * Note of Consideration: While this isn't always effective unleashing several volleys of missiles at the upper tier of the facility may just clear out a few of the enemies that you are slated to run into.  You may even be lucky enough to take out the Elite Majors on the walkway.

Didn't I Do This Already? Why is She Trying to Kill Me?
Now you have to advance on the second AA battery and eliminate it. You'll encounter a few Jackals and Grunts before you get there, and you will learn one very important thing about the Revenant cannon in that it is VERY underpowered for being such a pain to aim. Once you see the AA battery you want to turn right and go counterclockwise around the cannon to clear. You are first going to encounter a group of three Jackals. Watch out for their overcharge shots. Demolish them with the Revenant cannon, or splatter them. Continue along the path to encounter a few Grunts and Jackals, as well as a Wraith. Quickly kill the infantry while dodging the mortar shots from the Wraith. Then, hop out of the Revenant and kill the Wraith gunner with the DMR. Sprint up to the Wraith, EMP it as necessary to be safe, then hijack it. Beat down the driver and hop into the Wraith. The Wraith is slower and less agile than the Revenant but its main gun is MUCH more powerful. Shell the AA gun. A few hits will overload the gun and blow it up. Some Covenant will be left to mop up, most likely an Elite, a Hunter pair, and a few Grunts, Jackals, and Skirmishers. Use the Wraith to blast your way through, strafing to avoid the Assault Cannons of the Hunters. A Pelican will drop off Army reinforcements to help you out, and a Phantom will drop off an Elite General and a few Grunts for the Covenant. Once everything has met death, a UH-144 Falcon will come in with Jorge-052. Get in the jump seat with the Launcher, because there's more killing to be done.

If They Run They're Covies. If They Stand Still They're Well Trained Covies
Once you are in the air, you are going to see a whole lot of targets of opportunity. Just start shooting grenades. Using the EMP/delayed detonation can be interesting, but you are honestly better off just shooting them off and letting them explode on impact. Focus on the Shade Turrets specifically, because they're really the only threat here, but there are a variety of enemies running around just begging for a grenade. Soon you're going to encounter a Really Big Spire with shielding. Which is your next objective. Deactivate the Shield protecting the spire.

I Believe I Can Fly. I Believe I Can Splatter Your Brains at 500 Yards.
Once again, get up, dust yourself off. Grab a Jet Pack. This is really just a cool Jump Jet that can assist you in getting to places you couldn't otherwise get. It's extremely useful here, much more so than Sprint. Advance and use your DMR to take out the Skirmishers with Focus Rifles. Then work on the Grunts and Jackals. You don't have a lot of DMR ammo so take care with your shots. As you approach the top of the path you'll encounter a lone Elite Minor manning a turret, kill him and advance to the overlook of the Spire. There's a fully loaded Focus Rifle on the ground here. There are a lot of enemies here, but you can actually bypass this entirely. Off to your right is a broken pipeline. Jet pack onto the pipe and run along it to reach the Spire. Jet pack across the gap and land on the roof of the lower section of the Spire. Hop into the gravity lift to ride up.

Going Up. Next Stop, Housewares, Dining, Destruction
This part is a little tricky, but if you do it right, you'll be done in no time. When you come off the gravity lift, go out the door and turn right. When you see the Grunt Ultras appear toss a grenade at them. This will probably kill two or possibly all three. Edge out to that side, be very careful. You will see a grunt Heavy with a Fuel Rod Cannon. He'll fire it at you instantly, but probably won't hit you directly; the splash damage, however, will deplete your shields somewhat and mess up your aim. Headshot him with the DMR/Needle Rifle. This will draw out the Elite Ultra with his Energy Sword. He comes at you very quickly, so make your shots count. Withdraw to the open shield floor and use the Focus Rifle or a Plasma Pistol to weaken his shields. If he gets close, use the Jetpack to get out of reach. If you're not careful he can chase you off the edge of the Spire which will lead to a very humiliating death if you don't have the Jetpack. Once his shields drop, put a round in his skull with your DMR or Needle Rifle. Mop up survivors. Now you've sanitized the Spire, so go deactivate the shield then get out and watch the cutscene.
 * An alternative, (and hilarious) way to eliminate the Elite here is to have him pursue you outside to the platform of the Spire. When he gets close enough jump off the edge and fly away with your Jetpack. The Elite may run off the edge and fall to its death.

Legendary Notes

 * Overcharged Plasma Pistols are by far the biggest threat in the level. They leave your vehicle disabled and open to assault. When given the opportunity to thin out the enemy before riding into an area take advantage. Also use aggressive driving techniques and brake slides to ram and splatter enemies.
 * Revenants are ineffective against Shielded Jackals. you just end up knocking them around, not killing them. Get out and use a DMR or Needle Rifle to finish them off.
 * You can't take your Plasma Launcher with you when you get on the Falcon. Use it wisely against the Hunters and AA Battery.
 * When assaulting the Spire your Jump Jet can provide you with a number of advantages, from closing on the enemy quickly to hijacking a Banshee, use it effectively and it will help keep you alive for the entire area.
 * Good Skulls on this mission are Cloud and Tough Luck. Catch is unfortunately not so good due to the amount of time you need to spend in a vehicle.

Notes for Lower Difficulties

 * This mission plays exactly the same for lower difficulties. The only thing that changes are the ranks of the enemies that you face.
 * The Rocket Warthog can be brought past the concrete barriers at the mining facility, either by damaging them and then driving it over, using a grenade or Armor Lock (found in the balcony above) to flip it over, or merely driving it around the left barrier. Unlike ONI: Sword Base, Kat and troopers will get back in the Hog with the player, though they may exit and refuse to enter once the player reaches the Revenant. This will also cause the Banshees that pass the mining facility to attack the player instead of flying past.
 * Plasma mortars from an unseen Wraith will rain down regularly around the first Tyrant gun and where the Zealot is fought. It is recommended the player remain aware so as to not accidentally run into them.
 * If the player brings down the Zealot's shields but doesn't kill it, it will retreat and turn invisible. It will then flee to where the Revenant and Ghosts are and despawn. If the player is still nearby and injuring it, though, the Zealot will decloak and pull out an energy sword.
 * The severely damaged Warthog on the destroyed bridge near the second AA cannon is driveable. The easiest way to get to it is to boost to it in a Revenant (press "jump" as one crosses the gap) or knock it down with a grenade or any other explosion. Another way is to drive the Revenant as close to the first broken pillar as possible, use it to get on the first pillar, then jump on the second and finally jump on to the piece of intact bridge the Warthog is on and simply drive it off on to the ground.
 * A Spade can be found nearby one of the Wraiths at the second Tyrant gun. Another can be found near the Spire after the Pelican crash. Jorge can board this one, making it a semi-viable option for cleaning out the spire.
 * A plasma launcher with full charge is tagged by the game as Ordnance, just after the Zealot encounter. A second full charge launcher can be found in a Covenant supply case by one of the Wraith at the second Tyrant. A drop shield is also found there.