Overkill (achievement)

Overkill is a Halo 3 multi-player Achievement. It is awarded when the player kills 4 opponents, each being killed within 4 seconds of the other, in a ranked free for all playlist online. This Achievement gives 5 Gamerpoints to the player. Overkill also unlocks the helmet piece for the Elite Commando Armor and shoulders for the Elite Ascetic Armor. It is represented by a bronze medal with four green stars.

Background
This Achievement has been antagonized for its difficulty to earn. Currently, there is only one permanent playlist that falls within the conditions. Since the playlist, Lone Wolves, originally only supported 5 players per match a player had to kill every other player in the game within four seconds of each kill. This was proven very difficult, and many players instead opted to get this achievement simply in an achievement match. This was rectified and made slightly easier in a recent update, where the amount of people allowed per match was increased to 6.

Tactics

 * An easy way to do get the achievement will be to man the Turrets on The Pit in a Crazy King match. People in the hill area can be too preoccupied to worry about you and you can mow them down with ease. Another popular way to gain the achievement in a Crazy King match is to grab a Shotgun, a Gravity Hammer, or a Mauler near the hill area. The rushing players will probably be caught unaware, which will make the achievement a bit easier. If, however, a another player is near the player you just killed it will be more difficult. If you keep doing the same tactic, the "victims" you killed before may come prepared with Plasma Grenades, ready to end your spree. It can help to also use a Rocket Launcher. When your opponents head to the hill to melee each other, you may kill at least two with one shot, leaving another shot for another player!
 * Another way to achieve this is to take a Sniper Rifle or Beam Rifle or even the Spartan Laser on King of the Hill games, stay far away from the hill, and pick off the people in the hill area.
 * If you have a Rocket Launcher, try to get to the highest point on the map and try to shoot where players spawn.
 * A tricky, but certainly possible, way to get the achievement is to get both a shotgun and a bubble shield. First activate the Bubble Shield, which will act as a magnet, attracting other players. As soon as they come give them a nice shot in the hip (it deals out the most damage there because of the shrapnel exiting the bullet) with your Shotgun. If enough players come within a few seconds, you could at least get a Triple Kill. This is especially effective on Epitaph and Guardian, even more on a Swords match. So quickly move about the map to get your last kill needed for the Overkill achievement.
 * Wait until there is an oddball match on Guardian, then go downstairs. Grab the ball and run half way up one of the small ramps overlooking the small fighting circle. Drop the skull and hide behind the door. People come running up and you give them a nice hit to the face. Usually players will travel in groups. This is also a good way to get Killing Frenzy.
 * Another way to get this, is if the game is Swords, and it is on a small map like Epitaph. Just go right into the battlefield and let people come to you. They will usually gravitate towards the same spot (Guardian, the middle) (Snowbound, right next to the cave entrance in the ground, or underground) The only hard part about this is that sometimes the "sword-battles" will take a little long, causing you to lose the "under 4 seconds part.". Note that each player has two starting Frag Grenades, so take advantage of it to kill a player from a distance and also beware of others using it.
 * It was easily obtained by many in the Legendary Brawl Double EXP weekend Playlist, due to the playlist supporting double the number of players allowed in Lone Wolves.
 * It was also easily obtained in the Ranked Living Dead Double EXP Weekend Playlist, because Zombies in a few gametypes were weak, and getting an Overkill with either Battle Rifle, Magnum, Shotgun or Machine Gun Turret on different "Infection" modified maps prove to easy if one goes to where Zombies spawn and "Spawn Kill" them, or if a Zombie gets lucky and sneaks in a Camping spot where Humans are and they are unaware that a Zombie has infiltrated their camping spot. If you get to play the infection variant "Braaaainsss..." on the Foundry variant "Haunted Manor" try to get onto on of the turrets (preferably the right one) you can easily get an overkill as the game progresses.

Trivia

 * Bungie employee Luke Smith (AKA Lukems) was often picked on because of his inability to gain the achievement until he earned it in the last Legendary Brawl Double EXP weekend.
 * The Overkill was, according to players, harder to get than the Killing Frenzy achievement itself.

Related Pages

 * Halo 3 Achievements