Blue Team (level)/Walkthrough

This is a walkthrough for the second level of Halo 5: Guardians, Blue Team. It is written for play at Legendary and Heroic difficulty.

Level notes

 * This level is all Covenant unlike the previous one, so the Noob Combo is now viable. The plasma pistol can now be smart-scoped, for "peppering" at long distance with small shots and also to make the overcharge more accurate. Note that on Legendary, high-ranked Elites like Warriors and Zealots can resist one overcharge, needing two following headshots to be killed.
 * You have access to every human weapon in this level and a lot of Covenant ones. As such, there are many more ways to get through encounters and more firepower when you need it.
 * On Heroic, the DMR takes five shots to kill an Elite Storm in 1.4 seconds, while the Battle Rifle takes 4 shots in 1.3 seconds. However, the Battle Rifle has 12 shots per magazine while the DMR has 15, and has 48 shots total while the DMR has 60. As for the Carbine, it takes six shots to kill in 1.3 seconds, but has 20 rounds per magazine and can carry 100 shots total. Ammo for the battle rifle is plentiful, DMR ammo is slightly rarer, and carbines are only available in two rooms.
 * The best weapon to arm Blue Team with is Hydra launchers. The NPC Spartans are capable of firing them rapidly from long-range without having to reload, they have lots of splash damage, and they're both strong enough to deal with high-ranked enemies while weak enough that Blue Team won't shy from using them on minor infantry. There are five Hydra Launchers total available in the level.
 * Fred is armed with a DMR, Kelly with her shotgun Oathsworn, and Linda with her sniper rifle Nornfang. Their disposable secondaries are M6H pistols.
 * On Heroic, automatic weapons like the assault rifle, SMG, and storm rifle are viable. On Legendary, they're better ignored for the noob combo.

The Data Center
You start with an assault rifle and a magnum. There's no combat in the level until you pass the first Mission Intel and enter the second room. There will be two Grunts examining consoles unaware of your presence, and a third one in a tunnel to the right. Past them in the next room are two Jackals, an Elite Commander and Warrior leading some Grunts, and another Warrior further back with two Jackals and three Grunts that enter after them.

The Grunts are easy to assassinate; the only danger is accidentally opening the door next to one of them, which will alert the other enemies to your presence. They also carry plasma pistols with full 100% charge. The tricky part is the next room. It's divided into three sections, a narrow corrider where Jackals patrol, a wider room with boxes where two Elites and Grunts stand guard, and a higher level reached by ramp where the highest ranked Elite will fall back to and let in more enemies. On Heroic, the box room is accessible by a hidden vent tunnel that lets one assassinate one of the Warriors. Then one can hide behind the boxes to pick off the others. But on Legendary this will get you in a tight corner where suicide Grunts can easily get you, plus you'll be separated from your teammates.

So on Legendary, assassinate all three Grunts, grab a plasma pistol from one of them, and head down the tunnel to the corridor. Surprise the two Jackals with a grenade and use your magnum to shoot the gap in their shields. The Grunts will come around the corner while the Elites will hang back. Be careful going around corners because the Elites like to toss grenades. After killing the Grunts with headshots, use the noob combo to fight Elites. When two Elites are dead, the last one, usually a Warrior, will fall back to the upper level, which is defended by two Jackals. Going up the ramp he went up by is risky, as he'll often toss a grenade, take pot shots, or even draw an energy sword. He'll also open a door letting in three more Grunts. Try clambering up from a bit farther back to put some distance for magnum shots.

When the enemies are dead, grab another of the completely full plasma pistols from the previous room. Your allies' weapons don't matter much for now, but if you'd like you can order them to pick up storm rifles. Refill your pistol ammo from the dispensers nearby and then activate the data center then the elevator for the next encounter.