Halo 4 Mythic Difficulty Guide

Halo 4 Mythic (SLASO) Walkthrough by Daniel Morris

Halo 4 Mythic Difficulty Guide - MISSION 3: Forerunner

The Tru7h about "Mythrunner"

Welcome to the first of three "Promethean-heavy" missions you'll be encountering throughout the game. Right off the bat, you'll come to realize that the faction as a whole is far more formidable than the Covenant and your avenues for dealing with them can be severely limited in comparison. On the one hand, it's awesome to see how each species corresponds and relates to the others. There's clearly a sense of harmony among them. On the other hand, this works against you rather than for you.

Fortunately, of the three Promethean-heavy missions, this one is by default a bit easier to contend with. Aside from a short encounter at the beginning of the mission, you can run it at your own pace. No need to wait around and fight wave after wave of ancient machinery. It's also the shortest of the three, and for the first time in the game, the chapters are divided up in a way that actually makes sense!

Buried and Forgotten
Enemy of My Enemy
Almost Home
Next Stop, Certain Death

You'll start out going toe to toe with the new threat head on. Afterwards, the Covenant will step in to liven up the party. You'll then be whisked away to the planetoid satellite in the heart of Requiem's core. And lastly, you'll be forced to contend with perhaps one of the worst escape runs in Halo history...

Buried and Forgotten

Without so much as a cutscene, you're instantly warped into a dark, random corridor. Also note that by default you are equipped with the new Armor Ability the Hard Light Shield. If you so choose, the corridor also has the Auto Sentry available to swap. While the Auto Sentry does serve as a decent decoy in some scenarios, for this particular mission I've found the Hard Light Shield to be far more beneficial. Since it sends you into third person view upon activation, you can check the status of your shields on the fly. Additionally, it can serve as a bit of extra protection when trying to dodge tight scenarios. While generally speaking your shields don't recharge when it's being used, with Black Eye activated, this drawback won't make any difference. Again, this choice is yours, but I would personally opt for the Hard Light Shield.

When you step forward through the doors, however, you'll be treated to the spectacle that is Requiem's core—a monumental open area displaying that apparently gravity is a feature that not only works on the planet's surface but also within the core itself! If you're going to invest in real estate, invest in Requiem!

The dead center of the core features a satellite being shielded by two beam emitters generated from different sides of the planet. As Cortana is quick to point out, this relay as falsely generating a signal from the approaching vessel UNSC Infinity, and in order to clear up the interference and track its actual location, the beams need to be taken offline.

With a flick of her wrist, Cortana opens a portal to the first pylon that eerily resembles a slip space black hole. Don't worry. It's safe. Just step on through.

Another corridor will lead you "outdoors" into another surreal environment where the satellite is now hovering above you like a mechanized moon. It's now your mission to make the trek to the first pylon and bring it offline. Once you step outside for the first time, you'll notice several creatures rushing for cover along the rock walls on either side. This bit reminds me of walking into a dark basement, turning on the lights, and watching the cockroaches scatter. Not a pleasant thought! Worst of all, they'll be waiting for you right around the next bend.

On other difficulties I'd suggest you stay and fight, using the pistol to shoot them in their heads which are also GUNS! This is technically your first encounter with the Promethean Crawler. On Mythic, they've all been upgraded to Majors and are equipped with Suppressors. Personally I find these guys a bit irritating and somewhat resembling the Skirmishers we all came to know and hate in Halo Reach. In this case, however, you can summon the aid of the Mythic and Tilt skulls to blow straight past them and to the terminal that activates the light bridge. I haven't died here very often, so your success rate should be fairly high. Even if you do die, it's at the very start of the mission, so you really haven't lost much in the way of time or effort. And don't worry about your shields. Even if you manage to keep them up, you're about to lose them...

Cross the bridge and... WHOA! A towering Knight will drop down from the cliff walls and pin you to the ground. All you can do is sit here and watch as the beast feels up the Chief for a brief moment before he answers this call with his fists. The Knight will then magically teleport away... Falling victim to yet another irritating quicktime event, you'll find yourself shieldless, though in rare instances, the Chief's punch will generate a small amount of shields back. Nothing worthy of taking note, but just something to keep in the back of your mind.

Round the next bend and you'll instantly be thrown into Promethean chaos. 343 Industries wastes no time in throwing you straight into the fray with all major species of Prometheans. I think now would be a good time for another editorial. Don't you?

For the first time since Combat Evolved, we've been introduced to an entirely new faction in the Halo saga—the Prometheans—bug-like machines hell-bent on turning the Chief and his allies inside out.

I've got to hand it to 343, they definitely went the creative route when designing the Prometheans, the way they coexist, and their abilities. We'll start with the Crawlers. There are two ways to deal with them, and the main way will usually be a ballistic to the skull. The other is through four melee attacks. This is all fine and dandy, but their numbers tend to be extremely large, and the encounters always feel like a major ammo dump. I'd say reducing their numbers for future encounters would be a smart way to go. The next Promethean on my hit list is the Watcher—these flying menaces are not only shielded, but they also defend their allies, randomly materialize Crawlers out of nowhere for additional support, AND they can even resurrect dead Promethean Knights! We've encountered large swarms of these guys in both Spartan Ops as well as the mission "Midnight". Let's hope their role in the future is drastically reduced.

And at long last we come to icing on the cake—the Promethean Knight. Their base health on Mythic is so intense that the only way to take them down without the aid of a vehicle is either by hitting them in the back or launching them off into a bottomless pit. Even if you manage to get their shields down (which recharge faster than an Elite's), it still takes multiple headshots to finish them off. To take it further, each rank of Knight has been given a side "superpower" to use. All of them have the ability to teleport at will, some can "warp-rush" you from across the room for a swift blow using their arm blade, and the Commanders have a special shockwave ability that nearly always kills the player in one blow and is nearly impossible to dodge. Even if it doesn't kill you, it will likely launch you off whatever platform you happen to be standing on. As if that weren't enough, Knights can also wield one-shot weapons like the Binary Rifle and the Incineration Cannon! Oh, and did I also mention they can spawn Watchers for future protection and resurrection?!

Guys, I'm all for a good challenge, but having an enemy this powerful appear so frequently in the game is just a tad bit too lopsided. PLEASE tone down the Knights in future installments!

Since my rant-filled whining isn't going to get you through these encounters, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. As I mentioned earlier, all three species make an appearance here. A Promethean Knight will greet you from the other side of the canyon and waste no time in spawning his Watcher companion before bounding down to give you a nice handshake with his Forerunner weaponry. Meanwhile several Crawlers will begin dropping in from the left-side wall. While normally the Watcher should be your top priority, in this case it would be far more beneficial to reduce the amount of firepower being directed your way. Use your pistol to target the Crawlers first. Again aim for the head! If you're a crack shot, you might be able to pop them as they're coming down the wall. Otherwise they'll start making their way over to you either one or two at a time. Stay out of the Knight's line of sight to avoid being a victim of his EMP grenades and Light Rifle. In the video below, you'll see what I consider to be the best vantage point to deal with this encounter.

After laying waste to the Crawlers, it's time to go for the Knight. Fair warning. Taking these guys out with conventional weaponry is nearly unheard of on Mythic. Thanks to the antics of AuraSoldier, however, there's another way...

The great thing about Knights and the Catch skull is that they tend to do nothing but lob grenades. Very rarely do they revert to their primary weapon unless you're either too far away OR they've recently been resurrected by a Watcher. That's all the more reason to make the Watchers a high priority on your list of targets!

When a Knight launches a grenade, the animation is quite lengthy, so if you time it right, you can wait until they enter the animation, Sprint behind them, and take them out with a quick back-smack. The margin of error here seems rather small which is why I tend to double-tap just to be on the safe side. If the Knight goes down, immediately back up to avoid getting bitch-slapped by his blunt arm. While you can generally survive this attack with full shields, after dealing with the Crawlers you won't likely be in that position at this point.

Go for the Watcher the instant the Knight has been slayed. Your weapon of choice here should be the Suppressor. Don't worry. There are plenty of them lying around from the Crawlers, and this is one area of the game where the Suppressor has really carved out a name for itself. Not only are its energy-based projectiles effective against the Watcher's shields, the constant flow of firepower tends to keep the Watcher on the run rather than attacking you. Empty your Suppressor into this guy, and the locked door on the other side of the rock wall will finally open for you. Before going through, take a moment to replace your Magnum for the Knight's Light Rifle. You'll be using this weapon for the remainder of the mission. Your secondary weapon really doesn't matter at this point, but I'd still stick with the Suppressor since you'll be encountering Watchers along the way. Though you may not need to combat them directly, it's nice to always have a Plan B.

Head through the door and you'll be able to load up on Suppressor ammo from the nearby cache. Go through the next door and you'll be back outside again. This is where you start running. Three Knights will spawn on the rock piles ahead, but a quick player can brush past them while taking little damage. They'll almost always resort to grenades which travel through the air much slower than their primary weapons. As you approach the platform, a pack of Crawlers will race out from the cave on the left. Ignore them and get to the platform. You'll notice a ramp on the RIGHT SIDE of the platform leading up to a Light Rifle cache. Fill up on ammo and jump down into the firefight below. Crawlers and Knights alike will be taking shots at you, so make it quick! Head through the small tunnel on the right and up the incline until you reach the door. Just on the other side there's another weapons cache. You shouldn't have needed to fire a single round in the last area, but it's there if you need it.

The next door will take you to the three power cores controlling the first pylon. In theory you can take out the cores in any order at your own pace, but I'm going to show you the fastest and safest route to execute this task.

Head to the right once you're back outside. The Crawlers will typically run right past you, but if you linger around too long they'll open fire. Race around the pillar for cover. Don't worry. They won't follow you. You'll notice a small, diamond-shaped window in the Forerunner structure lining you up perfectly with the first power core. Three (zoomed) shots with the Light Rifle will be sufficient enough to bring it offline.

Waste no time in jumping down and heading for the next one dead ahead. You'll be approached by about have a dozen Crawlers. Three of them will be bouncing around the outside of the structure—too much Redbull I suppose—and the other three will hang back until you start attacking the first set. You should be too far away from the Knight for him to cause any issues, so focus on the Crawlers. If you want, you can even save the last one to get your shields back. Remember, four melees does the trick! Then use the right side of the structure to make your way around to the back of the area. Do NOT bring down the power core yet! Instead use the rocks for cover to take out the additional Crawlers in the area while avoiding the Knight from the previous core.

Our main focus now is on the third core on the other side of the larger Forerunner structure (the tower). A few Crawlers will spawn near the core to join the ones already running around. A Knight and Watcher will spawn as well, but they'll largely ignore you unless you come to close to the opening. Gun down as many as you can before proceeding to the right side of the structure. You'll be granted another window to easily take out the core—again with three scoped shots.

Now you can make a run for the tower entrance. You'll notice that the two Knights who normally spawn near the entrance won't be there. That's because there's still one core active! This also goes for the Battlewagon on the second floor. Pretty sneaky! At the fork located at the top of the incline, go right and toss a grenade into the last power core. Make a run for the top of the tower and use the bridge to gain entrance to the pylon. For a visual look on how this section is played out, check out the video at the bottom of the page. If you did it correctly, the only enemies you had to kill here were Watchers. Ascend to the top of the pylon and pull its power source causing it to shut down. One down. One to go!

Head through the portal and you'll find yourself beamed back into Requiem's core. Again, you can choose to grab an Auto Sentry here, but I still tend to stick with the Hard Light Shield. Cortana will open a second portal which will take you to the next pylon. While doing so, the Covenant will make a surprise slip-space entrance into the core themselves and also make their way to the pylon. Things just got interesting!

Enemy of My Enemy

Zip through the portal and gather up additional Light Rifle ammo from the crates on either side. Proceed forward and you'll see that the Covenant have spared no time in literally dropping in to crash the party. Hold back for a few seconds to allow the Covenant and Prometheans to engage each other. This will allow you to use the rock paths in the center of the battlefield to traverse through the other side while taking little damage. They'll be too occupied killing each other to pay attention to you. The Knights to look out for are the two hanging around near the exit. They'll eventually drop down to engage the Covenant anyway, but you shouldn't have to wait that long.

One of the things I really enjoy about this section of the mission is how reminiscent it is of the level "Keyes" from Combat Evolved—two factions going head to head and giving it everything they've got! The major benefit here is that you can use their fighting to your advantage and squeeze your way through many of these encounters while suffering very little, if any, damage. The key, of course, is timing everything correctly.

After skipping across the rocks and reaching the other side, jump down, crouch-jump up the next ledge, and head left just in time to catch a Knight treating an Elite like a ragdoll. Use the opportunity to back-smack the Knight before it's too late, then run the opposite way through the rock wall. Mind the trio of Watchers that will be taking shots at you along the way. Through the wall, head right as the Knight gives a serious beat down to two Elites piloting Ghosts. The Covenant have clearly met their match on this one! Give it back to the Knight by assassinating him while he's occupied. Then hop in one of the Ghosts and boost around the left side of the next battlefield. Head through the tunnel and you'll arrive at yet another skirmish unfolding. This one is between Grunts, Jackals, and Crawlers. You should be able to boost through them and into the door with little issue, but watch out for stray grenades and overcharged plasma bolts. Getting hit by either of these could spell instant death, and even if you survive, you really want to try your best to keep your shields as full as possible for this next area.

Between the entrance of the corridor and the exit, there are multiple weapons caches for you to fill up on ammo, but you likely didn't fire a single shot since your last replenish, so simply zip past them and move on.

This is where things get tricky. Personally, I consider this next zone one of the most frustrating areas in the game. If you choose to go the conventional route, you'll be dealing with a pair of Ghosts, several Elites, Grunts, and Jackals, and two very sadistic Banshees that will shred you in no time. Even though you're facing Covenant here, I consider this pylon to be far worse than the first. That said, we're going to skip it out of sheer principle!

The instant you enter the area, an Elite will spawn and make a run for the parked Banshee. Beat him to it. And if you need shields, beat him down while you're at it. Don't waste any time here! Hop in and take off toward the pylon itself. It gets a bit tricky here, so definitely use the video at the bottom of the page to reference what I'm about to describe.

Boost the Banshee towards the circle of light in the center of the pylon. Do it quickly (that's what she didn't say...)! The second you're in the air, the other two Banshees will start peppering you with their plasma guns, and if you're really unlucky, they might land a direct hit with a Fuel Rod Cannon. There are also several Elites with Carbines guarding points all over the tower who will also be taking shots at your Banshee. This is why you need topnotch shielding. You're definitely going to be taking damage here. Once you've gotten as close as you can to the light circle, angle the Banshee down and to the right so you can slide behind the rock wall. This is the first of two invisible barriers you'll need to get around. Head down towards the pool of coolant and then start flying up and away from the rock wall to get under the second barrier. At this point you'll now be able to fly all around the pylon! Again be quick because the Banshees have rather ridiculous range with their plasma cannons and they can still reach you from inside the battlefield. Head toward the top of the pylon, and you'll be able to fly the Banshee straight through the roof and into the room with the generator. Land the Banshee (while being VERY careful not to fall through the open space surrounding the generator!) and tag the door to load the area properly. You'll now be able to deactivate the generator!

Another portal will open and return you to the core once again. Getting a bit repetitive, aren't we, 343? With both pylons finally neutralized, one more portal will open to grant you access to the satellite itself. Head through. It should be no surprise to you at this point that the Covenant have beaten you to the punch and are already engaged in brutal combat with the Prometheans. We'll take this one a step at a time.

Almost Home

Entering the portal will plop you onto the large Forerunner satellite, and you'll immediately be engaged by a Phantom dropping off a platoon of Grunts and a Jackal Marksman. The Marksman is your top priority. With him out of the picture, focus on the Grunts. Once you start attacking them, they'll retreat to the doors on either side. Move in carefully so as to not get caught off guard by their Plasma Grenades and pick them off one by one. Feel free to save the last one for a good shield recharging. Just like with the Crawlers, it only takes four melees or an assassination. Killing them all will unlock the doors to the next areas.

You have a choice. Go left or go right. Each side is themed a different way. While both will be cluttered with combat between the Covenant and the Prometheans, the left side will be dominated by Prometheans while the right side assures victory for the Covenant. Since it's almost always preferable to fight the Covenant over the Prometheans, I strongly recommend going right.

The first area is a simple one. Simply hug the left side of the platform and rush to the opposite door. You may encounter a Grunt or two along the way, but they'll be so occupied dealing with the Prometheans (along with the rest of the Covenant forces) that they'll usually be running away from you—aligning them perfectly for an easy back-smack. Head through the door and it will close quickly behind you.

The second zone gets a bit more intense. Three Elites along with Grunts and Jackals will be battling a group of Knights—one of which is a dreaded Binary Knight. Lucky for you, the Knights are on the far end. Use the Light Rifle cache in the lift room to your advantage and treat yourself to a few easy kills. The Elites are your top focus. There will be two on the elevated structure to your right and one down on the bottom level with a Fuel Rod Cannon. The FRG Elite tends to launch a few shots your way once you start to engage him with the Light Rifle so use the walls of the lift room for cover. In no time he'll refocus his attention on the Knights.

Using the Light Rifle here enables you to down each Elite in less than two clips, and since they're more focused on the Prometheans than you, they will be far less likely to try and dodge your shots.

After you've killed off the last of the Elites, begin working on the Grunts and Jackals. Be sure to leave at least one behind for getting your shields back. When you've cleared a path, head up to the structure on the right. This will trigger a Phantom to swoop in and mercilessly hose down the remaining Knights. Your path to the final zone is now clear, but take a second to hunt down the remaining Grunt to recharge your shields. If you're spotted, switch the Suppressor to keep him occupied until you can close the distance. I can't think of a much more embarrassing and frustrating way to die this far into the mission than being killed by a Grunt...

Now move on to the final zone. No need for additional ammo at this point. Simply hop on top of the banister on the left and trace it to its apex. Then Sprint-jump behind the pillar and land on the banister on the other side. This will allow you to bypass both the Elites and Knights that are in the middle of heavy combat. Again, one of these Elites possesses a Fuel Rod Cannon, and one of the Knights is a Battlewagon, so avoiding both these parties is highly preferable! Now you can head for the console on the far end. Be aware, though, that there is a Binary Knight hanging around there, but as long as you keep to the left, he should prioritize the Elites over you. As soon as you reach the console and activate it, you're home free!

I'd recommend taking a moment to watch the cutscene as this introduces the powerful and godly entity known as the Didact. He makes quite an entrance by converting the Prometheans into his own personal slaves (you'll notices that their illuminations switch from blue to orange), siding them with the Covenant who were trying to free him all along (nice work, Chief!), and finally force-choking the Master Chief before tossing him effortlessly to the floor. Clearly this isn't someone we should be screwing with... Upon making his exit, the Didact will tear a portal into slipspace and send the entire core into absolute chaos. Covenant ships will be colliding into each other, massive rock structures will be getting sucked into oblivion, while the Chief is lying unconscious in the middle of it all...

Next Stop, Certain Death

Cheerful little title, isn't it? After Cortana's relentless nagging finally wakes the Chief from his slumber, you'll find several Ghosts parked directly ahead of you—detached from one of the nearby crashed Phantoms. Pick any one you choose and begin boosting with the aid of Cortana draining your shields to give the Ghost a magical nitro boost!

I'll take a second to summarize the pain you are about to endure. Bring your Good Books kids, because things are about to get preachy... I personally found it odd that we'd be doing one of these repetitive and boring escape runs on only the third mission of the game, but this has to be one of the most frustrating runs in the entire series. While the scenery that is being demolished all around you is indeed visually stunning, the margin of error here is EXTREMELY low, and even the most perfect of runs can end in utter disaster if your speeding Ghost so much as lightly clips one of the walls that at times can be very difficult to avoid. Some will be closing in from the sides while others will be collapsing from both the top and bottom! And if you flip? Ouch... Taking too long in some areas could mean not being able to get past a collapsing pillar or caving tunnel. The Combat Evolved run was fun and fair. The Halo 3 run was a nice tribute to it though less exciting. This one? I don't even know where to begin.

Having a word for word description on how this should play out is nearly meaningless due to the many different unavoidable factors that come in to play, but I will offer these tips. Boost as much as you can while also keeping the nose of the Ghost up just before landing from large jumps. Do your best to keep the Ghost in the very center of the run and stay away from the walls at all cost! Avoid running over the fleeing Covenant to reduce the chance of flipping your vehicle. When you get to the collapsing rock tower, be quick at making the flying leap across the chasm and through the tunnel on the other side before the ceiling squashes you like a pancake. Once you've made it that far, the rest of the run isn't so bad. Just remember to boost at full speed across the larger gaps and finally head through the portal at the end. The video below walks you through each step of the way on the most efficient methods for getting through this nightmare in one go.

Congratulations on surviving your first encounter with Halo's newest deadly foe! The tactics you've learned here will greatly benefit you for your next mission. Be warned. You're about to get your ass handed to you on a silver platter...