Walkthrough by Silent Thunder and Kevin Mulligan

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Story: Halo's horrible secret has been revealed. Failure will result in the death of all mankind. You must destroy Halo before it can be repaired, at which time it will perform its original function: the destruction of all sentient life for the purpose of controlling the Flood's appetite. The Monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, has betrayed the Master Chief; this battle will be his own. Fortunately, he has one other, very powerful, ally remaining: Cortana. And she has a plan.

Introduction: This is the final level in the game. You must return to the Pillar of Autumn and destroy Halo in order to prevent the destruction of all life in the galaxy, and the escape of the Flood. This is the toughest level in the game, but there are a lot of great things to see and do here.  Use the ship's quirky design to your advantage, and fight for your survival.


Part 1: ...And The Horse You Rode In On
After entering the Pillar of Autumn through a Bumblebee lifeboat docking slip, proceed in and go all the way down to your left.  Turn right, and enter the maintenance tunnel.  If you take too long locating and entering the maintenance tunnel, then you may be attacked by the Sentinels that soon enter the area the same way you did. 

Take the immediate left in the tunnel, and follow that forward and turn left again.  As you proceed towards the ladder ahead of you (located in the floor below the falling sparks), a group of Flood infection forms will pop up.  Take a few easy shots as they are just beginning to enter to take them all out quickly, then peer down into the room below.  Shoot and explode one of the Flood carrier forms, and wait to hear the others explode.  Next, turn to your left, and sidestep down into the room-- this way you will land facing the Sentinels that you now have to destroy. 

As soon as you land, run up to the angled metal divider between you and the sentinels; this will be your cover.  Ignore any Flood infection forms, since you don't want to draw the Sentinels' attention to yourself.  Sidestep to your left, and toss a plasma grenade onto one of the Sentinels (preferably one in the middle of the others).  They should be too busy cleaning up the left-over Flood infection forms to even notice you, and your grenade should take out all four birds with one stone. If you do not take them all out, ready your plasma pistol and use overcharged shots to take down any stragglers.

Proceed forward, and soon another group of Flood infection forms will attack from your left. DO NOT SHOOT THEM. Shooting them will only attract more Flood to your area. Instead melee them until they are all gone and let your shields recharge. 

Stay to your right, and proceed ahead and peek around the corner little by little until you see a Flood combat form's foot.  Don't let him see you, just toss a plasma grenade at his leg, and let it blow him up.  Now, proceed to keep peeking around the corner little by little until you see the right angled cement wall at the base of the metal divider in the hall.  Toss a frag grenade at the wall so it bounces off and into the area you can't yet see from your angle, there will be about three Flood Combat Forms waiting there.  After they are blown up, move ahead cautiously, and look for a shotgun. Exchange it for your assault rifle, unless you want to keep it to use on infection forms; if that's the case, drop your plasma pistol. Don't proceed too far ahead or you'll trigger the next wave of Flood. 

After you find the shotgun, look to the door ahead of you and slowly walk towards it.  Soon, a brigade of Flood infection forms will tear the door down and enter your area. Toss a couple grenades in as the door is about to open; hopefully you will take out most of them out with only one or two grenades. If you don't have any grenades, or prefer to do it the old-fashioned way, use the assault rifle  Strafe to the left of the door, ready your shotgun, and prepare to blow any entering Flood combat forms in half.  The reason you want to be to the left of the door is because you don't want them to be shooting at you as they come charging in. 

The next part is fun. At the end of the hallway, peek around the corner and draw the attention of several infection forms, then quickly pull back around the corner. Blast them with your AR as they come after you. Then poke your head out again, this time with a shotgun, and unload some of that 8-gague into a combat form. Retreat. Again, shoot them as they come around the corner. 

Proceed along the hallway, and you will find a door ahead covered in Flood infection forms. Run through the door straight, and into the little indentation ahead of you. Turn around and melee the Flood infection forms, but refrain from using your assault rifle or shotgun for stealth's sake.  Quickly position yourself so that the Flood combat forms on your right, as well as the possible Hunter on your left, can't see you. Let them battle until all the Flood Combat Forms are dead. 

When they are through, proceed to where the Flood combat forms were and exchange the AR for a pistol (it's usually back against the wall).  Be careful not to be seen by the Covenant in the next room.  Run back to the alcove where you were hiding and pick up the health and the frag 'nades on the shelf.  Proceed to the area where the hunter was, and peer in to the room you must now clear. 

Here, you have an option on how to deal with the Hunters that are usually there: either shoot them in their orange flesh with a pistol or, if you are seen lure one of them into the hall you are in. If you lure one into the hall you must walk backwards and as he is about to melee you, quickly sidestep right, turn, and fire your Pistol into his orange spot. If the Hunter is already dead, then wait for an Elite to enter your view, and toss a plasma grenade onto him. Either way, be sure to take down both Hunters before proceeding to take out the others.  Also make sure you quickly take out the Black Ops Grunt Grunt carrying the Fuel Rod Gun. Take out the rest using your pistol, conserving shotgun ammo for the Flood.  In the case of the Elite, you may want to trade your shotgun in for a Plasma Pistol.  Overcharge the pistol, which will totally deplete his shields, then switch to your pistol and shoot him once in the head to kill him. You remember the drill from the first level. 

As you proceed further into the room, a new group of Covenant will enter from the back of the room.  Retreat back and use the same tactics on this group, making sure to take out the Grunts carrying Fuel Rod Guns first.  Once they are down, their weapons will detonate and possibly take out several enemies with it. 

When you are through, proceed to the back left corner of the room. There will be several Covenant waiting on the other side of the doorway, so bounce a fragmentation grenade in using the short tunnel wall.  If you failed to take them all out, or just for good measure, toss another one in; it should detonate all the plasma grenades dropped by dead Covenant, lighting the entire hallway up.  Go back and load up on ammo and health before moving on (be sure to have a shotgun and pistol).  Proceed back and head through the doorway you recently cleared. 

Find a Needler gun on the body of a dead Grunt, pick it up, and reload it.  Proceed into the hallway to the left of where you came in.  Turn to your left, and sidestep into the bend in the hallway so that your are facing the Covenant Elite that will be standing at the other end, and begin to unload your Needler Gun into him.  Be ready to dodge the grenade he will probably throw, but until you see it coming, keep unloading your clip into him.  Wait until your Needler clip is empty before retreating back away from the grenade he throws-- if you time it right you should be fine. If he throws it early, move out of the way, retreating while firing. 

Now, reclaim whatever weapon you dropped for the Needler and proceed back to the room where you killed the Elite.  Stay in the hallway, and use various angles to snipe the Grunts' heads with your Pistol (watch out for their Fuel Rod Guns). Load up on plasma grenades. I also recommend getting a plasma pistol in exchange for the M6D; you'll need it if you decide to fight the Sentinels after the cutscene. Swap to the plas pistol and proceed forward for the next movie sequence to start. 

Cutscene. 343 Guilty Spark is on the ship-- and he has disabled command access, locking out the Captain's neural lace. (Have you ever realized this makes the entire ninth level totally pointless?) There's only one way left to disable the Pillar of Autumn's fusion reactors: take them out the old-fashioned way. An explosion will destabilize the fusion engine shielding and cause them to go critical.

After the movie ends, you have a few options. The first is to run out of the room quickly to avoid having to kill the Sentinels. If you do this, watch for the Sentinels, as they may follow you. The other option is to take them out with overcharged plasma pistol shots.  If you get hurt, there will be a Health Pack on the floor in the hall, to the left of where you are about to come out.  After you come back out into the hall you entered from before, turn left and proceed forward sticking to the right side.

Note: There's a third way to deal with the Sentinels. If you've seen the cutscene before, skip it. The display screen shattered by the Sentinels in the cutscene remains intact, providing you with some cover. It will still break under some fire, but it's an extra few seconds to either get off the bridge or take up a better firing position.

Toss a grenade towards the doorway as you begin seeing Flood combat forms enter your area.  After it explodes, start taking out all the Flood that enter using your shotgun.  When they are all dead, proceed into the room from which they entered. Head to the other side, but don't open the door.  Instead, wait for the combat on the other side to stop.  Now, you should enter and run straight across into the hall ahead of you. If a Hunter follows you into the hallway, you'll have to kill him using the same methods as before, but now it'll be more difficult in this enclosed area. If you need health, or want to get a human pistol, then you may have to take out both Hunters in this way. After either running or killing the Hunters, return to the hallway and get behind the barricade; maneuver so that you can see the Elite, but he can't see you. Toss a plasma grenade right onto him, then retrieve your ammo and health. I strongly recommend that you have a plasma pistol and a shotgun for the area ahead. Proceed on.

Don't open the door to the next area, but instead wait until all the Flood Infection Forms have passed by you.  Now you may enter and stick the Sentinels with some plasma grenades as they are kept busy by the Flood.  Take out any remaining Sentinels with overcharged plasma pistol fire. The Sentinels here have shielding units and will require a lot of pistol fire (about 27 shots) if you chose not to get the plasma pistol.

Now duck under the room divider to enter the next room, using melee attacks on any Flood Infection Forms here.  Now, peek around the corner and take out any Sentinels that are close to you using a couple of Shotgun rounds.  Now retreat back a bit, and Shoot the rest as they enter the room you are in.  Proceed on and through a door into the next section of hallway. 

There will be two doors on your right, leading to the cryo bay. Don't go in there yet, or you will get shot from Flood and Sentinels.  Instead, look to the left; you should find a section of the wall you can jump over.  Jump it to find some health near a door on the other side.  Now you may go back and enter the cryo bay, provided that the fighting has stopped. 

Go in a kill the remaining Flood combat forms with your Shotgun.  Then, quickly run to the back left corner and climb the ladder there. Soon, a bunch of Flood will enter the room. Try to avoid being seen. If they don't see you, they will begin to gather in a group.  Toss a fragmentation grenade in to take out as many as possible, then fall down and kill the rest with your shotgun.  Retrieve some ammo and head back up the ladder.  Follow the walkway to the doorway of the next room; there will be two Sentinels on the other side, but don't get out your plasma pistol just yet. 

Run in a few feet, and retreat back out and get out of sight somewhere on the walkway.  Your walking in will have triggered a large group of Flood Combat Forms to enter from the other side, and attack the Sentinels for you.  Once the Sentinels are dead, run through and take out the remaining Flood Combat Forms with your shotgun and continue into the hall they came from.  Continue running and plowing through them with your shotgun (be careful not to hit the carrier forms that are close to you; if they get too close, just run past them as they flop down).  When you emerge into a dark room, turn right and go in back of the cement slab to find a maintenance tunnel access door.  Run through it, ignoring the Flood infection forms, and find a place to hide and let your shields recharge after using melee attacks on the Flood that followed you. Persistent little Floody fools. 

Now, go back out the way you came, and use your Shotgun on any remaining Flood. Go back to the tunnel but go right to find two dead Elites, and an overshield.  Now go back to the maintenance tunnel, and go right, then left, then turn right and stop. You will see a Grunt pass by, pursued by several Flood Infection Forms.  Follow them at a distance to find several plasma grenades, then go in the direction they came from to find health and frag grenades. There will be two ways to enter the tunnel where the fighting is taking place.  Use the right exit, and cross the hallway into the door to your right a bit (the overshield will keep you from taking any serious damage).  Follow that tunnel to get in back of the Covenant force, and take out any Covenant that may be blocking the way to your left.  Run straight down the hall, and turn right at the end. 

Go into the room with the red arrow marked "Armory." Ahh, the armory-- a veritable wonderland of many destructive things. When you enter, the door on the other end will open and release about eight Flood Combat Forms, four of whom will be cloaked.  I suggest you keep your light on-- it makes it easier to find them before they find you.  After you dispose of these enemies, pick up shotgun Ammo, and trade your pistol (human or Plasma) in for a Rocket Launcher. 

Head back out the way you came in and locate the other door with a red arrow marked "Engineering." Follow the tunnel until it forks (about where the music starts playing), and go right.

Part 2: Light Fuse, Run Away
Welcome to Engineering, also known as Place of Many Large Booms. Take an immediate right and go up the ramp.  Turn left and head to the other end of this platform to find a door on your right (there will be health hanging along the way if you need it).  Go through the door and follow the path around and up to the second floor. Usually there will be Flood combat forms waiting for you here but if you made it here fast enough they won't be here yet. 

Turn left and enter the door to head up to the third and top floor. As you are about to come out of the tunnel, you will find some Flood combat forms waiting for you.  Be sure to keeping moving up as you kill them-- if you try to take them out from the seeming safety of the bottom of the ramp, they will just keep spawning. Run straight through the door and activate the first computer console on your right (marked with a nav point), opening the first of the engine shields. 

Hop down onto the shaft below it that will start to move, and run to the other side and fall off it to your right.  Take out your rocket launcher. The bright light located below the computer you activated is the reactor; launch a rocket here to disable the reactor.  Be sure not to fire until the doors are open, and don't hit the concrete slab in the center of the light part-- shoot above or below it.  After you hit it, an alarm will sound; now you can run back up to the third floor as you did before. The door will be to your left. 

After you reach the top floor, take a moment to let your shield recharge.  Then, run to the second computer and activate it.  Jump down onto the bridge like before, cross, and fall to your left. Take out the reactor in the same way as before, and take cover if you come under attack. 

When finished, fall down to your left to the platform with the health.  Turn around and go up into the door here and hide there and let your shields recharge.  Go around to the second floor, shooting as you go.  Be wary of any Flood carrier forms; if they detonate, they are bound to ignite all the surrounding grenades. 

Let your shields recharge, and proceed to head up to the third floor. Go around the corner and carefully launch a rocket to help clear the way if you wish (be careful of the grenades lying around, though).  Proceed across to the second computer terminal, turn left, and cross through the tunnel here.  Activate the computer in front of you, fall on the bridge again, cross, and fall off to your right. Fire into the reactor core again, being wary of lurking  Sentinels, and proceed into the door on your left. 

Go up and around and activate your last computer terminal.  Fall down, cross the bridge, fall to your left, and nuke another reactor.  Now, jump up the barrels in front of you like stairs, and one by one jump the bridges to get back to the door you use to get to the third floor. Be patient and pause prior to each jump; it's a long way down. Make your way up to the third floor in this way.  If you run into a group of Flood, toss a grenade under them to ignite the surrounding grenades. 

When you get to the top floor, turn left and go through the tunnel. Turn left on the other side and run through the door; follow the doors until you find one that explodes and stop. An elevator in the distance will soon arrive, bearing several Covenant visitors. Have the rocket launcher ready and shoot them when they arrive.  Use your grenades and shotgun to take care of any that survive, using the tunnel as cover. Remember that grenades will ignite other grenades; once one or more Covies are dead, you can take advantage of this. After all the screams stop, get in the lift and turn around so you face 45 degrees to the right of where you entered. Ignore the explosions; they do no harm.


Part 3: Warning: Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Convicts
Time for one of the most fun parts of the game. Head over to the walkway on the driver-side of the Warthog in front of you. Get in, then hop back out quickly to avoid the explosion. Grab the health in the little arch next to the drivers side door and get in the Warthog, this time to stay. Take a left and out the door, then another left, avoiding grenade explosions.

Jump the cliff and into the tunnel (try to drive straight whenever you get air to keep your Warthog from flipping).  As you come out of the tunnel, be ready to avoid a wall in front of you. Steer around the wall and up the ramp.  Continue along this path and where it suddenly drops into a tunnel, keep the nose of your Warthog up and try to keep good speed to make the jump on the other end of that tunnel. Enter the passageway here and follow it to the other end. Keep your Warthog centered and completely straight. Hit the next jump and head for the passageway.

Note: Keep in mind that the Warthog is a four-wheel-drive vehicle. If you hit the end of a jump with your front tires only, don't panic; they should be able to pull you up and over.

Enter the tunnel and stay to the right. As you are about to pass the second column, hit the brakes gently. Turn left quickly after the column and enter the small tunnel.  As you are about to exit the tunnel, hang a hard left and hit the gas.  Make your way out of this passageway and take an immediate left to the side of this room. 

Turn right to cross the room, follow the outside path and then turn right at the end, then left into the next passageway.  Go through this passage way, and make the jumps on the other end.  As you come off the second jump, try to aim either left or right (you won't make it to the top floor).  Make large S-turns past all the columns. When you emerge, head up and over the jump in front of you.  Continue straight through the jumps and into the next passageway. 

Don't stop to wait for Foehammer, but rather continue on straight.  Enter the Passageway and look for the columns in the passageway again.  Again when you pass the second column in the turn, turn a hard right and pass through the tunnel. Note: You won't have time, but if you were to jump out if the Warthog in the center of this small tunnel and turn right, you'd find a Grunt that wouldn't attack you but would say something rather odd: "Good thing that food nipple's waitin' for me at the starship, cause, man! Coo, have I worked up a big, Grunty, thirst!"  Turn right out of the tunnel and continue through the passageway. 

Cortana will announce there is a gap up ahead.  You now want to straighten out your Warthog and go as fast as you can.  When you land it, continue on straight to clear a second smaller gap. Note: Again, you won't have time, but if you were to stop on the small section between gaps, and back your Warthog up to the ledge without it falling, then you could jump on the Warthog, and from there onto the above platform. You could then fall into a section with two rooms. The right wall in the room on the right will have "REX" spelled out in blood. Rex (aka Tyson 'Ferrex' Green) was the level designer of Halo. 

Upon landing the second jump, continue straight through the passageway, and into the small exploding tunnel.  Avoid smashing into the column on the other end and go over the last jump.  Land the Warthog, and hop out. 

Introduction
Pillar of Autumn
Halo
Truth/Reconcil.
 Silent Cartographer
Control Room
343 Guilty Spark
The Library
Two Betrayals
Keyes
The Maw