Tactical Tips — Halo Wars eGuide

Part I: UNSC Forces

The Marines’ Grenade ability is useful for dealing damage to buildings or infantry.
Flamethrowers can stun enemy infantry with their Flash Bang ability.
Spartans can take over enemy vehicles with their Jack ability, adding their combat strength to the vehicle.
Spartans have several upgrades that change their weapons from SMGs to a chain gun, and eventually to a Spartan laser.
The Warthog is fast and great for Scouting and quickly gathering supply crates.
Use the Warthog’s Ram ability to knock enemy infantry units around the map.
The main UNSC vehicle is the Scorpion. Its Canister Shell ability enhances its attack power against infantry.
Cobras are good against other vehicles. Build them to neutralize enemy tanks.
Cobras can lock down, which increases their range. Lock them down by enemy bases and shell the buildings from a distance.
If you’re having trouble dealing with enemy air power, try building Wolverines. They excel at taking down air units.
The Hornet is the mainline UNSC air unit; useful at both offense and recon.
The Vulture’s Barrage ability is a deadly area attack with multiple missiles. Use Barrage against enemy groups or bases.
The Elephant is difficult to destroy: Lock down an area. Use it as a forward base.
When Elephants are locked down, they can train infantry. Use them to quickly get fresh troops to the front lines.
In addition to destroying buildings, Cyclopes can pick up and throw enemy units.
The Chain Amplifier allows Gremlins to hit up to three targets with an EMP blast.
Professor Anders’s special unit—the Gremlin—is good against vehicles.
The Hawk is an improved Hornet, available only to Professor Anders.
The Grizzly is an upgraded Scorpion tank that is available only to Sergeant Forge.
Cutter’s ODST serves the same role as the Marine, but he’s better in every way.

Part II: Covenant Forces

Upgrades for Grunt squads adds additional Grunts and eventually give them Needlers.
Jackals are effective in an anti-infantry role. Use them against Marines or Grunts.
Hunters are particularly good against vehicles, but they should be kept away from enemy aircraft.
The Spirit Bond upgrade allows Hunter pairs to do bonus damage as long as both are alive.
The Wraith is the Covenant’s mainline vehicle. Its Heavy Shield upgrade deflects a percentage of incoming damage.
The Covenant Locust, like the UNSC Cyclops, is primarily a building killer.
The Locust’s Overdrive ability dramatically increases its attack power at the expense of its shields.
When a Scarab appears on the battlefield, no enemy is safe. The Scarab can only be defeated by concentrated firepower.
The Banshee is the Covenant’s mainline air unit and is effective against most targets except its direct counters.
Use Vampires to counter enemy air units. Upgrade their Stasis ability and the Vampire will drain enemy Hit Points to heal itself.
Engineers are the only known noncombatant Covenant race. Experts at repairing things, they heal damaged units.
The Ghost is a fast, cheap Scouting unit. Don’t expect it to go toe-to-toe with most enemy units.
The Brute Chopper is an improved heavy scout, only available to the Brute Chieftain.
The Brute’s Electric Shot upgrade adds electrical stun damage to his weapon.
The Suicide Grunt’s high-damage special attack is effective against many types of units.
The Arbiter’s Rage power lets him cut through entire enemy armies.
The Arbiter’s Ghastly Vision upgrade enables him to permanently cloak.
The Prophets of Regret, Truth, and Mercy came to power in 2525, usurping the power of the previous Hierarchs.
The Prophet’s Cleansing ability does lots of damage to all types of enemy units.
Want to enhance the Prophet’s mobility? Get the Divine Absolution upgrade and he becomes a full-fledged flying unit!
Use the Brute Chieftain’s Vortex to damage large groups of enemies.
The Brute Chieftain’s Destiny upgrade adds an area-of-effect stun to his attacks.
Try slipping cloaked Elites behind enemy forces to strike at their weaker support units.
Use the Wraith’s Scorch ability to deny an angle of approach to enemy forces.
Banshees with the Sacrifice ability will crash into a ground target when destroyed, doing area-of-effect damage.
The Engineer’s State of Grace upgrade dramatically improves its ability to heal.

Part III: Basic Gameplay Hints

Put your infantry in cover whenever possible. Cover increases their range, line of sight, and Hit Points.
Use to move around the map.
Pressing will send a flare to your allies. This is useful for quickly telling an ally where you plan to attack.
If you flare a location, your AI ally will try to help attack or defend there.
Proper use of Rally Points allows you to get fresh units to the front lines. Try both Global Rally Points and Rally Points set from bases.
Double-clicking will set your Global Rally Point to that location.
Use to change your camera’s rotation and zoom. Press it once to reset to default.
Use to jump around the map quickly. Advanced players will use it more often than .
Press to quickly jump to your Covenant leader.
Press to cycle through the last few alert messages.
Press to jump from base to base.
Pressing will cycle you through all your armies around the map. This is helpful when planning a multifront assault.
Select a unit with . You can also hold down to get a paint brush that will select any unit it touches.
Group selection and management is important in Halo Wars. To select all the units on the screen, press .
Press to select all the units in the game at one time.
Use to cycle through the unit types you have selected. Expert players will use this to give orders to individual unit types.
To move around the map quickly, hold down when you scroll with to quadruple the camera speed.
Press to cancel a selection or close a menu.
The primary Action button is . It will command your selected units to move around the map or attack enemies.
The Secondary Ability button is . Most units have secondary abilities that dramatically alter what you can do with those units.
At any point in the campaign, press to see your objectives.
Pause the game with . Now you can change options or turn on Skulls during a game.
Move commands can be queued up for sequential execution by briefly holding down when giving commands.
When you select any unit, it tells you what type of unit it is. This can be invaluable in deciding how to counter your enemy’s forces.

Part IV: Battlefield Roles

In Skirmish games, UNSC players can choose between Captain Cutter, Sergeant Forge, or Professor Anders. Each comes with several unique additions that alter play style.
The Covenant has three leaders to choose from for a Skirmish game: the Arbiter, the Prophet of Regret, and the Brute Chieftain.
Unlike the UNSC leaders, each Covenant leader personally appears on the battlefield.
The UNSC army is professional and regimented. Overall, each UNSC unit is slightly stronger than each Covenant unit.
The Covenant forces are led by charismatic leaders who drive their zealous followers to fight against humanity with little concern for any individual’s well-being.
While each Covenant unit is somewhat weaker than an equivalent UNSC soldier, the overall Covenant army size is bigger than the UNSC’s.
The Covenant leaders are the strongest units on the battlefield, though a well-managed group of three Spartans can do a lot of damage too.
UNSC and Covenant leader powers can be upgraded with technologies. Some upgrades even add new abilities.
Covenant leaders are upgraded at the Temple. Each upgrade increases the leader’s combat power and adds interesting new passive abilities.
Covenant Leader Powers cost few supplies to activate but require additional supplies to keep active. Be careful not to spend all your supplies on one power!
Captain Cutter can call down the MAC Blast power from Spirit of Fire. Akin to an oversized sniper rifle, the MAC Blast is great for taking out single targets.
Every new base Captain Cutter builds starts one level higher than normal.
The Elephant is Captain Cutter’s unique unit. He can also upgrade his Marines to ODST.
Forge’s unique power is the Carpet Bomb; the ultimate grenade for ground foes.
With the Cyclops unique unit and the Grizzly upgrade, Sergeant Forge displays his fondness for strategies that focus on heavy units.
Sergeant Forge’s Supply Pads cost more than normal Supply Pads, but they start with the Heavy Supply Pad upgrade, resulting in a faster midgame economy.
The Cryo Bomb is the main Spirit of Fire power for Professor Anders. It freezes ground units in their tracks and can knock flying units out of the air.
Fancy units are the thing for Professor Anders. The Gremlin unique unit can immobilize other ground vehicles while the Hawk superunit can dominate the sky.
Because of Professor Anders’s science background, her research into unit and Leader Power upgrades is completed more quickly and at a reduced cost.
The Arbiter’s Rage Power channels his irrepressible evil into one long fatality string. Use to initiate quick-jump fatalities in this mode.
Befitting his disregard for his troops, the Arbiter’s unique unit is the Suicide Grunt squad. The Suicide Grunts’ special ability detonates their methane tanks.
The Prophet of Regret can call down the massive Cleansing power. This beam of energy, even in its weakest form, is pure devastation for anything it hits.
Elite Honor Guards protect the Prophet and serve as his unique unit. Equipped with the Cloak ability, these Elites are excellent for sneak attacks.
The Prophet of Regret’s third combat upgrade converts his floating chair into a flying chair, giving him exciting new tactical potential.
The Brute Chieftain’s power is the gravity-related Vortex. Steer it around the combat zone to pull in enemies, then unleash the stored power with .
Jet Pack Brutes complement the Brute Chieftain leader. These heavy infantry units can use their jet packs to cross impassable terrain.

Part V: Light Lessons in Strategy

Halo Wars has a rock-paper-scissors balance between the unit types. Vehicles beat infantry, aircraft beat vehicles, and infantry beat aircraft.
Counter-units are great at killing one type of unit but are worse against any other unit. One counter-unit example is the anti-infantry UNSC Flamethrower.
Multitask: Units will continue to think on their own even if you’re off someplace else.
The Fog of War covers the areas of the map that your units cannot currently see. Scout frequently to make sure you know what your enemies are up to.
You can increase the troop limit. The technologies that do this are in the UNSC Field Armory and Covenant Temple.
If you’re looking for a quick way to select your units, try either (all units on screen) or (all units in the world).
Different units require different amounts of resources, Tech levels, and available army space to train. Stronger units usually cost more and require more army space.
To try a Rush strategy, attack quickly and aggressively. Train military units as soon as possible, apply pressure to the enemy’s base, and don’t let up until you win.
To try a Boom strategy, build only a few cheap Scouting units to take control of additional bases. Build Supply Pads in all bases to maximize your economy before building up your military.
To try a Turtle strategy, build towers at the front of your base and upgrade your Command Center. Use the base defenses to stall the enemy until your technology allows you to train vehicles or air units.
If you’d like access to better units and upgrades, you must improve your Tech level. Build Reactors (UNSC) or research the Temple’s Age upgrades (Covenant).
Try matching up counter-units against the units they can best kill. For instance, use Cobras to take on enemy Wraiths and Ghosts.
Most strategies should involve building at least two types of units. This approach will give you some sort of answer for the majority of enemy units.
For a simple strategy, build just one type of mainline unit and upgrade it all the way.
Don’t ignore postgame statistics. You can learn a lot about how to improve your game.

Part VI: Interesting Insights

If you’re playing as the Arbiter, try running him near the enemy base and then Hot Dropping Suicide Grunts to blow up a few buildings.
If you’re playing as the Covenant, try a leader Rush. Just build a Temple and Warehouses, then attack the enemy base with the leader’s special ability.
Try the Elephant Rush: Build one Elephant and then lots of Supply Pads. Lock down the Elephant just outside your opponent’s base and churn out Marines.
If you’re playing as Anders, Gremlins and Flamethrowers are a devastating combination in large groups.
Jackals and Hunters complement each other well.
When playing as Forge, try massing Flamethrowers and then using your Carpet Bomb to kill enemies that can counter the Flamethrowers.
One simple Boom strategy is building four or five Flamethrowers and using them to grab map-specific buildings and additional bases.
If you micromanage the Prophet of Regret and give him time to recharge his shields, he can take out the enemies around map-specific buildings all by himself.
The Brute Chopper is stronger than either the Ghost or the Warthog.
Covenant buildings and bases are naturally weaker than their UNSC counterparts. Be sure to add a Shield Generator.
To gain Veterancy, kill foe around map-specific buildings with your Covenant leader.
Whenever you have a free building site and you’re not sure what to build, a Supply Pad or a Warehouse is always a good choice.
Garrisoning infantry in a Forerunner bonus Reactor is a great way to advance your Tech level without having to build a Reactor or purchase a Temple upgrade.
Garrisoning infantry inside a Forerunner Supply Elevator grants a nice boost to supply resources.
The Protector Plant offers a selection of protector units that can boost the unit you attach them to with shields, healing, or firepower.
You can purchase Forerunner Sentinel units, including the unit-disabling Super Sentinel, at the Sentinel Factory.
If you have damaged units, moving them near a Forerunner Spire of Healing will quickly get them back to full health.
Controlling the Forerunner Life Support Pod will allow you to build larger armies by increasing your Population limit.
Garrisoning infantry in an Energy Wall will create a barrier that will deny mobility to ground units. This can help you hold ground or block choke points.
Sending units into a Forerunner Teleporter instantly moves them to another Teleporter location. A flare on your minimap will help you see where your units have reappeared.
The team that controls a Mega-Turret is a force to be reckoned with. Garrison infantry inside and blast away.
Sniper Towers are great defensive structures. An infantry squad inside can stand their ground against forces that would normally overwhelm them.
Minibase locations let you gain extra building sites by allowing you to construct a single building on them.
Fortify areas away from your base by building on stand-alone Turret sites. Once claimed, these Turret locations will match the upgrade level of your own Turrets.

Part VII: During Your Campaign Missions

Become proficient at cycling through selected units with : This is used to quickly single out important units, such as your Campaign Spartans, Forge, or Anders.
Remember to consistently check your Spirit of Fire (SOF) menu (). SOF Leader Powers are granted under many different circumstances, and some are free to use. Periodically check the power’s timers to see what is accessible.
Sometimes it is beneficial to let Forge or a Spartan stay down until they are fully healed.
Remember that Spartan shields regenerate for about 10 to 12 seconds when they are away from combat. They also regenerate their shield right after they are revived from being down.
Remember Flood Colonies (dormant for 220 seconds), Dens (dormant for 120 seconds), and Nests (dormant for 90 seconds) stop spawning while they are dormant.
Move infantry units into cover whenever possible: It gives an enormous boost to your offense and defense.
In Cooperative campaigns, have one player supervise the base construction, resources, and Spirt of Fire powers while the other controls the armies and fighting. This way, confusion is kept to a minimum.
In Cooperative campaigns, there is an option in the Spirit of Fire menu that allows you to send units to each other, which is extremely helpful.
An adept player always keeps their army at maximum Population. Having a quick and steady resource income is vital; that supply counter can never spin too quickly!
Keep constant watch on your units’ special ability () timers when you employ the attack. Once recharged, these abilities are exceptional and can help you survive an otherwise terminal fight.
Scout and gather loose crates all the time. You never know when you may need 100 extra resources.
Live your life hating, finding, and killing all Jackals. They hate you anyway.

Part VIII: Multiplayer Takedown Tactics

Rushing is tactically much more difficult in a 1v1 match, compared to a 2v2 or 3v3 battle.
Mobile units (such as Hornets, Banshees, Vultures, or Vampires, or to a lesser extent Warthogs, Ghosts, and Brute Choppers) are favored in team games to quickly reach long distances, whether you’re raiding enemy installations or helping your allies.
Using combinations of Covenant leader or Spirit of Fire powers is very important in team games. For example, launching Anders’s Cryo Bomb makes Forge’s Carpet Bomb much more damaging; launch them quickly, one after another. Have you tried sending two Covenant leaders to rampage through the same enemy base at once?
Try sending a double (or triple) UNSC Pelican Transport of units to a foe’s base for an unexpected and nasty surprise.
Rushing is more effective and easier to attempt with allies, as you can double-team a single enemy, especially if you’re both playing as the Covenant—imagine the problems if you both hack at a single foe’s base and Hot Drop troops to help you!. This is even worse for the enemy if his friend is far away.
Professor Anders is an especially impressive leader in team games. Her Cryo Bomb works well with other Leader Powers. She also has the airborne Hawk (a “Super Hornet”) that rules the skies.
It is easier to specialize in one unit type in multiplayer battles; one ally can exclusively build Hornets, the other can construct a Scorpion division, and both can cover each other’s weaknesses, allowing you to Tech level up to more powerful upgrades as fast as possible.
In 1v1 battles, specializing in one unit isn’t usually successful; it is wise to upgrade at least two unit lines so you can react to every enemy your foe tries to counter you with.
In team games, you can abandon Forerunner structures (Hooks) and give them to your ally. This enables you to, say, quickly take a Reactor Hook whether you need it or not, then step away when your ally needs it so you can both upgrade your troops without each building Reactors.