Tackling the landing battle
Posted January 19th 2025
Associated movies
The landing battle in 'The Silent Cartographer' has to count as one of the most iconic encounters in the game. You fly in aboard one of two Pelicans, disembark with a hefty squad of Marines, and have to tackle a succession of covies before Echo 419 flies in with a Warthog. On Legendary you've got 6 Marines, on Heroic 7, and otherwise it's 9.
In this article I'll talk tactics, which may give you some ideas for how to tackle things, especially if you want to try and save the Marines, which can make a nice challenge. I'll especially have Legendary in mind as that's where tactics matter most, but the discussion will also be of relevance to the lower difficulties, even if being of less importance.
Enemy disposition
Before I get to some tactics, a few words on the opposition. Initially you're up against several Grunts who lurk near rocks to the left, centre and right, backed by an Elite in the open with a plasma rifle. This is group 1. On Legendary and Heroic the Grunts number 6 (they're in pairs), otherwise it's 8 (two on the left, three in the centre, three on the right). However, on Easy it seems that one of the centre Grunts always gets killed by AR fire from the other Pelican even before you disembark.
Group 2 is just over a rise, in an area featuring two stationary shields, six containers and a communications unit. This group likewise comprises Grunts and an Elite, and some of them may attack you even while you're still dealing with group 1. On Legendary and Heroic the Grunts number 4, otherwise it's 5. The Elite seems to have a plasma rifle on Legendary and Normal, but otherwise a needler.
Finally there's group 3, comprising two Elites with plasma rifles, plus a few Jackals. There are 2 Jackals on Legendary and Heroic, otherwise 3. These covies initially stand around out of sight behind a massive support structure, but typically they activate before you're close, and advance through the short dark 'alleyway' as I'll call it. However, in that case they fall back as you advance.
On Legendary all four Elites are red (with plasma rifles). On Heroic you only get one red, namely one of the group 3 Elites. On Normal you get two: the group 2 Elite and one of the group 3 Elites.
General tactical talk
You're initially equipped with an assault rifle and pistol, plus frag grenades. A major hazard to the Marines are plasma grenades lobbed by the early Grunts, so you can help them a lot by whittling down the Grunts fast. The pistol is ideal for that, and all the better if you can pull off headshots. Frag grenades are another good option though.
When it comes to group 2, you might like to approach behind a stationary shield. The covies can't see through it, so you can pause to consider your options. Tagging the Elite perhaps? Or throwing a frag and then just charging in? I favour a plasma rifle for close-up aggression here, but a plasma pistol or AR are good too. With so much cover available, this area is good for scurrying around pursuing and slaughtering the opposition. But it can also be good fun to attack the covies from the side (near side or far side), initially keeping a bit of distance. Send in a few grenades perhaps!
As for group 3, that's when things can get significantly more nasty as you've got two Elites to deal with at once. Take care when you get close! However, they're quite confined when in the alleyway, and you can often wreak havoc with grenades or (my favourite) streams of needles. Bear in mind also, you have the option of circling around the support structure to attack the covies from their rear. This enjoyable tactic can work really nicely, with the covies typically being initially focused on the approaching Marines. It can also give you time to recharge your shield if it's down (think of it like this: you're doing something productive while recharging).
Sometimes this last group doesn't activate, enabling you to get close and surprise them, making for a very different closing fight than usual. Once you've done this a few times, you'll get familiar with their standing positions, and that can help you be more effective in taking them down.
Finally, a general point. If you're trying to save the Marines, it's generally good to keep ahead of them in the attack, to minimize the amount of fire they're subjected to. Of course, that means lots of enemy focus on you, but at least you're good at dodging and using cover, right? The Marines, not so much.
Needler grab
Moving to some specific plans, my old favourite is the 'needler grab', in which you quickly get a needler from a Grunt on the left (one guy always has one), and make good use of it thereafter in taking out Elites. In particular, typically the first thing to do with it is to send a stream of needles into the first Elite. A nice bit of crossfire! It can help if he's not focused on you, so he's less likely to evade the needles. You can facilitate that if needed by briefly being out of sight behind the rock, so he switches focus to the Marines.
You may be able to take out the next Elite too, if visible. You might even like to attack him first, given that he might otherwise soon back off out of sight.
Incidentally, in going for the needler, what I normally do is immediately take down the left Grunts with the pistol, going for zoomed headshots. If you get the front one fast, the next tends to step forward into the same spot, so you can get him with the same aim. After that, there's usually time to fire on Grunts to the right, to help the Marines. However, another approach to things is to attack those Grunts first (on your way to the needler), and then deal with the left Grunts.
In all of the early work, you're subject to very little fire over on the left, as long as you don't let the Elite get a good bead on you. As such, there's not much risk of losing health, even on Legendary. That's a nice aspect of the plan. It's low-risk for you.
Needle streams are also great against the final two Elites, whether you're attacking from in front of the alley or circling around to attack from the rear.
Plasma pistol grab
Another plan is the 'plasma pistol grab'. This is similar to the needler grab except with a plasma pistol (one of the left Grunts always has one). Coupling the plasma pistol with a pistol for headshots, you're pretty nicely set up for dealing with the Elites.
Centre attack
Another idea, and a rather broad one, is to do a fairly central attack in regard to the enemy's front line. Typically I'd seek to take down most of the Grunts in the middle group and right group with pistol fire or grenades, fast. That's four Grunts on Legendary. Then I'd attack the ones on the left. All this can minimize the plasma grenade threat to Marines posed by the early Grunts. And of course, by being to the fore, a lot of enemy attention is likely to be directed at you rather than the Marines. In view of all this, you might favour this plan if keen to prevent early Marine deaths.
Along and around
Here's a novel plan. Head along the beach in order to go around the support structure to ambush group 3, then head for group 2 to help out any surviving Marines. If you killed some covies on your way to group 3, obviously that'll help the Marines you're leaving behind, and they might even all survive.
Further ideas
If you're not focused on trying to keep all the Marines alive, you might like to try fighting from behind or among the Marines (see pic), rather than being out in front. That's actually quite good fun and gives things a different feel, though I think you'd best use Heroic or lower.
Another idea: kill off the Marines quick (frags will help, and you could also use melee from behind), so you can tackle the covies solo. Not very ethical, but never mind.
I also direct you to my old article Rejoined landing battle for a very different way of tackling things. Not a very proper way it might be said, but you can have some fun with it.
Advice on playing repeatedly
If you're interested in fighting the battle repeatedly, you need to know about the checkpoint structure. There's a checkpoint right after you disembark, so that's your battle start checkpoint. As for the end checkpoint, if you've been slaying all covies along the way as usual, the checkpoint will usually be due 3 to 4 seconds after group 3 is wiped out (it's also just after an intercom voice starts saying "Area secure. All hostiles have been eliminated"), but it's fully delayable. You should thus either revert promptly, or keep the end checkpoint delayed (e.g. with jumping) until ready to revert (maybe you first want to check how many Marines you saved).
Note: if you're not sufficiently near the final area when the covies are wiped out, the end checkpoint seems to get held back a while (along with the intercom announcement). I'm not sure of the details, but if the Marines are initially standing around and then you see them suddenly all start running to the final area, the end checkpoint will be due a few seconds later.