Battle talk

NOTE: I expect to expand this page in the coming weeks.

• Sniper rifle glare issue
• Stalled Hunters

The tunnel is a somewhat dark environment, particularly in the rising section where the ground is natural rather than paved. So when using a sniper rifle with zoomed view, you might be thinking to have light amplification switched on. Unfortunately however, in most of the tunnel the light-amplified view comes with extreme glare, making it unacceptable. Or unacceptable to me at least (see pic).

But in a large section of the paved area at the bottom of the tunnel, the view is potentially fine, and a real delight for sniping covies up the rising section. As you go down the tunnel, the 'good' area starts a short way into the flat section. Within that area you may initially get some glare, but if so, it'll soon dissipate after some movement.

Let me add some explanation. Stand at the back wall of that flat section, and look at the distant tower wall beyond the tunnel exit. You'll see that it's dark. As you advance however, there's a point at which it starts lightening, and within a few steps that process completes. I assume it's a phasing in of new lighting, preparatory to you emerging into the tower zone. Now here's the thing. The glare in the light-amplified sniper view depends on the current state of that lightening process. The further it's progressed (as indicated by the tone of the tower wall, from dark to light), the more glare you'll have in the scope.

When coming down the tunnel, there's a corresponding phasing out of the brighter lighting. That's why you might still initially get some glare even in the 'good' area. But as I said, it'll dissipate as you move within that area. That's because the brighter lighting is phasing out.

One other thing. Just after the paved section ends, the tunnel area is particularly dark and the light-amplified view is actually usable if you're aiming in the vicinity. However, this isn't all that useful, as the rifle is of course not designed for close-range work.

In talking about the Hunters here, I'm assuming you've got them in rage mode as usual. Let's say you've set things up so the mob is initially at the tunnel exit, and you're above in a Banshee. A basic set-up.

When you initially swoop down into the tunnel, often the Hunters will give immediate chase - and in fact they'll typically be at the very front. But if you speed away, they seem to have a tendency to stop chasing and to just hang around. I suspect it's something to do with the sloped environment. It's as if they have trouble seeing you.

The upshot is that they can easily end up holding back from the main action; and since they also also act as a magnet for minor covies, they can stall such covies from heading your way. In view of this, with certain battle plans you may prefer to not have the Hunters at all. But on the other hand you can take advantage of this if using a sniper rifle and rocket launcher. It's delightful fun to send a rocket slamming into a bunch of minor covies standing around a Hunter. There's a great example of that in BCM451.