Fascinating Banshee behaviour you can watch for ages!

(8:44) Level 2 ('Halo') on Heroic. Back in 2006 I wrote about Banshees which get lost and go wandering across distant scenery in highly watchable manner. Now that I'm finally giving it the movie treatment, I've seen further fascinating behaviour, so things are even better than I realised! I have a lot to show, but for starters here's a set-up tutorial and introduction.

Released June 21st 2018, gameplay recorded June 16th-19th 2018.

00:02 (Arrival in the valley) Full set-up advice is in my newly expanded article, so I won't go through all that here. I'll make a few remarks though. At the start (having saved a checkpoint after the light-bridge), I get the sniper rifle. Wanted for watching Banshees later!

00:24 (Saving the survivors) I've condensed my saving of the cliffside survivors into a quick succession of action clips, illustrating my overall movement in the area (not that you have to do it in any particular way). Initially I frag some Jackals, but actually it's best to save all your grenades for the later Banshee fun. When I recorded this, I hadn't yet realized frags could be useful with lost Banshees (grenades can spook them), so I used a few in slaying the covies.

01:00 I had to return underground to get a straggler. You'll hear three pistol shots here and you may've thought they were all mine, but the first is actually from a crewman to my right. It makes the Grunt stagger back, and meanwhile a Marine advances to where the Grunt was. As a result, my first shot hits the Marine, oops! I kill the Grunt with my second though.

01:10 (Finishing the set-up) I promptly whizz off in the hog to get the attention of the Banshees. Back in 2006 I was just driving out into the valley, but actually the Banshees often don't see you there, because they can be circling very low. So here I'm employing my new strategy; going up onto the hill where they're certain to see you, then spinning safely down. I subsequently hide in the high entrance and get an entry checkpoint, finishing the set-up.

At that point I didn't know if it was a good set up (there's some randomness involved); but I did some playing and soon found that it was ok, so I saved the checkpoint. The rest of the movie comes from that save.

02:12 (Early returns) In this first example play, both Banshees chase the Pelican but neither of them gets lost. By the time I spot them, they're already returning to the valley. No good!

03:00 (Wanderer) This time one Banshee returns, but one has started wandering, yay! It's relatively high. I watch and track it, using the hog to keep up, but I'm eventually spotted, despite backing off in cautious manner. I wasn't expecting that, because it was already heading away, but this just goes to show that pilots have eyes in the back of their heads! I tag the approaching Banshee and there's a comedy ending as I misjudge how close it was going to get. Tragedy!

04:19 (Pelican vanishing) Here are two clips now which show what happens with the Pelican, in case you didn't know. It vanishes. And actually, it hits an invisible wall just beforehand (the wall which wandering Banshees regularly bump into). Could of nice tags here too! Some pistol fire is needed too; on Heroic a tag alone isn't quite enough to blow a Banshee.

05:21 (Broke off early) In this play one of the Banshees breaks off the chase as it flies over. I suspect I was spotted. I tag it and the pilot pops out amusingly. Meanwhile the other Banshee has returned to the valley. Maybe that one spotted me too.

05:42 (Better hiding and more success) Hiding better like this can help a lot. On this play I find the Banshees circling (and sinking), behaviour I hadn't seen in 2006 but which I now think might be quite common, depending on your set-up. I get spotted though - should've been more cautious, and one of the Banshees heads my way, then breaks off towards the valley. The other Banshee goes wandering though, and soon bumps the invisible wall.

07:03 The other Banshee makes an attack - this is a pretty common situation - but I take care of it. When I get sight of the wanderer, it's heading away and I make a quick drive to the far end of the survivor area. I pick it up and watch, and see it bump into the wall again. A few minutes later (not shown) I briefly looked away and lost track of it. Never seen again!

08:23 (More later) To end, here's some brief teaser footage involving two lost Banshees playing around. There wasn't enough room to give this sort of thing a full showing here; that'll be for later. But this clip gives a hint that there's more to see.

Closing remarks I'm not quite sure what the next instalment will be like, but my hard drive is currently swamped with potential good footage to use, so hopefully it won't be long before I put something together.

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