Definitely easier without that covie horde pestering me!

(5:36) Level 8 ('Two Betrayals') on Heroic. Along with a little Elite fun, this shows a new way of setting up for exploration and fun in the control room, namely by using the anti-spawn door trick covered in the last movie. A significant advantage is that you won't have to deal with a covie horde outside, as they haven't turned up yet! Here I set things up for fun with the reinforcement Elite, and I use Heroic so I can highlight an advantage it has over Normal when it comes to Elite fun.

Released March 9th 2025, gameplay recorded March 8th 2025.

00:02 (Setting up) Most of this set-up work should be clear from the movie, but I'll remark on a few things in chronological order.

A combat tactic at the start: I try to weaken or kill the first Elite while he's busy with the Sentinels. As it turns out, I connect with two plasma balls, which allows me to finish him off quite easily when I advance. I also tried to kill some Grunts so more of the Sentinel fire might get directed at the Elite.

After using the panel at the outer door, notice that I didn't bother jumping to avoid possibly getting a checkpoint. That's because I knew that my Elite's presence would delay any checkpoint triggered.

In regard to delaying the third checkpoint outside, there's a danger if you're making a dramatic drop such as I was doing here. A heavy landing can freeze you, briefly stopping you from jumping to cause checkpoint delay, in which case you might get the checkpoint. What I did here was make sure my landing was soft enough that I wouldn't freeze. There was a slab at the bottom which gave me some cushioning. But actually, simply sliding down the wall is usually okay. If you're nervous about dropping, you could always throw a grenade beforehand. Or just take the path route for safety.

Unlike in the the old method, boarding the Banshee does not trigger a checkpoint.

02:16 (Splattering fun) After configuring my Banshee so I can keep flipping it (an excellent glass shattering configuration, as featured in BCM550), I try to get the Elite splattered, or at least spooked, but he doesn't seem bothered at all. Until finally the Banshee gets radically reconfigured and I get him! Pretty nice whack too.

03:32 (Modification using a handy checkpoint) A nice aspect of the new set-up method is that as long as the initial covie squad has been wiped out, a checkpoint can be triggered not far from the control room, by again using the control panel of the outer door. What you're doing there is resuming normal play, in regard to the anti-spawn door trick. Here I use it to finish off my modification. And by the way, I tried to minimally enrage the Elite, as I wanted him to retain as much strength as possible.

Note: around 3:51 you can see the small polygonal ring, between the planetoids. Apparently it represents Halo, between Basis and Threshold. That's some info I've now added to my control room article.

04:45 (Advantage of Heroic) Closing out with a bit of Elite-blasting fun, these clips highlight the advantage of Heroic over Normal, namely that when it comes to blasting the Elite off alive, it's easier on Heroic because he can tolerate closer blasts. You don't have to be so precise with your aim.

Closing remarks Actually this use of the anti-spawn door trick was the impetus for my covering that trick. Now I've done that, I can move on to other uses of the trick. But by the way, I don't think I'm finished with the control room yet. I suspect I'll come back to it for a few more movies. At the moment though, there are some uses of the anti-spawn door trick I'm keen to cover, unrelated to the control room.

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