Want an extra dash of danger in your passage horde battling? Check this out!

(7:36) Level 3 ('The Truth and Reconciliation') on Heroic. So, how do you get two Elites into your passage horde battles on Heroic, such as featured in the previous movie? Here's a tutorial from start to finish, in which we also get the Hunters. And as you'll see, it's not all that hard. So you could maybe give it a go yourself, and enjoy some great battling! Contrary to a caption in that previous movie though, it looks like two Elites is actually the most you can get. That's because, according my understanding, the game will potentially allow the main phase of the boarding battle to end when you're down to two covies (namely if they're not in the room), but not more.

Released September 2nd 2026, gameplay recorded August 30th - September 2nd 2026.

00:02 (Reaching just two Elites left) In the early phase of the battle I focus on weapon provision. Specifically, I'm after a full AR plus some needlers. In the event, I don't get as many needlers as I would've liked, but never mind. I did well enough. Notice that along the way, I make use of drop reloading for free ammo. It's pretty quick to do. As for the AR, I didn't need any drop reloading there as the Marines were so generous in donating their weapons.

Around 1:34, I should've picked up the needler dropped by the Grunt I'd just killed. I could've quickly combined it with the other one nearby (which I get later), and perhaps moved it along. Might've ended up with more needlers. I was a bit too focused on the AR though, and also distracted by the Jackal. The game later removed the needler I left untouched. Opportunity lost.

Around 1:48 I decide it's time to get perched. Using my sniper rifle and plasma pistol I take care of Grunts and Jackals while letting two Elites accumulate (note: if there had been more Elites, I would've needed to whittle them down). Sometimes pressure from the Grunts and Jackals can get a lot more nasty than seen here by the way. I actually had a relatively easy time of things in that regard. But then again, I perched quite late and there were only two threatening waves to deal with. Wave 6 still existed, but that was in the diagonally opposite corner from my perch, presenting no threat.

Note: at 2:53 after I've sniped the last Jackal, I make a small mistake by reloading out of habit. I should've left the rifle as it was, and drop reloaded it later. Then instead of ending up with 58 rounds, I would've had 60. Still, it's no biggie.

02:53 (Getting the boarding battle's main phase to end) It's time now to get the Elites out of the room. That should trigger the official end of the battle's main phase; and as such, the two Hunters will be triggered along with a checkpoint. I want the camo though, so I'll be able to get clear of the Elites. Notice that I throw a plasma as I go for it. That's to make them either dive or pause, to reduce the chance of one of them swinging his sword and killing his buddy, which is otherwise something that happens all too easily.

Things go fine (although one of them does swing his sword after a while), and I save the checkpoint. Moreover, I keep a copy of the save for safety. If my forthcoming try at finishing off doesn't pan out well enough (e.g. maybe a Hunter keeps failing to turn up for battle), I'll always be able to have another go.

03:25 (Getting the progression checkpoint) After a little experimenting with the save to get to know it, I find that I'm going to have enough time to get a full needler, which is good news. So that's what I do here, starting with a needler I dropped earlier (back around 1:08) and then topping up with one across the diagonal. From there I go on to reach the slope, which triggers what I call the progression checkpoint (because you can now progress deeper into the ship), which I keep delayed until after I've killed the Grunt.

I had to briefly pause near a door because an Elite bounded over and stood in the way somewhat. I probably could've slipped past him, but I gave it a few seconds and he moved away, so I didn't need to risk it.

04:01 (Doing the rest) From here, things go the same as in my old tutorial for the Grunt-Jackal spawning trick, BCM145, except that I have some weapon movement business to include.

Notice that I avoid entering the spawn trigger zone before I've done enough weapon moving that I won't need to come back across later. Why? I wouldn't want any hostilities to break out with newly spawned covies, as that's likely to attract the Elites, which would not be good! Incidentally, you could actually do this part of the weapon moving prior to getting the progression checkpoint, by keeping the checkpoint delay going. That's a bit awkward though, so although it's something I personally would do (having had practice in various situations), I avoided it for the tutorial. The drawback of not doing it, is that each time you revert, you'll have to repeat the early weapon moving. Still, it's only a quick task.

The eventual positioning of some of my spare weapons is a little rough, and in particular, the main collection is noticeably off to one side. That was just because I wanted my work to be quite brief, for the tutorial. Didn't want much fussing around. I normally would fuss around though, to get things nice.

05:57 (Action montage) Here's a brief montage of action clips using the new set-up. The set-up turned out to be fine, and in particular, the Elites and Hunters seem to always be drawn into the fighting, as you'd want. That hadn't been the case for the set-up used in the previous movie, where one or both of the Hunters sometimes failed to join in.

06:53 (Hunter elimination) I figured I'd add this bit to show how you can quite easily eliminate the Hunters if it's only the Elites you want. I'm playing afresh from the chackpoint I saved. You just need some nice clean sniping while your camo holds. Might take a few tries, but you had a recent checkpoint, so retries are quick.

Closing remarks The set-up ended up having 39 Grunts and 14 Jackals, making 53, so when you add in the Elites and Hunters, the total covie count is 57. However, one Grunt is an external, trapped in the ceiling of the spawning area, so he not part of the mobile horde.

In the set-up used in the previous movie, Grunts were 65% of the Grunt-Jackal contingent (almost exactly two Grunts to every Jackal), but in this new set-up they're nearly 74% (almost exactly 3 Grunts to every Jackal). So the set-up randomly turned out to be quite Grunt-heavy.

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