Fighting Hunters on LASO getting you down? RC Master shows how all you need is a shotgun, your fist and some dancing skills.
In his own words:
My last run of ONI Sword Base ended up around 18 minutes long – which at the time was still significantly faster than anything else out there. Naked Eli smashed that with a very nice 14 minute run which was more aggressive in several places. Well, I’m taking it back with this 12:48 run!
There were several changes to the route with this run. Right at the start I save some time by being incredibly aggressive and rushing for the Target Locator as soon as the Jackals stop messing me about…
Outside, with only one additional target locator shot, the hard part was in trying it figure out what to do and still doing it fast enough to make the target locator shot inside the courtyard worth it. I opted to DMR my way through Airview base and splatter the Elites: something that often ends up more dangerous than it seems with dodgy Ultras and unpredictable Generals throwing stickies your way.
I came incredibly close to dying at Farragut as two Ultra Elites rounded the corner as I was hitting the first button: fortunately they were so impressed by my speed that they decided to just take off my shields and let me leave.
One of the easier ways to both deal with the Courtyard 2 and the Hunters in the garage is to bring a Guass Warthog. However this requires some significant time waiting around, and once you have it in position it takes some time getting the job done. Instead I use my second target locator shot in the courtyard. Elites being Elites, they refuse to all die nicely and I still have to play a bit of clean up. You’d probably still be driving to the base if you went to get the Guass however…
In the garage, clearing out the enemies other than the Hunters are the top priority: you don’t want anything else hitting you when you’re dealing with two Reach Hunters in close quarters. Grunts delt with from afar with the DMR but, the Elite requires something a little more creative… Turns out that if you enter the little glassed area outside the elevator from the far door while the Hunters are still alive, the Needler Ultra Elite inside will always come to greet you head-on. If you still have shields you can survive the initital assault quite easily and circle around for the assassination.
Hunters are… hard. Essentially you need to draw one away from the other so you can dance with it in piece. I find it best to stay as close as possible and keep landing melees and shotgun blasts when possible. You get a very small window of opportunity to react to its overhead swipes so you really have to be paying attention otherwise you’ll just die over and over.
Up the Elevator, I take a much more aggressive route running straight at the Concussion Rifle Elite – just like Eli did in his run. You have to hope that he’s throwing a grenade or waving his arms about as you approach: if he starts hitting you with that CR, you’re dead.
The Banshees outside the broken portion of Sword Base, as well as the two Spec Ops Elites there, slowed this run down a lot. Sometimes Emile is very good here, other times he’s mostly useless – I got him on a useless time and had to do most of the work myself.
Nevertheless, with all the other time savings, this run still ends up over a minute faster than the previous best!
~ RC Master
ONI: Sword Base cleared on Legendary, All Skulls On in 12:48! That leaves just Long Night of Solace without a run on this difficulty! Anyone got a sub 30? ;)
You can also find this run on RC Master’s own YouTube channel.
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