Halo Wars Tips:
Tip # 1 – Know Your Units
After you’re done reading tip 3, you’ll realize what it is about this tip that is so pivotal. When you’re playing the game, the most important thing about the units in the game is knowing how the rock-paper-scissors mechanic works. For those first timers to the RTS genre, the R-P-S mechanic is what makes sure that sending out a team of marines to take down a tank-slayer will horribly fail. If you know that you need a Cobra to defeat a tank-destroyer, you won’t have to sit there wasting time and resources trying to figure out which unit to produce to defend your base, which may already be a little too late. By knowing which units to produce and which ones to not produce, tip 3 is going to make your life a whole lot easier.
Tip # 2 – Mash that “Y” Button
The tutorial level of the game (essentially the first two levels) do an excellent job of teaching you all you’ll need to know on how to play the game, but one thing that it doesn’t teach you very well is the fact that every unit out there has a “special ability” which can be upgraded. The greatest thing you can do to take care of more powerful units is power up a tank with a “canister” ability, which allows the Scorpion to fire out these shrapnel-like rounds that blow tanks, buildings, and smaller units to smithereens. Make sure to know what your individual unit abilities so that you can better send out your units.
Tip # 3 – Base Building
This tip is going to come down to one thing: build supply pads! Supply pads are your bread and butter in every new map that you enter – the more resources you have, the better off you will be. Decide what units you’ll want to build, then optimize your base by creating reactors that only reach the minimum tech level required. For instance, if you’re only interesting in building Scorpions, build one reactor, upgrade it, and build the vehicle depot. The other spaces should all be heavy supply pads that are helping you to keep building the tanks. In the level where you have to take down the Scarab, this is the exact strategy that will lead you to victory – continue building tanks even if you don’t need them. Make sure that your army is almost always at maximum size, that’ll aid you greatly in destroying your enemies.
Follow these tips and I guarantee that your Halo Wars experience will be greatly helped, and you’ll be able to better pass those levels that were giving you so much trouble.
Every unit type should receive an individual order.
That being said, we have a few battle-tested tips that should help. They should give you an edge as you begin your Halo Wars career, and set the wheels in motion for creating your own unique strategies as well.
Peek-a-boo!
Gathering intel on your opponent is a must when deciding among what units to build and upgrade. Give your opponent a few minutes to prep and then send a lone throwaway unit (such as the Warthog or Ghost you begin with) to drive through your opponent’s base.
Look closely at what kinds of units are milling about, and what structures they’ve built. If their primary base boasts a single Barracks, with nothing but Supply Pads and Reactors filling out the rest of the slots, you know they’re powering up for a tech heavy army. And that’s a perfect time to strike with a rush attack.
Trigger Happy
The moment you engage in battle with an enemy, you should already be plying the Right Trigger to highlight specific units to employ their special attacks and focus on the units they’re best matched against.
It’s not enough to build a well balanced army. You must also use them efficiently in battle. For example, if you’re sporting Spartans and your opponent rolls in with Scorpions, send your troops to jack the Scorpions. Use your Flamethrower units to take out enemy infantry and your Marines to shoot down enemy aircraft. If you’re not focusing on what you’re best against, a skilled enemy will make short work of your army.
Rarely Scroll
Halo Wars is designed with the D-Pad in mind for almost all of your quick navigation needs. Use it in lieu of scrolling across the map whenever possible. If your base is attacked, don’t scroll. Instead, tap right on the D-Pad to instantly warp to that location. Tap left to quick-travel to your bases and down to cycle through your armies. Precious seconds are wasted when scrolling, and you’ll need every one of them against a skilled opponent or Heroic or Legendary A.I.
Leader Forte
Each of the six leaders (three per faction) offers a very unique set of abilities and special units. Always focus heavily on at least one of these abilities. For example, Commander Cutter is the only UNSC leader that can train ODST units, an exceptionally potent variation on the standard Marine unit. So focus your resources and research priorities around unlocking access to these units. The Prophet of Regret’s Cleansing Beam can tear through buildings in a hurry, making him an ideal choice for rushing an enemy base. Always err on the side of your leader’s strengths.
Leader Counter
While it’s hard to go wrong using your Leader’s special units and abilities, don’t forget to take your opponent’s Leader into account when devising your strategy. For example, if you’re facing off against Sgt. Forge, it’s a fair bet he’ll focus on vehicles, particularly his super-unit Grizzly tanks, in which case, you might consider investing heavily in anti-vehicle units such as Cobras.
Spare the Jacked
The UNSC Spartan’s most potent weapon is the ability to take control of an enemy vehicle. Not only does the enemy lose a unit when you successfully jack a vehicle, but the Spartan immediately makes that unit more powerful.
When you enter a battle with Spartans at your control, be careful to pick out the enemy vehicle you want to jack and make certain none of your units are attacking that vehicle. This way, you won’t be wielding an already damaged unit when you take control.
Battle Heal
Whenever you enter battle as the UNSC, don’t forget to make instant use of the Spirit of Fire’s Heal and Repair ability (press up on the D-Pad). Drop it immediately once your units are set up (you don’t want them running out of the area of effect). This will make them substantially more difficult to bring down and tip the advantage heavily in your favor.
Scarabs count for 20 units a piece.
Structure Destruction
While the ultimate goal should be to annihilate an enemy base, try taking aim at individual structures if you find yourself in a losing battle. Wreak havoc with your opponent’s infrastructure by destroying Supply Pads, Barracks, and the like, forcing them to rebuild their losses rather than build up their army.
Environment Use
Whether in Campaign or Skirmish, the game’s maps are teeming with environmental advantages. Look to make use of these as often as possible. In short, never leave sniper towers unmanned or cover unused. Units protected in these structures can take many times more damage than normal. If there’s a neutral Reactor or Supply Pad to be taken over, storm it as soon as possible. The player that controls most of the environment’s map-specific features will have a tangible advantage.
Don’t underestimate the importance of the supply crates scattered across the map either. Taking the time to search these out and farming them can make an enormous difference in your early preparations.
Specialized
When making your initial battle preparation, try focusing heavily on one or two types of units. While a well balanced army is important, you don’t want a hodgepodge of random, basic units wandering about. Instead, build a strong foundation centered on two unit types and then augment them with additional units afterward.
Ready the Scorpion’s canister shot.
If, say, you’re playing Professor Anders, you might want to invest in anti-vehicle Gremlins and her super-unit Hornet variant, the HAWK. Then, once those units are established, try adding a trio of Spartans and other units handpicked to counter your opponent’s strategy.
Expand!
Even a fully upgraded base can’t hope to accommodate every structure you need for a successful match, so make it an early priority to take over an expansion base location. Remember that many of these expansion sites are defended by a neutral faction, so take at least four units with you to ensure you don’t fail in your attempt.
Try ignoring the turrets on these neutral bases as well. Instead, attack the base itself. Once destroyed, the turrets will self-destruct, leaving just a few basic infantry units to mop up.
Also, if your second base stands between you and the likely approach of your enemy, consider using your first base as a hub for mining resources and researching technology. Then, use your second base for your unit building structures.
Covenant Rush
While either faction can “rush” an enemy effectively, the Covenant has a rare advantage in the form of their Gravity Lift. Place any Covenant unit in the Grav Lift and they’ll be teleported instantly to the Covenant Leader’s location. Use this to your advantage by stealthily approaching an enemy base with your Leader. Then, send your army onto the Grav Lift and employ an immediate stealth attack.
Every Campaign level and every round of Skirmish should teach you something new. Play to win, sure, but also play to learn. Pay close attention to your opponent’s tactics and how your own strategies play out and you can’t help but improve with every session. Good luck on the battlefield!
Tips from www.xbox.com
Halo Wars Strategy:
Boom Strategy: This strategy is used when the player tries to upgrade, and then produce a large number of “teched up” units. This strategy will be very effective in the middle and late parts of the Halo Wars match, but vulnerable to a rush in the early part of the match. Also, if you focus your strategy on upgrading just one type of unit, then your opponent will easily counter you; instead you should focus primarily on upgrading one type of “main” unit, and your secondary focus should be on upgrading and producing “support” units
Turtle Strategy: This strategy is used when the player tries to maximize his defenses without attacking, which can make it almost impossible for the opponent to successfully assault. To use the Turtle strategy effectively in Halo Wars, you should wait on defense until your opponent has wasted his army on a failed attack, then quickly counter-attack your opponent while they are rebuilding. This strategy is effective early in a Halo Wars match to counter a Rush, but vulnerable later on to a Boom strategy.
Rush Strategy: This strategy is used when the player tries to build an army, large in number but without upgrades, as quickly as possible. Once you have such an army, you rush it over to the enemy base and attack. You should first focus on killing your opponents army and turrets or shield generator, then move on to killing his vital buildings, such as: reactor, temple, barracks, etc. This strategy will very effective for any Covenant player, and can also be effective for a UNSC player if they do a Cutter infantry Rush or an Anders warthog Rush. Be Cautious; if your Rush strategy fails, it will be very difficult to recover and eventually win the Halo Wars match.
UNSC Strategy: When you play as the UNSC, developing a good Halo Wars strategy is critical. A good UNSC Halo Wars strategy will keep in mind the following tactics: Leader Abilities, Disruption Bomb, Healing, Unique Leader Units, Uber Units, Economic Bonuses, Proper Use Of Units and Buildings, and UNSC Advantages over Covenant.
Covenant Strategy: When you play as the Covenant, developing a good Halo Wars strategy is critical. A good Covenant Halo Wars strategy will keep in mind the following tactics: Leader tactics, unique Leader units, Proper Use Of Units and Buildings, and Covenant Advantages over UNSC.Halo Wars Strategy Maps: A good Halo Wars strategy should be customized to each specific map. Because each map is so unique, you must become familiar with all of them to execute a good Halo Wars strategy. A good customized, map-specific Halo Wars strategy should keep in mind: the locations of Supply Crates, the positions and benefits of Key Locations, and routes of movement.
Strartegy tips from http://halowarsstrategy.com/
