Halo: Reach – A Monument to All Your Sins & Gods Must Be Strong Achievements (HTMCC)

More Halo: The Master Chief Collection Guides:

• Forza in the Fall Achievement Guide (Reach Racer Easter Egg).
• Club Errera Easter Egg Guide (New Alexandria Mission).
• Jorge Can’t Have All the Big Guns Achievement Guide.
• One Final Firefight Achievement Guide.

Guidance for completing the achievements, A Monument to All Your Sins & Gods Must Be Strong.

Introduction

All credit goes to Saul!

The following achievements relate to the campaign. Completing either will unlock the respective achievements for Heroic difficulty, Folks Need Heroes…, and Normal difficulty, The Soldier We Needed You To Be.

Completing A Monument to All Your Sins will also unlock Gods Must Be Strong.

• A Monument to All Your Sins – Complete each Campaign Mission on Legendary – alone.
• Gods Must Be Strong – Complete the Campaign on Legendary difficulty.

Weapons

The most effective weapons are the DMR and Needle Rifle. These weapons can be found throughout the levels making their ammunition prevalent. This is important since running out of ammunition can be very hard to recover from. The range provided by these weapons is their greatest quality as this will allow you to engage enemies at safe distances. The DMR may be a better choice for consistent ammunition finds since UNSC allies will be using it. The Needle Rifle on the other hand, benefits from the explosion caused by hitting an enemy three times in a short space of time to cause extra damage.

The Plasma Pistol is a good option for a secondary because of its ability to remove enemy shields, immobilize vehicles, and kill grunts. Like the aforementioned weapons, the Plasma Pistol is everywhere in the campaign and thus finding one isn’t an issue.

Charging up the Plasma Pistol, disabling an enemy’s shield, and shooting them in the head with a DMR is the best way to defeat shielded enemies.

As with ammunition, Grenade conservation is important; it’s better to save a Grenade for a tough opponent than use it on a cluster of Grunts. The Covenant Grenade is better than the UNSC Grenade in terms of precision because it doesn’t roll.

Heavy weapons such as the Rocket, Fuel Rod Cannon, Plasma Cannon, and Spartan Laser are extremely useful for killing tough enemies or vehicles. These weapons, however, aren’t frequently found in the campaign and so they should be used sparingly. There is no reason to carry these weapons once you have depleted their ammunition. It can be worthwhile saving the last ‘shot’ in any of these heavy weapons and trading them to an ally since they will have infinite ammunition for the weapon. This will not restore ammunition if you reclaim the weapon from them, however.

Remember, every aspect of the arsenal which benefits you will also benefit your enemy. Beware!

Allies

Whilst UNSC allies are useful because they use the heavy weapons without depleting the ammunition, they are also vulnerable and have a tendency to die early in fights. For this reason, relying upon the UNSC marines is not advisable.

In the following missions you will have a Spartan ally:

• Winter Contingency
• ONI: Sword Base
• Nightfall (Partial)
• Tip of The Spear
• Long Night of Solace
• The Package (Partial)
• The Pillar of Autumn

The Spartan’s will be more useful for you but are still not reliable. Unlike UNSC marines, the Spartans won’t die, but you can’t switch weapons with them.

No ally has brilliant AI and thus using them as bait is a worthwhile strategy.

Vehicles

Whilst intuition suggests using the vehicles when available, it isn’t always preferable. This is partially because it is NEVER worthwhile letting your allies drive so you can operate the gun. The allies are terrible at driving and will deliver you to the Covenant.

Similarly, avoiding driving can let you circumvent some enemies by following an alternative path. This also lets you dictate the pace and range of the engagement. This is useful since the weaponry of the Warthog and Ghost are poor at range.

Gauss and Rocket Warthogs, and Scorpions are the best vehicles to use because of their weaponry. Wraiths are also powerful because the player can maneuver whilst operating the cannon, yet enemies are apt to dodge shots taken at a distance.

If you’re using the Gauss and Rocket Warthogs at range, make sure your allies don’t start driving. UNSC marines are killable, but for Spartan’s you will have to get off the gun so they stop driving before taking another shot.

Armour Abilities

Utilising checkpoints effectively is integral in getting these achievements. Checkpoints tend to occur after a battle and when progressing to a new area. They can also occur mid-fight which can sometimes be problematic. There is however a mechanic which means after a string of successive deaths immediately after respawning, the game will revert you to the previous checkpoint. This prevents you from getting killed on repeat due to a bad checkpoint.

This mechanic can also be used to your advantage if you have run out of ammunition and can’t advance. By committing suicide repeatedly, it’s possible to return to an old checkpoint.

It’s also possible to create a new checkpoint by backtracking and passing through the area boundaries. Sometimes you may need to wait around for the checkpoint to create. This can be useful for restocking ammunition or picking up a weapon you passed previously. By doing this mid battle you can create checkpoints which favour you.

In Halo Reach the enemies will not respawn.

Mission Specific Tips

Winter Contingency

• The first encountered group of Covenant can be bypassed by sprinting along the right side of the level.
• Beyond the river, the second large fight can be bypassed with a little patience by moving slowly up the left by the sheds.
• During the later segment in which Kat closes the door, you do not have to fight the Covenant and can instead hide in the deepest corner.

ONI: Sword Base

• Don’t let the AI drive
• During the first section, there is a sniper rifle located on the left. Save this for later.
• After killing the Wraiths in the second section, there is a Rocket Launcher located atop the hill on the right. Giving this to a marine and letting them get in the passenger seat of the Warthog is effective.
• Upon returning to Sword Base with the Gauss Warthog, you can partially destroy the barricades in the entrance which will allow you to drive the Warthog through with some finessing.

Nightfall

• Meleeing Grunts in the face will prevent their gas tanks from exploding and altering nearby enemies.
• Use the sniper whenever possible. Focus on the Elites.
• It’s possible to play this mission stealthy by skirting the edges of the level to avoid some groups of enemies.

Tip of the Spear

• Have patience when using the Warthog and don’t let Kat drive. Keeping the Rocket Warthog alive for as long as possible makes this mission a lot easier. The Warthog can be used to disable the AA Gun without having to go inside.
• Approaching the Mining Facility, it’s possible to bypass the bridge and it’s respective enemies by driving the Warthog to canyon’s right and jumping up the rock face.
• After the Falcon crashes, take the Jetpack as it will help you enter the Spire.

Long Night of Solace

• During the Sabre section, Anchor-9 (the space station) makes for good cover.
• Destroying the Phantoms will progress the mission without the need to kill the Banshees.

Exodus

New Alexandria

• Pressing two switches, one atop the Club Errera roof, the other near the hospital, (Images coming soon) will activate the Club Easter egg and subsequently spawn three Brutes and a Grunt squad instead of two Hunters.

The Package

• Play carefully with the tank to use it as long as possible.
• Despite my earlier advice, it might be advisable to use Jetpack late in the mission to steal a banshee. This will spare you from groundfire and provide you great maneuverability.

The Pillar of Autumn

• There’s a hidden ammunition cache on the platform you defend while waiting for Captain Keyes. This can be attained by meleeing the exterior wall, round the back of the structure.
• At the end of the mission it’s possible to get out the MAC Cannon while waiting for the Covenant Cruiser to arrive. This will help you if you are having trouble surviving during this section.