PFC. Entropy Tactical Information on Swordbase

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Feel free to post additional tactical content for this map by adding a post of your own to this thread. But please make your post as informative and professional as possible, with appropriate formatting. Please do not engage in small-talk or chit-chat on this thread.

Sword Base


Sword Base is one of eight default maps for Halo: Reach. It is a medium-sized multi-level map featuring six vertically stacked levels (three on each side) connected by a series of bridges. It has three lifts for quickly accessing higher levels, one on each side and one in the middle.

Aerial Photo of Sword Base



In order to play as a team, it is important to be able to communicate locations of teammates, enemies, weapons, etc. The following are standardized callouts used by ODST's 340th CTU for Sword Base. We always consider callouts to be a work in progress. If you believe you have a useful addition or correction to these callouts, please feel free to submit it via PM to Pfc. Entropy.

Callouts for Sword Base



The following map depicts the locations of power weapons, DMRs, and needle rifles for Powerhouse. There are additional weapons found on the map, such as needlers, pistols, and grenades, but they are not shown here. (DMRs and needle rifles are labeled here because in some game types you spawn with a pistol and an assault rifle, and many people prefer DMRs and needle rifles.)

Sword Base: Power Weapons and Rifles


Strategic Overview

Sword base has four power weapons: sniper rifle, sword, shotgun, and grenade launcher. Of these, the shotgun and sword seem to be the biggest �game changers�. The major battles on Sword Base center around the areas adjacent to Top Yellow Lift and Top Red Vent, with the most intense combat usually at Top Yellow Lift and Yellow Hall. The sword and the shotgun are particularly valuable in these close quarters. Over-eager players tend to rush blindly into these areas (sometimes entire teams pour up Yellow Lift at once), and someone with a shotgun or sword can eliminate opponent after opponent. Moreover, it is possible to crouch and hide behind several different doorways in the immediate vicinity of Top Yellow Lift and surprise passersby.

Of course, there are many other strategies that work well here, too. One is to rush for the sniper rifle and then take the Red Vent up to Top Shotgun. From there you can snipe enemies at Yellow Hall, or if your team is currently in control of Yellow Hall, you can move to Top Red Balcony and snipe opponents who appear in various lobbies or on bridges as they make their way to Yellow Hall. Since Red Vent makes a noise when someone steps into it, a sniper at Top Red Balcony can either prepare for battle or drop down to Shotgun Balcony if enemies decide to come up Red Vent looking for him.

Since players tend to get bunched up in the rooms and halls at the tops of lifts, the grenade launcher can be quite a useful strategic weapon as well. It can be used in EMP mode to drop the shields of multiple opponents (after which you and your team can easily finish them off with head shots), or it can be used to directly take people out.

The most useful armor abilities on this map are the jet pack and sprint. The jet pack can be used for quickly moving from one level to another, from one bridge to another, or to various elevated positions, such as the Window. Sprint is useful for quickly navigating the maze of hallways and bridges to return to battle after respawing.

One mistake many players make on this map is attacking an entrenched defense by rushing up the nearest lift. For example, if the enemy team is holding Top Yellow Lift and Yellow Hall, players tend to want to rush up Yellow Lift. This is usually a very poor idea, since the opposing team can see your approach on their motion tracker and hear you coming up the lift. If they have a shotgun or sword, you have very little chance of surviving. All you're doing is giving them a free kill. And even if they don't have a shotgun or sword, they can hear your approach and prepare for you. If they don't assassinate you or get some other easy kill, they will still probably shoot you first, which will get them ahead in shot count, and you'll probably end up dead before you manage to kill them.

A better strategy is to split your team into two pairs, surround the enemy position, and attack from multiple directions at once. For example, if the enemy is entrenched at Top Yellow lift, send some players up Red Vent and have them attack from High Bridge, and send two other players from Big Lobby up Yellow stairs.

Special Notes
While a roaming offense works well on some maps (like Asylum/Sanctuary), it is much more difficult to pull off on this map. Tight hallways, doorways, bridges, and other choke points make efficient navigation difficult. Roaming teams tend to get ambushed with swords and shotguns and spammed with grenades. Moreover, since there is easy and immediate access to the top floors via the lifts, enemies who respawn can quickly regroup in highly defensible positions. The result is that teams that attempt a roaming offense simply lose the high ground and find themselves at a strategic disadvantage. The best strategy on Sword base is to gain and maintain the high ground.

[ADM D Kilkin]

If I may I would like to post the others.

[ADM D Kilkin]

Or move this to something more tactically engaging.