Cairo Station
"Defend the station's MAC gun from Covenant boarders."Beginner Goals:
Easy: ~5:10; Legendary: sub-10:00
Intermediate Goals:
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World Class Goals:
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IL Records:
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Segmented Times:
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Cairo Station is the second playable level in Halo 2. See Halopedia for general information.
HaloRuns record page: http://www.haloruns.com/records?lb=201 (click the timestamps for video links)
Contents
Level Start and Commons R-01
After skipping the cutscene, enter the next room and wait near the yellow door without being too close to it. After it explodes, enter the next room and obtain a Plasma Pistol as quickly as possible. If you're new to the game, it'll be easier to dual wield two Plasma Rifles (PR).
On legendary
Jump up to the balcony above the yellow door and wait for two Elites and two Grunts to run into the room before dropping down behind them. Try not to get spotted by them in the process. If you don't get a plasma pistol in here, drop down in the next room, head left, and kill a Grunt for it. Otherwise jump up to the balcony on the right, go near the end of the path, jump down and run straight ahead. Noob combo the lone Elite. You can melee/backsmack him to conserve your plasma pistol's battery.
First Hangar
Noob combo the Elite, BR the Elite and Grunts coming out of the tube, quick reload, and BR the second wave. BR the two Grunts that were already in the room if the marines didn't kill them. If you're dual wielding the PR, just shoot all the enemies. Look at the Malta to make it explode sooner, don't stop looking until it's blown up. Pick up four Plasma Grenades on the balcony. You can also retrieve them by being underneath their location and jumping. The three frags near the entrance can be retrieved from below too. Head towards the locked door at the end of the room without being too close to it.
On legendary
Stay up top and focus on noob comboing at least one Elite per wave. Kill the Grunts when you can. You can kill a Grunt while the charged projectile is tracking it's target. Toss a frag to intercept each wave while continuing the above pattern. On the third wave, the game starts a timer that will eventually spawn one white Elite and two Grunts in the tube regardless of how quickly you clear the room. Noob combo the white Elite and BR two Grunts. Promptly replace your plasma pistol for one with more charge. While looking at Malta, make your way up to the balcony and retrieve plasma grenades. If the marine up here survived, you can kill him yourself, he has a chance to drop a frag or two. Head to the area above the door. When the door explodes, drop down behind the enemies and proceed. Make sure to pick up the BR ammo near the turret!
Second Hangar
BR both turret Grunts, BR Grunts, but prioritize killing the Elite to make the next wave arrive sooner. Either throw a plasma grenade where the enemies land or stick the Elite while he's in the tube. Kill any remaining Grunts. Look at the Athens, it's the same case as Malta. Head into the back room to grab frags then go down either stairs.
On legendary
This hangar is a disaster waiting to happen. Note that the turret Grunts drop 100 charge plasma pistols. They will eventually despawn if not picked up. You can toss a plasma grenade towards the enemies before retrieving the guns. Dual wielding plasma pistols, jump up to the balcony and drop one of them near the large green box on the right. Noob combo Elites, BR Grunts, toss a grenade for each wave. You can stick Elites that are taking cover against boxes in plain sight. Strafe to dodge enemy return fire. Watch out for Grunts sending plasma grenades your way, the explosion can be deadly and can knock off your plasma pistol if it lands near it. On the third wave, the game will eventually spawn two super lethal white Elites and a gold sword Elite (the white Elites will be flanking the Goldie). After killing most of the enemies, dual wield your plasma pistols, charge them up, and aim for where the two white Elites will be when they spawn. Finish off the Goldie, collect his sword, and it'll finally be over. Go to the back room to retrieve frags. Look at Athens, look at it, look at it. If you remain up top long enough, you can get a checkpoint before proceeding into the hallways. If you want to go faster, wait at either door at the bottom of the stairs and cancel off the Elite when it opens.
Hallways, The Armory, and Commons B-01
Run to the armory, watch Gunns die, get his shotgun. Run through the next room, heading straight forward. When you reach the end, you can jump onto the small ledge to the right or grenade jump up using a plasma grenade.
On legendary
Stick the first Stealth Elite then go to the other hallway and sword the second Stealth Elite. Stick/BR the two Elites up top. Note that one of these can spawn as a white Elite. Upon entering the next room, you'll get a checkpoint. Sword fly to and over the turret Grunt (YXR+A). Revert if you don't get it in time. Alternatively, jump onto the ledge to the right and up to the balcony. Jump across to the turret area.
Space
On legendary
You need to get down this hallway quickly, if too many enemies are killed before you reach the end, more enemies will spawn ahead of you. You can swordfly, but it can be risky. If you get into trouble, kill the Elite and the Grunts should panic and stop shooting you.
Sword both jetpack Elites in the airlock. Jump up the ramp, then turn around.
Method 1: Out of Bounds (1/5)
- Grenade jump up on top of the space station and walk around to the door. You shouldn't have to kill the reinforcements.
Method 2: The Swordfly (?/5)
- If there is a jetpack Elite floating between you and the door, and he is floating still, you can swordfly off of him. If you get the swordfly just right, you will loop up over and beyond the Elite, and land somewhere near the door.
- If you want to be safer, you can tap A while doing the swordfly, and you should land on top of the space station, beyond the Elite. Then you can drop down to the door.
- If you mess up and the Elite is moving, the swordfly will stop right above him. This is major trouble, and you'll have to sneak/kill your way to the door somehow.
Bugs
In the large hangar room, drones will fly up and land in a row on the lip of the ramp. Bounce a frag or two off the lip, and jump down to the door. You need to kill 4-5 drones to trigger the door at the bottom to open. Ideally, you want to get to the door right as it opens. If you're too slow getting to the door, the lift will start moving up, and you'll have to press the button to make it go down. Alternately, if you get down there and the door isn't open, kill more drones.
Killing all the enemies in the airlock makes the door open faster. Use grenades and you should kill pretty fast. You know you got slow doors if you are only able to exit after the line "follow my lead".
On legendary
If you go off to the right, save a nade for the murdersquad that will fly in behind you. They will often land near the stairs and a frag tossed below it should kill them, you can draw them there by shooting. Pick up a plasma pistol.
If you want to try a risky swordfly off the space turret, juggle the sword to the bottom of the elevator. Otherwise ditch it. If you got a really fast Drones clear, you can potentially sword fly off a Grunt into the airlock.
The elevator will probably be coming up, so hit the switch. If you stay on the top level of the elevator, you can noob combo the Elites, kill the Grunts and get in the airlock. Juggle the sword into the airlock if going for yolo.
Watch out for the Grunts, they have a tendency to toss grenades when you're behind the switch. You can kill some by bouncing a frag or two off the top level.
Space (again)
On legendary
The risky strat is to swordfly off the turret, as shown. If you don't get to the door fast enough, you will likely be killed by the jetpack Elites coming over the wall beyond the turret.
The safer strat is to pick up a PP and noob combo. If you're good at aiming, you can noob combo the turret, even though the PP won't track at that distance. Noob combo the two jetpack guys either way. If you have a plasma nade you can go for the MLG stick on the Elites coming over the wall - BR them from a safe distance.
Bomb Room (Pickle Room)
Shotgun+stick everything. The level ends when everything dies.
On legendary
It's really risky to attack this room with the sword. The safest strat is to noob combo (if you kept the PP) or grab a plasma rifle. It's generally best to engage the Elites from the left side, although you can try your luck from the far right cubby near the boxes. There's a marine in the back of the room who you can give your PP to and when you kill him, your PP ammo will be replenished.
