xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FAQ TITLE: The Special Secrets and Strategies Guide for Half-Life 2 (PC version) COPYRIGHT INFO: This FAQ is copyright (c) 2004 by Stanley E. Dunigan (dunigase@wmconnect.com). This FAQ may be posted and used anywhere by anyone as long as it's unaltered, but always check GameFAQs.com or Neoseeker.com for the latest version. Also, check the Universal Hint System website (www.uhs-hints.com) for my complete Half-Life 2 hint file (coming soon). FAQ DESCRIPTION: This FAQ isn't a walkthru of any sort, but only contains details on super- special secret areas and inobvious strategies for tough fights. I thought of making it while playing through the game on Hard difficulty without any cheats, and that's the sort of thing that it's most useful for, since so many parts of the game are significantly harder when played that way. For instance, most gunship fights and all three antlion guard encounters are in here. Hopefully, this FAQ will be useful to those who don't want to use walkthrus but sometimes get stuck in very tough areas. If you have a super-special secret or strategy that I don't (or if you have an improvement for one that I have), send me an e-mail at the address listed in the copyright section. VERSION 1.1 (12/16/04) NOTES AND CREDITS: This is version 1.1 of the FAQ. Besides correcting a dumb spelling error and expanding on the FAQ description a little, I've added the following: * Neoseeker.com to the list of official websites for this FAQ * note about the quicksave and quickrestore keys * Madcow11's tip for Chapter 8's lighthouse gunship battle * bug note for Chapter 8's big two-gunship battle at Nova Prospekt * note about barricade possibilities in the Chapter 11 generator area * strategies for dealing with the ground turrets in Chapter 12 * strategy for the trap room with holes in the walls in Chapter 12 * tip about the lookout tower guard in the Chapter 12 rooftop battles tips * note at the end of the Chapter 12 rooftop battles tips * armor-restoring strategy for the strider-avoidance area in Chapter 12 * debris-cover strategy for going up the big, slow elevator in Chapter 13 * strategy for handling the final battle in Chapter 14 I'd like to thank: * GameFAQs for posting version 1.0 of this FAQ so quickly * rorschach16 for being the first one to e-mail me about this FAQ * Neoseeker.com for being the first other website to request permission to post this FAQ * Madcow11 (The True Scou) for being the first one to write in with suggested improvements VERSION 1.0 (12/13/04) NOTES AND CREDITS: As of now, all of these secrets and strategies are ones I came up with on my own. I have noticed that some of them are in other FAQs, but I didn't get them from those FAQs originally, so I don't have anyone to credit right now but me. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx NOTE: In many of these tips, I refer to the quicksave and quickrestore keys. If you're not already intimately familiar with them, get that way at once! To find out (and/or change) what keys are defined for those functions, go under "Options" on the game's main menu, choose the "Keyboard" tab, and scroll down to the "Miscellaneous" section. *** Chapter 3: Route Kanal ^^^ Hard-to-get-to secret area In the big room with all the explosive barrels and manhacks in the fourth chapter section, the manhacks all come out of one certain vent shaft near the top of the room. You can get into that shaft and claim an armor battery if you can manage to carry an item with you up the big ladder and onto the big gray pipe. Drop the item on the gray pipe next to the large metal beam that's next to the manhacks' shaft opening. Jump onto your item and then the beam, and then across to the shaft opening (not forgetting to hit the Crouch key before you land in the shaft). NOTE: Barrels are very hard to do this with because it's very tricky trying to climb the ladder while carrying one, and because they keep rolling off the big gray pipe. I managed it several times with a supply box. If you didn't bring one with you from the previous area, get the one floating in the water in the room with the valve wheel that raises the water level. NOTE: If you don't blow up the explosive barrels in the room, you can climb the ladder and walk across the pipe to where you need to place your barrel. You should be able to reach an explosive barrel from there and place it. No worries about carrying one up the ladder or across the pipe! NOTE: A way to get up onto the pipe that may be easier (especially if you're carrying something) is to skip the ladder and instead run up the slanty floor near the wall to get up to a ledge that's fairly near the ladder. Crouch-walk under the pipe, then use the bit of railing to get up onto it. *** Chapter 4: Water Hazard ^^^ Big shortcut at Gate 5, including total hunter-chopper avoidance In the third chapter segment, where Gate 5 is closed before you can get through it, look at the structures to the right of the gate to find a white handrail going along a raised cement walkway near the water. Find the small gap in the handrail near the right end of it. You can jump through that gap if you park your airboat next to it, exit the boat, and jump up onto the boat and then through the handrail gap. It's a tough maneuver to pull off, and may require many tries. Your airboat has to be parked in just the right position, and jumping around on it can accidentally push it away from that position. If you can make it, it's just a short jog along the walkway to reach the ladder that leads up to Gate 5's control room. The only problem is that you'll be skipping your first opportunity to get the .357 Magnum and a bunch of ammo for it. NOTE: After you open Gate 5, you could move on past the gate control tower to get to some of the areas you were supposed to come through from the other way to get stuff without having to worry about the helicopter showing up (just a few cops). NOTE: If you avoid "activating" the chopper here, you won't have to deal with it again until the next chapter section loads. That'll make the canal run that immediately follows Gate 5 nice and easy! *** Chapter 4: Water Hazard ^^^ Safe way to destroy the two APCs in one area Right before you get to the area where you can shoot down the chopper once and for all, you'll come to a place where there are two elevated APCs (black rocket-firing tanks) near a ramp you have to take. There's a way to carefully shoot both of the APCs without them being able to fire one rocket at you. Notice that to get to where you can see either of them, you have to pass a huge red-and-brown beached boat to your left. Get up on the narrow slanty bit of land between the boat and the water and slowly edge forward until you can see a small part of the first APC to the right of the wooden plank ramp that's just past the boat. If you do it just right, you can shoot that APC into scrap without it even seeing you, then reposition yourself carefully for the next one. For the second APC, back up and then approach slowly on the land to the right of the water (the side opposite the one you were on before). Slowly sneak forward until you can see a small part of the APC above the wood ramp and to the right of the ship's big rudder, then blast it! NOTE: It's hard to slowly maneuver the airboat into just the right position, and even harder to make it stay exactly there while you shoot. You'll have to quickly retreat behind the big red-and-brown boat (or quickrestore) if you accidentally go out too far and start taking fire from the APCs. *** Chapter 4: Water Hazard ^^^ Safe and easy way to finish off the hunter-chopper In the final chapter segment, where you're supposed to fight the chopper to the death in a big arena-like area near the dam, there's a great alternative way to do it. First, do *not* take the airboat out of the tunnel you go through to enter the large area where you fight the chopper. See all those logs strewn about the tunnel exit? They make it very difficult (though not impossible) to get the airboat back into the tunnel later. (If you want to do this, you need to hit the logs just right on their left side and keep pressing forward.) Park the airboat a ways back in the tunnel, then head out to the outdoor arena on foot. Go over to the right where you see a large red-and-brown boat lying around and find the partially buried concrete pipe near it. Crawl into the pipe's open end to find two health kits and an armor battery. I think whether the nearby supply crates have armor batteries or ammo depends on what your armor rating is when you enter the area. Anyhow, pick up and carry every health pack and armor battery that you can't use now back to your hidey-hole one at a time. It's a good idea to drop the items on dry ground a ways back from the tunnel entrance. This is so you can heal up if you take damage later without having to leave the safety of the tunnel. (Note that this step can be slow and time-consuming, and isn't really necessary if you're careful later on. But better safe than sorry!) Now walk out toward the dam area until the alarm sounds, alerting the chopper to your presence. Immediately turn around and sprint back for the tunnel. Your auxiliary power will deplete very rapidly on this run, so seek cover (like inside the big cement pipe and next to the larger rock formations) to use while waiting for auxiliary power to recharge. When you're nearing the tunnel entrance, use the cement ledge along the right to get in more quickly and easily than log-hopping. Get back into your airboat and start shooting that chopper. Note that if you're sitting in the tunnel entrance, the chopper will often hover nearby and shoot you with its cannon, so you'll want to move back to just out of its range so you'll be safe while it's doing that. As soon as it stops, move forward to where you can shoot it as it flies by dropping mines (but be careful not to go over the logs, since it'll be a pain to get back into the tunnel if you do). Keep shooting the chopper as it flies by (and retreating when it shoots back) until it goes down. Nice and easy, huh? NOTE: Sometimes the chopper will hover and fire its cannon continuously at the tunnel entrance for a very long time. When this happens, try moving way back in the tunnel and then forward again. If that doesn't work, just wait it out. *** Chapter 7: Highway 17 ^^^ Shortcut for entering first optional house At the first house with a thumper next to it that you come to in the second chapter section, you're supposed to enter it through the cellar door and then figure out how to get up onto the house's main floor. However, you can open the front door without ever entering the cellar. Go around the side of the house left of the front door and break out the small window there with the crowbar. Then throw a frag grenade in through that window so that it bounces off an inside wall and goes toward the door. That'll destroy the board that's holding the door closed. (If you then enter through the front door instead of the cellar, the poison zombie won't even appear in the bedroom at all!) *** Chapter 7: Highway 17 ^^^ Shortcut for gunship battle just past Northern Petrol Right after you get past the big Northern Petrol area and are heading up the highway once again, a gunship will appear and attack. If you're on Easy difficulty and have three RPG rockets, you can retreat back to the Northern Petrol buildings and take cover there. You'll have to quicksave after every rocket hit and quickrestore after every miss to make sure you destroy the gunship. If you're on Normal or Hard difficulty, read on. Quicksave your game after you make the ramp jump and can see the left turn in the highway ahead that's blocked with car debris. What you want to do is ram your way through the debris without stopping. Getting out of the jeep to shoot down the gunship or to use the gravity gun to clear the wreckage is time- consuming and will get you badly shot up, especially on Hard difficulty. The wrecked cars provide little cover from the gunship, since it can constantly circle around to where it can shoot you no matter where you're crouched. What you want to do as you approach the wreckage is steer to the right around the first two wrecked cars that are in the road, then hit the blue car straight-on. (NOTE: The blue car is just to the right of the white van with the infinite rocket crate.) It's a difficult maneuver, and you'll probably have to quickrestore and try again several times. If you hit the main wreckage area wrong, you could overturn the jeep or get it stuck on top of a car to where you can't go forward or backward. But if you hit the blue car just right, you can push it forward and then get around the last of the wreckage. (You may have to stop, go back a little, and then push forward in turbo mode after you hit the blue car.) NOTE: If you overturn the jeep when it's totally or nearly past the wreckage, get out and turn it back upright with the gravity gun and try to continue on without quickrestoring. You may still be able to make it without taking too much damage. *** Chapter 7: Highway 17 ^^^ Making the gunship battle at the bridge easier When you deactivate the train tracks' force fields and the gunship shows up, stay in the small downstairs room near the force field control room and shoot the gunship from there. The two windows in the room are indestructible, and the doorway is a great place to shoot rockets at the gunship from since it flies right by there and you can quickly duck into cover when needed. This is a lot better than trying to get all the way back to the nearest infinite rocket crate while the gunship is swooping around and shooting at you. The only problem is that unless you're on Easy difficulty and never miss, you'll run out of rockets before the gunship can be destroyed. The way to solve this problem is to import the five loose rockets that are lying around next to the nearest infinite rocket crate before you shut off the train tracks' force field. After blasting all the soldiers in the entire area, including in the force field control room, carefully make your way back along the bridge's structure to the supply hut with the infinite rocket crate. This is very time-consuming and tedious, but you'll need to pick up and carry one spare rocket at a time all the way back to the room you're going to shoot the gunship from. It'll be worth the trouble, especially if you're on Hard difficulty. NOTE: If you're playing on Normal difficulty, you'll only need to carry over two rockets to use as spares. If you're on Hard, you'll need to carry along four extra rockets. Also, remember to quicksave after every successful rocket hit on the gunship and quickrestore after every miss. *** Chapter 8: Sandtraps ^^^ Getting into position for the gunship battle early In the second chapter section, as soon as you park your jeep in the resistance base's garage, head straight for the lighthouse. When you get inside, use the gravity gun to move the two large wooden crates so that they block the doorway. That way no soldiers can run into the lighthouse after you. Then run up the stairs to the top floor where the infinite RPG and SMG ammo crates are. Fill up on rockets, then get up on the lighthouse roof and fire rockets at the soldiers down below as they're dropped off. This is a much easier way to deal with the soldiers, plus you'll be right next to the infinite rocket crate when the gunship shows up. CONTRIB NOTE: Madcow11 (The True Scou) wrote in to say that it's possible to use RPG rockets to blow up the large black troop-carrying containers that the dropships fly in with before they land and release the troops. That's true, but it takes 4 rockets to do this no matter what difficulty you're playing on, so be sure to get up to the infinite rocket crate ASAP! NOTE: When fighting the gunship, stay at or near the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the lighthouse roof until the gunship circles around to where it's closest to you, then strike and retreat. *** Chapter 8: Sandtraps ^^^ Dealing with the huge antlion guard There are two non-standard ways to deal with the antlion guard, one of which is a real pain. It involves bringing the large wooden plank you can find on a grassy hilltop near the sheds all the way to the antlion guard's area and carefully setting it up so that it can be used as a ramp to return to one of the grassy ledges that you drop down to get to the antlion guard. I only mention it because I went to a lot of trouble to devise this solution before I thought up the second one. After making sure your suit's auxiliary power is at max charge (the meter isn't showing), drop down to the ground and sprint past the spot where the antlion guard rises up. Your suit power should last until you're almost to the locked door with the mounted gun above it. Continue past the door, jumping over the large branch tangle, and hide behind the big rock in the corner. The antlion guard and most or all of his summoned drones should be kept busy by the resistance guy at the machine gun, so all you have to do is just wait under cover of the rock until the antlion guard is dead. *** Chapter 8: Sandtraps ^^^ Some advice for the big Nova Prospekt entry area battle with two gunships Unfortunately, there's no way-easy way to handle these gunships, but I do have a few very important tips. First, use a combination of bugbombs and crossbow darts to deal with all the soldiers on the three guard towers before you climb up the steps and thereby trigger the appearance of the first gunship. There are also two soldiers on a guard tower a ways past the stairs that you can kill early. When you're ready, quicksave your game and then run up the stairs. Let your antlions deal with the two soldiers who magically appear to your left, and keep running until you reach the left turn in the road. At that point, look for a small guardhouse with two soldiers in it and a lot of breakable windows. This is a good spot to hole up and start firing at the first gunship. NOTE: There's a rocket setting on a supply crate near the corner with the guardhouse. Nab the rocket and carry it into the guardhouse with you so you'll have another spare. First, use the gravity gun to move the desk out of the corner near the armor recharger. That corner is a good safe place to stand where the gunship can't shoot you through the windows. Use it as cover after you fire a rocket at the gunship from the doorway (wait for the gunship to fly right by to give you an easy shot). For maximum results, observe the usual quicksave-after-hit-and- quickrestore-after-miss rule until you run out of rockets. On every difficulty but Hard, you should be able to take down the first gunship from here. (If you can remember which is the first one after the second one shows up, that is.) NOTE: Before you leave the safety of the guardhouse, shoot out the windows of the elevated guardhouse that you can see across the street from the doorway and then use bugbait to send your antlions over there to tear up the soldiers (or shoot them through the broken windows). Next, run back the way you came to the big overhang area near the steps where the two soldiers magically appeared before. You can grab another rocket there and use the overhang as cover while using it on a gunship. Then you need to run and dodge back to the guardhouse. After catching your breath (letting your suit recharge its auxiliary power, that is), quicksave again and then make a run for the area with the infinite rocket crate. On the way, duck into the large trash bin that's turned on its side and has two health packs in it. This is another spot that's safe to stand and rest in. Before you make the run from there to the stairs that lead up to the infinite rocket crate, you'll want to deal with the two soldiers who are up on a raised catwalk across from where you are now. To do that, duck out of your cover long enough to toss bugbait toward the soldiers, then duck quickly back in. Repeat if necessary. When the soldiers are confirmed kills, it's time to run for the safety of the little niche in the corner that's directly underneath their catwalk and conveniently close to the rocket crate. That niche isn't perfect cover, since the gunships can fly to where they can shoot you, but you have a little room to move back and forth, so use that to dodge gunship fire while waiting for your shots. (Also, toss bugbait whenever an antlion comes near you to use him as a distraction.) As always, wait for a gunship to fly into range, then let loose with a rocket and duck back into cover as soon as it connects. Even on Hard difficulty, it shouldn't take too long for you to down both gunships since they were softened up by your earlier attacks. BUG NOTE: In a recent playthru of this section of the game, the exit was opened up when the *first* gunship was destroyed, and I was able to move on to Chapter 9 without shooting down the second gunship. This is probably a game glitch, so don't count on it (but watch for it in case it happens). *** Chapter 9: Nova Prospekt ^^^ Another antlion guard There are two good ways to deal with the antlion guard that appears when you drop down into the shower area at the beginning of the second chapter section. The easiest is probably to drop down to the floor and then run for the wall hole you see in the distance, with your gravity gun ready to blast junk out of your way. Make your way through two wall holes and then on to the back of the area, where the exit doors are partially blocked by debris. The good news is that the doors open outward, so hop up onto the debris, open the doors, and crouch-walk through them. As soon as you land on the other side, close the doors again if possible. NOTE: The antlion guard probably won't follow you out through the doors, but I've seen him do it once, so why risk it? Use the gravity gun to blast junk back into the shower area if you need to in order to close the doors. The other way to deal with the antlion guard is a bit more time-consuming and ammo-consuming, but it can be fun for those who have just *got* to kill the freak. Before you jump down to the floor of the shower area, look to the right to see three large wooden crates stacked nearby. Using the gravity gun, pull two of them over to you and set them down, one on top of the other, on the floor near the left end of the railing (left as you face it). Set them so that the boxes are sticking out lengthwise. Then, after saving your game, carefully hop the railing and crouch-walk slowly outwards on the top box. Your goal is to get the antlion guard to see you and charge in while you're still able to jump back over the railing to the safety of the walkway beyond it. If you make it, back up against the wall so the antlion guard can't head-butt you, then let him have it with crossbow darts, bullets, or whatever. (Just be careful with explosives since he's so close to you.) NOTE: After you move on a ways, you can return to the shower area and search for supplies since the antlion guard will have mysteriously vanished. *** Chapter 9: Nova Prospekt ^^^ Third and final antlion guard This one isn't too hard to deal with if you start hitting it with RPG rockets, SMG grenades, and/or crossbow darts as soon as it appears, but it's much easier and more ammo-conservative to immediately run for the junk-blocked exit hole as soon as you drop down into the room (it's a ways along the wall to your left). Jump up onto the green dumpster, then crouch-walk your way over it and through the hole, blasting the other green dumpster with the gravity gun to get it out of your way. Safe! *** Chapter 10: Entanglement ^^^ Sentry gun fun After you get through using your two sentry guns in the control room and Alyx drops the nearby force fields for you, take *both* of your sentry guns along! It's a pain, but you can use the gravity gun to pick up the sentry guns one at a time and throw them ahead of you. This is particularly useful in the big room with the electrified water -- just toss the sentry guns over to the other side and then go about getting over there yourself. Also, since it's hard if not impossible to get back across the electro-water room, toss across any portable supplies that you might need later before you cross. If you go to the trouble of taking both sentry guns with you all the way to cell block D8, you'll then have *five* sentry guns you can set up for the big siege there. That should make things considerably easier (especially in combination with the following tip for that combat). You know what I'm going to say now, right? Okay, here goes: after the big cell block D8 battle is over, take *all five* sentry guns with you when you leave. Big pain, but very cool when you get to the big teleporter chamber. However, be very careful when leaving cell block D8. As you go down a hallway with Alyx, a "LOADING" sign will come up and the next chapter section will load. ALL SENTRY GUNS STILL IN THE PREVIOUS SECTION WILL TURN HOSTILE TO YOU!!! This is very, very bad, so be sure to use the gravity gun to shoot all five sentry guns down to the doors that are past the "LOADING" hotspot before you cross it and the next area loads. Also, further on are several doors that permanently close behind you the moment you go through them. Be sure to toss your sentry guns ahead of you in those cases, too. If you do, you'll be able to set up a whopping *eight* sentry guns in the big teleporter chamber! You can easily arrange them to handle all incoming soldiers, plus you'll have the very great pleasure of watching them cut down all of the Combine elite who rush in right after you enter the safety of the teleporter field. *** Chapter 10: Entanglement ^^^ Barricading a hallway for the Siege of Cell Block D8 The key to doing this right is to toss lots of stuff down to the lower cell block floor where the battle will take place *before* you go down there yourself. Start by tossing down the sentry gun(s) you brought with you, then raid the small office on the upper floor for some furniture. Even though it's hard to get out through the office door, you do want the big desk down there for barricade material. The chair isn't very useful, but all the green file cabinets are. Once all that's down in the siege area, go back the way you came -- all the way back to the electrified-water room -- and look for other things you can use for barricade material or supplies. Take any medkits and armor batteries you find, as well as ammo. There's also a large loose door at one point that could serve as barricade material (though I never used it). Once all that's tossed down to the siege area, drop down there yourself and round up all the supplies and barrels you can find. Then choose yourself a spot to fortify. The two short hallways are the best, and the one with the infinite SMG ammo crate is my favorite because you can crouch next to the crate for cover and you can resupply your SMG from it. (On the other hand, you can stand in a sentry storage slot in the other hallway, and have easy access to health and armor rechargers.) I always set the desk to block one end of the hallway and the two large file cabinets lying on the floor to block the other end. Then I start setting up sentry guns, using wooden crates and barrels to "nestle" them into their slots and make it harder for the soldiers to knock them over. NOTE: Placing the last sentry gun from the local storage cases will immediately start the siege, so get everything else in place before you pick this gun up and place it. If you do everything right and the soldiers don't get any grenades tossed into your little fortified area (which they usually don't), you should just be able to crouch under cover and wait it out (though you may have to take care of a manhack or two). *** Chapter 10: Entanglement ^^^ Alternative way to handle the Siege of Cell Block D8 There are just enough wooden crates in the siege area (if you don't break any) to build a 3-2-1 crate "staircase" up to one of the balconies. That means you pile three crates in a stack next to the balcony, two crates in a stack next to that, and then one crate by itself next to the two-crate stack. Then you can carefully jump your way up onto the balcony. NOTE: Choose a side balcony that you know soldiers won't be entering, like the one that's right above the gate that Alyx opens after the siege is over. Of course, before you go up there, you'll need to use the gravity gun to shoot up all your sentry guns and whatever supplies you want up there. You won't need any barricade material, but you might want to toss up a few barrels to set next to your sentry guns to make them harder to knock over. Remember that placing the last sentry gun from the local storage cases is what starts the battle, so get everything else done before you do that. Due to the difficulty of climbing your crate "staircase" while carrying the sentry gun, you can either set it on the ground nearby to cover you as you ascend, or toss it up to the balcony and then quickly hop up there before the soldiers can start shooting you. *** Chapter 11: Anticitizen One ^^^ Area where soldiers have two mounted guns in one place In the fifth section of this chapter, you'll go through a large underground tunnel where dozens of manhacks descend through a hole in the tunnel ceiling and attack. Past that is a narrow room with large breakable windows where a few more manhacks fly in and attack. Past that is the place where soldiers have two mounted guns set up. In order to take care of them without any casualties, jump out through the large breakable window furthest from the exit door. Use the pistol to blow up all the explosive barrels you see, then use the crossbow to snipe the rest of the soldiers, including the ones manning the machine guns. *** Chapter 11: Anticitizen One ^^^ The big fight where you're protecting Alyx while she lowers the generator's shielding This fight really hard, especially on Hard difficulty. Fortunately, I've come up with some new tactics for it. See the NOTE after the standard tactics for all the details. (Unfortunately, they *still* don't make it easy.) First, try your best to make it to this area with three or four resistance members still on your team. As soon as you get outside, find all the unset hoppers and set them up around the central area (where Alyx and her generator control room is) and quickly bust open the supply crates. That's about all you can do for preparation. Once the soldiers start arriving, stay with Alyx in her protected control booth, which also has health and armor rechargers. Don't just hide there, though, or you'll eventually be overrun. Frequently peek out long enough to shoot at soldiers as they approach. Don't waste too much ammo on long-distance shooting, or you'll run out of ammo. Use RPG rockets and grenades for distance killing, but save all your pulse rifle orbs for the end when several Combine elite show up. As soon as Alyx says to use the gravity gun to blast the generator core, do so and then run past it, through the gate, and duck behind cover until Alyx gets the gate closed. NOTE: There are several barricading possibilities here that might help if you're willing to go to the trouble to do them. Some of the best barricade material includes the large green filing cabinet in the room with the exit to the outside and the many large bed frames in the upstairs rooms. Grab those and whatever else you want to use and shoot them outside with the gravity gun before you go out there. Once you're out, you can do one of three things with your barricade material: 1) As soon as Alyx starts working at her control panel, totally barricade her in so that you're free to run around, fight, hide, and so on without having to worry about her getting surrounded and killed. The main problem there is that you'll be blocking your access to the health and armor rechargers. Also, your barricade has to be *really* good, with junk strewn and stacked all over to prevent soldiers from just standing nearby and shooting Alyx. Note that you can run back in the door you exited through, block it with something big that you can shoot over (like a bed frame turned on its side), then stand there and blast any soldiers who come into view. However, you'll be unable to help Alyx if she needs it, and soldiers tend to cluster around you and toss lots of grenades in. It's probably better to stay mobile, though you might want to try the barricaded-in method once just to see how it works for you. 2) Barricade yourself in with Alyx so that soldiers can't run right up to you and start shooting you from all angles. Do try to leave yourself room to shoot at nearby soldiers through the barricade material, and watch out for grenades. As in the #1 suggestion, you can easily get swarmed and killed, especially near the end. 3) Use the barricade material to partially or totally block the two blue force fields that soldiers will be coming in through. If you can keep them from ever approaching Alyx's control booth, you won't ever have to fight them. The main problem with this method is in getting enough material to block both force field entry points and getting it all set up before the soldiers start appearing. (Totally blocking both points is probably too hard, so concentrate on blocking one of them -- that would be a huge help by itself.) *** Chapter 12: "Follow Freeman!" ^^^ Ground turret advice In the third chapter section, where you and Barney are running around the nexus building blasting orbs from three generators, you come across several turrets that pop up out of the ground when you pass through their blue alert lasers. There are several ways to deal with these turrets, and here are my suggestions for each one: 1) This first one is really easy. Just walk up to it and gently lob a frag grenade into its little niche. As long as you don't stand in its line of "sight," it won't shoot you. 2&3) The next two are together, with the second of the two covering the first one to prevent an easy sidestep-and-grenade-roll maneuver. I suggest running through the laser alerts and standing in a protective corner until both turrets deactivate, then running onwards. Sure, your team will get a little shot up, but it won't be too bad, and any medics on the team can help heal everyone. 4&5) These two turrets, which are near the first generator room you come to, are much easier. Tell your team to stay on the staircase, then pass through the laser alerts and stand to the side while rolling grenades into the turrets' niches. 6) The next turret is in an optional little side room with supplies. Use the gravity gun to pick up the large desk nearby and hold it in front of you as you crouch-walk toward the turret. Press the desk up against it and then drop it to totally block the turret. You can then easily grenade-roll it or just leave it. 7&8) These last two turrets are set up between the trap room with all the holes in the walls and one of the generator rooms. You could get the desk from turret #6's area and use it in the same way here, but pulling the same routine you did on turrets 2&3 is probably a lot quicker and easier. *** Chapter 12: "Follow Freeman!" ^^^ Strategy for the trap room with all the holes in the walls In the same chapter section where you encounter all the ground turrets is a room where the two doors are closed and sealed when you try to cross to the other side. Soldiers then start appearing in large quantities outside the room and running around to stand behind one door or the other, both of which will be cut open before long. I've found that the best strategy here is to stand next to the large hole in the wall that's just to the left of the room's far door (the first one that gets cut open) with the shotgun ready and double-barrel any soldier who runs by. Several will get by as you're reloading, so toss some frag grenades through the wall hole so that they bounce over to the right. That'll stir up some of the soldiers there, giving you another chance to shoot them. You should be able to finish off a lot of them before they get the door cut down. *** Chapter 12: "Follow Freeman!" ^^^ Rooftop combats after you and Barney scrag all three generator cores in the "nexus" building The rooftop can be brutal, as Alyx would say. The #1 most important thing to remember is that you can and should always retreat to the stairwell you came up for cover. The #2 most important thing is that there's an infinite rocket crate fairly near the door to the stairs. Keeping those things in mind, you shouldn't have much trouble on the roof. For starters, stay under cover while your team takes care of the nearby soldiers when you first exit to the roof. Then use the crossbow to shoot the soldier who's on the lookout tower way over on the other side of the area. Then, after you've filled up on rockets from the crate (and optionally moved the spare launcher that's near the crate to the ledge just behind the stairwell door), move along the roof far enough to activate the gunship. Hit it with one quick rocket as it rises into view, then run all the way back to the stairwell door. Stand in the doorway and wait for the gunship to fly by right in front of you, an easy target! Keep rocketing it as it flies past until it's down. (You'll probably have to run out to the infinite rocket crate a couple of times, especially if you didn't stash the spare launcher in the stairwell. Note that there's also a spare launcher at the bottom of the stairs if you didn't get it earlier.) After the gunship is down, run along the roof to where there are two unset hopper mines. Quickly set them up (anywhere in or near the area you find them) and run back to the infinite rocket crate. A dropship will be dropping soldiers nearby, and they'll come after you if you wait long enough. Rocket the ones that get past the hoppers, then fill up on rockets again and head on across to the skybridge area. When you reach it, quickly activate its control panel and then take cover nearby while the bridge gets settled. As soon as its gates open, run over and empty your RPG into the soldiers at the other end of the bridge, then retreat back to the infinite rocket crate to reload. Repeat as necessary. (There are a *lot* of soldiers over there!) NOTE: You could also fire a few pulse rifle energy orbs at them, since there are plenty around to restock with. Also, if you're partial to SMG grenades, there are some in a supply crate near the skybridge's control panel. *** Chapter 12: "Follow Freeman!" ^^^ Armor tip for the strider-avoidance area In the chapter section where you have to climb up in a ruined building while avoiding fire from a strider, it's worth noting that the scanners that harass you in this area never stop coming. Since destroyed scanners often drop armor batteries, you can just sit and wait in a safe spot for scanners to come to you. Keep destroying them with the gravity gun until your armor rating is 100! After you get to the infinite rocket crate and are ready to move on to the next area, make sure your armor is 100 and then maybe destroy a few more scanners to get a couple more armor batteries that you can throw ahead of you in the next area. There are several armor batteries already in the van in the underground parking area, though, so don't waste your time taking too many along. *** Chapter 12: "Follow Freeman!" ^^^ Tip for rocketing the two striders near the end of the chapter The roof area where the infinite rocket crate is has lousy cover, and there are two striders circling the area plus enemy soldiers in nearby buildings. Due to this, you should fill up on rockets and immediately run back down the stairs to the area with the two health chargers and one armor charger on one wall. You've got better cover there, so carefully rocket the striders and hide when they start shooting. (Another advantage of being down there is that you'll rarely have both striders targeting you at once. Also, you won't be in danger from the warp cannon blast that the second strider fires at the rooftop when the first strider goes down.) *** Chapter 13: Our Benefactors ^^^ Tip for dealing with the big "elevator" room At the beginning of the fourth chapter section, you'll quickly come to a large room with a big shaft in the middle and a red-light-green-light control panel on one of the railings around it. Using the panel to summon the elevator will also summon many soldiers, so before you do that, use the gravity gun to yank some vid consoles and set them next to the little drop-off that prevents you from going back down the hallway you came to this room from. That way, when you press the control to summon the elevator, you can quickly run back, jump up using the debris, and take cover in a hallway that the soldiers can't get to. (Also, there's a Combine recharger on the wall nearby.) As for going up the big elevator, my favorite way is to use the gravity gun to grab up every vid console and screen I can get to and pile them in a nearly complete circle in the center of the elevator platform. (Remember that if you took the advice in the previous paragraph, you can go back a room or two to get more barrier material.) Be careful not to activate the elevator while you're still arranging your cover. When you're ready, there should be one open end to the "circle" of debris and one more large console. Grab onto that console and back into the center of the debris circle and crouch there, holding the console with the gravity gun. You could drop it right in front of you, but if you're holding onto it the whole trip up, you can move it quickly to block incoming fire from soldiers who appear on ledges above you. *** Chapter 13: Our Benefactors ^^^ Tip for scragging the last strider of the game Use the gravity gun to hold one of the empty transport capsules in front of you as a shield (and as a projectile) as you make your way down the long, huge corridor that has the strider at the end. When you're nearing the strider area, make a left down a short dead-end path. After the strider moves forward a bit, make sure you're standing so that a huge metal column and an energy orb conduit are directly between you and the strider. After the soldiers are all down, you can just relax. Grab energy orbs from the conduit and fire them at the strider's exposed legs until it falls over in a heap. *** Chapter 14: Dark Energy ^^^ Final battle at the top of the dark fusion reactor As soon as you hop off the lift onto the top reactor platform, quickly move to where you can start tossing energy orbs at the blue-white spherical core of the reactor. You'll have time to hit it once and then destroy a couple of the shields before the gunships show up. When you hear them approaching, quicksave your game and move so that only the one over on the right side has a very clear shot at you (try to keep a metal pillar between you and the other one). No matter what difficulty you're playing at, you'll want to quickly destroy the gunship nearest you. It only takes two orb hits to do it, but it can be hard because the gunship is not a stationary target. Keep quickrestoring and practicing until you can hit the gunship twice out of your first three or four throws. Then go back to pummeling the reactor core and its shields while staying under cover. The other gunship tends to hover over on the other side of the area, so it shouldn't be much of a problem (and it'll instantly die when you blow up the core, anyway).