I used to really suck at this game. In Halo 1 my friends would put a whoopin on me. We had one Halo geek and a couple of good players. Halo 2 came out...the halo geek would win and i would be lucky to score 5 kills. first month on live my highest slayer score was 8.
Well, a couple of months of live practice later: we played again. I am proud to now say... I AM THE HALO GEEK! The ex-geek and other friends were amazed.
After 5 slayer matches, they finally proclaimed..."We liked it better when you sucked!"

So believe me, you can get better.

gamertag: meladdin

My eyes are starting to water up over that story. Welcome to the Halo geek club.

Weapons are important, I think the best combos are (in the following order)....

1. Plasma pistol/battle rifle. Almost all high level players use and own with this combo. Fire the charged PP and immediately switch to the BR. If you time it right (br to the head just as PP hits) it is an instant kill. If your opponent doesn't see you do it they'll think they got sniped.

2. Plasma pistol/magnum. Same principle, one magnum shot to the head and they're dead, and you don't have to worry about switching weapons.

3. Plasma rifle/magnum. Very quick kills, just aim for the head.

4. Dual magnums - takes some practice to use, but very effective

5. Plasma rifle/SMG

I too am a halo geek. It makes me feel warm inside to hear stories like yours, although I am the exact opposite, I used to be awesome at Halo split screen, tunnel service, and pretty good at PC. Now I suck and, don't think I'm getting better fast enough, don't weep for me though fair DVDtalkers........I shall return to glory.........someday.

Interesting. I am definitely going to check that one out. I was wondering what everyone was talking about when saying "charged PP & battle rifle." Since you can't duel wield those two I assumed people were confusing the SMG and Battle rifle.

Great information, thanks everyone for all of the info. I know some of you know me, I am the one that always appears dead in the games. I am the one lying there, with blood all over the place. I have sworn that I will not give up until I am at the very least, not embarassing myself.
Which is the plasma pistol?
What is up with the swords? Is there something I should know? It seems that I am dead before I even approach someone who has a sword, are there secrets on how to wield a sword?
Okay, one more question, has anyone had any experience with the keyboard/mouse adapter? Thanks again.

metman, at least Bungie took out the "quick crouch" from the original Halo. Nothing quite like laying there dead and your assasin squating on your face repeatedly. There is a term but this thread would have to be moved to "adult."

Plasma Pistol: One that charges up when the trigger is held down and fires a green blast. It locks on in close range and has limited homing capabilities.

Swords: I've read numerous times to strafe left and right to dodge, but for the life of me, I still end up dead. Shotgun is the way to go to take them down. Wait until they are lunging at you and BAMM one shotgun blast to the face/chest will drop em in a heartbeat. Or you could go kamikazie and stick 'em with a plasma grenade has they drop your corpse the the ground. As for weilding, just locking on is the key before you swing.

I got that "adult" thing happen to me a lot when I played RTCW online, it was annoying yet slightly amusing at the same time.

As far as swords go it's hard as heck to dodge but yeah left or right works if you're more prepared to dodge than they are to hit you.

I was playing last night and I took out 3 guys in a group. I dodged the sword and assassinated that guy, grabbed the sword and dodged (luckily) some sniper shots to kill him and then jumped over two rockets to kill the other guy. Their reaction was priceless because they were at least 5 levels higher than I was. We still lost the game, but man was that fun!

Todd
Live gamertag Paradoxx21 if anyone wants to play sometime. I'm usually on after 12am or before 2pm

One thing I really liked about the Unreal Tournament series is that you can execute a dodge move by double tapping either left or right. That move would work well against sword/shotgun guys. Those weapons are extremely deadly in the right hands. I have gone 10 - 0 in head to head games when I get both of those weapons, especially close quarter levels live Midship and Ascension.

Nice work, Dragon Fly! Feel free to join the DVDTalk Halo 2 clan, if you're interested. We're not too serious about it, and we don't require any skill to join.

Same offer goes to Metman.

Oh come on, I'm sure we can say "tea-bagging" in here. I myself have done it on a couple of occasions, but reserve it only for people who talk a lot of smack/are assholes during a game. It does make me feel better.

I should clear up my story...
I am the HALO geek with my friends. However straight up on LIVE i would say I am average.
Just had to clear that up if you expected the second coming of Sypher Joe when we play.

gamertag: meladdin

I was thinking of a harsher term. But "tea-bagging" works. Not as fun in Halo 2.

Let's back up on the swords. You might need even more info about them.

If you have a sword and place your targeting reticule over an enemy it will turn red after a brief moment. When that happens, pull the right trigger. Your character will lunge extremely quickly and kill the enemy in one hit, regardless of shield level. You can lunge approximately 10 feet. Outside of that 10 feet, you are pretty vunerable with the sword. Someone can cause a lot of damage before you get close enough to lunge. And the above mentioned Plasma Pistol-SMG/Magnum/Battle Rifle combo will own you every time.

You can do some interesting things with the sword. For example, I've jumped off a ledge, locked onto someone on another platform and pulled the trigger. Even though I was falling, I flew back up to their level and killed them. And two swipes (with either the right trigger or B) will usually kill someone, even if you miss the lock-on.

The shotgun is the best defense against the sword. It's all about timing but a full-force shotgun blast as the enemy lunges is almost a guaranteed win.

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I'll reiterate that playing the single player on Legendary is a great opportunity to practice with the Plasma Pistol and another Marine weapon. You CANNOT defeat the Elites without this combo. There are rooms with like 10 of them. They will hide before you can kill them with any other combo (unless you can stick them with a plasma grenade.)

There's a harsher term for that? I had no idea...

The trick with the sword (at least for me) is to hide it with another weapon to lure the enemy in. If you're just running around with exposed sword no one will get close enough for you to use it. If you're running around with an SMG people will charge you, then you whip out the sword just in time to hear them say "Aw crap..." and kill them.

And it takes 2 lunges to take out a fully overshielded person.