I call shenanigans on the level up chart. Its problem is that it shows everyone who has ever played Reach, including people who only rented the game or who have already sold it back and moved on to other stuff (it's been out nearly a month already.) It doesn't reflect the active playing community who are going to keep playing Reach over the next few months and beyond. I'd bet money that most of the people in the first quartile will never play Reach again, and many of those in the second quartile will never advance to captain. I'd like to see a chart of the ranks of those players who have earned credits on two or more separate days in the past week. I bet it will be skewed much more heavily to the ranks found currently in the third quartile. I understand why the level cap was in place: to put an artificial block on infinite credit boosting. The community has now tried and failed to find an easy way to boost credits that will keep working indefinitely. I applaud Bungie's game design. It rewards players clever enough to work out glitches and boosts, but puts a cap on credit farming so that very soon these players have to return to normal play or work out a new way to boost. The system works, time to lift the level cap.

I'm not sure as to why the True Skill is per playlist and doesn't count across everything? What I mean is that, it's annoying to play a gametype such as objective against someone who is 10x more skilled than me. In Halo 3, I could see their skill. They were a level 50 in.. whatever playlist (lets say Slayer) but because they barely played Team Objective, I got stuck playing against them because they were only level 20 in that mode. Surely if they can reach a level 50 in slayer, they would have no problem carrying a flag or planting a bomb so why wouldn't they be a 50 in everything? If they can kick so much butt they made it to a level 50 in the first place, they should only be playing with and against other 50s in every mode they play. Not go play something they never play like Objective just to feel good about themselves. I understand drastically different modes like SWAT because so long as you're quick and aim right, it's pretty easy to do well in SWAT so I could see someone being really good in SWAT but not necessarily that good in normal Slayer or Objective. Couldn't there be maybe two or three groups for different levels instead of it being different for every single mode?

Dude sketch your bnet avatar is so sick

If custom games awarded more than 70 credits, then maybe I would have considered trying to get to a million points in Fire Fight. With the way it stands now, however, knocking it out in 10 cheese-filled minutes was the way to go.

i agree, its a lot easier if you use a grunt overcharged pistol to take out its shield then a precision weapon(like DMR or 45. pistol) with a head shot its a lot better then wasting like two whole clip with the DMR to kill one elite

As I got the game about a month before my house was hooked up to the internet I had nothing much to do but work on the achievements hence why I got A Monument To All Your Sins within my first week of playing, not having much else to do. I don't have time to read all the post to see what advice has already been proffered but here are my tips: -Out of your two guns, keep a head-shoter (DMR, Needle rifle, Sniper (Focus rifle is useless as they'll just hit cover before you can kill them) or in a pinch the pistol, these will take care of any unshielded enemies. For jackals aim at their little hand poking around the shield then head shot them when they do the knocked back animation -Second gun should be one I term a big shield buster, anything that makes pretty explosions and knocks out shields because believe me there's nothing more annoying the headshoting that elite 10 or more times before he pops. These guns will save you a hell of a lot of DMR ammo and remember as they are quite rare keep a plasma pistol handy when nothing else is around to knock out that shield in one and get that headshot in (although big bad elites such as zealots can take two overcharge shots before they go down) -For brutes just pump them full of needles as they make big bulky targets, obviously a needle rifle is the best bet as you can use that as a head-shoter as well but use a needler if any are lying around -Take full advantage of your invincible team-mates (Noble team that is, seems they didn't beef up the friendly Ai's you meet on legendary so get ready to avenge the many, many soldiers who are mercilessly slaughtered before you can help them.) If your running low on ammo or health just sit at the back taking pot shots while they clean up. That's all I can think of at the moment, remember if your stuck on a certain way try some different strategies out, scout round for any semi-hidden guns (I know I found most of the gun spawns on legendary and right in my hour of need) and if all else fails occasionally after many deaths the game throws you a checkpoint for killing each enemy so you can take the encounter one step at a time, with the price of knowing even the unthinking game engine thinks you suck. [Edited on 10.11.2010 12:47 PM PDT]

Thanks for the sweet stats and info Sketch. Also, thanks for filling in for urk.

Ok i'd admit there are some good points made for the level cap. but there are ideas in it which are flawed. Capping till a percentage population all reach a cartain rank, why people may ask well people may buy the game for its single player merit or just to try it out and never reach the rank in which bungie deem's fit for the level cap to be raised. So there are loads of people in the statistics that don't play the game enough or don't own it anymore. i play the game enough to say that more than 50% of all people played were captain or higher, which secures my point even further. just a little advice to the bungie team, if you are going though with this system don't take your information from the games release as the data may not be true to current times.

I have an achievement that is glitching and therefore, Halo:Reach will not show up on my completed games list. when I'm on the dashboard scrolling through the different games I played, Halo: Reach shows (48/49 achievements, and 975/1000 gamerscore), but when I click on it to see what achievement it's cliaming I don't have, it shows that I have them all, and in the bottom left hand corner, it says 49/49 unlocked....is this a common glitch and will it be fixed? if it's not a common glitch, how do I fix it?

i hate to say this dude but those ppl that are at the level cap are mainly the glitchers and lag switchers that do the cheap -blam!- just to boost ratings....so it would be bull-blam!- to reward their cheating efforts...instead keep a tight track on the gameplay and look for abnormalities and reward only the legit players such as myself or u or any other legit person that doesnt camp in a damn corner with a sword or shotgun or can only use the rockets to get their kills reward those who use true skill and i will post the bull-blam!- camping tactics like the entire enemy team camping on the 3rd floor of -blam!- sword base on team swat....i have a few vids on my file share the show what true skill is even a vid of me going 34 and 13 when 2 of my teammates quit out before the game even started and we still won....thats true skill

dude i beat it within 3 days of its release and all u need is a dmr and a plasma pistol for elites and just great aim with the dmr on the other eniemies and just go for headshots....u do that its a cake walk but also watch ur ammo cuz even tho the dmr rapes the limited ammo factor kinda kills the strat but thats why u pick up the covie needle rifle it works just as good

I certainly don't believe those stats are right, even for being on the 8th, when did he make that chart? lol right after the first week?

LONG POST GreyAlpha here I've also completed the campaign on legendary, and would like to put my two cents in. I felt the most challenging areas of the campaign were Long Night of Solace (NOT the space battle, but rather inside the covenant ship) and The Pillar of Autumn ending. I'm not the fastest draw or sharpest tactician: if I can find somewhere to hide (like the downstairs shotgun door on POA) or if I've got to kill one elite while keeping my eyes open for three others (LNS, inside- use a 96 needler or a grenade+headshot), I'll do whatever it takes. For me, taking cover behind Noble team members is a must for certain areas, (unless you can really multi-task on ennemies) but towards the end I think it's just a matter of thinning them out, softest to hardest. Any rules of thumb? Here are a couple I'd suggest -Wraith tanks are actually easier to take out by hand than with ordinance. Save your rockets, and your Target Locator! Snipe the turret gunner and sprint around the back- ennemies will NOT fire on you while you are mounted on wraiths, so just focus on getting there -Needler is your friend! Scavenge corpses for every needle you can find, especially when you've got a high tier elite cornered. Same goes for multiple elite CQB- start with the pink mist, toss a grenade, then take headshot opertunities -Boost your DMR lethality: I may just be superstitious, but I would say crouching, aiming for the highest section of the skull, and prioritizing moving (yes, moving) targets over stationary ones boosts the probability of the engine qualifying your 7.62 as a boni-fide headshot. You'll have plenty of grunts to test this out on, so don't take my word for it -Hoarding. Yes, I'm a hoarding whore. Needlers, fuel rod guns, sniper rifles- even armor loadouts. I'll switch run a pistol if I think I'll need it. Reach has been programmed (either intentionally or not) to have the smoothest switch-running mechanics in any halo game I've played. No, the weapons are not eternal- the game will erase hoarded weapons at certain points, but when you're facing down 15 enemy, including elites and jackals, that fully loaded concussion rifle two checkpoints back might have you pining. At the very least, I'd recommend switch running the energy sword in LNS, and needlers when facing more than 3 elites simultaneously in close quarters More? Okay, just a few -Jackals. Stripping covenant waves of their jackals should be your bread and butter. Same directions for DMR lethality as above, except, as Legolas says, "Aim for the neck". The neck seems to be qualified as a head shot, and it is easier to hit than a jackals skull (which moves around almost constantly). Don't take my word for it- you'll have many, many times to test it yourself -Flick Night Vision VS. Shade Turrets *ESP on The Package! While deconstructing The Package, spotting the super-long range shade (and FRG) turrets can be uber-frustrating. Flicking night-vision on and off very rapidly will briefly highlight enemy materiel (especially a Shades base), even at extreme range. If you have a better way to take down the FRG turrets, by all means post it -Careful with arming allies- If you're saving that one rocket for a marine riding shotgun, you've obviously made the right choice. However, be careful about giving fully loaded sniper rifles or spartan lasers to marines: they will deplete the ammunition to a point. This isn't usually crucial, but just a heads up I'm not sure if anyone will stumble upon this, but feel free to reply with any questions or comments re: Reach Legendary Campaign Thanks, GreyAlpha P.S. Check out my Carrier77 Map, Below [url=http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileShare.aspx?player=GreyAlpha]GreyAlpha's B.net Fileshare[/url]

I've completed the campaign alone :P. Needler Rifle FTW. And pick off enemies from a distance as much as possible. Total Campaign playtime 20hrs 22min(took 22min to get assisnation on the elite :P Kills 2662 Deaths 405 The freinds I played with killed each other quite often for giggles.. and i prolly died 30 times to ninja an elite lol. Needler Riffles, Needlers, noob combo, all are VITAL to playing alone. Also when available a Drop Shield loadout can really keep u alive and save some time :P. Another note, when you have other members of noble team along with you, become a "support player" use noob combo to take sheilds from elites and let the rest of noble team finish them :P. This helps conserve ammo and speed up the pace of the game :P Enjoy!!

Even though its only the less than 1 percent, the people that have hit the level cap or are at it. Are the most determined of the population. In essence your number 1 fans, Seems to me like maybe those spartans should be used to maybe test some new maps or receive something for additional efforts. As you already know we love our bungie stuff no matter how small or how big. Let those 1 percenters feel the love of the bungie. As we are pushing all of our freinds list onto your playlist. Simplified your greatest selling force is a happy gamer. On a side note network manipulation has been seen in alot of games. Please tell me switch laggers will be delt with...

Awesome update. I love stats.

Yay for being pretty much in the top percentage of everything.

Nice update! cant wait for a more map types :)

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] xChris Im sure I could have completed it much quicker if I weren't so achievement minded. I definitely went out of my way several times to try and get a few.[/quote] I was quite lucky to get most of the achievements done the first time, only the more "difficult" took me a second try. ' A tip for a legendary run is having sprint, a noob-combo and lots of grenades. Being a wuss also helps out, being a hero really doesn't work out well in legendary, since you'll fail - hard.

I personally have finished the campaign on legendary solo, and didn't find it too incredibly difficult (save one or two instances). My main tip to others, is to throw your normal way of classic halo-style charge in guns-a-blazin' out the window. Take the game slow and steady, focusing on the biggest threats first, which can sometimes be grunts with certain powerful weapons. Take cover where you can most replenish your ammo and pick enemies off from a distance. When heavily outnumbered, it's best to just let them come to you and pick them off one by one. I prefer to try more challenging methods, but sometimes the only way to defeat a particularly hard enemy is to stoop down to nostalgic halo 2 tactics and take it out with a noob combo. For those of you who are unaware, a charged plasma pistol shot will destroy any enemy's shield, and temporarily render any vehicle inoperable. Fire a charged shot at an ultra-elite and follow up with one DMR shot to the dome, and you just saved yourself a lot of trouble. Find a sprint tool, get as close as you can to those deadly legendary wraiths, hit him with a charged blast from your covenant pea shooter, and sprint in to board and destroy with just a couple melee's. Hope these tips help you on your legendary path. For the record, I completed campaign on legendary within 3 days of getting it in the mail. It really didnt seem like it took too terribly long, and I only got snagged at a couple spots, including spending over 2 hours at the start of the last level attempting to get the elite assassination achievement. Im sure I could have completed it much quicker if I weren't so achievement minded. I definitely went out of my way several times to try and get a few.

im dissapointed that they deleted the snake logo what the F

The first thing I did was completing it on legendary, in fact I did it the day after I bought it. I have 47/49 achievements now, only need the weekly challenge and to buy a lt. colonel item. I'm at 38% of the commendations as well, finishing up the campaign ones now, while watching Dexter. :D

i think bungie should have a choice of two different maps in team arena. give the commmunity the choice to choose the map. i also feel as though drop shield should be available for use in team slayer, team arena , and team doubles. its the bubble shield from halo 3. a lot of good times came from that bubble shield. possibly remove hologram because its begining to get obvious. i was a dedicated halo 3 fan and reached the rank of 50. i have at least a slight idea of what im talking about.

I was wondering if participating in Daily Challenges (involving campaign missions) will break my Legendary Campaign progress and my goal of earning the "A Monument to All Your Sins" and "Gods Must Be Strong" achievements. In other words, will the game keep track of the missions that I've completed under Legendary difficulty if I jump into a campaign mission for a Daily Challenge? Any progress that I've made on an uncompleted mission would be lost but would my completed missions still be tracked and counted?

beat the campain on solo legendary in the first few days i got it. got all the acheivments. a great tip for ledendary: use a plasma pistol and a dmr. the overcharges shot takes out all elite's sheilds then swith to your headshot weopon and get the quick headshot. makes elites less of a pain.

A monument to all your sins.<3 Tip: take your time and use everything that is available, even if you have to ride a ghost for 2min backwards in the campaign to get more ammo or a different armor ability. Some places can be done by running inn and straight out again, like on ONI where you're shutting down.. some things I can't remember the name of, and you face off against 4 hunters.. scary stuff, but you can run straight up and de-activate the thingie without much hassle. It was one hell of a run, one I'll gladly do again.