Having played as sword carrier on numerous occasions, having faced just about every glitch and every motive to wipe, and with a fair number of Crota kills under my belt, here are a few hints/tips that can help less experienced fellow sword carriers and that may be less obvious: As the sword carrier, you will be generally looked upon your fireteam members as the leader - even if you don't want or aren't looking for that responsibility. You will be one with the highest responsibilty and taking the most risks. You will be calling the shots on when to fire and on how to deal with boomer fire (snipers, ward of dawn, guy behind the tower, etc), but you may also be asked for guidance on less important stuff like when to go out, where to go in between swords, when to use supers, etc. Its important to know all the roles so you can have an answer if required, to avoid the risk of some players being unsure on what to do next. If you're facing lag, leave the fireteam, go to orbit, start the checkpoint and have your fireteam join in on you. This - although not assured - offers the best assurance that you'll be host and have the best connection. Be aware of what rocket launchers are being used and what levels theyre at. If everyone has fully maxed Gjallarhorn, that's ideal. If there are maxed Hungers of Crota, that does the job too. With this configuration, you can be confident that you can move on Crota as soon as the rockets hit as he will be down almost instantly. If there are other rocket launchers or the ones being used are not maxed, you need to be careful as the initial impact of the rockets may not be enough to bring Crota down as quick as you expect. This is extremely important when using a titan or a warlock that cannot go invisible, or when trying to down Crota 3 times on a single sword. Have a good rocket launcher, but save enough ammo for a situation when the swordbearer is out of your fireteam's sight. Usually the first swordbearer to come out is an easy prey to the combined fire of your firetam as you'll be able to get him as soon as he comes out. However the second, and eventually third swordbearers will be out before you are ready to shoot and may move somewhere thats harder to hit. Your rockets and grenades will be paramount here. Take it upon yourself to damage / kill / lure him. You cannot expect your other teammates to do this - which doesn't mean someone can't help you, but you cannot assume they will, and time is of the essence. Inbetween swords, you can move into the Ogre room. Stay safe from spawning thralls and pre-fire on the Swordbearer. As soon as Crota starts moving, go all out and finish him off. Ask for help if needed. You will only have enough time for 3 swords if the swordbearer drops his sword somewhere close to where you can jump up to Crota. Even so, you will need to call out for fire and reach Crota for the first hits within about 5 seconds, then call out for fire just as Crota loses his invincibility aura (5 seconds after he gets up). You're on a very strict timer here. If the swordbearer drops the sword close to the ledge where your team will usually stand, or somewhere that requires you to run for a few seconds before reaching Crota, then you will most likely have no time for 3 swords. If going for 3 swords, get the sword and ask for fire as soon as you jump on the "access" rock, then move on to Crota. The time to make the second jump and reach him should be just enough to down him and still be safe from his melee. If using a hunter with bladedancer, activate your super before moving to pick up the sword, then activate invis right before picking it up. This buys you enough time to get up to Crota and safely ask for fire while on the rock, not losing precious seconds activating your invis from crouching. This of course if the sword is near the "access" rock / plattform. If you feel Crota's kneeling time is almost up, DON'T PUSH ANOTHER HIT. Don't risk it. The animation from a hard slam takes little over 1 second. Crota getting up takes about that time too. You need to get out / get invis on time. Risking a hit when time is so tight will most often than not result on Crota killing you with his sword, and that is a wipe 95% of the time. Crota starts taking damage sooner than you think. While he goes from standing up to kneeling, he's already vulnerable. If you're an invisible hunter, you can start swinging at him right after he gets hit with the missiles. If using the bladedancer and going invis between attacks, you can press triangle (Y on Xbox) while you're still on the slam animation instead of waiting for the animation to end. The game will register your command and you will drop the sword as soon as the animation ends, thus gaining you an additional fraction of a second to blink strike safely. After the first sword, acess the damage done to Crota and whether or not you can safely get him on the second. If you did less than half, don't even consider it. If you did half the damage or just over it, it may be too risky to try and get it on the second sword, especially if you managed to down him 3 times (which is far more complicated to do in the second sword). If you determine that you are going for 3 swords, look out for the damage dealt in the second sword. Don't risk enraging him. Look at his health while you're waiting for him to go down a second time and act accordingly. After ogres (or even during), if you're a bladedancer, go invis and run up the stairs to clear out thralls and distract boomers. If you're not a bladedancer but have one on your team, ask him to do so. If you go as soon as the first Ogre is dead, this will clear most thralls that would be in the stairs, as they are spawning from inside the crystal room. [b]Sword damage:[/b] Normal swing deals 7.201 damage Uppercut (R2 or right trigger after 2 normal swings) deals 12.601 damage Hard slam deals 15.301 damage Super attack deals 18.001 damage Depending on the class you're using and how soon you can hit Crota after kneeling, you should consider these attack combos: a) 3x hard slam - R2 R2 R2 (fastest, most common) - 45.903 damage b) 1x normal swing + 3x hard slam - R1 R2 R2 R2 (a smidge slower but still safe) - 53.104 damage c) 2x uppercut combo - R1 R1 R2, R1 R1 R2 (safe but harder to pull off) - 54.006 damage d) 1x uppercut combo + 2x hard slam - R1 R1 R2 R2 R2 (probably the most efficient) - 57.605 damage These are riskier but still possible if you time it just right: e) 4x hard slam - 61.204 damage f) 1x normal swing + 4x hard slam - 68.405 damage g) 2x uppercut combo + 1x hard slam - 69.307 damage h) 1x upercut combo + R1 R2 + R1 R2 - 72.007 damage i) 1x uppercut combo + 3 x hard slam - 72.906 damage Crota goes down at 18 hard slams (these total 275.418) which means his health should be around 260.000 and 270.000 (if anyone knows the exact number it would be helpful). Considering these numbers, this should be the amount of attacks / swords you'll need depending on the combo you use (assuming 260.000 health and 2 attacks per sword; if his life total is above or below, results could be a little different): a) 6 attacks - 3 swords (260.000 : 45.903 = 5,66) b) 5 attacks - 3 swords (260.000 : 53.104 = 4,89) c) 5 attacks - 3 swords (260.000 : 54.006 = 4,81) d) 5 attacks - 3 swords (260.000 : 57.605 = 4,51) e) 5 attacks - 3 swords (260.000 : 61.204 = 4,24) [b]f) 4 attacks - 2 swords (260.000 : 68.405 = 3,80) g) 4 attacks - 2 swords (260.000 : 69.307 = 3,75) h) 4 attacks - 2 swords (260.000 : 72.007 = 3,61) i) 4 attacks - 2 swords (260.000 : 72.906 = 3,56)[/b] If i remember more (to the sword carrier's specific task) i'll edit this post. Meantime, if you're an experienced sword carrier, feel free to add your own tips. Hope this helps. Note: Credit for the damage output goes to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY-4oobBtso Additional note: I don't proclaim to be an expert or elite player by any means; playing Crota on hard is almost everything i've been doing lately - trying to get the freakin crux - and i just thought i'd share some pointers that helped me out. EDITS: added a couple of combos and pointers; title.