Halo 4 Spartan Ops Weekly Challenges - 11/13/12

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The Challenges:
Gagarin Legend - Complete Gagarin in Artifact on Legendary difficulty. - 1500 XP
Well, it took them a day and a half, but they finally fixed this challenge as it used to specify that you needed to complete Core in Artifact, but they actually meant Gagarin. Sparing Pelican Down, this actually felt like the easiest level of the Episode to me. You have control over when the Prometheans attack (only after you activate a computer) and there are a bunch of power weapons around as well as a bunch of regular ammunition. Soloing this did not seem to difficult but remember that it will typically be easier with a friend as you can take out shielded enemies much faster.

Harvesting Hunters - Kill 10 Hunters. - 2500 XP
Hunter are much more challenging in Halo 4 compared to Reach. Once you are in close, they will melee you pretty quickly so you either need to have Shotgun or a Sticky detonator ready to take them out with. Remember that their exposed, orange backs are their weakness. There are only four Hunters in this episode and they appear on Chapters Three (Hacksaw) and Four (Pelican Down). This means that you will need to replay these chapters to rack up more Hunter kills. I would recommend Heroic for this as you will likely be doing it solo and Legendary is not fun on Solo with Hunters.

Leader of the Pack - Kill 10 Crawlers in a single Spartan Ops mission. - 1250 XP
So, this one is really easy to complete. You will see about this many Crawlers in the first chapter, if not the fifth. Killing Crawlers is really easy to. All you need to do is aim for the glowing head and fire of a shot or two. Now, if you are playing co-operatively, this will be much harder to complete unless you are communicating with your teammates that you are trying for it and they lay off of the Crawlers. However, ten is a low number and you can likely still hit this number even with teammates going for kills.

Watchful Avenger - Kill 20 Watchers. - 1500 XP
The first chapter (Clean Up) of this Episode is actually full of Watchers which makes this challenge all the easier. As well, Chapter five (Gagarin) also has a bunch. The trick for killing Watchers fast is to aim for the middle, not the rotors on the back. Once you put a few shots into a Watcher it will begin evasive maneuvers so just remember to aim very slightly ahead of where it is going to do real damage. If you seem to be running short of Watcher kills and see a bunch of Knights, do not kill them immediately as they will often spawn Watchers for you to kill. Even in Co-op, this should mostly be done through one playthrough of the Episode.

Knightmare - Kill 30 Knights. - 1750 XP
Promethean Knights will only really appear in two chapters of this Episode, being Chapters One (Clean Up) and Five (Gagarin). However, a hell of a lot of them appear in both chapters. Gagarin is likely the easiest, however, since you need to wait a little for them to appear on Clean Up. There are not enough, it seems, to get all these thirty kills in a single run through of the Episode so replaying Chapter One or Five is a must to complete this challenge. Power weapons are key here and will make your life a lot easier. Personally, I prefer the SAW and the Scatter shot, though the Binary Rifle is preferred if you are at range. Playing with a friend will result in less kills per game, but will make those games go faster and the kills slightly easier to come by. The choice is yours.

Heroic Episode - Complete all missions in Artifact on Heroic or higher difficulty. - 3000 XP
Sadly, unless I am mistaken, all the levels in this Episode, sparing the first one, are re-used from Campaign and the first episode. Getting a little lazy and this has only just begun. Hopefully, things start to change in later episodes. Now, this is a harder episode and that seems to be reflected by the fact that we only need to complete this episode on Heroic difficulty. Of course, playing with a friend or friends makes this a lot easier. Chapter One (Clean Up) has you initially fighting Covenant but you are soon jumped by a lot of Prometheans. Make sure you get a hold of those power weapons that are dropped. The second chapter (For Science) has a bunch of Elites so try to keep at range when you can, otherwise you will likely get raped. Chapter Three (Hacksaw) is quite challenging if you are trying to save a single marine and get the "No One Left Behind" achievement. You might want to clear the middle area rather quickly to get all the power weapons housed up there. Pelican Down (Chapter Four) is actually a pretty simple reverse of Sniper Alley with enemies in the same general spots. Just watch out for the Jackal marksmen. Finally, the last level was actually decently easy since you control when the Prometheans attack by when you activate the computers. Remember to stock up on ammunition before each wave and utilize the Binary Rifles and Incinerator Cannons that are stocked around the level.

See the Weekly War Games Challenges here.
See the Monthly War Games Challenges here.
See the Weekly Campaign Challenges here.