After (unsuccessfully) attempting to escape from the planet’s gravity well in Halo 4 Mission 1: Dawn, Master Chief and Cortana find themselves among the wreckage and debris of the Forward Unto Dawn and all the Covenant ships that were also sucked into this mysterious Forerunner planet Requiem.
There are two achievements specific to this mission. The title achievement “Requiem” earns you 10G for completing the mission on any difficulty. The “Midnight Launch” achievement unlocks for 20G when you get “significant air in the Warthog at midnight.” This is also the first mission that contains a terminal. If this is the first mission where you find a terminal, you will unlock the “Contact the Domain” achievement for 10G, and you will be one step closer to unlocking the “Terminus” achievement for 50G.
After the introductory cutscene for Halo 4 Mission 2: Requiem, you take control of Master Chief on the surface of the planet surrounded by several wrecked ships — mostly of Covenant origin. You can scrounge around for ammo or supplies, and you can investigate the Covenant beacon at the top of the hill in front of you if you would like, but this isn’t necessary.
To really get this mission started, all you have to do is walk straight ahead until you get to a piece of metal debris with a fire underneath it. Turn right when you get there and follow the path. The walls narrow so that you feel like you are walking through a tunnel, and when you come out the other side, you have a stunning view of a massive Forerunner structure. Turn left and follow the ridge to your left, and you will find more UNSC wreckage and a Warthog or two.
How to Get Massive Air in the Warthog at Midnight for 20G
This is the part of the Halo 4 Mission 2: Requiem where you can unlock the “Midnight Launch” achievement. This is a very unusual achievement because to unlock it you have to be performing a jump while driving/riding in a Warthog at exactly 12:00 AM. The timing is based on the clock on your Xbox 360 console, so you have two options: you can either wait to perform this part of Halo 4 literally at midnight, or you can change the time on your Xbox 360 console to make it 12:00 AM.
If your Xbox 360 is connected to the Internet, you cannot set the exact time on your console because that is determined by the Xbox server clocks. So, you can either disconnect your Xbox 360 from the Internet (the easiest way is to just unplug the ethernet cable from the back if you are wired in) or you can change your time zone. If you change your time zone but still leave the console connected to the Internet, you won’t be able to set the exact time, but you can get it to the closest time zone to midnight without going over (like The Price is Right) and then burn some time in War Games or Spartan Ops until it’s a minute or two before midnight in whatever time zone you set your ‘Box for. Note that it’s a good idea to start trying to unlock this achievement a little bit before midnight so that you make sure you have time to load your game and get to the right spot.
So, when it’s a couple minutes before midnight, continue along the ridge and get your Warthog. Drive it to the end of the ridge and turn left into the tunnel. There are several jumps as you go through the tunnel, so you shouldn’t have any trouble unlocking this achievement. If you get to the end of the tunnel but the “Midnight Launch” achievement still hasn’t unlocked, hit pause before you get another checkpoint and choose “Revert to Last Save.” There are checkpoints inside the tunnel, so it should put you back inside so you can do some more jumps. When you make a jump at 12:00 AM, the “Midnight Launch” achievement will unlock and you’ll have 20 more gamer points. (And remember to change your clock back!)
(Click here to return to the Halo 4 Achievements List.)
After you come out of the tunnel, you enter a valley with three groups of Covenant troops and a group of stragglers in between. You can stop at the edge of the valley and shoot at the first group from the Warthog machine gun, or you can run in guns ablazin’ but I recommend holding back for at least a little bit for the Covenant drop ship to leave.
After you take out the first group, head up the hill on the right side of the map and take out the second group. When they are finished, continue to the right and go down between the two hills to get the group of stragglers. When you kill all those Covenants, it should trigger a checkpoint. This is a good thing because the last group of Covenant troops at the end of the alley have a Plasma Cannon. After you kill the Covenant forces on the front line, be prepared for another Elite at the entrance of the path behind their entrenchment. Then head up the path and take care of the Grunts you meet along the way.
When you come out of the tunnel there are some rock formations and several Covenants in front of the entrance to a base. There are Jackals on the base with precision weapons, so it’s smart to deal with them first or to take cover behind the rocks as you are approaching the base.
As you navigate the rock formations towards the base, you encounter a variety of Covenant troops. The base you are approaching is symmetrical. It doesn’t really matter if you enter from the right or the left. If you are especially brave, you can jump up the rock formations on the front of the base, but that gives you too much exposure to the enemies on the top. It’s safer to take the regular entrances.
On the first level of the base you find some Grunts and Jackals. Nothing too serious.
On the next level, there is a higher concentration of Grunts and Jackals and also an Elite with Active Camouflage and an Energy Sword. If you have a powerful weapon here, it’s easy to keep some distance and blast him before he gets close enough to do anything to you. If you don’t have a power weapon, you can use the Plasma Pistol + precision weapon trick.
Cortana tells you to pick up the Active Camouflage that the Elite drops. You might also want to pick up his Energy Sword. Then head through the door to the base. (I recommend going in with a Covenant Carbine and the Energy Sword.)
“I Heard Something That Time”
When you enter the base, you see a group of Sentinels flying around. They are not hostile, so there’s no need to attack them. Just ignore them and go straight ahead to the console in the back of the room. Approach the controls and hold the action button to activate a cut-scene.
The console you’re using locks up suddenly. You’re about to have company, so it’s a good idea to find cover. You also need to activate a couple other parts of the base to move on to the next part of the mission, so you might as well try to make some progress on that before the baddies show up.
Run to the right side of the room and take the wall back to one of the pilons. Run inside across the light bridge and hold the action button to activate it. The light bridge will descend to the lower level, but I prefer to stay on top. You have enough time to turn and jump back onto the first light bridge before the descent.
The Covenant weren’t expecting you to be on this side of the room, so this is a great time to pick off some of them. This is where the Carbine comes in handy.
Take care of the grunts close to you first with the Carbine. Then you can charge the Elite with the Energy Sword. Then you can start taking out some others at range. Kill any others that are between you and the next pilon (which is directly opposite the first one. When you get there, take the light bridge across and activate it just like the first one.
After you get both pilons activated, Cortana picks up a radio transmission from the Infinity and then tells you to go back to the console. There are quite a few Covenant left at this point, so I recommend taking a flanking approach along the right side of the room. As you get closer to the console, Cortana tells you to clear out the remaining Covenant. Using the hallway as cover and your motion detector as a guide, it’s pretty simple to kill off the remaining Covenant circling the console. Just remember to take cover when you’re hurt and to reload in cover.
When all the Covenant are dead, head to the console and hold your action button again to trigger the next cut-scene.
A Star To Steer By
After the cut-scene you find yourself in a small room with some sort of object in the middle. Go around the object to the door on the opposite side. Through the door is a lift down to a chasm-spanning bridge loaded up with Covenant forces. I recommend taking this lift while using they Active Camouflage that you picked up earlier. This will allow you to get to cover before the Covenant know you are there.
Using the Covenant Carbine from before, take out the Grunts and Jackals at the bottom of the lift with headshots and head up the bridge. On your way up, you come across an Elite and his lackeys. Take out the little guys first and then deal with the Elite. If you still have any power left in your Energy Sword, you can use that, or use one of the many other approaches to taking out Elites.
After he’s dead, keep moving forward — and keep using the terrain for cover. There are more Elites and Jackals in front of you.
Once you deal with that group, you come to a gap in the bridge. There are some Covenant firing at you from the opposite side, as well as some Banshees flying around. If you head down to the lower level, you can cross the gap that way. Alternatively, you could shoot down a Banshee with a Plasma Pistol and board it. If you’re lucky you’ll find a landed Banshee that you can use to clear out any remaining Covenant on the bridge.
When all the Covenant are dead, head through the door at the end of the bridge.
The Gateway
Through a short hallway, another door opens revealing a vast yard in front of yet another Forerunner base. As the door opens, you see a Covenant drop ship taking off after deploying a bunch of troops.
If you have any rounds left in your Carbine, you can pick off some enemies at range. Or you can just run out to the weapons cache on the right side of the map. There are two Turrets and two Ghosts in this area, so the Rocket Launcher by the rocks is a good asset to pick up (just don’t blow yourself up like I did!). Past the Rocket Launcher, you can also find other UNSC weaponry like the SAW or the Magnum.
After dealing with the first group of Covies, it’s a good idea to approach from the side instead of straight up the middle. There are some more enemies up the center path that are easy to handle from the side, at a distance, rather than up close and personal. You can even pick up a Plasma Cannon if you’d like.
“We’re About to Have Our Hands Full”
After you take care of all the Covenants in the yard, head into the hallway in the center of the bottom of the base. At the end of the hallway is a ramp leading up to the second level. Go up to the second level, keeping an eye on your radar. There are quite a few enemies up here, including another Energy Sword-wielding Elite with Active Camo (be sure to pick up the Sword; you’re going to need it in a minute).
After you clear out this hallway, head out the door to the right. At the end of the walkway, there is another bunch of Covenant troops. Kill them and head around the corner to find another group of them. Mind the Jackal with the Beam Rifle at the top of the ramp. You can use the Covenant furniture for cover.
Once they are done, head up the ramp. Down the hallway to the right, there are some more Elites. You can pick up the Beam Rifle from the carcass of its previous owner to deal with the Elites from a distance. Head towards where they were standing and clear out any additional enemies on the way. When you get to where they were, you see double ramps going up to an elevated part of the base. Up there are two Hunters.
Fortunately, there are also some Sentinels that are keeping the Hunters distracted. And you still have that Energy Sword right?
Go up the ramp and slice at the Hunters’ backs with the Energy Sword until they die. If you don’t have the Energy Sword, you can get a Fuel Rod Cannon from the case at the bottom of the ramps. The Hunters are a lot weaker in Halo 4 than they have been in previous games, so you won’t have much difficulty dealing with them. If something goes wrong and they start to attack you, just run down the ramp and wait it out until your shields are back up. The Hunters won’t leave this very specific area.
When the Hunters are dead, go through the door. The game holds you in the foyer while it loads the next room. When the door opens go to the end of the hallway.
Get the Requiem Terminal
If you’re going for the “Contact the Domain” or “Terminus” Achievements, or if you just want to watch the videos that are unlocked in the Halo Waypoint, you’ll want to find the Terminals in Halo 4.
That’s one point to this guide.
Anyway, the Terminal in Requiem is at the end of this hallway. Go all the way to the end, but don’t go up the ramp yet. Go around behind the ramp to find the first Terminal. (I had already found the Terminal when I made this video, so that’s why I just look at it; if you haven’t found it yet, you’ll just need to go up to it and hold the action button — a message will pop up saying that the video has been unlocked in Halo Waypoint.)
If this is the first Terminal you’ve accessed, you will unlock the “Contact the Domain” Achievement for 10 G.
Finishing Up
After you’ve grabbed the Terminal, head back around and go up the ramp. At the top is a lift.
Take the lift up to finish Halo 4 – Mission 2: Requiem.