STORY MISSION 03 – The Dark Within
Recommended level: 03
Objective: Head to skywatch
Yet another fairly long open world slog through small groups of enemies. When you get closer to skywatch, ghost will point it out (the building with the radar dish on it). One thing to note is that partway up the hill that the skywatch building is on, a pair of level seven dreg can spawn. Don't waste ammo on them as they will just keep respawning. Continue upward to the structure. At the entrance a few vandals will be waiting for you along with a captain (just to make things sporting). Clear the decks and work your way inside. Don't hang about as these are part of the respawning enemies group and will just keep popping up until you move on.
Navigate the corridors until you reach a darkness zone. Head into the next room and approach the roller door for a new objective.
Objective: Unlock the gate
Have ghost interact with the gate to get it open, to the accompaniment of some foreboding words.
Objective: Search the complex
You will encounter a few twists and turns before reaching a large and very dark room. Your ghost will once again work as a flying flashlight for you. As you near the rear of the room, your motion sensor will go off and you will encounter enemies from a new faction. The Hive.
New enemy: Thrall (hive)
Weak spot: Head
These enemies move fast and close in on you to attack you in melee. They never use ranged weaponry but will try to swarm you with sheer numbers, distracting you from their more damaging brethren hidden amongst the group. Despite having no eyes, head shots work fine. Due to their lack of armour, melee strikes are one shot kills at equivalent levels. Guns with an automatic setting or grenades can make short work of thrall clusters and they are normally only a nuisance until you reach level 20 (at which point, heroic modifiers can make them much more dangerous).
New enemy: Acolyte (hive)
Weak spot: Head
Acolytes are similar to fallen dreg in that they will rush to cover and shoot the player from there. They are also quite fragile and die with a single melee attack at equivalent level. Their shots can inflict steady damage though and so they shouldn't be underestimated. Aim for the glowing eyes to take them down quickly with a regular weapon.
Deal with the acolytes as you would dreg and melee the thralls as they rush towards you and the room will clear quite quickly. Head out of the room through the rear doorway and up the stairs beyond. At the top of the steps you will be attacked by another wave of thralls and your ghost will inform you that there is a wizard nearby. Yes, a wizard. For some reason they decided to name some enemies after fantasy RPG character types… In a sci fi space shooter. I don't get it either. Beyond the thralls will be a few acolytes and more thralls beyond them. Once the room is clear, the adjoining room is where your target is waiting.
Objective: Kill the hive wizard
New enemy: Wizard (hive)
Weak spot: Head
These guys can be quite a threat on the battlefield. Wizards float around, have a shield and will bombard you with magic. They will dive for cover quickly after their shield is depleted, making them hard to finish off without high damage per shot weaponry (sniper rifle). They wear specialized armour with a flowing cloak and are generally supported by large numbers of lesser minions (thralls and acolytes).
Depending on your skill level and weaponry, you may want to try taking out the wizard first (two or three sniper shots) or deal with the minions instead. Thralls and acolytes will fill the room and the wizard will float around lobbing damaging magic at you. Play defensively as dying means going through all this again. Reduce the enemy numbers and deal with the wizard however you choose. Remember to put those grenades to good use as well. After the wizard dies, the mission ends.
