Halo 3: Improvement Techniques 10.) Barrier and Preventative Grenades

If you haven't caught on by now, I'm a huge fan of using my grenades as soon as I get them. I do this mainly because there are always more of them on the map, and to be found on dead bodies and because there are so many uses for them. A person adept at halo has no qualms about throwing grenades into places he just doesn't know enough about, or to keep enemies at bay so he can grab power weapons. I'm going to explain when is a good time to use these, and explain what the different types of tosses are.

On the map, The Pit, generally everyone runs for the rockets and invis. How do you ensure you get these weapons and power ups before your enemy does? You throw barrier grenades on their side of the approach for these power ups. A barrier grenade serves two purposes. One is fairly obvious; it keeps the enemy from charging for a few secs allowing you to recharge your shields, or allowing you to take possession of a certain weapon. If the enemy decides to charge anyway, their shields will be weakened sufficiently for you to take them out easily. If an enemy decides to sit and wait, they're screwed because you have gotten the power weapon. Using a barrier grenade is often a win/win situation.

So how do you know when to throw one? You can throw them anytime really. Even if the enemy isn't there, toss your grenade to ensure you won't be molested. If you are being chased, look down and throw your grenade at your feet and keep running. Your enemy will be forced to either abandon the chase or charge through your barrier. Win/Win. If he charges, your chances of killing him increase. If he stops, you get to recharge your shields. You can't lose when using barrier grenades.

Preventative grenades are a lot like barrier grenades, but they serve a different purpose. Preventative grenades make it easier for you to move into an area you have no real knowledge about. Say you are trying to charge into the invis area on The Pit, but you don't know if anyone is in there waiting for invis or not. Well, throw a grenade. If someone is in there, he'll be severely hurt and you can charge with confidence If no one is there. You lose nothing. Win/Win.

Preventative grenades can be thrown at anytime really. If you ever get the opportunity to play a really good team, you'll notice right off the bat when the game begins, you'll see grenades exploding withing the first few seconds. This is because they are trying to pin you into an area while they gather power weapons. By throwing their grenades blindly into areas they think you might be in, they lessen the chances of you poking your head out to shoot them. They really aren't trying to kill you just yet. They're just trying to find you and flank you and limit your mobility. Do the same thing to them.

Take guardian as an example. If you spawn snipe 2, toss a nade into the yellow lift on the other side of the map immediately, and then throw one towards invisibility. You don't know the enemy is there, but it is likely they are because you spawned one side of the map, it is only logical they would spawn the other side of the map.

Your assignment for tonight is to make sure when you die you have no grenades left to throw. Once again, you'll probably die quite a bit doing this, but by dying you'll learn when's a good time to throw the grenades, and when isn't. If you die in the process of throwing a grenade, then that probably wasn't a good time to throw one. You'll learn through trial and error when to let fly. You should also find your grenade kills increase. Good players in Halo 3 often have at least 3 nade kills a game, if not more. Good luck.