About This Site
Daily Musings
News
News Archive
Site Resources
Concept Art
Bungie Weekly Updates
Interviews
Movies
Music
Miscellaneous
Mailbag
HBO PAL
Game Fun
The Halo Story
Tips and Tricks
Fan Creations
Wallpaper
Misc. Art
Fan Fiction
Comics
Logos
Banners
Press Coverage
Halo Reviews
Halo 2 Previews
Press Scans
Community
HBO Forum
Clan HBO Forum
ARG Forum
Links
Admin
Submissions
Uploads
Contact
RSS 2.0
 M274 ULATV 'Mongoose' 
Top speed: 60 mph / 96 kphMpg: Between 45 and 65 (depending on load) Power plant: 1000cc liquid-cooled, longitudinally mounted, four-stroke, hydrogen-injected ICE Weight: 896 lbs / 406 kg Passengers: Driver and 1 Passenger Primary Role: Troop Transport or Reconnaissance The Mongoose is a vehicle devoid of any defense or offensive capabilities. However, it makes up for this with very high speeds and the ability to transport a passenger which can hold a weapon. The obvious application for the Mongoose's special abilities are to steal a flag in CTF or ride a bomb to the base in a assault game. These strategies will be well covered but we'll go into depth on some of the less obvious ones too. Driving Strategies The Mongoose is one of the fastest vehicles so far implemented in Halo 3. Due to its speed and relative lack of control it can fish tail and flip if a inexperienced player tries to control it. However fish tailing can be used to great advantage in a combat scenario. When faced with a enemy carrying a light weapon such as a SMG or a Spiker even up to a assault rifle a well planned fish tail into the opponent as you streak by can earn you a splatter. This isn't recommended to try with players carrying heavier weapons though because they may kill you before you kill them. Speed alone can be its own advantage when a Missile Pod or a Rocket Launcher is locked onto you. Using the speed of the Mongoose you can curb around a outcropping of rocks which appears frequently on maps like Valhalla and avoid the rocket/missile due to the lack of turning capability of the projectile weapon. Being really bold you can even do the unexpected and turn a 360 and actually attack your opponent and try to splatter them. If it is essential to kill your opponent in this kind of scenario the best bet would be to dismount the mongoose and attack them on foot. This would be a unexpected move and the element of suprise would add greatly to a attack even if the enemy holds a much more powerful weapon. Offensive Strategies Offensive driving with a Mongoose which has no offensive capabilities sounds like a oxymoron but it is possible depending on what passengers you pick up. If your goal is the attack a enemy fortification it is probably a good idea to pick up a teammate with a high power weapon such as the rocket launcher or missile pod. The spartan laser is also plausible as a pick up but the 3 second delay while moving makes this a very hard weapon to use on a mongoose. Because the mongoose is a good transport most teammates will try and get on the mongoose for a free ride but it can be bad for the driver to let a player board the mongoose only carrying a Assault Rifle or Plasma Pistol as these weapons are not effective killers at the kind of speed and quickness of the engagement that a mongoose passenger would have to have. Offensive driving can be going into the middle of a battlefield and mowing down a few enemies and then keep going until outside of the range of the enemies at the battlefield and circling around for another pass. This works well for the first few passes but eventually the enemy catches on and begins to directly target the mongoose driver which since unshielded results in a quick death.Due to the Mongooses speed it can be essential to establishing a early foothold on the map and to grap the power weapons that usually don't spawn by the bases. Once control of the middle of the field is established, you have an opportunity to bring up the support and assault vehicles. Defensive Strategies Defensive stragies for the Mongoose are similar to offensive strategies in that a passenger with a good weapon is the best defense this vehicle has. The armor of the mongoose protects the driver in no way whatsoever so the best defensive strategies are to never drive directly to a destination and never take the most obvious root. Unpredictability is one of the best weapons in a good defense and strafing back and forth and maybe even doubling back around a rock outcropping every once and a while can add to the sense of unpredictability and make you much harder to track and potentially kill. The Mongoose's biggest foe on the battlefield will likely be the Spartan Laser. The Laser's three second warm-up can make all the difference between a kill and a wasted shot, however. Specifically on big, hilly terrains like those found on Valhalla, the three seconds can give you enough time to over a hill, behind a base or behind cover of some other sort. The emergency brake on the Mongoose also helps you evade the Spartan Laser, if you're able to time it properly. If they don't see it coming, a slide in one direction or the other can help to evade the blast. As soon as you see the little red beam following you (and if you're near enough, you'll hear the weapon heating up), it's wise to count off a second and then swerve the hell out of way to make as difficult a target as possible. Objective Ferry While the offensive and defensive capabilities of the Mongoose lay in the hands of the passenger the primary purpose of the Mongoose is in its ability to transport that passenger with either a weapon or flag/bomb in hand. This ability to quickly deliver a bomb in a assault game before the enemy has time to organize or to race across the map and take the enemy off guard in a CTF match and steal the flag and transport it back to base. In both of these objective games the emergency brake of the Mongoose for a quick stop can be essential for evading enemies while pausing to allow the passenger to climb on or off of the vehicle. |
