Alright, you will have to excuse me as this is being written by some one who has been pounding dirt with the soles of his exhausted feet supporting the Hog. So I apologize if there are any discrepancies in this little tidbit of information. So, there is quite a bit of knowledge floating around this website in what is got to be the largest collection of obsessive compulsives in the world. We all have our niche’ and all think our way of driving is the best. So I’m going to try and break this down in a way that doesn’t particularly show my way of driving. Upon writing this I am digging through thousands of posts grabbing as many opinions and trying to put them into words. So we’re going to start out here:
If you ask all the Wheelmen out there why they drive there will be a thousand different answers. So what is the true purpose of the Warthog? The true purpose behind the warthog is that it is a multi-purposed vehicle used to support your team. When you think about it Halo 3 is a very well compiled game in such that it includes many different ways to fight; Ground, Vehicles, and Air. So the purpose of the Warthog is to be a fast, defensive, aggressive, deadly team support vehicle. When a flag carrier picks up we come rolling up slinging mud. When a portion of the map needs to be controlled, we are there to lay down fire and rack up kills. When we are down a man and have to be defensive, we circle our base guarding every entrance. Yes, Halo 3 is just a game. But it is a first person shooter, and it is meant to be played with some Strategy. By all means, do sweet jumps, rack up your kills, stain your grill with the blood of countless victims. But if you are serious about bettering your ability as a Driver or Gunner and as a teammate this is then hopefully this guide and the map guides will be here in order to help you accomplish that goal.
When Wheelmen are driving on any map they should remember the objective. If we are playing Slayer, we should be pushing all corners of the base in order to keep map control. If we are playing flag we need to drive into a lot of danger and scoop up our flag carrier. If playing bomb, we must infiltrate enemy lines to deliver the package. The objective is to get in and out without sacrificing our Warthog in order to grab the win. A lot of us are driving because of how exhilarating it is. Sweet Jumps, awesome splatters, and extraordinary sprees; all of these things are great to achieve and make a night of Halo 3 enjoyable. But if you’re playing to win, a bad warthog team can ruin your night faster than anything else. Keep in mind that your warthog team is a mobile team supporting death machine. We are the first to be called out, and bad driving can achieve an easy double faster than anything else. The Warthog is a support tool, a surgeon’s blade so to speak. We cut, precise and to the point, we waste no time in cutting open in soft tissue in the enemy’s defenses. Know Your Maps: The best part of being a great driver is to know the map that you’re playing on well. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is ground pound any unfamiliar maps. While you’re ground pounding make it YOUR priority to take out any enemy warthogs. What do you accomplish by doing this? It can help increase your usefulness as a Driver ten fold. While you were taking out Warthogs, you should of learned a few things. The first being what you would do to take the enemy warthog without damaging it. Good places to jump out from for the hijack. Places that can make your team have one extra warthog. Secondly, you should learn all of the places and ways to take out a warthog. Good grenade areas, good power weapons, this will help you learn to avoid any dangers and be on the look out for them. Finally it will help you learn both the spawns of weapons and people and spawn times of weapons on the map. You should now know where brute shot, all stickies, missile pod, laser, enemy vehicles. Where you can drive to engage or avoid spawning enemies. Knowing your map is the first key to being a good driver. There are countless things to think about while driving. Don’t. Knowing and thinking are two different things, a split section reaction can get you stuck, hit with a brute shot, or lasered. Know so that it is instinct.
When entering a lot of Wheelmen parties you will hear that we call who is gunning and driving. Usually this is a team that works well together and has worked together in the past. Having a gunner that knows everything just as well as the driver means that he knows where to look, knows where you are going, and knows where he needs to be lined up for the kill. Communication between drivers and gunners is one of the hardest and most important things to accomplish. Over all of the teammate chatter it can be hard to get a word in for your gunner to point out a target or danger. Make sure that you have worked with your gunner enough that you all know what the other is going to do.
It is one of the most important aspects in a Big Team Match. Drive defensively when needed and aggressively when needed. If a team continues destroying your hog, drive a little more defensively. Drop shields for teammates to finish up. If you need to get a flag carrier out of danger, drive defensively around him until it is safe to pick him up. When the enemy team is waiting for members to respawn push up and don’t allow them to regain position on the map. Remember, the longer you are alive, the more you have the other team worried about taking you out. This breaks their focus from the objective and slaying and allows your team to make a good push. Remember, we never want the enemy team to have our hog. Always keep stickies in your pocket. If you get flipped and see no way out, grenade your own hog, don’t worry it will respawn. Keep your hog alive.
Some things can only be learned with experience. Like how to judge your team, and how to determine whether to be aggressive or defensive. Learn things like how to quickly get your Gunner out of the line of fire. Always look for a position to get out. If you’re driving a straight line towards the enemy, make sure you can go left or right to get out if trouble shows up. Learn things like the Jack and Smack for when you get in trouble. When you’re being jacked out of the driver seat, turn your camera towards the cockpit so that when you are ejected you are ready to punch the enemy in the back. Do simple things like carry bubble shields or any other weapon that may be useful. For example, I’m driving Avalanche and I see a hornet and an enemy Warthog. I swing up and grab rockets from our teleport and drive to their side of the map. Immediately we are jumped on by the hornet and the enemy Warthog. My gunner shoots at the Hornet, and I jump out and Rocket the enemy Warthog. Simple things that come with the turf can be useful. Learn them.
Try to avoid taking any set path too much. If you become a predictable driver, you will be made into an easy kill. If you swing around my base 3 times, on the fourth I’ll be waiting at the back with a clear line for firing my missile pod. And remember, I would have got you on the third time but some random stole my missile pod and man cannoned it out to kill a mongoose. There are people out there that live for killing warthogs. They will be ready when you become predictable. Please come back this way, my trip mine is waiting and I’m about to rocket another warthog for an overkill.