It’s one thing to beat Halo Infinite on its highest difficulty, where enemy ammunition packs an extra punch. It’s another thing entirely to waltz your way through the shooter’s future-Brutalist architecture with such grace that your enemy’s firepower makes zero difference whatsoever.
Tom, a Halo player who tackles ridiculous feats and posts the exploits on his YouTube channel, Simply & Slick, recently ran through Halo Infinite’s campaign on Legendary difficulty (the highest setting), without taking a single hit. Here’s an utterly bananas compilation of the run:
Oh, and before you ask, Tom uploaded unedited footage of the whole thing in a five-part YouTube playlist.
The run, which took about seven hours of real time to complete, is based on one ground rule: Every time Tom took damage, he’d kill himself, thereby reverting to the previous checkpoint. By the end, as indicated by a death counter in the video, he’d clocked 239 deaths.
Counterintuitively, it’s the early levels — designed as a tutorial for Halo newcomers — that proved toughest. Speaking to Kotaku, Tom described the first boss fight, against a brute named Tremonius, as the one of the most challenging segments. After defeating Tremonius with a pile of explosive barrels and some well-placed needler shots, it wasn’t exactly a cakewalk, but it was somewhat easier, thanks to an exploit that granted Tom a mobile version of the scorpion tank’s immensely powerful cannon.
That’s right. On your first visit to Tremonius’ base, if you make your way to the anti-aircraft cannons on the far wall, you can find a fully untethered scorpion cannon. You won’t see a prompt to pick it up, nor will you even physically see it, but by holding down the “equip” prompt, you’ll be able to wield it. Though it takes up one of your two weapon slots and has a slow AF fire rate, it has unlimited ammo. Three cheers for easter eggs!
As you can imagine, having a literal portable tank is invaluable for a challenge like this. The monitor Adjutant Resolution, one of Halo Infinite’s most frustrating recurring bosses, goes down in a matter of seconds with this tool in hand. Most rank-and-file enemies die instantly. Paired with the precise, fast-firing battle rifle, the arsenal makes for a potent combo–though Tom noted that rooms full of minor enemies, like grunts and jackals, proved more of a challenge than those featuring just a handful of high-level brutes.
Earlier this month, Tom made waves by completing Halo Infinite (also on Legendary) without firing a single bullet. Completion of that particular was reliant on an exploit that allows players to commandeer a pelican, the practically invulnerable transport vehicles Mater Chief uses to make his way around Halo. But that exploit inflicts the tiniest bit of damage, so it wouldn’t fly for a no-damage run. Instead, Tom used the grappleshot’s “ground pound” bonus to break through the map and found out-of-bounds routes through, and around, certain levels. (This is a common tactic among Halo Infinite’s speedrunning elite.)
Read More: Speedrunner Beats Halo Infinite On The Highest Difficulty Without Firing A Single Bullet
You’ll note, though, that Tom doesn’t make use of Chief’s thruster ability. When you fully level it up, you’ll go invisible for two seconds — a benefit you’d imagine would be essential for a no-damage run through Halo Infinite. But Tom said his thruster was inexplicably bugged. Whenever he’d use it, he’d end up stuck in a crouched position, cutting his speed in half.
“I would have loved the invisibility,” Tom told Kotaku. “But I got used to being able to grapple around bullets by the end, so it’s at least a new skill learned!”
As for why Tom attempted this in the first place, well, that’s…kind of his thing. Following the viral success of his melee-only run, a player wrote in with a dare: “I feel like you need a harder challenge. Can you do a legendary no damage run [winky face],” they wrote.
Tom obliged, as you can see, but has just one request for whomever lobs another challenge his way: “Be a bit nicer!”
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