A long and sordid tale of LASO fail. If you don't want to read it all, just click on the bolded link near the end for the tl;dr version.
Due to some loving prodding by my daughter after the last two failed LASO Tip of the Spear runs (of three and then four players), we decided to try and complete it together, just the two of us. That way we don't have the issue with the Falcon in front getting toasted. We studied up on RC's latest video, and off we went.
It took some trial and error, and requires a different approach to the beginning (more in a moment on that), but we got to the rail ride. The problem is, with two player split screen, the game does not draw in the turrets until you are very close to them. You've got to memorize their location, and use the targeting reticule turning red to hit them (which I can't really do, the whole colorblind thing). Not being able to see the turrets is sort of a problem.
Still, we got to the very end when the Falcon stops (why on earth does it STOP?) for the last turrets several times.
Problem was, she hopped into the Falcon with just three red bars and no shields - I forgot to take us over to the health pack first. After half an hour, we give up for the night, and decide to try again tonight.
Here's how tonight's run went.
Since we get an AR instead of a DMR, and half the shots in the grenade launcher as single player (this is a cheap,
cheap way to balance co-op, Bungie, for shame), we had to devise a different way to tackle the beginning. After running along the right side railing, we found this nook:
I was protected from the FRG turrets, and could jump up, fire a shot, then land and be safe. It took some practice, but I was able to take out both turrets between us and get the Rocket Hog.
No real issues until we get to the second turret.
We had a weird incident while we're chipping away at the 20+ throng of Covenant foot soldiers from long range: a Wraith starts shelling us. Problem is, we can't see from where. So we fall back, circle around, and look for it on the other side. No dice.
We dub this the Phantom Wraith, and continue on our slightly paranoid way. Later we look back on the film and see this:
Click the image above for a rendered video of what happened. Note once again that Wraiths can shoot backward when piloted by AI.
It takes us a good 20 minutes of bombarding, Nerfling and splattering to whittle the throngs down. Through the second half of it, Jorge decides to land. I have no idea why Jorge thought this was a good idea. But the Falcon is built like a rock, and while it gets beaten up, it survives. One odd thing, though - there's no pilot.
At least, it looks like there is none. The Falcon is clearly being piloted.
Click the image above for a rendered video of the Falcon getting knocked around big time.
But as I said, after over 20 minutes of shelling with the Revenant - I'd be spotter, she'd shell from long range - we killed the Hunters. Just one last Elite left.
I splatter him, and then we hop into the Falcon.
This is what happened.
There is a pilot, see. He's just invisible. And mortal.
We did this long, slow turn toward each other in disbelief when the music started. It's comic in retrospect, but it took a few minutes for us to see the humor in it.
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After a few minutes, we restarted and did it a third time, this time getting to the rail ride with one of us at full health and shields, the other at full health and no shields. After a good 20 minutes of trying, we still can't beat it. When ever we'd get close, one of us dies with full health. That is, we'd go from unhurt to dead instantly, while the Falcon was parked at the end as we worked the Wraiths. Twice it happened after all the turrets were down and the infantry scattered while we worked on the Wraiths. We'd just drop off dead.
Finally, we gave up. Between the random deaths, glitches and invisible turrets, it was too much. Three co-op runs to the rail ride were enough. We had some great daddy-daughter play time, bonded a bit, but that was enough. I used the save and quit method to do it solo on my gamer tag. I'll do it on hers tomorrow (she'll do most of it, I'll beat the hard parts for her).
We've earned it at this point.