Halo MCC CE: Pillar of Autumn double challenge guide

Last Updated on: 22nd November 2021, 01:40 pm

Halo MCC CE level Pillar of Autumn has two different challenge achievements, Overshields are for Sissies, and Walk it off.

How to get both the challenge Achievements in Pillar of Autumn at once in Halo MCC CE

These two separate achievements, Overshields are for sissies and Walk it off are both in the Pillar of Autumn level of Halo MCC CE, and are awarded for avoiding over shields and not using health kits throughout the mission on legendary respectively.

However, as this is a fairly simple boring level, doing them separately isn’t particularly interesting, nor fun.

So we can spice things up a little and accept both challenges at once, which might makes things somewhat difficult, but I have a method for making it significantly easier for most players.

As you’ll likely have limited health and never above standard shields in the level, you will likely die a few times regardless unless you play very slowly. But a much faster way to do this involves applying a few skulls.

Turn on the Catch scoring modifier skull, as well as non-modifier skulls Boom and Pinata.

The combined effects of these skulls together will give you plenty of grenades to use – as well as plenty for the grunts to use – on top of amplified explosions and the ability to punch more grenades out of your enemies.

With these skulls, you will die pretty damn fast to grenades – but a plasma grenade, the type thrown at you in the level, would have killed you pretty much every time regardless while doing this challenge.

And it sure as hell makes clearing out the enemies faster.

Fragmentation grenades are best used for large groups of weaker enemies such as the grunts, as they’ll have a huge area of effect but only moderate damage – with this skull setup they truly become the mini-nukes the Halo CE grenades are famed for being.

Plasma grenades will have a less significant range but their damage is obscene and will annihilate just about everything within a quarter-mile radius.

Regardless of your health, make sure to avoid health kits throughout the level to avoid losing achievement progress, or you’re back to the start. They’re often located on the sides of doorways as you progress through the level, so be careful to step to the other side.

The one above is immediately after the cafeteria area with the first firefight involving elites.

Following that area, after a short distance, you’ll start reaching the point of the level where the Covenant start paying visits through life pod bays.

Throwing a grenade or two into the entryway of these troop transports will kill just about everyone inside due to the chain reactions – head inside for a quick grenade restock from the grunts, but remember to avoid the overshields.

From here on it’s pretty easy to push through the level and just keep employing grenades on any grouped up enemies or any in corridors where they can’t get out of the radius in time.

If you run out, just go into melee versus a grunt or two to restock thanks to Pinata.

While this particular setup may have you looking like the marine at the end of the level diving for cover, the only real problem with this setup is that players unfamiliar with Halo CE in MCC might end up killing themselves when grenades on bodies are triggered by an errant throw, causing a huge chain reaction.

Is there anything else?

That’s really all I need to say for this one, honestly, when you figure out the radius you need to avoid to survive the grenade explosions this setup will make it pretty easy – none of these skulls will ruin your score either, so they might help you achieve the par score for Pillar of Autumn in Halo MCC CE as well.

In any case, that’s about everything for this short guide. We’ve got more Halo content available for you if you’re interested, and if you’d like to try reading more of what I’ve written, my content is available on my author page.