Halo Wars 2: How to Beat Decimus in the Lights Out Mission

How to Beat Decimus – Halo Wars 2

Halo Wars 2’s campaign sets you in the middle of a war between the Spirit of Fire and a splinter group of the Covenant known as the Banished. The crew of the Spirit of Fire wakes up 28 years after the first Halo Wars, with no knowledge of the end of the human-covenant war. One of the generals of the Banished is a hulking Brute, by the name of Decimus. You’ll encounter this tough opponent a couple times in the campaign, with the final showdown taking place at the end of the “Lights Out” mission.

The mission has you capturing teleporters from the Banished, trying to reach the final one on a secluded island. There’s a teleporter that will take you to this island, where you’ll finally face down Decimus along with a decent sized Banished army. It can be tough battle, especially if you’re playing on higher difficulty levels.

Before you start the battle you’ll want to make sure you’re bringing a sizable force with you. There’s a base nearby the teleporter, so use it to build up your forces, upgrade units, and set a waypoint to gather your army. You may come under fire from some Banished at this point, but build up your turrets and it shouldn’t be anything you can’t handle. I’d recommend filling your population cap all the way up before you engage Decimus. As you head into battle, make sure to flip back to your base with the D-Pad, and have units qued up for production. It’s more worthwhile to send groups of units over to Decimus as reinforcements, rather than just single units.

Decimus himself comes in a kind of mech suit with some deadly abilities. The number one thing you’ll want to watch out for is an ability he has that calls down a huge orbital strike across an area. You’ll see Decimus raise his hammer and a giant targeting reticle appear around him. From here you have about 10 seconds before the ability hits the entire area marked, so you’ll want to select all units on screen by hitting RB and pull them out as fast as you can. The Brute will repeat this ability multiple times throughout the battle, so make sure to keep an eye out.

Also remember to use your Leader Abilities to give yourself an advantage. The healing ability can be invaluable if your units get trapped in a crossfire, and the Archer Missiles cause a decent amount of damage to Decimus. This is another reason to sufficiently build up your base before you take him on, so you have enough resources to use your powers.

It may take a few waves, but keep throwing units at Decimus and watching for his abilities and you’ll take the Brute down eventually.

For more help, tips, and guides on Halo Wars 2, make sure to check back with Twinfinite.