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Half-Life Hints
How do I defeat Nihilanth?
1 of 15: Nihilanth can attack you in many ways. He can have aliens transport in, he can fire at you, and he can shoot portals at you that send you away from the main arena.
2 of 15: Nihilanth seems to be drawing his power from an external source.
3 of 15: He is unbeatable while he has a constant source of power.
4 of 15: You need to find out what is giving him power.
5 of 15: The golden crystals attached to the walls are giving him his power. You must destroy all three of them before you have any shot at destroying Nihilanth.
6 of 15: Any standard weapon will work, including the secondary fire mode of the hornet gun. I like using the crossbow since it only takes two quick darts per crystal to blow it.
7 of 15: Once the crystals are destroyed, Nihilanth is destructible. Begin attacking him in standard ways. I find the heavier weapons to work the quickest. Save all of your RPG rockets for later, though.
8 of 15: Take cover behind one of the pillars and take aim at Nihilanth's head. It is going to take a lot of firepower to get him to crack.
9 of 15: It's best to immediately hide behind a rocky pillar on the outer ring as soon as you hit the floor when the level begins. If you stand so that you can't see more of Nihilanth than a small part of his head, he may not fire anything at you. You can carefully shoot the part of his head that you can see with hornets, bullets, rockets, etc.
10 of 15: If you have hit him enough, Nihilanth's skull will break open, revealing his vulnerable brain. This is not a time for mercy.
11 of 15: Switch to a very powerful weapon (the rocket launcher would be the best) and find a bounce pad nearby.
12 of 15: Bounce overtop of Nihilanth and deposit a rocket (or something comparable) in his cranium. If all goes well, the place should go chaotic and you will have finished the game. Otherwise, keep going after his brain until you have successfully destroyed Nihilanth.
13 of 15: Another way to do it is to keep attacking him from behind cover even after his head splits open. He's still losing hit points as long as you periodically hear him moan or growl.
14 of 15: Eventually, when he has only a very few hit points left, his body will become invulnerable except for his exposed brain spike. Now's the time to use the bounce pad to leap up and shoot his brain with something (or just land on it and give it a good whack with the crowbar).
15 of 15: If you have some RPG rockets left, you might could finish him from your safe perch down below. Save your game and fire your rockets at various points near the top of his head. If you use all your rockets without success, restore and try again (or give in and use the bounce pad).
