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The Orange Box: Half-Life 2: Episode Two Hints
Strategy for Extensive Preparation
1 of 22: First, use the rubble mound next to the locked room to go over the wall and leave the building if you're inside its outer walls.
2 of 22: Then gather all the explosives you can find (there's a bunch of red canisters just outside one of the other buildings) and drop them inside the building's perimeter.
3 of 22: To make that process a bit quicker, use the gravity gun to push the car over next to the building's gate so that you can jump onto the hood and drop items over the gate. (Having the car block the gate may also be a bit useful later on.)
4 of 22: As for how to arrange your explosives, you should set up the three explosive barrels against the small white concrete wall that's nearest the building's front doors.
5 of 22: Put them on the side of the wall that faces the locked room, then set at least three explosive canisters on the ground near them.
6 of 22: The first two hunters will start out very near that wall, so this setup will allow you to deal them massive damage right away.
7 of 22: As for the rest of the explosive canisters, drop them into the locked room through its entry wall hole so you can have them for gravity gun ammo later.
8 of 22: Also drop any spare grenades and .357 ammo into the locked room. You can get some by going all the way back to the small lookout tower (see the first supply tip given in the "It's totally blocked by debris! Where do I go now?" hints) and ferry its grenades and .357 guns all the way here, too. (Or you might prefer to wait until after the fight is over and then go to the tower to resupply.)
9 of 22: Next, stockpile large items like big white canisters, wooden spools, and green filing cabinets inside the building on both sides of its locked front doors. That way, they'll be there for you to use against the last two hunters. You may want to also drop two or three such items into the locked room. (Note that all the big tires that start out inside the building could work for this, but aren't quite as good as the larger items.)
10 of 22: Once that's all set up, drop into the locked room and put all the spare explosive canisters in the corner to the left of the doors.
11 of 22: Do the whole power-restoring thing, then ride the lift up.
12 of 22: Get the .357 out and hide in the corner near the lift, where you put your explosive canisters.
13 of 22: As soon as the hunters shoot out the top half of the doors, strafe over to where you can shoot one of your explosive barrels.
14 of 22: Duck back into cover long enough to switch to the SMG, then toss an SMG grenade at them.
15 of 22: If that doesn't finish both of them off, use the .357 and/or tossed explosive canisters to do so.
16 of 22: You can then use the no-prep strategy's way of out-maneuvering the third hunter (see link below), or you can use your remaining explosives on him, followed by any large gravity gun projectiles you have nearby.
17 of 22: After the third hunter is killed, drop back inside the building if you're on its roof, then move toward the now-open front doors.
18 of 22: Hopefully, you have several large items set on either side of the doorway. If not, gather up all the big tires you can find nearby and put them there.
19 of 22: As soon as you go through the doorway, two more hunters will appear and attack. Have an item ready to throw at one of them with the gravity gun as soon as you see him, then quickly retreat back through the doorway.
20 of 22: The hunters should both come after you through the doorway instead of the nearby gate, which is also now open. If the muscle car is blocking the gate, that'll help make sure the hunters come to the doorway. (Though they probably will in any case.)
21 of 22: As soon as a hunter appears in the doorway, start bombarding it with grav-thrown items. Try to kill it before the other hunter can crowd its way in.
22 of 22: If either hunter gets through the doorway, use the nearby white wall as cover while running from one side of the doorway to the other to grab items to throw at the hunters. Hopefully, you'll be able to take them down with a minimum of damage to yourself.
