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The Orange Box: Half-Life 2: Episode Two Hints
Antlion and Zombie Combat Tips
1 of 17: Before you hit the control, you should first do two things.
2 of 17: One is to get the hopper mines that are on the second floor of one of the sheds and set them near the doors to the sealed sheds that are near the lift platform.
3 of 17: Also, set any remaining explosive barrels next to the hoppers to increase the damage of the hoppers' explosions.
4 of 17: The other thing to do is gather all of the supplies, especially health and armor items, and put them on the floor next to where the lift will arrive. That way, you'll automatically grab them up as you run into the lift.
5 of 17: When you activate the lift control, immediately run for one of the ladders near the thumper.
6 of 17: Climb up it and run for the nearby second-floor shed area, where you can hide behind some large sheets of metal.
7 of 17: Have the gravity gun or some other weapon ready, since antlions will probably be coming up there after you. (Though they may not if you stay crouched next to the metal sheets.)
8 of 17: When the vortigaunt yells at you to save yourself, you'll know that the lift has arrived. (You can also look between the sheets of metal to verify this.)
9 of 17: Another way to handle the attack is to get back up onto the narrow ledge that you dropped down from to get to the thumper area.
10 of 17: In order to get back up there, you'll have to locate three barrels, set them upright, and create a 2-1 barrel "staircase" next to the ledge's drop-off point.
11 of 17: Go activate the lift control, then run for your barrel staircase and use it to jump back up onto the ledge. (You'd probably better quicksave first, in case you knock your barrels over while trying to jump onto them.)
12 of 17: Back up along the ledge until you can no longer see the thumper area at all, then wait and listen for the vortigaunt to yell at you to save yourself.
13 of 17: You may have to repel an antlion or two while on the ledge, so have the gravity gun ready to do that.
14 of 17: When the lift arrives, you could run for it right away, but you'd have to dodge antlions and zombies on the way to the lift, plus antlions and toxic spit while riding the lift up.
15 of 17: The influx of zombies and antlions is huge, but not limitless. You can just stay in hiding and wait for the vortigaunt to kill them all. (This works especially well if you're hiding on the ledge rather than the shed's second floor.)
16 of 17: A few regular antlions will spawn as you ride the lift up, but it won't be near as bad as if you'd run for the lift while all those others were around, too. Just stand on the lift with the gravity gun ready to repel any antlions who fly at you.
17 of 17: Another advantage of waiting it all out is that before you get on the lift, you can go around and look for useful leftover supplies, including inside the sheds that the zombies broke out of.
