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Half-Life 2 Hints
What can I do once I'm at the top of the reactor?
1 of 12: You need to sabotage the reactor somehow -- cause it to overload or blow up or something.
2 of 12: Notice the large spherical bright-white energy portal that opens up nearby when you first arrive at the reactor top.
3 of 12: That's the only part of the reactor that's vulnerable. Look around for something you can throw at it with the gravity gun.
4 of 12: How about some energy orbs? There are two orb conduits right nearby.
5 of 12: You need to fire energy orbs directly into the center of the portal's big energy sphere.
6 of 12: NOTE: There are two indestructible metal structures positioned around the portal that orbs will just bounce off of. When bombing the portal, be sure to stand where you've got a straight shot at its center.
7 of 12: After you hit the portal with the first orb, two bad things will happen: two series of rotating metal shields (inner and outer) will spring up around the portal, and two gunships will show up and start shooting at you. (Actually, the gunships will show up soon whether you fire an orb into the portal or not.)
8 of 12: It only takes two orbs to destroy each gunship no matter what difficulty level you're playing on, but doing so will take up precious time (especially since the gunships can maneuver, often causing your orbs to miss).
9 of 12: TIP: If you throw an orb at a gunship and see right away that it's going to miss, you can pull the orb back in and then fire it again. This can be faster than waiting for another orb to go by on the nearest energy column.
10 of 12: There isn't much cover from gunship fire up there, so you'll want to quickly destroy one gunship, then throw orbs at the portal while moving around so that a large black column is always between you and the other gunship.
11 of 12: The metal shields spinning around the portal can be destroyed with orbs, so take out a few of them and then time your orb attacks to pass through the shielding gaps. (Or just lob orbs madly at the portal and hope you hit it enough before time runs out -- you probably will.)
12 of 12: TIP: You only need three hits total to destroy the portal. If you can stand the gunship fire for a few seconds, ignore them and fire orbs at the portal at top speed! The gunships will explode the instant you blow the portal, anyway.
