There are a few key ways of getting stars on a few important units. If your playing Covenant you’ll be wanting to get stars on your leader, and if your playing UNSC you’ll be wanting to get stars on your valued units or Spartans. Here’s a quick guide to give the basics…

Your stars basically come from kills (buildings and units), so to get them you’ll need to concentrate on both getting those kills, and keeping your unit alive. If you lose it, you lose all the progress you made. The speed in which your units will gain stars depends on their population size. For example, a Warthog will gain 1 star from destroying a few infantry units. A squad of Jackals will gain a star from killing just a couple of Marine squads; these are examples of the lower population units (1). However a Scarab will have to kill close enough to a whole army before it gains a Veteran star, likewise with other high population units (Vultures etc).

Starter bases: The rebel and Forerunner bases at the start of each map provide the biggest opportunities to start your kills off. If you want to have your Spartan, Leader, or unit on their way to Star level, make sure you’re taking advantage of the kills on offer. The rebel watch towers and turrets each provide a point score and count as a kill, so destroy them individually, starting with the turrets, then the rebel units, then watchtowers, then the base its self. Just one base is normally enough to gain you a star on your unit(s); it’s that simple.

Hooks: Hooks like reactors, barriers, tele-porters and mega turrets are all guarded by rebel infantry, and provide more kills for you to concentrate your unit on. Taking these areas out means more contribution towards your veterancy, even if you’re not going to use the hook its self.

AH, ah, ah, ah staying alive: It’s not good working your way to Veterancy if your just going to die within the game, keep your units alive and this will give you and your Veteran stars the edge in battle. If your playing as Covenant always recall your leader in plenty of time when attacking. If your using Spartans and the vehicle they’re in is destroyed, don’t leave them wondering around the battlefield taking fire – get them in a new vehicle as soon as possible so you don’t lose them. If you have general units with a star, place them at the back of your army, so they are out of harms way, but still doing the damage.  Don’t forget to heal as you go, which will lengthen the life of your units and increase your overall game multiplier.

Remember, getting Veteran stars on units increases their attack and defense level, so having them can mean the equivalent on another 5-10 population in your force; it’s worth working towards.

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You’ve no doubt gone through a game and started to see a star or 2 above the units which are doing well in your battles. This is a Veteran star, and each of them increases the defense and attack performance of the unit.

Defense & Attack increase per Veteran star (%)

1 star=15%*
2 stars=45%*
3 stars=95%*

So 1 3 star unit almost delivers the same damage and has the same ‘health’ or prevention of damage as 2 standard equivalent units.

Unit ‘combat ranking’:

You’ll also see with most units when they are selected, a small shield with a number in it. This displays their upgrade and veterancy ranking. It will start at ’1′, and as you upgrade the unit with research, that number will increase. The higher that number the better the unit, as it gets each Veteran star it will gain an additional combat rank.

Both veteran stars and the unit ranking contribute to the overall number you see in the shield (upgrade level + veterancy = unit rank)

Spartan stars:

You’ll notice immediately when you place a Spartan in a vehicle, or ‘jack’ an enemy’s, that there are stars next to the Spartan symbol on the unit. This is the Spartan’s own individual ranking combined with the unit’s. Spartans can get 1, 2 or 3 stars just like other units, and when jacked are added to the jacked vehicle’s veteran and upgrade ranking.

See below how each star adds up to the overall ranking of the unit.

For example:

• Unit: Spartan (1) + Chain gun (1) + Implant (1) + Spartan laser (1) +
• Veteran: Spartan 1st Veteran star (1) + Spartan 2nd Veteran star (1) + Spartan 3rd Veteran star (1)
• Unit: Cobra (1) + Deflection plating upgrade (1) + Piercing shot upgrade (1) +
• Veteran: Cobra’s 1st veteran star (1) + Cobra’s 2nd veteran star (1) + Cobra’s 3rd veteran star (1)

= 13 stars (maximum for a Cobra)

Each star a Spartan gains gives an additional 15% damage and attack.

If you have a ‘super unit’ such as a Hawk or Grizzly, you can get up to 14 stars, as each of these units has a 3rd upgrade (turning the Hornet in to a Hawk, and Scorpion in to Grizzly, thus adding an extra star).

This is why if the vehicle your Spartans in gets destroyed, and that Spartan gets in another vehicle; it won’t have as many stars; as that vehicle has to work towards its own Veteran stars which will in turn add stars. It is also why you can get a 15 star Wraith, as they have 1 additional (4) unit upgrade, rather than the 3 you get with the UNSC Hawk and Grizzly.

*information from Halo Wars rep. Note: Some of this information has neither been confirmed or denied by Robot or Ensemble to my knowledge, the theory though is justified.

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