Our troll play turned into a GIANT Scarab Battle! Halo Wars 2
Andy opens Pavium with a bunker hero-first troll against an enemy Johnson, while Gus and Hosti fight elsewhere on the map. The game escalates from early hero trades into a double-Scarab timing—and then into a full scarab-versus-scarab brawl with mechs, heals, and base lockdowns on both sides.
Related guides
What we built
- Pavium bunker opener targets the enemy Johnson hero before normal eco kicks in.
- Upgraded Pavium and heal powers support a slow scarab tech transition.
- Opponents lean Johnson bunkers, mech lines, and siege to answer the scarab timing.
- Team Respawn queues multiple scarabs while trying to keep pop and economy from collapsing.
Attack & defense
- Early hero dives and EMP plays try to delete the Johnson before bunkers stabilize.
- Pelican drops and scarab walks trade across the map while mech balls pressure allied bases.
- Heal powers and shield bunkers keep Pavium alive through focus fire.
- Enemy siege and detect become the real answer to scarab pushes; both sides lose bases during the brawl.
Turning points
- The planned hero-first troll on Johnson gets messy, but Pavium upgrades still come online.
- First scarab spawn forces the enemy to commit siege and mechs instead of ending the game early.
- A second scarab queues while the first trades—pop cap and economy become the bottleneck.
- Dual scarabs on both teams create a giant mid-map fight; mantises and leader powers decide who keeps production.
- Late mega turrets and a final base race collapse Team Respawn's position after a long hold.
Opponent notes
- Johnson bunker rockets and hero respawns waste a lot of enemy resources.
- English / Cutter-style UNSC mech spam keeps respawning and eating scarab attention.
- Enemy scarab timing answers Pavium's—the game becomes who protects production better.
- Cataclysm / leader-power windows matter more than raw scarab count once both sides are on tech.
Takeaways
- Pavium bunker openers can stall a lobby long enough for scarabs, but pop and eco must be planned—not improvised.
- Double scarab is a statement; double scarab versus enemy scarab plus mechs is a resource check you can lose.
- Heal Pavium and shield bunkers buy time, but you still need an army to protect scarab production.
- Johnson mech lines punish slow scarab transitions—see the Pavium guide for more defensive tech paths.