Quick and easy way to kill the final boss.

A quick way to kill the Nihilanth without having to enter his distracting portal rooms.

Preparation for the fight.

During the chapter 'Interloper', make sure you save all of your crossbow ammunition. I find that the hivehand, pistol, .357 magnum and shotgun are the best weapons to use against normal enemies in the xen chapter, and that the Gluon Gun, Tau cannon and MP5 are the best to use against Gonarch. It doesn't matter what you use during those chapters as long as you have around 3 clips of pistol ammo (minimum) and all of your crossbow ammo. Try and save some extra shotgun ammo as well.

What to do when you start the boss fight.

Jump off the platform just as you start the chapter, and sprint towards the nearest spike and hide right behind it. This will block all of the Nihilanth's electro-balls and all (in my case) of his flying portals, so you will never have to move or get teleported into a room. Once you are hiding behind the spike (make sure you're right up close), equip the pistol.

The boss fight.

Use the pistol to destroy ALL THREE crystals on the walls of the chamber, as they will heal the Nihilanth and render the plan useless. Make sure you don't move from behind the spike, or you may get killed or teleported.

When the Nihilanth's portals hit the spike you are hiding behind, it may spawn a vortigaunt, so use the shotgun to take care of them.

When the crystals are destroyed, equip the crossbow and empty every clip of crossbow ammo you have into the Nihilanth. This will take time, so make sure you are hidden behind the spike so that he cannot retaliate. On easy, normal and hard, this will usually kill the Nihilanth without you being teleported at all. If it doesn't, use the remaining shotgun/pistol ammo to kill the Nihilanth.

This method is good for speedrunners or people who think this fight drags on too long when you get teleported all the time. However, you will miss some of the kills that require you to enter the flying portals, so if you want all the kills, don't use this method.

[Endangered spy crab]

My favorite method was to use the rocket launcher on the crystals and then crowbar his head crystal. It always felt like a good book-end to the game.

[Endangered spy crab]

My favorite method was to use the rocket launcher on the crystals and then crowbar his head crystal. It always felt like a good book-end to the game.

[Endangered spy crab]

My favorite method was to use the rocket launcher on the crystals and then crowbar his head crystal. It always felt like a good book-end to the game.

[Tiny Pumpkin :3]

jarjar i played hl1 and thats how the portal rooms work. i go in for ammo and stuff

[sagittarius_oz]

wait.......i just realised if you want to go into a chapter of half life get half life mmod!

[The Good The Bad And The Snuggly]

A better solution to his crystals would be the gluon gun. It has way longer range than you'd think, and if you are fast enough you can destroy them all before the starting platform breaks

[soot]

yes they are. that's why they're able to home in on enemies i assume.

[itoaste]

hivehand? i always called it the dart blaster. i saw someone in the replies call it a bee gun... are those bees???

[SnowBurnt]

My favorite method was to use the rocket launcher on the crystals and then crowbar his head crystal. It always felt like a good book-end to the game.

[JarJar Binks]

at least in the original half life idk about this one