ONI: Sword Base

ONI: Sword Base

"Climbing the stairway to heaven."

Information

• Game: Halo: Reach
  

Beginner Goals: Easy: ~5:30; Legendary: ~7:00


Intermediate Goals: Easy: ~5:00; Legendary: ~6:10


World Class Goals: Easy: ~4:30; Legendary: ~5:20


IL Records: Easy: ~4:12; Legendary: ~4:40


Segmented Times: Easy: ~3:55; Legendary: ~4:10


Halo: Reach level navigation

Winter Contingency - ONI: Sword Base - Nightfall

ONI: Sword Base is the second playable level in Halo: Reach. See Halopedia for general information. There are different strats between Easy, Legendary, and Co-op, and they will be covered in this page.

HaloRuns record page: https://haloruns.com/leaderboards/reach/solo/oni/Easy (click the timestamps for video links)

Video Examples

Examples of every trick mentioned here can be found on either the Individual Level or the Full Game Records page. There are also multiple video tutorials for some specific tricks indicated on this page. Be sure to check #reach-links in the Haloruns discord.

Mission Start

Your first task is to kill all of the enemies in the courtyard and grab the Target Locator.

Easy Start

The fastest way is to run past all of the enemies and fire a well-placed Target Locator shot in their midst. Make sure to kill the four grunts that are under the bridge directly in front of you at spawn and the four Skirmishes that are closer to the Target Locator. Grab a plasma pistol for later in the level. Grab the target locator and aim at the left barricade at the top of the hill. If all enemies die, the door will open and you can proceed with the level.

Legendary Start

There are two start variations depending on full game or individual level runs.

Full Game Method

• Beginner/Intermediate/Full Game Strategy

Start by going to the left, once in the ramp, throw a grenade to the grunts under the bridge and another one to the jackals in front of you. Grab a Plasma Pistol and sprint towards the Sniper (at the end of the walkway in front of you), start killing everything while taking cover from the phantom that drops elites. Use your plasma pistol to quickly eliminate them. Once all enemies are dead, take the Target Locator and the door will open.

Target Locator Rush

• World Class/IL Record Strategy

You can try a variation of the easy strat by running to the right and swap your Assault Rifle for a Shotgun with one Marine. Sprint up the ramp and kill the elite either by backsmacking or a shotgun + melee, then walk over the right side and throw a grenade to distract and if possible kill some grunts. While the grenade is traveling, sprint towards the Target Locator and throw another grenade to protect your back, try to headshot all of the Skirmishes on your way to the Target Locator. Finish off the clear with the target locator, like the Easy Method.

---

Co-op Start

Similar to the easy start, you will want to kill everything as fast as possible; however, it is faster to not use the target locator. Here is the breakdown of what each player should do:

Beach

Once the door is open, you need to go around the beach and hit 3 buttons in two possible orders, from left to right or from right to left. For the speedrun, we will take the right side of the beach first and this makes a ghost and some grunts spawn, if you are in co-op and they don't spawn is because there is someone on the left side triggering the spawn before you can trigger it in your side.

Easy

Hog Grab

You should have a plasma pistol at this point. EMP the warthog that is supposed to blow up by leading your shot well ahead of the driving path. You need to hit the EMP into the warthog before it gets closer to the wraiths, remove the marine from the driver seat and drive the warthog to the right side where the ghost is located. In case that the warthog explodes you need to retry the EMP because the hog is now inside the explosive area/timer.

First and Second Button

You will go over a hill and see a ghost. Hijack the ghost and start driving to the first button at the AA gun. This first button is located in the corner of the rooftop. Instead of going upstairs, jump from outside the building and hit the button, you will know that the button is activated because the turret will start to move and shoot enemies. A quick tip is to hold the activate button before jumping to make sure that you press it as soon as possible.

• Individual Level Strategy for MCC - Use a grenade and ghost to launch up to the top of the AA gun building. EMP the conc elite and grab his conc. You will use this later for the third button and for the ending jumps. This strat can save 8 seconds but is tough.

For the second button, drive the ghost to the right of the door. When you get out, you can press the button through the wall.

Third Button

MCC:

• Conc: stand by the power pole, use one conc shot to get on the top railing, and one more to get to the top button. You can hit this button from the back.

Xbox 360 and other MCC methods:

• Grenade Jump: you can run through the doorway, up the stairs and jump on the railing. Use a grenade to jump up to the button.
• Box Jump: once on the second floor, push the box towards the railing, and jump from beneath to hit the button.

Alternative Methods:

• Pedro Exit Method: Position the ghost at an angle at the power pole and get out in the direction of the building. You will exit at the second floor on the railing. Do the grenade jump or box jump after.
• Ghost Launch: Position the ghost by the rock, throw a grenade at the edge of the left wing, and jump above the wing before the grenade goes off. This will launch you straight to the button.

After hitting the button, get back in the ghost, and go back to the gate from the start. Hit the button.

• Note: A common mistake for new runners is to press the gate button multiple times. This will confuse the game and cause the gate to not open. Make sure to press the button only a single time.

---

Legendary

For individual levels, you will follow the same strategies as the Easy Strat, with a small route modification on the route to second button. You can view that route [here.]

Ghost Grab

Once the gate opens, stay on the right side and use the rocks and big hill to avoid enemy aggro. Run over the big hill by the ghost and try to remain hidden from the AI until you get close. Hijack the ghost.

When you are in the ghost and are on the way to the first button, stop at the top of the hill so you have a clear view of the AA gun. Shoot a target locator shot by where the button is to clear away some enemies. Once the shooting dies down, hit the button.

Second Button

The route from first to second button is slightly different from easy. Once you draw the ghost aggro, go around the rock to your right to distract the ghost, then proceed over the hill quickly to second button.
Third button and the route to the gate are the same as Easy. You can see a clip on legendary [here.]

---

Co-op

Just like before, the strats to be mentioned here are the same for Easy and Legendary, and will be broken down by what each player should accomplish.

Hunter Skip

Hunter Skip is a trick that skips having to kill the two hunters in the garage. It is vital to hit this skip in a run, especially on legendary, to avoid a large amount of time loss. Because of it's importance, there have been many methods for the trick over the years, so they will be broken down into skill level. All methods work the same on Easy, Legendary, and Co-op.

Yolo Method

• Intermediate/World Class/IL Record Strategy

You will

Potential Strategies and Knowledge Base

Throughout the development of this level, there have been many strat discoveries that have either been lost with time or have been proven too difficult to be executed consistently across runs. The following sections is for maintaining a list of potential developments that may be referenced for a future date, and will be listed with:

• Who discovered the trick, date of discovery, and various notes