Winter Contingency

Winter Contingency is the first playable level in Halo: Reach. See Halopedia for general information, the routes and strats are the same for both Easy and Legendary, as well as co-op.

HaloRuns record page: https://haloruns.com/leaderboards/reach/solo/wc/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 specific tricks indicated on this page. Be sure to check #reach-links in the Haloruns discord.

Mission Start

After 46 seconds inside the falcon, you will want to get out and sprint straight forward. You can either try the Barrier Jump on the hill on your left or do the classic route that involves some slide jumps around the hut. The barrier jumps save around 18 seconds but if you mix it with Earliest Falcon and Earliest Out Of Bounds you can save about 2 minutes. Keep in mind, with gate clip the classic route only loses the 18 seconds.

Starting Routes

Barrier Jump Route

MCC Barrier Jump Route

In order to do the Earliest Falcon you need to do the barrier jumps, head up to the mountains on your left, and then after some precise jumps you will go over the elastic barrier and then do the Falcon Grab.

You can watch an in-depth Video Tutorial on how to do all the Barrier Jumps.

Xbox 360 Barrier Jump Route

Very similar to the MCC barrier jumps, however the jump line ups are slightly different. Refer to this video for the correct movement here.

Falcon Grab

You can hijack a falcon to go out-of-bounds to get to the Relay Outpost before you are supposed to, skipping the falcon ride later in the mission.

As you near the trucks, stop right where the ground is about to slope downward and look at the Falcon with Jun in it. You'll notice that the Falcon is flying in a triangular pattern.
When the Falcon is on your left and at its furthest point away from you, immediately run down the slope and if done correctly the Falcon will teleport.
This process removes Jun from the Falcon, so that the Falcon Skip can be triggered later in the level (if you did the barrier jump route at the beginning of the level you don't need to do this process).

There are various methods to do the falcon grab, so they will be listed from fastest to slowest, listed by the color-coded names by the time barriers that can be achieved from the table at the top of the page. Outdated methods will be listed at the bottom of this page.

Gate Clip

World Class/Easy IL Record Strategy

This is the current fastest method of grabbing the falcon as of 2023, and is done in both Full Game and Individual Level runs on the Easy Difficulty.

After the barrier jumps, you will see a building with a gate attached on the left side. There is a small hole on the right side of that gate that is slightly the wrong size to walk through. Simply binding crouch to scroll wheel on the mouse will allow you to clip through this gap while holding forward. This part is very difficult on controller. Example here.

Running through the building, you will want to jump and cut sprint while passing the pillar in the middle of the room headed towards the stairway door. This allows for the falcon AI to not break, and it will continue it's pathing over the building. Run outside, headshot a grunt or skirmisher, and EMP the falcon so it flips over. Sprint past the hut on the right side to trigger a load zone that spawns a spirit, the faster this load is hit, the better.

Note: getting Carter into your falcon will save roughly 5 seconds, so it is suggested to grab Carter while waiting for the drop ship.

River Flip

World Class/Legendary IL Record Strategy

This is the current fastest method of grabbing the falcon on both Full Game and Individual Level runs on the Legendary Difficulty. Tutorial may be found here.

After doing the OOB platforming over the building, kill 1 enemy (skirmisher is best, this makes the falcon more consistent) and run inside the building to load the falcon. The route in the building is precise, so refer to the tutorial above. When you run out, sprint to the right side into the bunker and kill an enemy for a plasma pistol. Run out the other side and quickly EMP the falcon so it lands in the river. This methods spawns in the spirit quicker.

Dyse's 10 Second Falcon

Intermediate Strategy

Very consistent method of grabbing falcon. This is the strategy recommended to most newer runners who are planning on running full game.

After the OOB like in River Flip, go back into the building and jump over the fence on your left and wait there until you the the falcon spawn on your radar. When it shows up, wait under the stairs for 2 seconds, exit the building, and walk to the left side. You will want to stand in a specific spot in the left bunker to EMP the falcon. This can be seen in this example here.

Note: Make sure to skip the load by the containers at the top of the hill. You can skip it by jumping far left when you get on the hill.

Classic Falcon Grab

Intermediate Strategy

Old method of grabbing the falcon from 2018. This is not the easiest, nor fastest method of grabbing the falcon, but has been a staple strategy for those interested in achieving intermediate-level times. A tutorial can be found here.

After the OOB like in River Flip, go back into the building and jump over the fence on your left and wait there until you the the falcon spawn on your radar. When it shows up, wait under the stairs for 2 seconds, exit the building, aim up and try to overcharge the falcon. A good hit will flip the falcon. This can be seen in this run here. Timing the EMP is important, so watching the linked tutorial is suggested.

Hill Falcon

Beginner Strategy

This is the first version of the trick from late 2014, and is the easiest method (however, slowest) for grabbing the falcon.

You must deload Jun for this trick to work.

To do this, before you drop down the small cliff to get into the trucks, turn around and watch the falcon. As soon as it is in it's furthest away position (somewhere parallel to the mountain behind it), then it is safe to move forward. Note: if you do the barrier jumps at the start, and skip the building load, Jun will already be deloaded.

When you reach the trucks get in and drive to the first structure, there will be a hill on your left where the falcon will remain still, make sure you have a plasma pistol, if you don't, you can take one from the skirmishes on your way to the hill, climb it and shoot an overcharged plasma pistol shot at the Falcon. A good place to aim is the nose, just behind the chaingun. Keep doing this until the Falcon flips over and the cockpit opens. Flip the Falcon back over and pilot it.

Out Of Bounds

For the OOB part there are multiple ways to do it, explained here.

First Spirit OOB

Intermediate/World Class/IL Record Strategy

Here is a quick explanation of this trick.

This is the hardest one to do and it is done with the very first dropship seen in the game, first you need to get the Earliest Falcon.

Wait with your falcon hovering over the big three that is near the right side of the hut that is located in the left part of the river. You will see the dropship coming, when it starts to go down quickly, move forward to trigger the dropship to leave. If you are using a mouse, watch the dropship and follow it's path, landing in the middle of the two dropship arms while being pushed OOB. For a consistent path, you can wait a few extra seconds until the dropship doors open up.

Marine Spirit OOB

Beginner

For this one use your falcon to fly via the right side of the biggest hill so you can activate the dropship landing in the correct area, approach the marines and make sure to trigger the blue markers over their heads (YOU MUST DO IT), after the ship drops some grunts it will always fly in same path, if you want you can destroy it's turret, follow the ship and try to get stuck on it after it flies over (sometimes through) the hills. After a while it will push you through the elastic barrier, you will know you are done because you will take some damage (you sometimes don't take any damage). This is the most consistent way to go OOB, however much slower than the First Spirit OOB. Example seen here.

Relay Outpost

There are multiple parts of this next section that differ between mouse/keyboard and controller. The assumption will be made that you (the player) are now OOB.

Loading the Outpost

When doing the First Spirit OOB, you will want to fly directly to the mountain by the relay outpost. In order to avoid a potential splatter, fly at a height of over 400 (425 suggested). This can be measured on the right side of the HUD.

Note: Since the Dec. 2020 update for the MCC, diagonal flying is now 35% faster for mouse and keyboard. When headed to the outpost, make sure to fly diagonally to save a few seconds.

Outpost Clear

Once you load the relay outpost, do not land in there. Instead, stay out of bounds above the outpost and kill every enemy with your Falcon. After you make sure every enemy is dead (use your radar to double check) get out of your Falcon and then re-enter your Falcon, for safety land on top of the relay outpost but you can do this in mid air. This is a vital trigger that you must hit or else the level will not continue, after this you will get a checkpoint and if you did it right you will listen a Kat's dialog. If you do, it is safe to proceed with the deload. If you don't, go back and make sure every enemy is dead.

Outpost Deload and Kat Deload

You will now need to deload the outpost to progress the mission. Two deload methods exist.

Initial Area Deload

This is the most consistent method of deloading the outpost, however this route can be difficult if you are on controller and plan to do Kat deload.

You will want to fly back to the initial area and hover over a small rock sticking up (there are two rocks, a big one and a small one) at a height of about 145. After this, you can load back in the outpost again the same way as before, or go for Kat deload. Otherwise, when you load in the outpost, run inside. Once the "Fallback into Outpost" text appears, melee 5 times to deload the door. Stand a small amount away from the door, or you may splatter upon the new area loading in.

Truck Deload

This method is not too inconsistent, but if performed incorrectly, can deload the falcon. Follow this tutorial.

You will want to fly back to the truck area at a height roughly between 215 and 230. Watching the tutorial here is suggested, as it is quite difficult to explain. Once you load in the old area, follow the steps as mentioned on the initial area deload section.

Kat Deload

World Class/IL Record Strategy

This trick saves around 10 seconds.

After deloading the outpost, fly left of the outpost behind the mountain by where the trucks spawn. Stay at a height of 400 while going around the mountain. A good example of this route can be seen here. Once you go around the mountain, load in the outpost again.

Final Area

Easy

After the cutscene, run for the first Zealot and back smack him. This is not necessary, but is a consistency strat. If you run past the first Zealot, he will sometimes follow you into the last room, where you will have to kill him to proceed. However, sometimes he will not follow you. It seems to be random. Ignore the rest of the enemies and head up to the very last room. Before the last room will be 4 grunts, throw a grenade at them while you run through the final doorway. Throw a grenade in the final room to kill the grunts and run to the switch, the Zealot will be there messing around with the switch. Kill him with a noob combo, a ninja, or however you want to and finish the level. If you can't hit the switch, an enemy from the previous hall followed you and he needs to die.

Legendary

After the cutscene you want to kill everyone, grab a DMR and walk a bit to trigger the Zealot movement, don't go too far or he will go to the next room, shoot at the red tanks to make them explode and while they are in fire shoot to the Zealot, you will want to walk backwards while shooting at the tanks. If the Zealot aggros you hide behind the DMRs and let him engage Jorge, kill him and then proceed with the level while killing enemies. After the hall do the same as on easy, throw some grenades to the grunts and noob combo the final Zealot.

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

Historical Strategies

Start Building Skip Unknown, 2010. Replaced by barrier jumps.
Falcon Teleport Unknown, 2015. Replaced by early falcon grab
Soft Falcon Grab Wolfy, 2015. Replaced by faster falcon grab
Early Marine Group OOB Unknown, Unknown. Replaced by Early Spirit OOB

Potential Strategies

Window Jump SleeplessBlue, Feb. 2018. Difficult, but can be implemented
Ezhno Launch Ezhno, Dec. 2019. Difficult, but can be implemented

Knowledge Base

Gpro's Spiritless OOB Gpro, June 2018. Potential OOB area