**Halo: Reach — getting through Exodus without losing the route**
**MCC campaign guide. Mission spoilers.**
After everything that happens in Long Night of Solace, Exodus drops Six into a city full of people who still need a way out. There are no other members of Noble Team beside you here. You have a pistol, you're hurt, and the first job is simply getting through the buildings alive.
This is the normal campaign route, using the jetpack where the mission introduces it. If you're attempting **Classic Completion**, which prohibits armor abilities, use a separate run. Even sprinting breaks that restriction.
**Get out of the dark buildings**
Move through the opening boardwalk and deal with the Skirmishers before entering the darker interior. Take the health pack and pistol ammunition you encounter. There's no advantage to carrying your initial injuries into the next fight.
The suicide Grunts are the immediate danger. Slow down before each blind corner, listen, and leave yourself room to retreat. A pistol headshot from the far end of a corridor is much safer than letting one reach the doorway beside you. Don't run forward immediately after the first explosion; another Grunt may already be approaching behind it.
Night vision helps you see the route, but check the floor too. Broken railings and open drops are just as capable of ending this section as the Covenant. Work toward daylight rather than jumping across gaps you haven't checked.
**The civilians and the atrium**
Outside, Brutes are attacking civilians. Pick targets carefully. Grenades thrown into a mixed group of enemies and evacuees are a terrible trade, even when they would make the fight quicker.
Use the available precision weapons to keep some distance. A helmeted Brute may need its head protection broken before a headshot finishes it; don't assume the first shot will stop a charge. Needler fire is another option against exposed Brutes, but stop wasting ammunition when a target activates Armor Lock.
Clear the courtyard, then go through the opened route into the atrium. There's useful ammunition here, so look around before calling the elevator. Keep a precision weapon for the arriving reinforcements. A close-range weapon can be a backup, but it shouldn't be your only answer to enemies on the upper levels.
Activate the elevator call button. The wait is part of the mission, not a broken switch. Covenant reinforcements arrive from the courtyards while the elevator is occupied elsewhere.
Don't stand in the center trying to fight both entrances at once. Use a doorway or solid interior cover to limit the angles reaching you. Watch for hammer-carrying Brutes and put distance between yourself and them before they enter striking range. Once the attack is dealt with and the elevator arrives, get inside and use its control. It takes you **down to the cargo port**.
**Follow the Bullfrogs across the cargo port**
Pass the triage area and meet the ODSTs. Collect a jetpack from their equipment area and replenish your weapons before crossing.
The easiest way to make these jumps harder than they need to be is holding the jetpack until it runs dry. Choose a landing surface first, jump toward it, and use controlled thrust to finish the crossing. Stop on solid ground and refill before the next gap. You don't need to imitate an ODST's entire flight in one uninterrupted burst.
Fight from the platforms before committing to the occupied side. Precision fire lets you remove exposed infantry without landing in their middle. Watch higher positions for heavy weapons; hovering above cover gives enemies a very clean shot at you.
Once across, work upward through the cargo area. Keep track of stairs and connecting platforms instead of chasing every retreating Grunt. If a hammer Brute gets close, break contact toward ground you've already cleared. Jetpacking away can help, but landing behind another enemy group just changes which problem kills you.
**Data Pad 6 is above this cargo-port fighting area.** Get it before leaving if you're collecting pads.
The route continues through an interior lobby and onto an upper walkway. Look for the New Alexandria Concourse signs if you've cleared the enemies but lost the exit. Your destination is the executive landing pad, not the bottom of the structure.
**Climb toward the executive wing**
The next outdoor section has enemies spread across multiple elevations. Use the available balconies to identify snipers and heavier weapons before crossing exposed walkways. If a beam starts stripping your shields, retreat behind solid cover rather than trying to win the exchange while standing in the open.
Climb through the courtyards toward the tower entrance. There are stairs for much of this route; the jetpack is useful for changing elevation, but doesn't make every direct flight safe. On Legendary especially, clear the enemies overlooking your intended landing point first.
**Data Pad 15 is a Legendary-only detour in this section, before boarding the Falcon.** Finish that detour before the mission carries you away.
Fight through the executive wing and secure the landing pad. Destroy the two Covenant Shade turrets as well as dealing with the infantry. If the evacuation isn't proceeding, check the pad and its approaches for a surviving enemy rather than repeatedly waiting at the same doorway.
Board the Falcon's vacant gunner position when it arrives.
**The flight and the missile batteries**
You are operating the side-mounted gun, not piloting. Engage targets that move into your firing arc and follow the flight through the city. Don't mistake events happening outside your control for an instruction to jump out or restart.
After landing at the beach, the objective has three parts:
- Arm one missile battery.
- Arm the other missile battery.
- Reach the East Complex and **fire the missiles from the central terminal**.
Arming both batteries does not finish the level.
Vehicles can help you move between positions, but don't drive straight into Wraith fire. Use the terrain to break its line of sight, clear the immediate approach, and dismount somewhere sheltered before operating a battery control. On higher difficulties, keeping an intact escape route matters more than forcing your Warthog through every occupied position.
With both batteries active, move to the final complex. Expect more resistance, including dangerous close-range Brutes. Clear enough room to reach the control safely rather than standing still trying to finish every distant enemy. Activate the terminal to launch the missiles and complete Exodus.
For a first clear, that final interaction is the thing to remember. The radio is urgent, the beach is busy, and it's easy to assume two completed objective markers mean you're done. They don't. You still have to give those transports a clear sky.
**Halo: Reach — getting through Exodus without losing the route**
· Games / Halo: Reach