General Techniques are glitches and exploits that work throughout most or all of Halo: Combat Evolved's campaign. Mastering these fundamentals will help you in any level.

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Movement Techniques

Grenade Jumping

Grenade jumping uses explosive force to propel Master Chief to otherwise unreachable areas. This is one of the most essential techniques for speedrunning and sequence breaking.

How It Works

1. Throw a grenade at your feet
2. Jump just before the grenade explodes
3. The explosion propels you upward, granting extra height

Key Tips

• Frag vs Plasma: Unlike later Halo games, plasma grenades are often preferred in CE because they deal less damage to the player
• Crouch for distance: Holding crouch while receiving explosive force increases the speed/distance gained
• Running is essential: You must be moving forward to gain momentum—standing still will only lift you slightly
• Health matters: A frag grenade on full health leaves you at approximately 3 yellow health bars
• Don't tea-bag: Avoid crouching and uncrouching mid-air as it slows you down

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Avoid Fall Damage

Reduce or completely negate fall damage with precise crouch timing.

How to Perform

1. Fall from any height
2. Hold the crouch button
3. Release crouch right before your feet hit the ground
4. Immediately hold crouch again

The timing is critical—practice on smaller drops first. When done correctly, you can survive falls that would normally kill you.

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Vehicle Flinging (Tailwhipping)

Use vehicle physics to launch yourself across the map faster than any other movement method.

Warthog Tailwhip

1. Drive a Warthog at moderate speed
2. Turn the vehicle sharply left or right
3. Jump out of the vehicle at the right moment
4. The rear tire will hit you, launching you forward at high speed

This technique is used extensively in speedruns, particularly on the "Halo" level to reach the Forerunner complex quickly, and on Silent Cartographer to reach the first door before it locks.

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Combat Techniques

Backpack Reloading

Reload one weapon while firing another—essential for maintaining damage output during intense firefights.

How to Perform

1. Have a weapon that needs reloading equipped
2. Press Reload twice quickly (X, X on Xbox)
3. Immediately switch to your other weapon (Y on Xbox)
4. Your first weapon reloads automatically in your "backpack"
5. Continue firing your second weapon
6. Switch back when the reload sound completes

This allows continuous suppressive fire without any reload downtime.

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Double Melee

Execute two melee attacks in rapid succession, dealing massive damage. This can instantly kill most enemies.

How to Perform

1. Press melee to start your first attack
2. As your fist makes contact, throw a grenade
3. Immediately melee again before the grenade detonates

The grenade throw cancels the melee recovery animation, allowing a second strike much faster than normal.

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Quick Reload

Speed up the reload animation by canceling it early.

How to Perform

1. Begin reloading your weapon
2. Watch the animation—wait until the new magazine/clip is inserted
3. Before the animation fully completes, either:
   • Melee (fastest)
   • Switch weapons and switch back

The reload is complete as soon as the ammo is inserted, even though the animation continues.

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Shooting After Grenade

Reduce the delay between throwing grenades and being able to shoot.

How to Perform

1. Throw a grenade
2. Immediately melee
3. The melee cancels the grenade recovery, letting you fire sooner

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Grenade While Reloading

Throw grenades without interrupting an ongoing reload.

How to Perform

1. Press Reload twice during active combat
2. Throw your grenade after the double-tap
3. Your weapon continues reloading during and after the throw

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Stealth Techniques

Quick Invisibility

When picking up an Active Camouflage power-up, you can reduce the activation time.

How to Perform

1. Pick up the invisibility power-up
2. Immediately fire one bullet from a non-zoomable weapon
3. If using a zoomable weapon, switch to a non-zoomable one after firing

This shortens the fade-in effect, making you invisible faster.

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Silent Weapon Switch

Prevent the audio cue when switching weapons, useful for stealth approaches.

How to Perform

1. Switch weapons
2. Immediately melee

The melee cancels the weapon switch sound effect.

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Inventory Techniques

Weapon Juggling

Carry a third weapon between areas, bypassing the normal two-weapon limit.

How to Perform

1. Stand over the weapon you want to juggle
2. Hold the "Pick Up Weapon" button (X/RB) while walking forward
3. The weapon will be thrown forward
4. Repeat, "juggling" the weapon along your path
5. Pick it up when needed

This is slower than normal movement but allows you to bring powerful weapons like rockets or sniper rifles to areas where they don't normally spawn.

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Checkpoint Manipulation

Checkpoint Delay

Delay checkpoints to set up optimal save states for difficult sections.

How to Delay

• Jump continuously
• Throw grenades
• Fire vehicle weapons (Banshee, Ghost)

CE-Specific Warning

Unlike later Halo games, checkpoints in CE can trigger even if your shields are down. This can be extremely dangerous on higher difficulties, potentially saving you in an unwinnable state.

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See Also

• Character Possession Glitch — Control Covenant, Flood, and vehicles
• Maps — Level-specific glitches

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Sources

• HaloRuns Wiki
• StrategyWiki Halo CE Glitches
• Halo Speedrunning Community