Series 5: Anvil

Season 5: Anvil is a season for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, released on January 27, 2021. 343 Industries included previously-cut AKIS and Mariner helmets as part of this update, after they were pushed back from Season 4 due to difficulties encountered during development. Additionally, Season 5 sees the introduction of 12 armor sets from the cancelled game Halo Online into Halo 3.

The season is named after ANVIL Station and Anvil Initiative; a space station known for testing the MJOLNIR armors introduced with the update and the organization that runs the station, respectively. The season's logo is the Anvil Initiative's logo: a Human and a Sangheili shaking hands.

Season unlocks
Season 5 added the following content to the game. Notably, the Halo: Reach and Halo 3 customization options were implemented into the game in the Season 4 December update, as available for preview in the game's menus. However, they are unable to be unlocked and used in-game without the use of modding.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

 * 10 new nameplates

Halo: Reach

 * Two new Halo: Reach helmets: AKIS, Mariner
 * Three Halo: Reach helmet attachments for AKIS: GRD, CBRN, GRD/CBRN
 * Three Halo: Reach helmet attachments for Mariner: Mister Chief, Defiant and OPTREX
 * Six new Halo: Reach chest armors, five of which are new robot arm variants of existing chests and one new:
 * Default [R]
 * UA/Counterassault [R]
 * Tactical/Recon [R]
 * Tactical/Patrol [R]
 * Collar/Grenadier [UA] [R]
 * EXO/TSCS

Halo 3
For Halo 3, the existing "New Skins in Halo 3" toggle will be updated to include the new armor permutations mentioned below alongside weapon and vehicle skins. If the new cosmetics are turned off, any players using Halo Online-based armor will instead display as using the default Mark VI.


 * Techsuit customization for Halo 3
 * Two new techsuit options for Halo 3 (GEN2 and GEN2 Tinted)
 * The game's original GEN1 techsuit has been replaced with an updated, slimmer techsuit based on the Halo 2: Anniversary design for compatibility with the new armour
 * Forearm and leg armor customization for Halo 3
 * Twelve new armor permutations for Halo 3, originally from Halo Online:
 * Air Assault
 * Aviator
 * Compass
 * Deadeye
 * Demo
 * Hivemind
 * Navigator
 * Pioneer
 * Soldier
 * Suture
 * Tanker
 * Warrior


 * 26 new weapon skins and 1 new vehicle skin for Halo 3
 * 8 for the Battle Rifle (One unlockable via Challenge)
 * 2 for the Sniper Rifle
 * 1 for the Rocket Launcher
 * 2 for the Assualt Rifle
 * 2 for the Magnum
 * 3 for the SMG
 * 1 for the Fuel Rod Gun
 * 1 for the Needler
 * 1 for the Plasma Pistol
 * 1 for the Plasma Rifle
 * 3 for the Carbine
 * 1 for the Mongoose (Unlockable via Challenge)

Flights
No Flighting was conducted for Season 5, due to 343 Industries' staff being on leave for the 2020 Christmas period. However, Season 5 content (specifically, the new Halo Online armor sets) were added into the collection for preview purposes in a patch on December 16.

Season 5 preview stream
On January 25, 2021, 343 Industries conducted a livestream on YouTube in which they showed off the new content for the season prior to release. The stream can be found here.

Trailer
To showcase the release of Season 5 and its new customisation content, a trailer for the update was released on January 27, 2021. Notably the trailer showcased some upcoming armor not included in the Season 5 patch including the Infiltrator, Nomdagro and Operator designs.

Season 5 fan kit
On January 28, 2021, a number of 4K wallpapers were released on Halo Waypoint for fans to use, showcasing some of the new content. The fankit can be found here, and the images in the gallery section at the bottom of this article.

December patch
While Season 5 launched on January 27, 2021, the patch released in December of 2020 physically added the bugfixes and new content to the game. The patch notes for the December patch can be found here.

January 27 patch notes (Version 1.2094.0.0)
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Install Size by Version

 * Steam
 * Max size of 258 MB
 * Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass for PC
 * Max size of 6.3 GB
 * Xbox
 * Max size of 9.9 GB

New Features
Season 5, “Anvil,” begins with this update. It includes a variety of new unlockable cosmetics for Halo 3 and Halo: Reach, including new skins for armor and weapons, new nameplates, and a new Mongoose skin. The New Skins in Halo 3 toggle in settings has been expanded. Players who want to maintain a classic Halo 3 experience can flip this setting to “disabled” to avoid seeing any new cosmetic items while playing Halo 3, including weapon skins, vehicle skins, and armor. While cosmetics are disabled, any players in your game who are wearing new armor will appear with the default Mark VI. }}