Hitman Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Hitman Wiki

Icon-Escalation

Escalation Contracts (also known as "Escalations") are a new form of gameplay in the World of Assassination Trilogy, introduced in HITMAN™.

Overview[]

Escalation Contracts require the player to complete specific objectives, such as killing targets or hacking laptops, which are unusual compared to the standard mission it is based on, and may feature conditions, complications and set-pieces not found in any other game mode, across various levels. By beating every level, the Escalation Contract will be completed. They are found exclusively in each location's individual tab, or previewed on the Featured menu.

Description[]

Just like a normal contract, an Escalation contract requires the player to kill one to several targets, with added requisites like using a certain weapon for the kill or killing the target while wearing a certain disguise. However, after a the contract is completed, the contract must be repeated with greater difficulty. The player will face an added challenge which may be more targets, prohibitions on being seen, or certain conditions like using a disguise only once or avoid any subduing whatsoever.

Some contracts may not even require killing anyone. The Mills Reverie & many HITMANTM III Escalation Contracts heavily modify the existing map to offer a unique challenge, whilst still retaining complications and conditions. This can be simply changing the time of day or adding a filter, or it can also include unique starting locations, cinematic introductions & narrations with unique voicelines, large original setpieces, new or migrated NPCs not normally on the map, unique items, different music, multiple tied challenges & unique mechanics such as vitality or score-boards against another assassin.

Some HITMANTM III Escalation Contracts are permanent seasonal content, akin to the Summer Bonus Missions & Patient Zero campaign of HITMANTM, but still in escalation form: multiple levels, insta-fail conditions, no saving, constant online access required, no briefing, no intel, no handler, no mission stories & in one case, Restricted Loadout.

Levels[]

Escalation contracts (bar one) had five levels in HITMANTM, but since the GOTY edition of HITMANTM and continuing onward for HITMANTM 2 & HITMANTM III (again, bar one), they now have three. Once the player advances an escalation contract level, it is not possible to go back and play a specific level. The player may, however, reset the contract level to one from the menu.

Completing the last level of an Escalation Contract will award the player with the feat of the same title, mastery points in that destination, and occassionally will also reward items & suits. Some rewards are also available after starting the Escalation Contract or completing the first level.

Complications in later stages of an Escalation Contract tend to block obvious and/or easy solutions for carrying out the mission. More contracts nowadays do not actually escalate the previous level, but change the target/s, objective/s, and/or available parts of the location every time.

Planning and Execution[]

When planning, the available starting locations and smuggling points are the ones unlocked by mastery level. It is therefore recommended to finish the story mission before attempting Escalation Contracts for that location if the contract allows you to select said starting locations and smuggle points, as some contracts can be very difficult without it. As an example, if a contract does not allow the player to pacify anybody, it would be wise to start the contract with a disguise. The same thing happens with certain kill conditions, as if the contract requires the target to be killed with an explosive, it would be better if the player can plan ahead and bring a remote explosive.

With that said, every contract is playable regardless of the player's mastery level or unlocked content. In the previous example of having the requirement of not pacifying anybody, if a kill requires a certain disguise, it will be obtainable without the need of subduing anybody.

Complications and Kill Conditions[]

Many Escalation Contracts have the Restricted Loadout complication for some or all of its levels (visible or otherwise), preventing you from planning the mission at all, or will simply remove certain options for starting locations and smuggle points, which may subsequently affect loadout slots and available items (such as briefcases and larger items contained therein) too.

As with normal contracts, killing the target without following the contract rules will automatically fail the mission, but also there may be requirements that may make the player fail the mission immediately and that will be specified on the briefing. Certain conditions may make the player fail the contract even if the mission does not stop, such as subduing a target that needs to be killed with a melee weapon or poison, disposing of a body in a way that the disguise is not reachable while being one of the contract rules, or any of the targets escaping. Finally, complications are insta-fails in Escalation Contracts, or will result in killing and failing you anyway, such as the Extreme Security complication.

List of Escalation Contracts[]

(* indicates the escalation is also available in HITMANTM 2 & HITMANTM III.)

(† indicates the escalation is only available in the World of Assassination Deluxe Pack.)

Freeform Training[]

The Final Test[]

The Showstopper[]

World of Tomorrow[]

The Icon[]

Landslide[]

A Gilded Cage[]

A House Built on Sand[]

Club 27[]

Freedom Fighters[]

Situs Inversus[]

Nightcall[]

The Finish Line[]

Three-Headed Serpent[]

Chasing a Ghost[]

Another Life[]

The Ark Society[]

Golden Handshake[]

The Last Resort[]

On Top of the World[]

Death in the Family[]

Apex Predator[]

End of an Era[]

The Farewell[]

Untouchable[]

Codenames[]

In the World of Assassination trilogy, all of the Escalation contracts available on all three games are based on flowers and plants. Just like Elusive Targets, all escalations have UI codenames in their respective contracts (see below for more details).

Format: ['UI_CONTRACT_(Flower / Plant Name in All Caps)_GROUP_TITLE']

  • Amaranth - The Lupei Sensitivity
  • Amaryllis - The Holcraft Vendetta
  • Ambrosia - The Lust Assignation
  • Anemone - The Gemini Fiasco
  • Angelica - The Sebastian Principle
  • Anthogonium - The Raaz Algorithm
  • Arctic Thyme - The Bartholomew Hornswoggle
  • Arrayan - The Turms Infatuation
  • Artemisia - The Szilassi Darkness
  • Asagao - The Yuuma Tenacity
  • Ashoka - The Chameleon Anonymity
  • Azalea - The Gluttony Gobble
  • Bakerian - The Treasonous Mimicry
  • Bamboo - The Kotti Paradigm
  • Baneberry - The McCallister Ransack
  • Begonia - The Eccleston Illumination
  • Bellflower - The Proloff Parable
  • Bergamot - The Zunino Disintegration
  • Blackthorn - The Holmwood Disturbance
  • Blood Lily - The Asya Attunement
  • Bluebell - The Osterman Mosaic
  • Blueberrybush - The Purplekey Peril
  • Calluna - The MacMillan Surreptition
  • Camellia - The Varvara Mystification
  • Cardinal - The Unpalatable Termination
  • Catchfly - The BigMooney Flamboyancy
  • Cereus - The Ataro Caliginosity
  • Chrysanthemum - The Gladwyn Simulacrum
  • Claytonia - The O'Leary Conflagration
  • Clematis - The Reziko Conundrum
  • Clover - The Marsden Isotopy
  • Cornflower - The Satu Mare Delirium
  • Crinum - The Riviera Restoration
  • Cyclamen - The Perkins Disarray
  • Daffodil - The Scorpio Directive
  • Dahlia - The Babayeva Dissonance
  • Daisy - The Farley Crescendo
  • Dandelion - The Dalton Dissection
  • Delphinium - The Arthin Occultation
  • Desert Rose - The Asmodeus Waltz
  • Edelweiss - The Selmone Mimesis
  • Fern - The Percival Passage
  • Foxglove - The Hexagon Protocol
  • Frangipani - The Envy Contention
  • Galium - The Scarlett Deceit
  • Geranium - The Somsak Equation
  • Ginseng - The Lee Hong Derivation
  • Gloriosa - The Han Encasement
  • Goosefoot - The Teague Temptation
  • Gorse - The Nolan Disinfection
  • Grapebush - The Argentine Acrimony
  • Grass Snake - Berlin Egg Hunt
  • Harebell - The Sloth Depletion
  • Hawthorn - The Adrian Eclipse
  • Heather - The Rafael Misadventure
  • Hedgebush - The PapaLevy Plunderage
  • Hellebore - The Cheveyo Calibration
  • Hibiscus - The Caden Composition
  • Hogweed - The Marinello Motivation
  • Holly - The Truman Contravention
  • Hollyhock - The Wrath Termination
  • Honeysuckle - The Sokoloff Sophistication
  • Hyacinth - The Andersen Animosity
  • Iris - The Bahadur Dexterity
  • Jacaranda - The Pasquel Consortium
  • Jasmine - The Lyndon Gyration
  • Juniper - The Videl Cataclysm
  • Kosumosu - The Meiko Incarnation
  • Kowhai - unnamed
  • Lamium - The Simmons Concussion
  • Larkspur - The Wetzel Determination
  • Lavender - The Scarlatti Covenant
  • Lilac - The Apeiron Sadness
  • Longbush - The Sleazeball Situation
  • Lotus - The Quimby Quandary
  • Lunaria - The Greed Enumeration
  • Lupine - The Raskoph Satisfaction
  • Magnolia - The Jinzhen Incident
  • Makoyana - The Pride Profusion
  • Marigold - The Mandelbulb Requiem
  • Milfoil - The Achilles Proposals
  • Milkweed - The Covert Dispersal
  • Monkshood - The Divine Descendance
  • Moon Flower - The Agana Abyss
  • Myrtle - The Batty Tranquility
  • Nicotiana - The Adamoli Fascination
  • Night Phlox - The Lesley Celebration
  • Nightshade - The Seeger Beguilement
  • Nutmeg - The Hirani Evacuation
  • Opuntia - The Mills Reverie
  • Orchid - The Sigma Illusion
  • Pansy - The Aelwin Augment
  • Pentas - The Sweeney Scrupulousness
  • Peony - The Kerner Disquiet
  • Plumbago - The Aquatic Retribution
  • Pontus - The Kukri Convention
  • Primrose - The Shapiro Omen
  • Protea - The Dubious Cohabitation
  • Rafflesia - The Delgado Larceny
  • Rhododendron - The Kilie Agitation
  • Rose - The Spaggiari Subversion
  • Rosebush - The Dez Dichotomy
  • Sakura - The Susumu Obsession
  • Salvia - The Ignatiev Integrity
  • Scullcap - The Otaktay Obliteration
  • Shangrila - The Mendietinha Madness
  • Sheep's Sorrel - The Sinbad Stringent
  • Smilax - The Halliwell Fable
  • Smooth Snake - The Dartmoor Garden Show
  • Snake's Head - The Baskerville Barney
  • Snapdragon - The Montague Audacity
  • Snowdrop - The Einarsson Inception
  • Sunflower - The Hamartia Compulsion
  • Thistle - The Mallory Misfortune
  • Thornbush - The Dammchicu Disaster
  • Titanumarum - The Merle Revelation
  • Torenia - The Corky Commotion
  • Tulip - The Ezekiel Paradox
  • Tumbleweed - The Dexter Discordance
  • Venus Flytrap - The Danish Misconception
  • Vine - The Phoenix Ascension
  • White Dryas - The Gauchito Antiquity
  • Wisteria - The Granville Curiosity
  • Wolfsbane - The Snorrason Ascension
  • Zinnia - The Calvino Cacophony
Advertisement