Halo Infinite News

Season 3: Echoes Within is fast approaching, and it’s bringing two brand-new items into the sandbox. The M392 Bandit weapon and the Shroud Screen equipment are sure to add fun and skillful new ways to approach each engagement.



There will also be a few tuning updates and bug fixes for networking (“desync”) and existing sandbox items, all of which should help improve your gameplay experience.

If you want to get extra ready for Season 3, be sure to read up on our other blogs here

• Maps & Modes Preview
• Playlists & Ranked Matchmaking

Also, in case you missed, a small update in February brought a few Sandbox adjustments, such as improved accuracy when no-scoping with the S7 Sniper, reduced Frag Grenade damage radius, and more, which you can read about here.

With that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at what you can expect when Season 3 lands on March 7!

[h2]M392 Bandit[/h2]

The newest addition to the UNSC arsenal in Halo Infinite is the M392 Bandit. This semi-automatic weapon, which has a silhouette that’s reminiscent of the DMR from Halo: Reach, is best suited for mid-range combat. You won’t need to worry about bloom when going for a 5-shot kill but we’d still advise that you keep your shots controlled, as the recoil will kick up when spamming multiple shots in a row. Mastering this single-shot weapon is bound to pay off on the battlefield.



[h2]Shroud Screen[/h2]

The Shroud Screen is a launchable equipment that creates a spherical shroud upon landing, obstructing line-of-sight and sensors. Acting like a smoke screen, it can add to the fog of war in a tactically advantageous (and fun) manner if used correctly. Rewarding players with smart positioning and a strong understanding of the game flow, the Shroud Screen can buy you and your teammates time to reload, go after the objective, traverse the map without being spotted, and so much more. Use it wisely and you’ll be rewarded.



[h2]Balance Updates[/h2]
[h3]VK78 Commando[/h3]

• Tuning: The VK78 Commando will require one more shot to kill – From 8 bullets to 9 bullets to kill (damage per bullet from 20 to 17.5)

Sandbox Dev Team Notes: We got pretty consistent feedback after the Winter Update that the Commando felt better to use, people were able to keep on target and land their shots! But this new handling made it a little too easy to have a high damage output. Since the Commando was feeling good to shoot, we wanted to pursue a small nerf to its efficacy to keep it in line with other weapons in the Sandbox.

[h3]Plasma Pistol[/h3]

• Tuning: The Plasma Pistol’s charged shot will have its charged time increased and its tracking properties adjusted

Sandbox Dev Team Notes: Sandbox Dev Team Notes: The Plasma Pistol was another weapon that got a buff in the Winter Update. That patch pushed it in the right direction, but we were still not totally satisfied with it. There were two situations we were seeing on social media and running into ourselves during playtests:

• First, players could sprint with the Plasma Pistol, start getting shot in the back, turn while charging and “noob combo” the player that should have had advantage. Reversals are important to Halo, but with how strong the Plasma Pistols charged shot has to be mechanically, the reversal was just too easy. This gameplay loop is also less interesting than a charge when it takes more commitment, and rewards a player’s good positioning and timing.

Charge time increased from 1s to 1.6

• The tracking was unpredictable for victims. We want to give victims a chance to avoid the projectile if played well. To encourage this, we gave a mixture of changes to the projectile tracking which should make it more consistent overall. Player should find the projectile seeks closer to center mass but has less aggressive tracking.

Tracking Angle Max: 70 degrees → 50 degrees
Tracking Angle Min: 35 degrees → 25 degrees
Tracking Target Radius: 0.5 wu → 0.3 wu (World Units)

As mentioned in our February tuning update blog, we did plan on reducing the amount of power on the map in Ranked due to weapon respawn rates and ammo counts. We updated the respawn timers in February and we’ve updated the ammo counts on select weapons in Season 3. In Ranked, you can expect to see fewer rounds of ammo in the CQS48 Bulldog, Heatwave, Shock Rifle, and Stalker Rifle to help address this community feedback.

To further improve the flow of gameplay in Ranked Arena, Season 3 will also bring a few changes that the HCS Team discussed in their latest competitive blog.

• Enemy footsteps are now harder to hear at a distance, but easier to hear when very close. We’ve also improved the accuracy of enemy location based on footstep audio when enemies are above, below, or behind you.
  
• Removed from Ranked Arena: Mangler, Energy Sword, Pulse Carbine
  
• Will receive future tuning: Disruptor, Spike Grenades

We’re excited to see how the gameplay meta continues to evolve with these changes. As always, please make sure to share your feedback online about how everything feels to you once you’ve had a chance to go hands-on with Season 3.

[h2]Networking & “Desync” Improvements[/h2]
Beyond creating new weapons and updating existing ones, the team has also been hard at work improving the foundation of the online experience. Season 3 will bring about another round of improvements to address feedback around “desync” and networking during matches.

[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]

• Rubberbanding is less likely to occur when moving or sprinting immediately after a match starts
  
• Ammo, Equipment, and Grenades counts are more consistent after entering and exiting a vehicle
  
• On the map Behemoth, players are now less likely to experience rubberbanding while using the Grappleshot to pick up a weapon from a Power Weapon pad
  
• Vehicles are now less likely to desync when players use the Repulsor against them
  
• Melee attacks are now more likely to register while holding a Power Seed

[h3]Campaign Network Co-Op[/h3]

• When playing with an unlocked framerate on PC, rubberbanding and teleporting is now less likely to occur in the mission Warship Gbraakon
  
• Players are now less likely to fall through the floor of the gondola in the mission Conservatory
  
• Stuttering and teleporting are now less likely to occur after taking the teleporter to the elevator room in the mission Spire
  
• Rubberbanding and teleporting is now less likely to occur in the Pelican at the end of the mission Outpost Tremonius

We appreciate the support and feedback around our sandbox and Halo Infinite all-up. We’re excited to continue improving the experience, and we’ll see you when we take that next step together when Season 3: Echoes Within releases on March 7!

Pardon our dust.



Beginning at 8:30 am PT on March 7, Halo Infinite will undergo scheduled maintenance to prepare for the launch of Season 3: Echoes Within.



Online multiplayer and many other features may be unavailable during this time.

Be sure to follow @HaloSupport on Twitter for the latest updates on this maintenance period.

Season 3 will bring many updates to Halo Infinite and that includes new content for matchmaking, new playlists, as well as improvements to the ranking system.



Let's dive in and check out what you can expect, and get the details on what’s changing for Season 3!

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[h2]Playlists For The Month[/h2]

Season 3 brings with it 3 entirely new maps in Chasm and Cliffhanger for 4v4 Arena, as well as Oasis for Big Team Battle. Our version of “gun game”, Escalation Slayer, also makes its way into Season 3.

As with Empyrean, we’re offering a special playlist for the first week that only features Chasm and Cliffhanger called New Arena Unlimited. After a week, New BTB Unlimited will rotate into that slot and exclusively feature Oasis for the next week.

[h3]New Arena Unlimited[/h3]

• 4v4
  
• Maps: Chasm and Cliffhanger
  
• Modes: Escalation Slayer (new mode!), CTF, King of the Hill, Slayer, Strongholds, One Flag CTF

[h3]New BTB Unlimited[/h3]

• 12v12
  
• Map: Oasis
  
• Modes: BTB Escalation Slayer (new mode!), CTF, Slayer, Fiesta, Fiesta Total Control, Total Control

We’ve also updated most of the playlists to feature Season 3’s new content with an increased weighting for the start of the season.

[h3]Playlists Featuring New Content[/h3]

• Quick Play
  
• Bot Bootcamp
  
• Fiesta
  
• Team Slayer
  
• Tactical Slayer
  
• Big Team Battle

And here’s a look at the full calendar for the month so you can see when each playlist will make its way into the game.



We can’t wait to jump into matchmaking with you on March 7 when Season 3 releases!

To talk about ranked, I’m going to pass it over to Tashi with the latest.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Ranked Improvements[/h2]
[h3]CSR-Based Matchmaking[/h3]

As announced and released on February 28, we’ve made an update to the ranking system to match based on CSR as opposed to MMR. From a philosophical standpoint, this means teams will match based on what they’ve accomplished in the system as opposed to an underlying skill rating. While today we’re nearing the end of the season and almost all active players have settled into a rank, the experience will be different from prior seasons on March 7 when the rank reset hits. There will still be placement matches but you might find that early on there are higher skilled players in matches where there weren’t ones for prior season starts. Because matching is done on CSR, the players at the higher skill rank (Onyx, for example) will have to qualify (Diamond 4 is highest placement) and then work their way out of Diamond and into Onyx. This will mean that you might see some more lopsided matches at the start of the season, particularly for true Diamond players, while players settle into their ranks. And, for those wondering, we will use MMR to match players who are still completing their placement matches.



The Fireteam CSR Limit range has not changed as part of this update and is as follows:

• For 899 CSR (Gold 6) or lower, there are no restrictions.
  
• At 900 CSR (Platinum 1) a limit of 900 points is introduced.
  
• Between 900 CSR (Platinum 1) and 1500 CSR (Onyx) the Fireteam CSR limit will slowly tighten as you climb the ranks. It will start at the 900 limit mentioned above and tighten to its final destination of 500. This essentially means that on the way to Onyx, every 2 CSR gained will tighten the Fireteam limit by an increment of 1 CSR
  For example, if a player progresses from 900 CSR (Platinum 1) to 1200 CSR (Diamond 1), their Fireteam CSR limit would tighten from 900 to a stricter 750. At this new 1200 CSR, the lowest rank they could party up with would then be 1200 (their CSR) – 750 (the Fireteam CSR limit) = 450, or Silver 4
• At 1500 CSR and above, the limit is 600 points
  For example, if a player was Onyx 1700, the lowest CSR they could party up with would be 100 or Platinum 5

We’re going to closely monitor the performance of these changes across all CSR divisions to ensure things are behaving as expected via data as well what player feedback we see online.


[h3]Placement Matches[/h3]

Placement matches are in place to ensure we’re accurately putting players in the appropriate division to ensure they have a smooth and fair experience once they’ve been placed. While this is working, we’re also finding that the number of placement matches is also creating a barrier between friends who want to play together but haven’t finished their matches yet. In order to alleviate this, we’re reducing the placement matches required from 10 to 5.

Our hope is that we see more players complete their placement matches and continue on their ranked journey to improving and testing themselves against other players.

Like with CSR matchmaking, we’re going to keep a close eye on the performance of this update and will make further tweaks in the future if needed.

[hr][/hr]
We’re excited for these playlist and Ranked updates to come together with the launch of Season 3: Echoes Within, and we’re looking forward to jumping in to play them with you on March 7.

To get a closer look at the three new maps, be sure to check out our latest Maps & Modes Preview blog!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Running alongside the start of Halo Infinite's Season 3, Mindfall is the first of two narrative events this season.



From March 7-21, the Mindfall narrative event delivers a free 10-tier Event Pass containing a variety of cosmetics to outfit your new MIRAGE IIC Armor Core, along with new cinematics.

The Echoes Within beckon...

Catch the Season 3 trailer ahead of time!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]