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This article was last updated: (1/13/2022) Introduction: Hello to all Halo fans and players! The following article was written by myself in 2013 when Halo 4 was less than one year old on Xbox 360. Since then, this article has been updated and expanded to provide more detailed and accurate information when available. As of January 13th, 2022, most online functionality for the Halo titles released on Xbox 360 has been discontinued. You can read more about the full extent of this shutdown through the link below: https://support.halowaypoint.com/hc/en-us/articles/360054131591-Xbox-360-only-online-services-will-be-reduced-or-disabled-for-Halo-360-Games-on-January-13-2022- Please note that offline Single-Player and Local Multiplayer/System Link functionality for these games has not been affected. Furthermore, the method for earning XP offline in Halo 4 as detailed below is now the ONLY method to earn XP in the Xbox 360 version of Halo 4. This method will continue to work after January 13th, 2022, but only with an Xbox 360 profile that's not tied to an Xbox Live account. I hope you find the information provided useful and share it with others who may need it. If you have any questions about the method that aren't addressed here, feel free to send an email to [email protected] and I will provide further assistance if needed. ------------------------------------------ This is likely to be my last edit to this article, so I would like to just leave things off with some of my closing thoughts: Ever since I became a Halo fan back in 2010, I can't emphasize to you enough how much this series has changed my life and made me the person that I am today. I cried when the Legacy Halo servers went offline, as if I could feel a part of me was being ripped away beyond my control. Nevertheless, I am and will always be thankful that I was able to experience these amazing Halo titles the way they were meant to be experienced, and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world. Writing these last few paragraphs has helped me cope greatly with everything and I thank you for taking the time to hear what I have to say. If you happen to stumble across this article sometime in the distant future, I hope the information I have provided can help you in a significant way to make the most of your Halo experience. From one Halo fan to another, may each of your days be totally epically awesome. Snipe MD (formerly SNIP3m101) ------------------------------------------ Hey Hey, it's me SNIP3m101 here with this week's post. If you are a Halo veteran and have played Halo Reach before, you would know that you could earn credits for fighting and scoring kills in Matchmaking, Firefight and the Campaign which could be used to purchase new armor and goodies for customization purposes. Halo 4 however is a much different story in this regard. Players originally couldn't find a way to earn XP offline and were instead forced to play Matchmaking or Spartan Ops while connected to Xbox Live to earn XP, which was discouraging for content creators and casual players who couldn't connect online to play with others. In spite of this, I have found a slow but effective solution to earning XP offline especially if you still have a 4 GB budget Xbox 360 and haven't upgraded yet. The things you need for this to work are as follows: (Although it goes without saying, please note that this method will not work with the version of Halo 4 released on the Master Chief Collection for Xbox One and PC.) . An Xbox 360 (any model) . Halo 4 (with Disk 2) . An Xbox 360 Hard Drive (or high-speed 8GB or higher Flash Drive) . An Xbox 360 controller (preferably with a USB charger cable) . Friends (optional) First, set up your Xbox 360 console as detailed in the instruction manual and boot it up. After this, insert Disk 2 of Halo 4 into the disk drive. After starting the disk up, it prompts you to install War Games and Spartan Ops (the contents of the disk) onto the console (Please note that 4.2 GBs of free space space is required to install the contents of Disk 2 onto the system. As a result, you cannot install Disk 2 on a 4GB Xbox 360 without some form of external storage). Install the contents of the disk onto an 360 Hard Drive or configure a USB flash drive for Xbox storage (if the flash drive is not specifically designed for use with Xbox 360) and use that instead. After the installation is finished, insert Disk 1 and load it up. Once installation of Disk 2 is complete, four options should become available from the Multiplayer menu: War Games, Spartan Ops, Forge, and Theater. If you go to either War Games or Spartan Ops (both modes from which you can earn XP), it says you need an Xbox Live Gold account to play it. Unfortunately there is no way to work around this while offline (even with Spartan Ops), but there is an option (albeit a slower one) to earn XP while offline. Go into the War Games menu and pick "Custom Game". Now, pick a game mode and map that fits your fancy (preferably any of the Slayer or Regicide variants), and set the time for EXACTLY 10 MINUTES (this will provide you with the maximum amount of credits for this method). Make sure that your console is set to Local Play from the Settings tab (not Xbox Live), and start the game. If you have friends to play with, this is where they would become useful. After the 10 minutes have elapsed, the victory sign will appear and you will be transferred to the XP-earning screen. It is here that you'll earn varying amounts of offline XP depending on certain factors (if you played with other people, the game type, how long you played, your current SR rank, etc.). Keep in mind that any game lasting longer than 10 minutes is a waste unless your playing local split-screen with friends, as there is a per-game XP cap when playing by yourself that maxes out at the 10 minute mark. You can repeat this process as many times as you wish to gain a higher SR rank, gain more XP and eventually unlock more armor. Furthermore, the amount of XP you get will slightly increase each time your SR rank increases, up to 1190 XP per game. The majesty of this method is that you can start a 10 minute game BY YOURSELF and get XP for doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. You can do anything you want to do (like clean your room or browse the web) and every 10 minutes you'll get XP towards your specialization. It is also a method for content creators to get the armor they want/need for their video production. Before performing this method, here are a few important things you should know: . As you are unable to connect to an Xbox Live Account using this method, the highest SR rank you can reach offline is SR50. As a result, Specializations and their associated armor pieces are unavailable while offline. . This method will only work with an Xbox 360 Profile that isn't linked to an Xbox Live Account. When you start up your Xbox 360, you will be prompted to choose a sign-in profile. If the profile you select has "Xbox Live" under the Gamertag, this method will not work on that account and you'll have to make a separate Xbox 360 profile. I hope this guide helps you guys out, and if you have any questions post them on this thread and I'll find time to answer them. Until next week, I hope you all have a totally epically awesome day! Holding the fort, SNIP3m101-(last seen at Circuit City )