[GameSpot] - Halo Infinite Season 2 Adds New Maps, Weapon Changes, Jeff Steitzer's Voice For BTB

[343iBot]

343 Industries has shared new details on Halo Infinite Season 2: Lone Wolves, which launches on May 3. As part of a ridiculously in-depth and lengthy blog post, the developer outlined some of the key points and drilled down into the specifics of what fans can expect from the sophomore season.

For Arena multiplayer, 343 is adding a new map, Catalyst, which will be available on multiple playlists at launch. The King of the Hill and Attrition modes will be added to new playlists, while the Motion Tracker--better known as radar--will see improvements to its outer edge detection, too.

For Big Team Battle, the new map Breaker will be available on Season 2 launch day. And in a very exciting development, multiplayer announcer Jeff Steitzer's voice will be added for medals that players earn. The existing multiplayer announcer will remain in place for everything else. BTB also gets a fix in the Season 2 update for a bug that caused weapon racks to spawn asymmetrically.

343 also announced that it is implementing a change to CSR so that the progression bar now reflects results from the most recent match and not the entire session.

Melee combat should be improved, too, as 343 says players will be less likely to "phase" or "whiff" on beatdown chances thanks to network improvements. Additionally, melee damage is being decreased by 10% on all weapons. For the Mangler specifically, players will need to hit two shots and a beatdown to earn a kill. Additionally, the Ravager's base shot now see a damage buff.

For Equipment, the Drop Wall gets a "slight" performance increase, while the Overshield becomes more powerful as well, providing "slightly more shielding," 343 said.

In terms of vehicle changes, collision damage--AKA splatter--for the Chopper will be increased to its "vehicle-splattering glory," 343 said. The Banshee's agility and damage output, meanwhile, will be increased to help players dominate better. And finally, the Warthog and Razorback won't flip or bounce as much with the Season 2 update.

You can see a full rundown of the Halo Infinite Season 2 update highlights below, but this is not representative of all the changes coming in Season 2. You can also read the full blog post to learn more about what's changing and why in Halo Infinite Season 2.

The blog post also confirms that a Custom Games Browser is in the early stages of production and that 343 understands people want some type of "match composer" experience that allows them to select the types of matches they want to play beyond the traditional playlists. Halo: MCC has had this feature for years and it has been very well-received. Halo Infinite could eventually get something like this, but it doesn't sound like it'll arrive anytime soon.

"In Season 2 we will have more regular rotations to our playlists, rotating out less popular playlists and putting up new ones for players to dive into," 343 said. "Long term, we're looking at more options for players to have more autonomy over what they're wanting to play while maintaining healthy matchmaking for everyone. Expect more updates on this in the future."

In other news, 343 has confirmed that Halo Infinite will eventually get new content inspired by the Paramount+ TV show.

Halo Infinite Season 2 Highlights

AUDIO

• The ability to hear an opponent’s shield recharge sound will be reduced to prevent providing too much information about a player’s location
• The volume of the Grunt Birthday Party sound effect will be increased in Campaign

MULTIPLAYER

Arena

• Catalyst (new Arena map) will be added to multiple playlists on day one
• King of the Hill will be added to multiple playlists
• Attrition will be added to multiple playlists
• In Attrition, a revived player will be able to move immediately after spawning back in
• Motion Tracker (Radar) will have its outer edge detection enabled for shooting and sprinting in social playlists

Big Team Battle

• Breaker (new BTB map) will be added to matchmaking on day one
• Jeff Steitzer’s voice is returning to call out player-earned medals
• Issue causing asymmetrical Weapon Rack spawns has been addressed

Matchmaking

• Rather than track a player’s entire session, the CSR progression bar will now reflect the progress made from their most recent match

Custom Games & Forge

• Addressing some Custom Game bugs, with more coming down the road

Personal AI & Spartan Chatter

• Balance adjustments were made to emphasize what’s most important for players

PC

• Noticeable stability improvements; the team has resolved dozens of PC crashes

SANDBOX

Networking

• Melee fights should be more consistent, with opponents “phasing” through each other less and “whiffing” less when a melee should’ve connected

Weapons

• A global melee damage decrease of 10% on all weapons will require the Mangler to land two shots and a beatdown for a kill.
• The Ravager’s base (non-charged) shot will see a damage increase

Friend or Foe (IFF) Recognition (Player Outlines)

• This system will now have options allowing players to modify the opacity and thickness based on their preferences

Equipment

• Drop Wall will see slight performance increases
• Overshield will provide slightly more shielding

Vehicles

• Chopper collision (splatter) damage will be increased to its vehicle-splattering glory
• Banshee’s agility and damage output will be increased to improve its role as a strike fighter
• Warthog & Razorback should be more resistant to flipping and bouncing

We’ll have another Outcomes blog focusing on the Live Team’s areas such as Customization, Shop, Battle Pass, Progression (Challenges), Events, Theater, and Observer Mode in the near future. Be sure to keep an eye out for it here on Halo Waypoint and give it a read when it lands.

Today’s Season 1 Outcomes blog is meant to highlight key community themes and the Halo Infinite team’s responses to each of them. To start, we’ll be going in alphabetical order and kicking things off with our teammates working on Accessibility!

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