[GameSpot] - Halo Infinite Season 2 Patch Notes Revealed For The Huge Update

[343iBot]

It's a big week for Halo Infinite, with the sci-fi shooter's much-anticipated Season 2: Lone Wolves update out now across console and PC. In addition to adding new maps and modes--including the battle royale-like Last Spartan Standing--the update makes a long list of balance changes, bug fixes, and other improvements to the core experience.

The full patch notes are out now and can be seen below, as shared on the Halo Support website. For starters, melee damage has been reduced across the board in multiplayer and campaign by 10%. Specifically, this change makes the Mangler less deadly, as it now requires a two-shot beatdown instead of a one-shot beatdown. In Ranked multiplayer, the Battle Rifle now has more melee damage.

The Ravager, meanwhile, sees its base shot buffed, so much that it's now possible to land a two-burst kill with it. As for equipment, the Drop Wall is now stronger and deploys faster, while the Overshield now grants an additional half-bar of shielding.

Vehicles see some changes, too, with Warthog handling improved on uneven terrain by adjusting the vehicle's tire positions and suspension. The Chopper, meanwhile, can now one-hit kill all vehicles except the Scorpion and Wraith. The Banshee sees its mobility and weapon damage increased.

Developer 343 has also adjusted player movement abilities, with velocity gained from sliding into a ramp has proportional reduction based on the fall height. Jumping, meanwhile, sees an update that includes collision fixes on all multiplayer maps.

This is just a very, very small sampling of what's new in Season 2: Lone Wolves. Be sure to read GameSpot's extended Halo Infinite: Season 2 Lone Wolves coverage to learn more, and have a look at the full patch notes below. Note that these granular changes are in addition to the new free content that's available in Season 2, including new maps and Microsoft's iconic mascot Clippy.

BALANCE CHANGES

WEAPONS

Melee

• Melee damage has been reduced by 10% in both multiplayer and campaign.
  • In multiplayer, this change to melee damage makes the Mangler a 2-shot beatdown rather than a 1-shot beatdown.
  • In Ranked multiplayer only, the Battle Rifle has increased melee damage.
    • This change was made to preserve the Battle Rifle's two-burst beatdown after the global melee reduction.
• Other changes to melee will also result in the following improvements for multiplayer:
  • "Traded" melee kills will occur more often now than in Season 1.
  • Improved snapping to enemies during melee lunges.
  • Improved enemy collision immediately after meleeing.

Mangler

• In addition to the melee damage change noted above, the following changes were also made to the Mangler in multiplayer:
  • Reduced starting reserve ammo from 24 to 16.
  • Reduced max ammo capacity from 56 to 40.

Ravager

• The Ravager's base shot is now stronger than before and is therefore capable of a two-burst kill.

EQUIPMENT

Drop Wall

• The Drop Wall is now stronger than before and deploys faster once it hits the ground.

Overshield

• The Overshield now grants an additional half bar of shielding.

VEHICLES

Warthog

• The Warthog's tire positions and suspension have been adjusted to better improve its handling on uneven terrain.

Chopper

• When boosting, the Chopper will now one hit kill all vehicles except for the Scorpion and Wraith.

Banshee

• The Banshee's mobility and weapons have received multiple buffs:
  • The Banshee can now move slower and faster than before, including when turning.
  • Weapons cooldown faster and deal more damage.

SYSTEMS

Slide

• Velocity gained from landing into a slide on a ramp has proportional reduction based on fall height.

JUMPS

• Multiple collision fixes on all previously released multiplayer maps. Some examples of these improvements include:
  • Smoothing out traversal on the ground.
  • Fixing player's standing on out of bounds rock ledges.
  • Removing or adjusting collision on small props and thin ledges.

RESOLVED ISSUES AND BUG FIXES

GLOBAL

Sandbox

• Grappling a Fusion Coil through a Drop Wall will no longer drag the Dropwall in towards the player.
• Bullet decals now appear correctly when firing at surfaces from an odd angle.
• Various power weapons and turrets now fit better in the Razorback's rear storage area.
• Debris knocked off from a damaged or destroyed vehicles will no longer revert to its pre-damage appearance.
• Power weapons (like the Skewer or Rocket Launcher) will no longer deal extra damage when fired at a vehicle's windshield.
• Meleeing an enemy and then immediately using the Repulsor against them will now knockback the enemy the expected amount rather than a shorter knockback.
• Boarding the back of an enemy Wraith or Scorpion then planting a grenade will now kill the driver.
• Man Cannons will now alter the trajectory of rockets fired from a Rockethog's turret.
• After being picked up, the M41 SPNKR is now ready to fire faster. Swapping to the M41 SPNKR, zooming in, and firing is slightly faster as well.
• The Dynamo grenade's "ticking" sound effect no longer plays continuously if a Dynamo grenade is dealing damage to enemies during a respawn.
• The Grappleshot's cable now consistently appears to fire from the player's wrist.
• The Grappleshot will now consistently attach to equipment and grenades.
• Firing a weapon immediately after swapping between equipped weapons will now feel more responsive.
• The Heads-Up Display (HUD) element for hold actions has been improved to better show an active hold's progress.
• Improved the transition between the third-person animations for clambering and sprinting.

PC

• Improved stability across the entire Halo Infinite experience. Players should expect to see less crashes and hangs, especially on PC.
  • If you're experiencing crashes after updating, please submit a ticket to Halo Support. Key details to include in crash tickets are:
    • Step-by-step instructions on what causes the crash. The more specific, the better!
    • Confirmation that the console/PC's operating system (OS) is up-to-date.
    • If possible, video or screenshots of the moments leading up to the crash.
    • For PC crashes:
      • Confirmation that the PC's graphics drivers are up-to-date.
      • Attach an up-to-date DxDiag file. To create a DxDiag file, type "dxdiag" into the Start menu's search bar, press the Enter key, then click "Save All Information" when the DirectX Diagnostic Tool pops up.
      • Include the Problem Report from the Control Panel app. To find this, open the Control Panel and enter "problem reports" in the search bar. Click "View all problem reports" then locate the recent Halo Infinite report. Double click on this Halo Infinite entry then use the "Copy to clipboard" button near the bottom of the window. Finally, paste this text into your ticket's comments.
• Improved Video RAM (VRAM) management and various bug fixes for graphics processing unit (GPU) hangs to improve stability and performance on PC.
• PCs with AMD Integrated Graphics hardware may experience less graphical corruptions.
  
  • AMD Integrated Graphics are below Halo Infinite’s minimum system specifications. Gameplay on this hardware may be functional but is likely not performant.
• Players with some NVIDIA graphics cards will no longer see stretched or distorted models in gameplay.

Settings

• The Field-of-View (FOV) option no longer changes by one point when backing out of the Settings menu.
  
  • More information about changing the FOV setting can be found in the "How to change the FOV setting in Halo Infinite" article.
• The Minimum and Maximum Frame Rate options have been improved to allow for continuous adjustments to Custom values.
• Outer and Inner Trigger Deadzones options have been added in the Controller tab of the Settings menu.
  • These options should be adjusted when using a controller with trigger stops. If the trigger stops are active, the default Trigger Deadzones will not allow for actions that require a full trigger press to occur. Affected actions include charging weapons like the Plasma Pistol and Ravager.

Xbox consoles

• On Xbox consoles, narrative sequences will now pause when Halo Infinite is suspended or the Xbox Guide is open.

MULTIPLAYER

Gameplay

• The crouching and clambering sound effects for players using Active Camo will no longer be audible to other players.
• The third-person Shield Recharge sound effect is now quieter than before, so it will give away player locations less often.
• Weapon racks on either side of symmetrical Big Team Battle (BTB) maps will now spawn the same weapon.
  • If you spot any asymmetrical Weapon Rack spawns, please submit a ticket or update your existing ticket(s).
• Enemies will not be able to see players who are joining an in-progress multiplayer match before the loading player gains control of their Spartan.
  
  • If you encounter this issue after installing this update, please submit a ticket or update your existing ticket(s).
• Marking the Defend Flag icon in Capture the Flag (CTF) now plays the correct sound effect.
• Improved player collision when meleeing enemies.
  
  • Read more about Season 2's melee improvements in the Balance Changes section of this Patch Notes article.
• Multiple improvements related to vehicles and server-client synchronization.
  
  • More info about this issue and Halo Infinite's networking can be found in the "Closer Look: Halo Infinite's Online Experience" blog on Halo Waypoint.

Visual

• Arm-mounted equipment, like the Grappleshot and Repulsor, no longer appear to float above prosthetic arms.
• The left shoulder pad in the Jorge-052 armor kit now has the correct texture.
• The Neon Screen and Neon Hawk armor effects are now correctly aligned over the player model's helmet.
• Vehicle models for the M12 Warthog can now be applied to the M15 Razorback and M12R Rockethog.
• Nameplates will no longer be cutoff during a multiplayer match's intro sequence.
• All player models in a multiplayer match's intro sequence will now face toward the camera and animate as expected.
• On ultrawide monitors, player models are no longer cutoff during a multiplayer match's intro sequence.
• Players will no longer experience a black screen while loading into online multiplayer matches.
• First person player models now load in faster when respawning in a multiplayer match.
• Players will no longer spawn underneath the map when loading into a multiplayer match.
• When a control point in Total Control is being captured, the correct team's color will now always be shown on the Heads-Up Display's (HUD) capture indicator.
• Site capture banners in Total Control now have a smoother animation.
• Vehicles will now consistently spawn at their intended size.
• A vent box in Aquarius that sometimes flickered in and out of view is now consistently visible.
• Player models should no longer appear stuck in walls, floors, or ceilings.
  
  • If you encounter this issue after installing this update, please submit a ticket or update your existing ticket(s).
• Crosshairs for all weapons now appear the same in solo and splitscreen sessions.
• Shadows no longer appear to flicker for some players in splitscreen multiplayer.
• In 4-player splitscreen, the “Return to the Battlefield” warning overlay now appears on the correct player’s screen.

Menus

• The Post-Game Carnage Report (PGCR) is now blurred when new menus are opened on top of it.
• After completing a Ranked Arena match, the post-match CSR meter now shows the progress made from the completed match rather than the progress made since the last time the game was launched.
  • For more details on how Ranked multiplayer system works, review the "Closer Look: Halo Infinite's Ranked Experience" blog on Halo Waypoint.
• If Halo Infinite is not already running, accepting a game invite on Discord will now consistently launch Halo Infinite.
• When playing splitscreen on an Xbox console, players other than player 1 can now use the Back button to navigate out of the Multiplayer menu.
• Changes to the selected multiplayer Voice in the Spartan ID menu are now consistently reflected in-game.
• The Network Status widget will now always display network connection errors, even when the full widget is disabled. These errors will appear for all players in the top right corner of the screen.
  
  • The full widget can be enabled in the UI section of the Settings menu.
• Automated bans will now provide the ban's end date and time, as well as a brief description of the behavior that led to the ban.
  • For more information about automated bans and Halo Safety's ban appeal process, visit the "How to File a Ban Appeal" article.

Custom Games

• LAN servers are now more stable when entering consecutive matches in a single session.
• In Custom Games, players will now consistently join the team they are assigned to in the lobby menu.
• Players who switch to the Observer team while setting up a Free-For-All (FFA) Custom Game will now appear as an Observer in the lobby menu rather than a player.
• The Mode Editor menu in the Custom Games lobby now shows all available options when Halo Infinite is launched offline.

Challenges and Medals

• The Skyjack and Grapple-Jack medals are now awarded more consistently when hijacking enemy vehicles with the Grappleshot.
• Hijacking a Banshee with the Grappleshot will now count towards the Grapple-Jack Challenge and other Challenges as expected.
• The Mind the Gap medal now consistently unlocks when its requirements are met, and it is now awarded when repulsing an occupied enemy vehicle off the edge of the map.

CAMPAIGN

Menus

• Small black patches or "holes" will no longer appear on the TacMap.
• All MJOLNIR armor lockers are now visible on the TacMap.
• The TacMap now reflects the selected Brightness value.
  
  • Brightness can be adjusted by using the Screen Calibration menu found in the Video tab of the Settings menu.
• When picking up a Skull for the first time, the tutorial pop-up will no longer say that Achievements and saves are disabled while Skulls are active.
  
  • Since Halo Infinite's launch, both Achievements and Saves have been enabled when Skulls are active.
• When the User Interface (UI) Narration feature is enabled, each mission's collectibles count will be narrated when the mission's banner appears on-screen.
  
  • UI Narration can be enabled or adjusted in the Accessibility tab of the Settings menu.
• Players can now unlock equipment upgrades while Linear Navigation is enabled.
  
  • Linear Navigation can be enabled or disabled in the Accessibility tab of the Settings menu.

Gameplay

• The Grappleshot indicator will no longer appear when the Blind Skull is active.
• The Boom Skull, found in the mission Warship Gbraakon, will now appear when scanning the environment.
• The sound effects for the Grunt Birthday Party Skull can now be heard over greater distances.
• On the mission Excavation Site, restarting the game and dying in the Banished's laser will no longer cause the player to respawn with invincibility.
• The "tank gun" found in the Outpost Tremonious mission is no longer available.
  • This change has not removed the tank gun from any existing saves where it has already been picked up.
• Standing on top of a Fusion Coil then grappling it now results in the player picking up the Fusion Coil.
• Improvements to player collision when using the Grappleshot's First Strike ability.
• A "Saving Progress" message will no longer become stuck on-screen during the campaign's final cutscene.

Mission Progression

• Multiple progression issues with the Banished outpost Ransom Keep have been addressed.
  
  • If you are unable to progress in Ransom Keep or your completion has reset, please submit a ticket or update your existing ticket(s).
• The bridge in the mission The Road now consistently extends after skipping related dialogue.
• Players will no longer be locked out of the boss fight in the mission The Tower after Fast Traveling away from the mission's area.
• The mission Warship Gbraakon will now progress normally after quitting during the intro video or restarting the mission during the escape sequence.
• The Thruster ability is now consistently usable after acquiring it in The Conservatory then restarting the mission.

ACADEMY

• Expanded Training Mode Options to allow for more fine tuning of bot behaviors.
• All match options in Training Mode now have a description.
• The following Weapon Drills have been adjusted so that the third star is easier to attain:
  • Needler: Tier 2
  • Bulldog: Tier 3
• In Weapon Drills, repetitive "Damage Dealt" messages no longer appear on-screen when attacking bots. Although these messages no longer appear, the score for damage inflicted on bots is still being counted.
• Pausing the game during the intro sequence of a Training Mode session no longer mutes most sound effects.
• A static, inaccurate scoreboard no longer appears when loading a Weapon Drill with the Heads-Up Display (HUD) disabled.
  
  • The HUD can be enabled or disabled in the User Interface (UI) tab of the Settings menu.
• Epic Armor Effects now appear correctly in Academy's Tutorial.

ACCESSIBILITY

All options mentioned in this section can be found in the Accessibility tab of the Settings menu.

• When Linear Navigation is enabled, the main menu's tabs will no longer persist on-screen when in a sub-menu.
• The UI Narration feature will no longer read incoming text chat messages twice.
• The following menus will now be narrated when the User Interface (UI) Narration feature is enabled:
  • The in-game menu for purchasing Halo Infinite's campaign.
  • Rank placements in the Profile menu.
  • The Season Pass menu.
• The descriptions for the Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech settings have been updated to be more clear.

THEATER

• Viewing multiple Theater films in a single session will no longer result in Load Errors.
  
  • If the Load Error message is appearing after this update, confirm that your Xbox account's Privacy Settings allow you to view content from other players. If so, please submit a ticket to Halo Support or update your existing ticket.
• Changes to the Controls and Event Timeline toggles in the User Interface (UI) tab of the Settings menu are now reflected in Theater mode.
• Changes to the Cycle Camera binding in the Settings menu are now reflected in both Theater and Observer mode.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• The "Medic!" Achievement can now be unlocked in the Attrition or Elimination game modes.
  • This Achievement will unlock whether the requirements are met in Custom Games and multiplayer matchmaking.
• Further improvements have been made to Achievements that failed to unlock as expected. Players who did not receive an Achievement after completing its requirements should see it unlock after updating and launching Halo Infinite.
  
  • For some Campaign Achievements, players may need to load into Campaign and play for a couple minutes to ensure missing Achievements are unlocked.
  • If you are still missing Achievements after this update, please submit a ticket or update your existing ticket(s).

BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

KNOWN ISSUES

With this update, the team has added multiple new issues to our Known Issues lists:

GLOBAL

• Speed lines are always visible, even when disabled in the Settings menu.
• When the blue loading banner is visible in near the bottom of a menu, cancelling that active load by navigating to another mode's lobby may result in the game entering an unresponsive state.
  
  • Workaround: Wait until the active loading is complete then exit out of the gameplay via the pause menu. If you enter this unresponsive state, close and relaunch Halo Infinite.

MULTIPLAYER

Graphics

• On Xbox One consoles and some PCs, various pieces of Sigrid Eklund's armor are black. This issue also occurs in the preview tile of Eklund's armor kit in the Armor Hall menu.

Audio

• In multiplayer matches on PC, audio may briefly cut out in areas of the map with a large amount of players or bots.

Custom Games

• When playing Last Spartan Standing and Free-For-All (FFA) Attrition modes in Custom Games, Observers will count as "enemies" on the mini-scoreboard located in the bottom center of the Heads-Up Display (HUD). The match will also not end as expected when all players are out of lives. The host of the session will need to end the match from the pause menu.
• Setting the Danger Zone toggle to Off when setting up an Elimination Custom Game does not disable the Danger Zone in-game.
• When the Match Intro Cinematic is disabled in a Custom Game with multiple rounds, the heads-up display (HUD) will not be visible after the first round.
• Players will be removed from a Custom Game lobby after completing a match then, once back in the Custom Games lobby, loading a saved game variant and changing match options. The removed player may still see the lobby menu and players in the lobby may still see the removed player in the lobby, but the match will not start after pressing Play.
  
  • Workaround: Recreating the Custom Game lobby may resolve this issue, and the removed player may need to close and relaunch Halo Infinite.
• Players are unable to respawn in Free-For-All (FFA) Custom Games on Breaker.

Theater

• Players who left an in-progress match will be listed as active viewpoints for the entirety of that match's Theater film. Switching to this player's perspective after they left the match will prevent further changes to the camera's viewpoint.
  
  • Workaround: Players can use the film's timeline to view an earlier part of the film and change to another player's perspective.

Splitscreen

• When playing Last Spartan Standing in splitscreen, the XP counter is not visible for all players. When this occurs, XP is still being counted and leveling up to the next loadout will still work as expected.

Progression

• The Equip Battle Pass button is present on completed Battle Passes but does not function. Only incomplete Battle Passes can be equipped.

Menus

• Preview tiles for Battle Pass rewards and the Event menu may take up to two minutes to load after completing an online multiplayer match or watching a cinematic.
  • In some cases, the preview tiles for Battle Pass rewards may fail to load. If this occurs, the images should refresh after completing another online match or closing then relaunching Halo Infinite.
• The Challenges, Battle Pass, Customize, and Shop menus may take up to three minutes to load. If these menus do not load within three minutes, try one of the following workarounds:
  
  • Complete an online multiplayer match.
  • On PC, lower the Maximum Frame Rate option in the Video settings menu.
• Customization items awarded via Season 2's upcoming in-game Events or included in future Shop bundles appear as "currently unavailable" and "released during Season 2."
  • A future update will clarify which items are tied to Events or Shop bundles.
• When viewing the Legacy of War armor effect in the Armor Hall menu, the camera does not move to better show the effect on the Spartan's legs.
• The text chat box will not scroll down to the latest message when Speech-to-Text (STT) is enabled.
• When using the User Interface (UI) Narration feature, only the first line of the multiplayer scoreboard is narrated.
• When navigating the Ranked Arena playlist menu with a mouse and keyboard, the Estimated Wait tooltip can be replaced by tooltips related to other menu options.
  • Workaround: Use the arrows keys to navigate down to the Play button and the Estimated Wait tooltip will re-appear.
• In the Ranked Arena playlist menu, changing the Ranked Queue type does not update the Estimated Wait tooltip.
  
  • Workaround: Navigate back to the Playlist menu and re-enter the Ranked Arena playlist menu to see the correct Estimated Wait.

Xbox Consoles

• Xbox consoles using the Instant-on system setting or the Quick Resume feature may encounter the "Multiplayer is Unavailable" error when entering with Halo Infinite via these methods.
  
  • Workaround: Close and relaunch Halo Infinite to reconnect to online services.
• On Xbox Series X|S consoles, the Target Frame Rate option in the Video settings menu features the ability set a cap of 30Hz.
  • Selecting this option will work as expected, however, gameplay will revert to 60Hz after the next relaunch of Halo Infinite.
  • Workaround: To maintain the 30Hz cap, the Target Frame Rate option will need to be set to 60Hz and then back to 30Hz every time the game is launched.
• When attempting to quickly enter gameplay, Xbox One consoles may not load into matchmaking sessions or Custom Games.
  
  • This issue occurs less often if all main menu content is allowed to load before entering a matchmaking search or Custom Game lobby.
  • Players on Xbox One S and Xbox One X consoles should not experience this issue.

Settings

• The Mouse and Zoom Sensitivity options do not scale properly between the different Zoom Level options.

CAMPAIGN

• On Xbox consoles, players who have purchased Halo Infinite's campaign digitally may be erroneously prompted to purchase it again in-game.
  • Workaround: Close and relaunch Halo Infinite to access the campaign.
  • If you are unable to enter the campaign menu after closing and restarting Halo Infinite multiple times, please submit a ticket and include your console's OS version. To find your console's OS version, follow the steps below:
    • Open the Settings menu on your Xbox console.
    • Navigate to the System tab of the Settings menu.
    • Select the Console Info button in the System menu.
    • The console's OS version will be listed in the Console Info menu.
• Selecting Restart Mission in the pause menu may prompt players to restart active side missions (such as Banished Outposts or High Value Targets). This option will not reset side mission objectives as expected, but the player's position will revert to a recent checkpoint and enemies near the side mission will respawn.
• The Drop Wall equipment may respawn rather than despawn if it is taking damage at the same time as its cooldown timer resets. The Dropwall will correctly despawn if another Dropwall is deployed.
• Progress earned in a save file can be inadvertently overwritten or, in some cases, corrupted by forcing Halo Infinite to close during active gameplay then loading a different save file on the next launch.
  
  • To avoid this issue, do not use close the game via outside methods (such as Task Manager on PC or powering off the PC/console) while in active Campaign gameplay. Use the pause menu to return to the main menu then close Halo Infinite as preferred.

For a full list of known issues in Halo Infinite, go to our Known Issues section.

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