343 kept their cards close to their chests with this one, but we now know the details of Halo Infinite’s next update. This Banished focused operation comes out in exactly a week on April 30th and is packed full of cosmetics, game updates, new features, and some inspirations from The Master Chief Collection. Keep reading to find out what was revealed in 343’s recent livestream.
Before this operation arrives next week, two new maps have been added to the game today. Corrosion, which has a 24/7 playlist as a 4v4 social map, and Interference, the first community forge map (made by Carlos “Astro CSF” Frutos) that will enter the HCS rotation (and the ranked playlist as well.) Corrosion has some fun social aspects, such as a pit of acid while Interference is a remake of the much beloved Halo 5 map, The Rig, but this time with a more snowy atmosphere.
The Exchange
“The Exchange” is coming to Halo, with Halo Infinite’s Next Update. This is a supplemental shop front that uses Spartan Points instead of real life currency. Spartan points are earnable by playing the game, you can then use them to buy customization content. The Exchange also has previously vaulted free content from earlier in Halo Infinite’s lifetime. All of the events that were run since launch, some of the Twitch drops, marketing promotions, and more. The primary purpose of The Exchange is to allow players to earn older content they didn’t get a chance to as well as a few newer things as well.
21 items will be available in The Exchange to start and it’ll see a refresh roughly every 4-6 weeks, whenever a new operation drops. As for how you earn Spartan Points? You get 250 points for doing your first daily challenge, and ultimate awards are now 1000 Spartan Points instead of a single item. The third way to earn them is through the operation pass.
Banished Honor Operation
It’s a free operation with the option to purchase it so that it lasts permanently alongside an extra cosmetic. All “fluff” has been replaced now with Spartan Points. Meaning no more challenge swaps, double exp items, etc. The pass has quite a bit of Spartan points, with 500, 1000, and even 2500 point awards. The operation gives a net 15,000 Spartan Points for completing it.
As for the contents of the pass, it has a helmet, shoulders, a chest piece, and a few other armor pieces all Banished focused.
Forge Updates
Halo Infinite’s next update also has new variants added to the mode creator. Last Spartan Standing, all the ranked modes, and more. Extraction has significantly expanded node options.
The two previously discussed Forge pallets are coming to Halo Infinite. Alien Planet is the first one, with some very weird and foreign-looking items and vegetation. Looks very… Alien. Will provide forgers with even more tools and cool things to do.
The second new palette is the “Flood Palette”. Flood centric of course, this palette has things like oozing slim, flies or bugs, rotten-looking areas, and more. It looks fantastic, which means it looks absolutely disgusting.
Sandbox Updates and Other Changes
- Gravity Hammer – The range is being reduced a little more.
- S7 Sniper – The ready up time when picking it up will be slightly quicker.
- Cindershot – Removing the gravity effect and slowing down the rate of fire slightly.
- Spike Grenade – No longer detonates in mid-air. The detonation timer only starts when it lands or hits and is slightly shortened.
- MK50 Sidekick – Rate of fire slightly reduced.
- Plasma Pistol – The EMP effect returns. It now works to disable vehicles in game.
Early dropouts will be detected for ranked. It now auto-ends the game and no matter what the score there is no impact to your CSR. You will now be able to change the starting score of a match. This is most important in tournaments where a restart was needed.
Halo Infinite’s next update also has deathcam improvements! When you swap to a teammate it now starts at where your teammate is looking at, you can also turn the camera much quicker. Two very, very welcome changes to the ranked community.
Network update-wise, feedback has been positive from players active, new, and returning. The Skewer though was feeling delayed on higher latencies. This update should improve and help fix this significantly. Weapon drop is also now once again the same speed as switching weapons.
Playlists
Corrosion 24/7 is available now in matchmaking, ranked also has a new map today. Next week will have a BTB Heavies refresh that includes the BTB forge maps.
Looking a little further out, later in May, there will be a combat workshop focused on Forge Falcon’s PvE mode called “Survive The Undead”. This is the first time we’ve seen a partnership like this in Halo Infinite and it should be a fun time when it releases in a couple of weeks.
Next week we’ll get the full patch notes alongside the update, keep an eye out here and Halo Waypoint for them!
