Revamped and Reloaded: Halo Infinite’s Makeover in Season 5

Season 5 for Halo Infinite has finally arrived and brings a huge chunk of new changes to the Xbox first-person shooter. The game was controversial when it was released and 343 Industries has been struggling to keep up with its own deadlines, causing low player turnout.

The new update for Halo Infinite brings some much-needed improvement to the shooter. The new season features two new maps, changes to the battle pass, UI, Forge, and includes the new Extraction game mode. The brand new season also adds several new armor upgrades including some cosmetic enhancements.

The new Season 5 battle pass adds some fun and spooky rewards. The main reward for the Battle Pass is a series of Flood-infected gear for your Spartan. 343 re-added the Flood, an alien species that takes control of people they infect, which is just perfect for Halloween.

There is also a new set of rewards for players who reach max rank in Halo Infinite.

• The Infinite Mark VI Armor Kit for the Mark VII Armor Core.
• Two Mark VII Armor Coatings:
  • Campaign Season
  • Midway Emerald
• The Gilded Infinity visor
• The Hero emblem set

Beyond the battle pass and cosmetic items, there are some overall improvements, fixes, and changes coming with the season 5 update. Hopefully, these changes bring back the players that the game has lost over the last year. The full patch notes reads:

BALANCE CHANGES

MANGLER

• The Mangler can now kill an enemy Spartan with one shot followed by a melee.

M12R ROCKETHOG

• The Rockethog is now more effective against turrets and vehicles. When locked-on, the Rockethog’s rockets will track targets more aggressively.

RESOLVED ISSUES AND BUG FIXES

GLOBAL

• Improved stability for Halo Infinite on both Xbox consoles and PC.

MULTIPLAYER

Menus

• The Search Region option, found in the Gameplay tab of the Settings menu, will no longer reset between multiplayer matches or relaunches of Halo Infinite.
• Decorative objects on clambered surfaces are now less likely to result in minor warping or desync during online multiplayer sessions.
• To improve clarity when setting up a Customs Browser session, the Privacy setting for Custom Game lobbies has been renamed to Visibility.
• The Gamertag filter now is now correctly reset when leaving and re-entering the Customs Browser menu.
• Fireteam members can now switch their team in a Custom Game lobby using a button next to their Gamertag.
• Purchase buttons in the Shop menu now have a distinct hover state when using a mouse.
• While in multiplayer gameplay, leaving a Fireteam via the pause menu’s Roster will no longer remove the player from the active match.
• The Ranked widget visible in the Ranked playlists on the Multiplayer menu no longer shows a value of -1.
• The post-match Rewards menu now better supports non-16:9 aspect ratios.
• Vehicle and Weapon Emblems will now remain visible in the Customization menus after equipping then unequipping them.
• Players will no longer see an incorrect error message when customization items are loading in an Armor Hall menu.
• Keyboard shortcuts have been added so that players can scroll up or down through the desciption of a Customization item.
• The Premium Battle Pass’s bonus reward tiers in the Battle Pass menu now have the intended endcap icon.
• Players who have purchased the Battle Pass will now see a checkbox at the end of the tier, while players who have not purchased the Premium Battle Pass will see a lock icon.”
• The correct Battle Pass title is now shown when viewing your own profile via the Player Inspect menu.
• The shortcuts listed along the bottom of the screen will now remain visible after using the tabs in the Post-Game Carnage Report.

Gameplay

• Bots will no longer enter gameplay and attack players during the match’s non-interactive intro sequence.
• The fullscreen visual effect for players caught in the Threat Seeker’s pulse radius now aligns with how long they are visible to the player who activated the Threat Seeker.
• Players who join in-progress Free-For-All Escalation Slayer matches will now be able to win the match as expected when they level up all weapon loadouts.
• Players will no longer receive duplicate Extermination medals when all four required kills are completed in rapid succession.
• Players will now respawn as expected when playing Free-For-All Escalation Slayer on the map Empyrean.
• Players can no longer use the Grappleshot to leave the intended playable space on the map Behemoth.
• Pelicans vehicle drop-offs on the map Deadlock have been improved to deliver the same vehicle for both teams in the same wave.

Audio

• Players will no longer hear voiceover lines for BUTLR when a different Personal AI is equipped.
• Iratus voice lines in the Infection gametype now consistently play in the selected Audio Language.
• Survivors who win a round of Infection will no longer hear Iratus declaring victory.
• The in-game announcer will no longer announce an inaccurate amount of time remaining in Infection.

Visual

• Several Nameplates have been updated to improve the placement of their artwork in relation to the Career Rank flag.
• The Weapon Coatings listed below no longer display a black texture when equipped to the MK50 Sidekick with the Swiftguard Weapon Model:
  • Flash Fjord
  • Snowbound
  • Tigris Dread
• Loading screen images and text are no longer offset after increasing either of the Heads-Up Display (HUD) Display Margins values.
  • The HUD Display Margin options can be found in the Gameplay tab of the Settings menu.
• Adjusting the Head-Up Display (HUD) Opacity value will now adjust the opacity of navigation markers, such as the Last Spartan Standing icon in the Infection gametype.
  • The HUD Opacity option can be found in the Gameplay tab of the Settings menu.

Accessibility

• Improved contrast ratio for the text in the top left corner of Forge file thumbnails.
• The arrows for dropdown scrollbars are now larger and scale with the Text Size option.
• Improved readbility and navigation of setting descriptions in the Video tab of the Settings menu, especially when the Large or Extra Large Text Size options are enabled.
• “The UI Narration feature now reads out the following:
  • The name of all Halo Championship Series (HCS) Shop bundles.
  • Whether a highlighted bundle in the Shop menu is already owned.
  • The name and assigned keys for all keybindings in the Keyboard/Mouse tab of the Settings menu.”
• The Linear Navigation feature now navigates the Shop menu as expected.

Theater

• The spacing between the current timestamp, the film’s total length, and both ends of the film’s timeline has been improved.
• To better clarify the camera’s behavior, the Cinematic camera type has been renamed to Orbit.
• Disintegrations via the Heatwave or players leaving the match will no longer cause the viewer to swap between players.

Observer

• Bots are now listed in the Observer scoreboard.
• The Observer camera will no longer switch to a different player’s perspective when the currently spectated player respawns.
• Players can now remap the Change Outlines, View Previous Player, and Toggle Player Switcher functions to another controller button as expected.
• Setting the Starting Occluded Outlines option to Off, found in the User Interface (UI) tab of the Settings menu, now correctly results in occluded players’ outlines being visible through map geometry.
• The Free-For-All Attrition gametype now ends as expected when there are Observers in the match.

FORGE

• Edit Mode and Creation Tools
• The maximum number of possible nodes in a map has been increased from ~400 nodes to ~2000 nodes. This is dependent on map budget.
• The Reactive Water Plane now consistently displays water splashing effects for players and vehicles.
• Using the Undo or Redo function no longer has a chance to apply unintended rotation to the updated object.
• Disabled or unavailable actions are now greyed out in Forge mode’s radial menu.
• The position and rotation of Scriptable Switch objects will now be more responsive in Edit mode.
• Magnet connections no longer vary depending on the camera’s position in relation to the selected objects.
• Objects set to be non-visible via the Folders tab in the Forge menu will no longer appear visible when entering a Forge map.
• Prefabs with an asymmetrical Center of Mass pivot point will no longer break when rotated.
• Scripts using Declare or Get Generic List Variable nodes will now function as expected in every round of a Custom Game.
• Previously available material swatch regions have been restored to the Eroded Terrain E object, and a separate Terrain Inheritance version of the Eroded Terrain E object is now available.
• The parent object of a prefab can now be changed more consistently.
• The Radius and Length options now function as expected for Area Lights.
• Forerunner Energy objects now consistently have audio in Test and Play mode.
• Improvements to the performance and speed of light probe generation on Forge maps. For example, here are the light generation times for Argyle when using an Xbox Series X:
  • Argyle (Winter Update): 13663 probes took over 8 minutes to generate
  • Argyle (Season 5): 13663 probes took around 1 minute to generate

File and Map Publishing

• The maximum file size for Forge maps has been increased from 2MB to 10MB.
  • Map file size is affected by placed objects and node graph scripts. Lighting, audio, nav mesh, and reflection volume data are separate files that don’t contribute to map file size.
• Non-latin characters and emoji can no longer be used in Forge file names.
• Highlighting text in a Forge file’s description field no longer results in some characters shifting between lines.
• Bookmarked Forge maps will now consistently load into the author’s latest published version of that map.
• A map’s Details menu will now consistently show the correct publishing status.
• The Forge lobby menu will now consistently reflect the selected version number on the map’s thumbnail.
• Players can now consistently add or update the screenshots attached to their Forge files.
• The My Published Files menu will now consistently show all published Forge files.

CAMPAIGN

• The Headmaster Achievement will now unlock consistently.
  • If the conditions for unlocking this Achievement were completed and it did not unlock in a previous version of Halo Infinite, the conditions will need to be completed again after installing the Season 5 update.

XBOX

• The Play button can now be used by any player who has menu control during splitscreen sessions on Xbox consoles.

KNOWN ISSUES

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

MULTIPLAYER

• The UTIL/PRO-Tek ComNet-2020 Shoulder Pads and the TAC/SCM-P Knee Pads for the Mirage IIC Armor Core appear as different armor pieces. An upcoming Halo Infinite patch will restore these armor pieces to their original appearance.
  • While this issue is active, the bundles containing these items (the ComNet and Erinyes bundles) will be unavailable for purchase. The bundles will become available for purchase again once the items are restored to their original appearance.
  • If you purchased the ComNet or Erinyes bundles while they displayed the incorrect appearances, the development team will be granting you the Credits you spent on purchasing this bundle. This grant will be completed after the hotfix update is released and it will not revoke your ownership of the bundle contents. Submit a ticket if you would like a Halo Support agent to reach out directly when this grant is complete.
• When first launching the Season 5: Reckoning update, the initial Battle Pass purchase menu may briefly show incorrect prices for both Premium Pass options. The correct prices will appear after a few seconds, and attempting to purchase either option while the incorrect price is shown will result in the correct amount of Credits being deducted.
• When using the Spawn in Vehicle option in a Custom Game session, the non-interactive intro sequence for the match will show the players’ Spartans standing on top of their vehicles.
• On Xbox One consoles or PCs with lower quality video settings enabled, Spartans may briefly appear to have solid black textures during a multiplayer match’s non-interactive intro sequence.
• If the settings listed below have been changed to a non-default value, they will revert back to their default value upon entering the Halo Infinite Campaign menu:
  • Event Feed Background Mode
  • Event Feed Background Opacity
  • 6x Zoom Level Sensitivity
• Customization changes may not be immediately visible to other Fireteam members in the multiplayer menus. On Xbox consoles, Fireteam members may briefly appear to revert to a default Spartan after completing a multiplayer match. This issue only occurs in the multiplayer menus and all equipped customizations will be visible in a multiplayer match.
• Workaround: leaving the Fireteam, waiting for a few seconds, then rejoining the Fireteam will update your Spartan for Fireteam members.”
• When equipping customization items on an Armor Core in the Armor Hall menu, the preview tiles for the Utility and Knee Pad sockets may sometimes show the back side of that customization area.
• On Xbox One consoles or PCs with lower quality video settings enabled, the Perfect Circle helmet attachment may overlap with the Spartan’s helmet.
• Launching Halo Infinite then navigating to the Community tab and starting a Custom Game using a map file listed there may result in the Custom Game lobby starting with a different map selected.
  • Workaround: After launching Halo Infinite, navigate to the Custom Game lobby before selecting a community-made map file.
• Occasionally, switching between the main menu’s tabs may result in missing lighting or effects in the Play tab.
• After restarting a Custom Game match via the pause menu, finishing the restarted Custom Game may result in the Post Game Carnage Report (PGCR) to display incorrect or missing match statistics. When this issue occurs, Match XP is not awarded.
  • Workaround: Rather than restarting an in-progress Custom Game match, select the End Game option in the pause menu then start a new match. This will ensure that either match, if eligible, will grant Match XP.
• In the Team Lineup tab of the Post-Game Carnage Report (PGCR), Observers will see a zoomed in view of the players’ Spartans.
• When leveling up a Battle, Event, or Operation Pass, the Season 4: Infection insignia may briefly be visible during the level up animation. This issue only affects Passes released after Season 4: Infection.
• The Woodlands Tradewinds vehicle coating does not apply to the M12 Warthog’s turret as intended.
• Weapon and equipment pickup prompts are not consistently visible for Survivors in Infection multiplayer matches.
  • Workaround: When this issue occurs, the weapon or equipment can still be picked up by the affected player.
• When playing the Infection gametype in a Custom Game session, setting the Infected starting weapon to a non-default option will result in Alpha Infected players being unable to fire their weapon after sprinting.
• If a Survivor and Infected kill each other at the same time with melee attacks, the Survivor may receive a -10 Personal Score betrayal penalty.

FORGE

• The difficulty option for AI enemies in Forge-made maps lists the Bot levels ranging from Recruit to Spartan. In a future Halo Infinite update, this option will be updated to reflect the Easy to Legenday difficulty range used in Halo campaigns.
• The Weapon Trunk object cannot be placed directly on the ground or on top of another object when its Physics option is set to Fixed in the Object Properties panel.
• Several Primitive and Structure objects appear as expected when previewed, but their X, Y, and Z dimensions are increased by .02 when placed.
• After successfully publishing a Forge map or mode via the file’s Version History menu, the Publish button does not update to an Unpublish button.
• A future Halo Infinite update will restore the Unpublish button in the Version History menu. While this issue is active, players who want to unpublish an affected file must create a copy of the published file then delete the published version.