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Ten tips every Spartan should know for Halo Infinite
Happy 20th anniversary, Halo! The surprise launch caught us off guard, but we’re ready to drop into the next generation of Halo. Infinite has some new features, and we’ve got some tried and true tips.
Was anyone expecting this? We all knew something would be in store for the 20th anniversary for one of the progenitors of modern first person shooters, but playing Halo Infinite before December feels like the holidays came early.
Controller over Keyboard
While not technically a tip, this will give you an idea on what to use while playing Infinite, whether it be Keyboard and Mouse or your Xbox controller. Halo has always been a console game and Infinite is the first true PC Halo launch (shout out game pass). While KB&M feels nice and may have a high ceiling, the aim assist you get on controller is such a big difference maker.
We suggest you find yourself an xbox controller to play the game with right now, if you already have one (or find your mouse and keyboard skills to be lacking). Up close, the aim assist will keep your crosshairs on the target with only small corrections needed. It will also pick off farther targets if you have the right range weapon equipped. While you don’t have the control of a Keyboard and Mouse player, the aim assist does a good job to bridge the gap. It isn’t like COD’s aim assist, thankfully, but it's not far off.
The Ping System
Halo Ping System
© Xbox Game Studios
First Person shooters have evolved a lot since Halo: Combat Evolved. In the long gap between Halo 5 and Infinite, new features (which Halo never needed before) have been added to the genre and turned into mainstays. Luckily, Halo has chosen to adapt and now we have our very own ping system (massive W).
Pressing up on the D-pad will ping areas of the map for you. The marker even goes so far as showing the name of the area, like Nest or Caves, outlining weapons, power ups and locations in white, and highlighting enemies in red. When you hop into matchmaking, not everyone is in game chat and even if they were, call outs can be inconsistent (imagine knowing the proper names for all the map points?). Pinging is the way to go when you want the quickest comms.
The New and Improved D-Pad
As previously established, up on the D-pad will ping an enemy, location or object for you. Pressing right on it will drop your gun instantly, while down on the D-pad will do something called an AI scan, pinging nearby weapon lockers and power weapons.
The ability to drop your weapon immediately is a great tool to have for when a teammate runs low on ammo and there’s nothing else nearby. Similarly, it’s great to drop a weapon you don’t like so your next pick up can be instantaneous, rather than having to swap to your bad weapon so you can keep your DMR.
On keyboard, the Z key will do your scan. While X will be your default ping setting. Switching it to a mouse button is highly recommended. The function is incredibly useful in the absence of mics. Drop weapon won’t be pre-bound on PC, so you’ll have to set it yourself.
Where to find weapons
Halo Infinite Weapon Locker
© Xbox Game Studios
Using your AI scan will reveal weapon lockers, along with power weapons. Weapon lockers can have anything from a battle rifle to a needler and, once picked up, they will not respawn until the current weapon is depleted or it has been dropped long enough to despawn.
The same rules apply to power weapons, only they’re in a new location altogether. Now, power weapons have unique spawns, in the middle of the map of course, but are usually so far away that you’ll need to use your new toy, the grapple hook, to snag it. Sure, you can do that, but if you are a Halo OG, you can just chuck a plasma grenade and use it to fling the weapon your way.
Pocket Overshield
Equipment takes on a new role in Halo Infinite. Both the Overshield and Active Camo are available as drops around the map, but now you can trigger them anytime you want. The thruster and grapple hook are other variations that you can find, while the latter is what you will start with in a match.
Remembering to use the equipment before you die is important. Never get kicked to spectator view with unused resources. While Camo is self explanatory, the Overshield can come in handy in more ways than one. It can be activated right away to make yourself a tankier opponent and help you confirm a few kills, but remember that the moment you activate it, you get a full overshield. Using it in the middle of a fight can surprise the enemy and give yourself a huge health boost right when things are starting to look rough.
Halo Infinite Pocket Overshield
© Xbox Game Studios
It’s still not the AR’s world
The assault rifle has had a weird life over the Halo series, going from a beast in Combat Evolved, to little more than a wet noodle for the next three games. While it still has its uses, it’s still gonna be the first weapon you drop. At least some things never change, eh?
The Commando, Battle Rifle and pistol are and likely will always outclass the assault rifle in Halo, unless you’re in real close. From close range it can still be useful (and better to swap to instead of waiting for a reload. Its wide spread means it is better served up close, where you run the risk of meeting a shotty or gravity hammer.
In a game where skill and landing headshots over body shots matter, the marksman weapons will always shine and be the hallmark of the best players in the game.
Skill beats will
Originally, this subheader was going to be aim for the head because, even though we know how generic it sounds, Halo is a game where the difference in thatskill really shows. In a straight up gunfight, there is no game in the first person shooter genre that will reward good players more than Halo. Even if you get the first shot, a good player can perfect kill you, while you struggle to hit their body and toes.
In other games, the first shot on someone almost always means a win whether its COD, Valorant, or Battlefield. The “shield” spartans have above their health allows for skill to shine. A good player with a Battle Rifle is ten times more valuable than a competent player with a shotgun. Bank on it.
Pre Aim
Despite skill oftentimes being the determining factor in fights, the next most important aspect is who gets the first shot. That comes from crosshair placement. You can sprint in Infinite but it shows your position on the map. Even worse than giving away your location, is the delay before you can start shooting. Always walk and have your crosshairs lined up with the typical angles people appear from. If you do that, then the enemy is doing your work for you and will be an easy target to get a lead on before they can react.
While the better player will normally win the fights, the better players also happen to be landing the first shots.
Pull the pin
Grenades are a core part of Halo’s identity, for better and worse. C’mon, they let you send traffic pylons careening towards enemy players like heat seeking missiles. Really. Nade jumping and cross-map, gravity cannon fed, plasma grenade highlights are great, but don’t let tryna put ‘em in a clip be a reason for holding onto them too long.
Shields recharge fairly quickly, so grenades are a key part of mopping up kills. You need to prevent opposing players from getting their health back before you reach them. Grenades create pressure like nothing else. Why else do you think you see them chucked around so carelesslyCheck the scene: You’re? far from a fight? No long range weapons? How's your pitching arm feeling, champ?
Equally important is how they work as an area denial tool. Spam the door with grenades to prevent a push, or throw them behind you as the enemy tries to push you. A well timed and well placed group of grenades can do your work for you when things start to look dire.
Only Running and Gunning shows up on the radar
Radar has changed over time as Halo has tried to find its footing among all the movement-based shooters that showed up in the 2010s. Before sprint was a thing, the only way to hide on radar was to camp or crouch walk. Any normal movement was visible to both friend and foe.
In Infinite, 343 tried to slow the pace down and bring it back to a comfortable level, closer to what people expect from Halo. Sprint is slower than it used to be and reveals your position on the map. So does shooting. While this feature is removed altogether in ranked, who knows what might change between now and the official launch of the game in December when more modes are available.
When in doubt, check the radar
Not sure where enemies are? Check your radar. Just finished a fight? Check your radar. In the last minute of CTF and you think you can make a play? Ch-Ch-Check your radar.
There are as many corridors, small rooms and elevated areas as here are open shooting lanes. You’re inevitably going to find yourself fighting a 1v1 over a power weapon while your teams clash for the objective more than once. Fights always draw attention, however, most times people will be on comms enough to call out where you are with a vague approximation of your health, taking out a lot of the guess work.
Checking your radar can save your life, even if you sometimes get caught looking as an enemy peaks you. The trade is worth it. More often than not, an enemy will be sprinting, and appearing on the radar for you to mark a general area they might attack from, possibly netting you an advantageous drop on them. Remember, skill beats will nine times out of ten, and that goes for how you use your radar as well It will point out fights and is one of the biggest contributing factors to how long your killing spree will go on for.
Radar plays just as big of a factor in objective-based modes where hiding from it, while spotting an enemy push, could give you an open lane to their flag, and a good idea of a route back to your base.
Try out all the equipment
Halo stayed away from equipment after Halo 3 where it was everywhere. The new equipment can impact the game in a variety of ways.
- The Repulsor can stop oncoming vehicles, protect you from sudden grenade and explosive blasts and even launch you high into the air. If you look at the ground, you can even super jump with it. Though it has the most situational use out of all the equipment, don’t sleep on it if you like to snipe.
- The Drop shield is like a one way, one-sided Orisa shield from Overwatch. The shield is split into small segments that all have to be destroyed before reaching the players behind it. Or you can shoot the bottom part where the “deployed” part of the shield is, break the two connecting links and the shield will come down in an instant.
- Booster is the Halo 5 movement addition, dialed down to a more comfortable speed for Halo.
- Grapplehook can be used to get to high ground in an instant and retrieve power weapons from their drop spots. It’ll even help you hijack flying vehicles or swipe a flag before it’s returned. This might be the best ability in the game once players discover its limits.
Overshield and Active Camo are also a part of the equipment pool, triggered with Q by default on PC. Only one can be carried at once, so pick carefully.
Different damage types. Learn them.
There are four damage types in the game and each works a little differently.
Kinetic weapons, or the UNSC’s hardware, are the typical jack of all trades option in Halo Infinite. They deliver good, but not great, damage to shields and health.
Plasma weapons are the hallmark of the covenant, or covies as Jorge would say. They still do the same things they always have:. Great shield damage and very little to health. The carbine is remains a beast, and a headshot is still a headshot. If you can get the enemy’s shields down first, that's all that matters.
Hardlight Forerunner weapons have are similar toKinetic weapons, doing good damage on both shields and health, but have the added benefit of being able to ricochet shots and looking really cool.
Halo Infinite Shock Rifle
© Xbox Game Studios
Shock Weapons are brand new to Halo Infinite and have stolen the responsibility of vehicle disabling from the plasma pistol. They don’t do that much damage to players, but stopping vehicles in big team battle or a tense CTF match is invaluable.
They also have some unique abilities, like the shock rifle, that applies shock damage from one target, onto anyone else nearby. You can even chain the shots off of dropped equipment or guns, making it an area denial tool of sorts. The base damage isn’t crazy, but the chain shock ability can make it deadly in groups.
The Halo Infinite battle pass
A lot has been made, so far, about the Halo Infinite battle pass. With very few challenges and glacial progression from matchmaking, many logged off on day one with only one or two levels gained after six hours of playing.
Halo Infinite Battle Pass
© Xbox Game Studios
Fortunately 343 is listening to feedback and reacted quickly to the near-universal criticism by adding more challenges and boosting exp gains from games. While it’s still early, it’s a good sign that the developer is open to the fanbase’s concerns while Halo steps into the Free-to-Play space for the first time.
Currently, the best way to level up the battle pass is to wait for a handful of your challenges to be done, or for a bunch of easy ones to appear (like getting a kill with a certain weapon or getting a set number of kills on PVP). Pop a double exp boost once they’re lined up, and you’re off.
There are other ways to get boosts, either through paying in-game currency (two hundred credits) or buying certain promotions.They’re periodically given out as a free part of the battle pass as well. Using them efficiently can get you four levels instead of one.
