Didn’t you know? Spartans never die.

Operation: Great Journey releases next Tuesday, November 5th, and brings with it many great additions Halo Infinite. Arrived just in time for her twentieth birthday Halo 2the 2024 winter update includes a Halo 2-inspired playlist with old movement mechanics, third-person firefight, new Forge features and much more.

Despite these eye-catching additions, the arrival of a brand new weapon is perhaps the most anticipated aspect of the release.

Originally featured on the cover of Halo: Spirits of Onyx Back in 2006, the MA5K was used by Spartan III super soldiers and will be added to the arsenal Halo Infinite as MA5K Avenger.

This fully automatic rifle features an extremely high rate of fire, which is accompanied by an increased magazine size. Built by Misriah Armory for short-range running and shooting, the Avenger also features a fast post-sprint ready time, fast reload speed, and can be switched very quickly.

When we built the weapon, we knew that it would be natural to integrate it into the role of a submachine gun. Celebrating the game that first introduced SMGs halo by bringing an SMG class weapon Halo Infinite felt great.

Our tuning process started with an investigation Halo 2is the submachine gun of, which was not known to be the most effective weapon unless dual-wielded, and a comparison with the submachine guns of Halo 3: ODST And Halo 5which were both very effective and positively received by players. After many fun playtests and iterations, we landed on a tuning pass that feels similar to both, but has clearly established its own identity as a natural inclusion in this pantheon of SMGs.

Starting next week, the MA5K Avenger will be the starting weapon Halo 2-inspired Delta Arena playlist, they become your secondary weapon in many Firefight experiences, appearing on SMG-class weapon racks throughout the game.

Equip your Mirage IIC armor, try it out and let us know how it feels!

In addition to the MA5K Avenger, several other sandbox updates will be available.

Here’s what you can expect when booting up Halo Infinite next week!

Previously, when using the VK78 Commando at maximum dispersion, the bullets only aimed at the outer edges of the flowered reticle. To give the VK78 Commando a more consistent feel, we adjusted the bloom characteristics to allow the bullet to land anywhere within the bounds of the bloom reticle. This is similar to the adjustment made to the MA40 AR in the Operation: Fleetcom update.

To compensate for the now more precise command, the flower reaches its maximum spread a little faster than before.

– Increased maximum bullet dispersion.
ㅤㅤ- Maximum error angle (high) 0.9 >> 0.95
– Command Rifle’s error angles have been adjusted to provide a more consistent feel.
ㅤㅤ- Minimum error angle (high) 0.6 >> 0.08
– Faster flower propagation.
ㅤㅤ- Upper limit of delay time 0.2152 >> 0.2252

The Mk50 Sidekick has always been one of the most effective weapons in the sandbox. We wanted to maintain that consistent feel while addressing feedback that it still felt a little too effective from a distance. To achieve this, we adjusted the weapon’s Bloom properties to incentivize looting, but still maintain it as a reliable secondary weapon that players can rely on.

Similar to the VK78 Commando above, we adjusted the bloom properties to prevent the bullets from favoring the outer edge of the reticle, so they can now land anywhere inside the reticle.

To compensate for this increased consistency, we increased the potential spread when firing quickly.

– Increased base bullet dispersion.
ㅤㅤ- Maximum error angle (low) 0.03 >> 0.35
ㅤㅤ- lower limit of delay 0.55 >> 0.56
ㅤㅤ- Upper limit of delay 0.42 >> 0.43

Sneaky Beaver flag runs are an integral part of Capture the Flag and provide exciting and creative gaming experiences. With this in mind, we’ve seen players on offense use the stealth flag run with extremely high efficiency.

To give the team whose flag was taken a better fighting chance of stopping a cloaked flag runner – and to better match the stealth behavior of the previous ones halo Games – the runner’s Spartan with the camouflage flag will remain camouflaged, but the flag itself will be visible.

The Thruster is currently a piece of equipment that offers high reward but poses little risk in combat. We wanted to take a closer look at the fast sprinting movement while the weapon is always ready to fire.

To address this issue, activating Thruster will now temporarily disable weapon use, similar to Halo 5The engine. This should provide some counterplay potential to those fighting a Thruster user while still giving the Thruster user an advantage.

A brand new weapon with the MA5K Avenger, new sandbox balance updates, a Halo 2-inspired playlist, third-person firefight and more arrive next Tuesday, November 5th with Winter Update 2024 and Operation: Great Journey.