Didn’t you know? Spartans never die. Operation: Great Journey is landing next Tuesday, November 5, and it’s bringing a lot of great additions to Halo Infinite. Arriving just in time for the twentieth birthday of Halo 2, the Winter 2024 update will include a Halo 2-inspired playlist with legacy movement mechanics, Third-Person Firefight, new Forge features, and much more. Even with those head-turning additions, potentially the most anticipated aspect of the release is the arrival of a brand-new weapon. Let’s take a look!

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MA5K Avenger

Originally seen on the cover of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx back in 2006, wielded by Spartan-III super-soldiers, the MA5K will be joining the arsenal of weapons in Halo Infinite as the MA5K Avenger. This fully automatic rifle stands out with its extremely high rate-of-fire, which is properly accompanied by an increased magazine size. Built by Misriah Armory for running and gunning at a short range, the Avenger also has a fast ready-up time after sprinting, rapid reload speed, and can be switched to very quickly. All in all, the MA5K Avenger has a commanding presence in Halo Infinite’s close quarters combat dance. To see it in action, be sure to check out our recent Winter Update Community Livestream! As we were building out the weapon, we knew it would only be natural to have it fit into the SMG role. Celebrating the game that first introduced SMGs to Halo by bringing an SMG-class weapon to Halo Infinite felt like a great fit. Our tuning process started by examining Halo 2’s SMG, which wasn’t known as the most effective weapon unless dual-wielded, and cross-referencing it with the SMGs from Halo 3: ODST and Halo 5, which were both highly effective and positively received by players. After plenty of fun playtests and iteration, we landed on a tuning pass which feels similar to both, yet has clearly established an identity of its own as a natural inclusion into this pantheon of SMGs. Starting next week, the MA5K Avenger will be the starting weapon in the Halo 2-inspired Delta Arena playlist, become your secondary weapon in many Firefight experiences, and start appearing on SMG-class weapon racks throughout the game. Equip your Mirage IIC armor, go hands-on with it, and let us know how it feels!

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Sandbox Updates

A few other sandbox updates will be landing alongside the addition of the MA5K Avenger. Here’s what you can expect when you boot up Halo Infinite next week!

VK78 Commando

Previously, when using the VK78 Commando at maximum spread, the bullets were trending only to the outer edges of the bloomed reticle. To give the VK78 Commando a more consistent feel, we’ve adjusted the bloom properties to allow the bullet to land anywhere within the bounds of the bloomed reticle. This is similar to the adjustment made with the MA40 AR in the Operation: Fleetcom update. To balance out the now more accurate Commando, the bloom will reach maximum spread slightly quicker than before.

• Increased maximum bullet spread
  • Maximum error angle (high) 0.9 >> 0.95
• Adjusted Commando Rifle error angles to give it a more consistent feel
  • Minimum error angle (high) 0.6 >> 0.08
• Faster bloom expansion.
  • Upper bound deceleration time 0.2152 >> 0.2252

MK50 Sidekick

The Mk50 Sidekick has always been one of the most effective weapons in the sandbox. We wanted to keep that consistent feeling, while also addressing feedback around it still feeling a little too effective at range. To accomplish this, we’ve adjusted the weapon’s bloom properties to incentivize scavenging while still keeping it as that reliable secondary weapon players can depend on. Similar to the VK78 Commando above, we’ve adjusted the bloom properties to prevent the bullets from favoring the reticle’s outer edge, allowing them to now land anywhere inside the reticle. To balance that increased consistency, we’ve increased its potential spread when fired rapidly.

• Increased base bullet spread
  • Maximum error angle (low) 0.03 >> 0.35
  • Lower bound deceleration 0.55 >> 0.56
  • Upper bound deceleration 0.42 >> 0.43

Active Camo

“Sneaky beaver” flag runs are a staple of Capture the Flag which provide exciting and creative gameplay experiences. With that in mind, we’ve seen players on the offensive utilize the camo flag run with extremely high efficiency. To give the team whose flag has been taken a better fighting chance to stop a camouflaged flag runner—and to more closely match the camo behavior of previous Halo games—the camo flag runner’s Spartan will remain camouflaged, but the flag itself will be visible.

Thruster

The Thruster is currently a piece of equipment that offers a high reward but takes little risk when used during combat. Its quick dash movement while simultaneously always having your weapon ready to fire was something we wanted to look at more closely. To address this, activating Thruster will now briefly disable weapon use, similar to Halo 5’s Thruster. This should provide some counterplay potential to those battling against a Thruster user while still giving the Thruster user an advantage.

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[/hr] A brand-new weapon with the MA5K Avenger, new sandbox balance updates, a Halo 2-inspired playlist, Third-Person Firefight, and more all arrive next Tuesday, November 5, with the 2024 Winter Update and Operation: Great Journey.