Sandbox Changes: Halo Infinite’s February Update to Address Weapon Balance in Ranked Arena.
Halo Infinite’s Season 3 is quickly approaching, set to launch on March 7. However, before the much-anticipated release, a new update has been rolled out on February 15, aimed at improving the gameplay experience in several targeted areas. The update is a direct result of player feedback and community reported issues on the Halo Support site.
Halo Infinite UXUI Update
The UXUI has been improved with a clearer communication of increases and decreases in CSR through the Ranked CSR widget. The Winter Update introduced additional messaging to help communicate changes in CSR after every ranked match, but it was not always clear. The upcoming update will address this feedback, making it easier for players to understand how much their CSR has gone up or down after each match.
Weapon Racks Set to Red Rack
In the Ranked Arena playlist and HCS, Weapon Racks will be set to a “Red Rack” state after a weapon has been picked up, meaning that the rack will not spawn another weapon until the original has despawned.
The Sandbox Team has received feedback regarding too much power on the map, with many players calling out the respawn rate and ammo count on weapons.
All Weapon Racks in Ranked Arena will be updated to provide only one weapon at a time, reducing overall power and ensuring a more competitive environment. Ammo reductions on Heatwave, Stalker Rifle, CQS48 Bulldog, and Shock Rifle in Ranked will also be expected with the launch of Season 3.
The Frag Grenade Damage Radius to be Reduced
After listening to community input and doing in-house tuning, the Sandbox Team is rolling out a change that slightly reduces the damage radius on Frag Grenades. The update should reward skilled Frag Grenade placement and address concerns around grenade spam effectiveness in gameplay.
Update on Drop Weapon Mechanism
The Drop Weapon mechanism will now transition between weapons at the same pace as regular switching. The Drop Weapon meta was becoming very prominent in competitive play, and many players shared their concerns about it becoming too prominent at the highest level of competition. The weapon ready-up time after a dropped weapon will now match the speed of swapping between weapons normally.
Error Angle for S7 Sniper Reduced During No-scoping
The sharpshooters will notice some improvements when going for kills in which no scope was involved. The error angle max has been reduced by 30%, error angle minimum reduced by 55%, and time to reset bloom reduced by 20%.
The update also includes various bug fixes, such as; client and server stability improvements, reducing gun jamming on semi-automatic weapons, and reducing a visual glitch that made semi-automatic weapons appear as if they were double-firing from a third-person point of view.
Additional sandbox balance changes will be expected when Season 3 goes live on March 7. Players are advised to keep an eye out for news on those as the release date gets closer.
In Conclusion
The Halo Infinite update released on February 15, is mainly based on player feedback and community-reported issues, and aims to improve the gameplay experience in several targeted areas.
The improvements to the UXUI, Weapon Racks, Frag Grenades, Drop Weapon mechanic, and S7 Sniper, coupled with various bug fixes, will ensure that the gameplay remains fair and competitive.
As Season 3 approaches, players should stay updated on the latest news and prepare themselves for an even more exciting Halo Infinite experience.
