Halo’s highly-anticipated second season, Lone Wolves, is set to launch on May 3rd. 343 Industries recently released a new trailer highlighting the new game modes included in the upcoming update. These game modes include King of the Hill, Land Grab, and Last Spartan Standing, along with a variety of other new releases. We will highlight everything we know about what each new mode brings in Season Two to prepare you for launch day.
New Game Modes Coming to Halo Infinite in Season 2
King of the Hill
Old players rejoice at the return of the beloved King of the Hill game mode that finally returns to Halo Infinite with some alterations. Instead of each zone working with a time limit before moving, hills will only move once the point is claimed for the hill. Hills will now have a control meter; once one team fills the meter, they will earn a point. If the hill is contested, the meter is paused until only one team remains like usual. The match timer works like Halo Infinite’s Oddball, where the match timer only depletes when a hill is unoccupied.
Each hill moves much faster than previous iterations, making constant changing of zones more common rather than prolonged stalemates. In quick play, the first hill will always be in the exact starting location; afterward, each new zone is randomized. For ranked play, each sequence of zone rotations is more consistent. King of the Hill will be available on day one of Season Two’s release.
Land Grab
If you played a lot of Halo 2 or Halo 3, then you will remember the game mode Land Grab. At the start of each match, three neutral zones will spawn in different locations around the map. When a player captures a zone, it’s locked, granting their team a point up to 11 total points to win. Once all three zones have been captured, there is a short intermission before three new zones spawn.
Only two zones will spawn if a team is only one point away from winning. Only one zone will spawn if both teams are tied for match point. This approach to making the winning condition 11 points to win instead of 10 is because zones will mostly spawn in a set of three. Sadly, Land Grab will not be available on day one of Halo Infinite’s Season 2. However, this new mode will arrive in a new fracture event called “Entrenched”, starting a month after Season Two’s initial launch.
Last Spartan Standing
Last Spartan Standing is a new free-for-all game mode that shares the theme of the new Lone Wolves season. Twelve players spawn on a Big Team Battle map with a set loadout and five finite respawns. If you run out of lives, you can no longer participate, but you can spectate or leave the match without a penalty. Like Escalation Slayer or Gun Game from Call of Duty, players will receive a new set of guns as they continue to survive in Last Spartan Standing. A new system has been added for this game mode to give players more choice rather than randomized weapons for performing well.
Players now receive a level-up prompt when reaching a new level threshold. Players will be able to determine when they want their new loadout to take effect, rather than a new weapon being forced into their hands at random. This opens new levels of gameplay, allowing you to pick when a new weapon would suit you better for specific encounters. Whenever a player is eliminated, their AI Bubble drops on their body, just like in Attrition.
In Last Spartan Standing, players can interact with this bubble and collect 300 personal Score, or 3X+, what a kill is worth. Despite playing on a Big Team Battle map, map weapons and vehicles are disabled, and grenades are randomized each time a player respawns. Random equipment and power equipment come in via Ordnance Pods, but some regular equipment can be found in interior locations. Last Spartan Standing will be available on day one of Lone Wolves release alongside King of the Hill.
Extra Game Modes in Halo Infinite
In addition to these three new modes in Lone Wolves, additional smaller modes have been added to Halo Infinite.
Ninja Slayer brings the popular combination of the Energy Sword and the Grappleshot together in one game mode. Unlimited Ammo for both the Energy Sword and likely the Grappleshot, making it a nonstop swinging fiesta that many players will be able to enjoy.
Rocket Repulsors is like Ninja slayer, but with infinite Rocket Launchers and Repulsors. This game mode will be nonstop explosions and the best game type to practice using your Repulsor.
Lastly, there is Vampireball. It’s Oddball, but the ball is a one-hit kill just like previous Halo games, sporting an additional 50% Shield Vampirism. Any extra shield you steal from other players will be converted into an overshield, making the ball carrier far more of a threat.
Additional game modes are also coming later in Lone Wolves. A few that have been confirmed are:
- Social Skirmish
- Social Slayer
- Team Snipers
- Team Doubles
- Rumble Pit
Updates to Halo Infinite Game Mode Settings in Season 2
Also included in Day one of Lone Wolves is a variety of settings for King of the Hill, Land Grab, and Last Spartan Standing. These setting should be available:
King of the Hill
- Legacy Scoring Enabled
- Score Per Interval
- Score Interval Seconds
- Hill Timer Duration
- In-Hill Player Properties:
- Health Multiplier
- Shield Multiplier
- Shield Recharge Multiplier
- Weapon Damage Multiplier
- Melee Damage Multiplier
- Movement Speed Multiplier
- Sprint Speed Multiplier
- Slide Duration Multiplier
- Sprint Enabled
Land Grab
- Number of Zones
- Variable Number of Zones
- Capture Time
- Intermission Duration
- Initial Incoming Duration
- Subsequent Incoming Duration
Last Spartan Standing
- All of Attrition’s custom game settings. Future options will be expanded upon.
When it comes to the game modes getting introduced in Halo Infinite’s Lone Wolves update, 343 seems to be going in the right direction for the game as a whole. Having these classic game modes modified to fit Halo Infinite’s pacing might be a bit strange at first, but modes like Land Grab will definitely benefit from having adaptive changes based on who is winning. Alongside all of these new modes, the campaign getting modified for multiplayer, and the new season pass, Lone Wolves is looking to be a fantastic time for the game’s community.
