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These are sections which are represented as headings down below. Any headings in between these numbers are subheadings. If you wish you can skip to the sections you feel you need most but I recommend to read the whole thing to get a bigger picture of the experience that is Halo Infinite Multiplayer.
1. Movement
2. Shooting
3. Map Knowledge
4. Sandbox Knowledge
5. Teamwork
6. Buttons/Settings
7. Alternate Gamemodes
8. Additional Information
Movement
Like other modern shooters, Infinite has sprint, but it only increases your base movement speed by 9%, which was already fast compared to other Halo games. However, to balance and counteract this, you can shoot or use equipment almost instantly out of sprint, and if you sprint that will be a starting point which’ll allow you to do several advanced movement techniques such as the super-slide, curb slide, and the slide jump. These slides will make you harder to hit in a skirmish, but if timed incorrectly can be a disadvantage because you have committed yourself to the manoeuvre, and you can’t fight back while doing it.
Other movement techniques include strafing in a gunfight from left to right to make yourself harder to hit, throwing in the occasional crouch or jump to throw off your opponent’s aim, and clambering on ledges to reach higher surfaces. The jump height is a sweet spot between Halo 3 and Reach, so crouch jumping, and grenade jumping is still viable despite clamber coming over from Halo 5.
There are two pieces of equipment that’ll allow you to move in different ways. You can use the Grapplehook to move across the map quicker, grapple weapons, vehicles, players, or objectives. You can curve around corners and change direction mid-air depending on where you look and cancel it halfway through. The longer you use it to swing, the more momentum you gather. The Repulsor, as well as being able to deflect bullets and other players, can launch yourself vertically into the air from the ground, or horizontally if you use it close to a wall.
Shooting
Unlike games like Call of Duty, Halo has a higher focus on hip-fire than ADS, although almost all weapons can zoom 1.4X depending on which you pick up. There are many benefits of choosing hip-fire over ADS and even scoping, such as having better visibility and awareness of your HUD and surroundings, the ability to use grenades or equipment instantly and to switch weapons quicker.
With precision weapons, the advisable route to take is break down their shields with shots to the body, then finish them off with one accurate shot to the head. There is only a headshot multiplier when the shields are down, and all weapons have that ability. Each weapon has a different reticle, some have bloom, which is a randomisation of shots (visually indicated by your reticle momentarily moving / expanding) when you don’t pace them.
Some weapons (BR75) are hitscan, while others are purely projectile based which means you must lead your shots at a distance. While it’s impossible to miss your shots if you’re on target with a hitscan, at a distance the damage output will decrease, or the magnetism will be turned down severely.
Different weapons (such as the Plasma Pistol and Hydra) have alt-fire modes, which are useful to learn because of the varying situations you could find yourself in. The two ways to change the firing mode in Halo Infinite is to either hold down the trigger (Ravager, PP) or to press the button that you would otherwise use to scope or zoom your weapon (Heatwave, Hydra).
Typically, the ideal weapon loadout should have one long and one short range weapon otherwise you’ll find yourself caught in unideal engagements without the right tools for the job, or you’ll have a suboptimal time looking for opportunities to use the weapons you have. The sandbox knowledge section will go into detail describing all the weapons and how they work.
Map Knowledge
Knowing the layout and quirks of Halo Infinite maps is extremely important when trying to win games. Each map plays differently, with different power weapon / equipment spawns and power positions. The 4v4 slayer maps include Live Fire, Recharge, Bazaar, Launch Site, Aquarius, Streets, and Behemoth, which also doubles as a 12v12 map. The other BTB maps are Fragmentation, Deadlock, and Highpower. Having the high ground on maps is generally advantageous, unless it’s extremely exposed or vulnerable.
Live Fire is an asymmetrical medium-sized arena map that is part of a UNSC training base of unknown exact location. There are open grassy areas with a large structure in the middle, with tunnels going through it’s bottom half.
Recharge is a close-range arena map set in a hydropower plant, with many corridors heading in different directions. There are three main levels – the exposed area at the bottom of the map that you should only find yourself in if desperately escaping an opponent, or quickly grabbing a power item then getting out.
Bazaar is a symmetrical medium-sized arena map set in Old Mombasa near the space lift being rebuilt in 2560. Big open space in the middle that can lead to stalemates where teams just fire across the gap, unwilling to commit. There are two lanes to reach the other side on the left and right, with a Rocket launcher on one, and power equipment on the other.
Launch site is a large arena map based on Countdown from Halo Reach, but with an extra open section for smaller vehicles such as the Mongoose and Ghost. Set at night with long lines of sight to fire precision weapons.
Aquarius is a small, symmetrical arena map that is set in a modern UNSC place of unknown purpose or location. Two main levels with many stairs and ramps connecting the hallways.
Streets is a typical, small three-lane map (but with interesting verticality) set in the streets of New Mombasa at night-time. Has a casino vibe with many nooks and crannies to escape fire.
Behemoth is a large arena map, and a small BTB map. It’s set in the desert on a Halo ring during the day, with two Forerunner towers in the centre, a circular structure acting as the boundary of the map along with the cliff, and palm trees / shrubs are dotted across it. The sand slopes to an open chasm between the towers.
Fragmentation is a medium-sized BTB map with design elements from Valhalla in Halo 3, the cliffs / vegetation roughly based on the missions Halo from CE, and Sierra 117 from 3. There are ancient hex squares sporadically but strategically placed through the map to ensure interesting and balanced encounters.
Sandbox Knowledge
Knowledge of the Halo Infinite sandbox includes weapons, equipment, and vehicles. It should be noted that all kinetic and electric gun mags need to be reloaded to be able to continue using it. With plasma weapons they don’t need to be reloaded as they use a battery, but if you fire them for too long, they overheat and therefore need to be vented by holding the regular reload button / key. Equipment and power weapons spawn on pads, weapons spawn on racks, vehicles spawn on pads or just on the ground.
Weapons
Will update this in the future or have a separate post that goes in depth to all these weapons, including the TTK, headshot multiplier, usefulness of each, viability in ranked games, and whether one should be nerfed or buffed accordingly to finetune the sandbox. These are roughly put in order of faction - UNSC, Banished / Covenant, Electric, Forerunner. (yes I consider the EMP weapons to be apart from the Banished, but we'll see when the campaign releases)
The MA40 Assault Rifle 36 shot fully automatic standard issue weapon effective at close to medium range but has a degree of bloom when you fire for sustained periods of time. Can be used to quickly drain shields then switch to a secondary precision to finish the kill. Most powerful and versatile version in its history. Debuted in CE.
The Sidekick is a medium range sidearm pistol that acts as a replacement for the Magnum from previous games. It has 12 shots in a mag and has bloom. Adept at finishing off enemies with a headshot, solid compliment to the AR. Debuted in Infinite.
The BR75 is a 3-shot burst precision weapon with no bloom, 36 bullets in a mag, and a scope. The staple of halo precision weapons, very reliable, and should be picked up in most situations. Only weapon you spawn with in ranked, so practise with it extensively. Hitscan rather than projectile based. Debuted in 2.
The VK78 Commando is a cross between the AR, DMR, and Covenant Carbine. It’s a fully-auto precision weapon with considerable recoil, bloom, and a scope. Most effective at medium range but can be used in close and long range situations at a pinch. Debuted in Infinite.
The S7 Sniper Rifle works like all other Halo SRs, but with bullet magnetism and aim assist turned down, which makes headshots harder. It also has bloom when descoped, even when you’re firing your first shot. Scope is longer than previous games, plays most like the 3/Reach SR. When scoped in it sends out a bright light that can be seen by the enemy. Debuted in CE.
The SPNKR Rocket Launcher is standard, two rockets can be loaded in, long reload time, large splash damage. Debuted in CE.
The Hydra is a missile launcher that has an alt-fire mode which either locks onto targets or doesn’t, has 6 missiles that need to be individually loaded. Weaker than its previous version where it debuted in 5.
The CQS48 Bulldog is a fast-firing semi-auto shotgun with 7 shots to a drum round, and a longer range than previous Halo tactical shotguns. Minimum two shots to kill (meaning the shotgun>energy sword meta no longer exists), one shot and a melee would also get the job done. Debuted in Infinite.
The frag grenade is automatically picked up by the player, can be thrown using an individual button, and bounces off surfaces to then cause damage to any target within its blast radius. It should be noted that all kinetic weapons apart from explosives deal better damage to health than shields. Debuted in CE.
The Pulse Carbine is a three burst plasma weapon designed to be used at medium range due to tracking being too weak at long distances and tracking not being effective at short ranges due to enemies being able to dodge shots easily because of the slow projectile speed. Shreds shields with two accurate bursts. Debuted in Infinite.
The Needler is an automatic weapon that fires pink needles out akin to an SMG with a wind-up speed. Has a degree of tracking but not at long ranges, and when you empty 12 needles in one firing period, it will result in a supercombine explosion that’ll kill them. Debuted in CE.
The Plasma Pistol is a weapon that can either fire in regular bolts, shot by spamming them one at a time, or if you hold down the trigger when you release it will send a supercharged bolt that will instantly take down all an opponent’s shields even if they have overshield. Terrible against flesh but the second firing mode can be used in tandem with a kinetic or otherwise secondary precision weapon to finish the kill, aka the Noob Combo. Debuted in CE.
The Stalker Rifle is a Banished weapon used by Jackal Snipers that is a fast firing, non-automatic, one-shot-at-a-time precision weapon. Debuted in Infinite.
The Ravager is a plasma Banished weapon that shoots bursts of splashing plasma that quickly take down someone’s shields, allowing for a quick melee to finish off the enemy at close range. Typically should be used at close to medium range, and its alt-fire mode allows you to send out a particularly large splash of red plasma that covers an area of ground in red fire that lasts for several seconds. This can be used to best effect in an area-of-denial situations in objective game types. Debuted in Infinite.
The Energy Sword is a one-hit kill melee weapon (providing the enemy doesn’t have overshield) with a decent lunge range. For each slice or stab the battery is drained, until eventually you’ll be running around with just a handle. If two energy sword wielders lunge at each other at the same time, neither will kill each other because the blades deflect off the other, dealing significantly less damage. Debuted in 2.
The Gravity Hammer is a powerful melee weapon that has a long swing time, no lunge, but significant splash damage to balance it out. Knocks enemies backwards. Debuted in 3.
The Mangler is a Banished weapon that resembles the Mauler from Halo 3, but isn’t a handheld shotgun, rather it has a smaller reticle and works well at close-medium distances. Like all Banished spike weapons, it has a higher melee damage than other guns in the sandbox. Debuted in Infinite.
The Skewer is a projectile based Banished weapon that shoots out gigantic spikes that can one-shot a spartan, and two shot vehicles like the Warthog. The reticle turns red when a target is moving in the distance at the point where if you pressed the trigger, it would hit them if the opponent doesn’t change direction suddenly. Replacement for the overpowered Spartan Laser. Debuted in Infinite.
The Shock Rifle is an electric precision weapon that shoots bursts of electricity that can kill a Spartan in one shot if all the burst hits the head in one go, but it takes three to the body to kill. Has the utility of being able to EMP vehicles with a couple of shots, which momentarily stalls the vehicle and delivers damage to the people in it. Has an arcing effect if groups of enemies are close together and can arc off nearby weapons on the ground if shot. Debuted in Infinite.
The Disruptor is an electric pistol that shoots small pellets of electricity that don’t cause much damage until the 3rd shot, with 6 shots the quickest you can kill an opponent with. Also has a small arc effect like the Shock Rifle but on a weaker level. Debuted in Halo Infinite.
The Plasma Grenade is blue and sticks to enemies and surfaces before exploding. Can’t be escaped once it is stuck to you. Debuted in CE.
The Spike Grenade is made of metal, created by the Brutes. It also sticks to enemies and surfaces, but additionally has the deadly function of shooting lethal spikes in every direction once it explodes. Debuted in 3.
The Dynamo Grenade is an electric grenade that doesn’t stick to anything. When thrown it sends out tendrils of electricity that quickly drain nearby shields as it bounces along surfaces. Can EMP vehicles like all electric weapons. Debuted in Infinite.
The Sentinel Beam is a weapon that sends out a concentrated beam of hard-light that shreds an opponent’s shields with surprising rapidity. However the recoil is quite significant and hard to control at times. As with other Halo Infinite Forerunner weapons, it disintegrates enemies when the killing blow is struck. Can be fired for a long time until you pick up more ammo for it, then you reload it in a visual style that looks more like venting Covenant weapons. Debuted in 2.
The Cindershot is a grenade/missile launcher that shoots out purple hard-light which explodes on direct impact and bounces off surfaces. When you ADS, you can guide the trajectory of the projectile in mid-air, so it hits the target. Debuted in Infinite.
The Heatwave is a close to mid-range weapon that sends out a burst of 14 hard-light beams. It has an alt-fire function, where you can either shoot it vertically or horizontally. Vertical is better for individual enemies and horizontal is designed to be used for groups of enemies clustered together. The beams can bounce off walls to deal damage from different angles, although it isn’t entirely accurate.
Equipment
Overshield is equipment originally developed by the Covenant to strengthen Elite energy shields but was adapted to be used by Spartans by ONI and the UNSC. It doubles the energy shields upon activation, which is an animation of putting the circular piece of equipment on the player’s chest. When carrying it a player leaves a yellow trail behind them as a visual indicator that they have it. When activated the player glows a bright yellow/white. Over time the overshield wears off, so giving a good use to it early is essential. The best strategies against it are slowly picking off the overshielded player from a distance until it runs out or taking it down with a powerful weapon such as a Rocket Launcher or Plasma Pistol. Debuted in CE.
Active Camo is the same shape, size, style, and animation as the overshield, but the colour of its glow and trail is blue. A couple seconds after activation the user goes almost completely invisible except when firing their weapon or moving faster than base movement speed. You don’t show up on radar either, but your footsteps can still be heard by enemy players. Best use of this equipment is to sneak up on opponents to get a quick back-smack, to run away from an engagement undetected, or to surprise them with a quick kill from a relatively powerful weapon. Ways to combat this are by listening for footsteps nearby even though nothing shows on the radar, shooting around where you see a slight glimmer in the air to reveal their presence visually, or to run away for backup. Was originally invented by the Covenant for stealth Elites. Debuted in 2.
The Grappleshot is equipment that attaches to the arm and can be shot out to pull yourself to where you shoot it. Can be used to quickly traverse a map, outplay an enemy, or escape somebody. The things it can latch onto are surfaces, players, items, and vehicles. When grappling you can cut it off either by pressing the button used to activate the equipment, or by looking too far away from where you shot. Using the mouse or right joystick to look away slightly from where you shot the grapple will allow you to curve around corners and change direction in mid-air. Debuted in Infinite.
The Repulsor is equipment that when activated pulls up the left hand in a short animation which causes objects, projectiles, and players to get repulsed away from you if aimed right and done within the appropriate distance. Plays that can be done with it are pushing an enemy player off a map, stopping a vehicle from splattering you, splattering an enemy player into a surface , repulsing yourself off the ground to reach higher places, deflecting bullets back at the enemy to save yourself from damage, and doing damage back if aimed right. Debuted in Infinite.
The Thruster is equipment that allows you to quickly dodge in different directions using a thruster pack that is visually shown to be on a player’s back. Has a large drop-off at the end and has been nerfed in terms of movement combos compared to Halo 4 and 5. Very useful for escaping sticky situations, diving into them and surprising an opponent, and outplaying them by moving in unexpected ways. Particularly effective at keeping you alive when there are snipers on the enemy team (if timed right). Debuted in 4.
The Threat Sensor is a piece of equipment that is shot out of a player’s left arm which latches onto surfaces, vehicles, and players. It then sends out a glowing, blue radius of light that indicates within its range whether an enemy is behind walls or cover by showing their tag and a glowing outline. This is an especially important equipment type in ranked modes because there is a lack of radar, and the information that gives can be crucial to a team winning a match. Debuted in Infinite.
The Drop Wall is a destructible wall that you throw on the ground when activated, and it provides protection from initial incoming fire from the front of it. Based on the Bubble Shield from Halo 3, this weaker version has individual panels which can be shot off, can be entirely deactivated by shooting the bottom metal bit, and simply disappears after several seconds have lapsed. Should be used proactively instead of reactively, especially useful in close-quarters maps/matches. Debuted in Infinite.
Vehicles
The Warthog is an armoured, open top vehicle that has a driver seat, passenger seat, and a turret seat on the back from which you shoot a machine gun from. Decent speed and handling with the turret having a small reticle and TTK. However can be lacking against multiple infantry from different directions, the more powerful tanks, electric weapons, and grappling enemies. A classic vehicle featured in the iconic endings of Halo CE and Halo 3. Debuted in CE.
The Rockethog is a variant of the warthog where instead of having a machine gun turret on the back, it shoots out rockets three at a time, which is implied by its name. Same weaknesses as the warthog but fares better against more infantry if the turret gunner aims well and deals more damage to tanks. However if the turret gunner’s aim is off and is too trigger-happy, it will deal less consistent damage output. Debuted in 2.
The Razorback is the final variant of the warthog in Halo Infinite, it doesn’t have a turret on the back, but it has extra armour and durability. In the back you can store objectives, weapons, and fusion coils, and its main function is an armoured troop insertion vehicle. Extra passenger seats than the other hogs. Debuted in Infinite.
The Mongoose is like a small quad bike which can only fit one driver and a passenger on the back. Is astonishingly fast and nimble compared to other vehicles, with responsive turning and mid-air tilting. This is to balance the fact that it has no effective way to defend itself from other players unless the passenger has a sufficiently powerful weapon and high skill level. The buff it received in Infinite makes it a viable strategic option since its inception. Debuted in 3.
The Gungoose is a version of the Mongoose that, obviously, has a gun that the driver can fire while driving. It shoots out projectiles that are like the weaker explosive ammunition from the Brute Shot in Halo 3. Has slightly worse handling and speed than the regular Infinite Mongoose to balance the relationship between the two. Also has a passenger seat. Debuted in 4.
The Scorpion is a heavy, armoured tank with green metal plating to protect itself. Shoots powerful blasts that are timed a few seconds apart, kills a spartan with a direct blast, similarly does well in destroying smaller vehicles. Slightly slower and more cumbersome handling than previous iterations, with similar weaknesses to the warthog stated above. Debuted in CE.
The Wasp is a flying vehicle that can only carry one person, has an alt fire mode where it shoots either a machine gun or rockets, is reasonably nimble, and is one of the more powerful vehicles in Infinite. Only major weaknesses are the Skewer, Rocket Launcher, electric weapons, and the Scorpion. Debuted in 5: Guardians.
The Ghost is a ground vehicle manned by one player that has two wings, and a curvy bulk at the front to protect the driver. It can boost forwards faster than base speed, but you lose manoeuvrability while doing so. The strafe speed from left to right is quicker than base speed moving forwards, which allows the vehicle to be quite nimble against infantry. It fires red plasma bolts at a rapid speed which absolutely melts player’s shields. Same weaknesses as the wasp, as well as grappling enemy players. Debuted in CE.
The Wraith is a curved, red plated Banished version of the scorpion tank. It’s mortar throws large balls of plasma that explode upon impact. However you must aim your shots higher than the reticle at a distance because it isn’t like a rocket that goes straight to the target. It’s a little nimbler than the Scorpion, but slightly weaker. Has a function where you can boost forwards for a short period to gain ground on where you want to go, or to splatter an enemy player. Slightly stronger than its previous versions. Debuted in CE.
The Banshee is a smaller sized air vehicle that has a few aerial manoeuvres to dodge incoming fire such as barrel rolls to the left, right, forward flip, and backwards flip. It has a slower turning speed and speed than other versions of the vehicle but is still a viable item that is dropped on the battlefield. When in the air it can’t hover, so it constantly is moving forwards, and you can boost like the other Banished vehicles. There is an alt-fire mode like the wasp, with a rapid fire mode like the ghost, and a Fuel Rod banshee bomb, which is green in colour and slightly underpowered. Debuted in CE.
Teamwork
Halo has always been an arena shooter based around team coordination, and Halo Infinite is no different. The relatively slow TTK compared to other shooters such as Call of Duty means that there is less focus on individual reaction speed and more on strategy. While having an excellent natural aim and being cracked at the gunplay itself is great, there is an even higher skill ceiling that can be breached if you work with your team effectively.
Not getting isolated from your team is key because if that happens, you are likely to lose the 1v2-4 that will inevitably follow because the spawns are tipped to the enemy on that end of the map. This isn’t a suggestion that you should follow a teammate wherever they go, stay as close to them as possible etc. The only things that’ll come out of that is losing coherency and initiative, causing you and your teammate to die to a well-placed explosive, and losing power weapon control. Instead you should stay within a reasonable proximity so that your team can control separate individual off-angles while being able to come to their aid within a short amount of time. However, an unexpected flank could be beneficial to winning a match (2 fronts mindset).
If you needed a definite distance, you should move closer to your team if you are more than 20 metres away on an average map, but of course (as mentioned before) this is situational and entirely up for debate. Other benefits include having more firepower against the other team whether you’re fighting against 1 or more enemies. If you aren’t likely to win an engagement, you can get as much damage done as possible, or melee trade to get the enemy one-shot so your teammate can finish off the kill. Another option in that situation is to run away with your head down so your teammate can engage while they are distracted trying to finish you off with an unavailable headshot.
Teamwork in objective games such as Capture The Flag, Oddball, and Strongholds is even more important than Slayer. This is because obtaining an objective requires coordination from all team members either to break a setup or get something back to base. For example with CTF, if you are running the flag back to base without backup, you first must drop the flag, fight off possibly multiple enemies while not letting them return it to base, pick it back up, and repeat. This is due to the flagnum being scrapped, and the limited flag movement capabilities without being instantly seen. To avoid these disastrous plays, other teammates assisting you by keeping the enemy team from killing you is essential to winning this mode. Another useful strat to use in CTF is to throw the flag to teammates nearer to home so even though you die, the flag’ll be closer to the base.
Individual teammates rushing towards a defensive or even offensive setup isn’t a good idea. Same principle in Oddball. With Strongholds you’d rather not be capping Alpha on your own while 2 enemy players move in. The best way to utilise teamwork in this mode is to rotate around the map to either A, B, or C with either your whole team or you split up into 2 groups of 2. While this strategy may break down as the game progresses and the spawns prevent you from this, keep it in mind while playing.
Possibly the most crucial part of teamwork is communication. Giving vital information about enemy locations, who has power weapons or objectives, and strategies to work around is extremely important to understanding how to win a game. There are three main ways to converse with your team, including the mark system, typed chat, and speech through a headset.
The best out of these is the headset/microphone, which allows you to speak directly with them, but oftentimes when in regular matchmade games and even in ranked, people are too shy to speak openly with randoms. If this is you, your other two options are the typed chat, which is only fast enough on a PC, and the mark system.
The way the mark system works in Infinite is through pressing a designated button which puts an arrow on all your team’s HUDs that gives audio feedback depending on where you set it. If you put it on a weapon or piece of equipment, it points this out to teammates that it’s there for the taking. On the other hand if you simply select an area of the map, it will state the name of the section, along with how many enemies are there. Based on the mark system from Apex Legends.
Buttons
While there are some layouts for controller that are objectively seen as more efficient than others, you should always go for the one that feels best for you. The bumper jumper layout is favoured by pro controller players, as it allows the player to jump and melee without having to take their finger off the right joystick, which’ll affect their aim and tracking significantly.
For modern players getting into the game today who have played Call Of Duty and other FPS franchises, the most comfortable transition would be the Zoom and Shoot layout, possibly with left bumper being used for equipment instead. The list of buttons and button combinations for this setting can be seen on the next page.
Button Layout
Right Joystick (RJ) – Look Around/Melee
Left Joystick (LJ) – Move/Sprint
Right Trigger (RT) – Shoot weapon
Left Trigger (LT) – ADS weapon/change alt-fire mode
Right Bumper (RB) – Throw grenade
Left Bumper (LB) – Use Equipment
Y – Switch weapon
X – Reload/Vent/Interact
A – Jump/Clamber
B – Crouch
D-Pad Up – Mark
D-Pad Down – AI Scan
D-Pad Left – Switch Grenade
D-Pad Right – Drop Weapon
View Button – Scoreboard
Menu Button – Pause Menu
Button Combinations
Slide: Sprint then crouch while sprinting. More effective on a downward slope. Difficulty level Easy.
Slide Jump: Sprint then crouch while sprinting. When you reach the maximum speed of the slide jump which’ll make you go slightly faster than usual than if you grounded yourself in the previous step. Difficulty level Normal.
Curb Slide: Sprint off a surface that is a small distance from the ground, and in the period between touching off the surface and landing on the ground press crouch and it’ll do a slide that is faster than a regular slide/jump. Very precise timing and practise needed. Difficulty level Heroic.
Super Slide: Sprint then jump so that you’ll land on a slope. In mid-air hold crouch so that when you hit the slope, you’ll do a boosted slide that’ll propel you across a decent portion of an arena map. Difficulty level Normal.
Slide Cancel: During a regular slide turn your left and right joysticks either to the left or right in synchronisation, which’ll stop you from committing to a slide that could be unwisely leaving you without cover. Difficulty level Heroic.
Grapplejack: To hijack an enemy vehicle using the Grappleshot, aim your grapple roughly at the seat you want to, press the equipment button, and while you’re going towards it hold the interact button to kick the opponent out.
Grapple Cancel: There are two ways to stop the grapplehook’s wind up to its destination. First one you simply press the equipment button once more in mid-air to stop it. The other way is to look far enough from the grapple’s destination using the right joystick, so it’ll cancel. The second option allows you to turn around instantly to respond to threats from behind as you don’t have to press the equipment button first.
Grapple Jump: Grapple a flat surface from above at roughly a 45 degree angle or less for maximum propulsion using the equipment button, and as you hit the surface and the grapple detaches, jump and this will propel you across the map. Recommended that you should look higher than your intended grapple target to make sure it detaches half a second earlier.
Repulsor Jump: Use your right joystick to look at the ground, move towards your intended direction, jump, then shortly after press the equipment button to do a super jump that’ll get you to higher levels.
Crouch Jump: While in mid-air press the crouch button before you hit the surface that you intended to reach. This allows you to not need to clamber to reach a surface.
Clamber: If you don’t have auto-clamber on, jump before the edge of a ledge, then press jump again when the upper half of your hitbox is placed at the optimal height. This will send you into an animation where your player clambers onto the ledge with two hands.
Double Clamber: Only available if you have auto-clamber on. Clamber onto a ledge, drop back down, then move forward just as your feet leave the ledge so that you clamber back up, throwing off the opponent who expected you to drop all the way down.
Settings
Field Of View (FOV): Recommended to be put at a higher level, ideally 100 or above depending on your monitor and needs.
Layout: Whatever suits you. Bumper jumper for players aspiring to be pros, if casual choose what feels best for you.
Look Sensitivity: Between 5 and 7. If you go too high, you sacrifice being able to make precise aim adjustments and lose a sense of map/environment awareness. Too low and you can’t turn fast enough to face incoming threats.
Look Acceleration: Recommended as 3. If too fast it’ll affect the consistency of your aim.
Invert Look: Leave alone unless crazy or have weird eye condition.
Hold To Crouch: If you choose this you can teabag faster, but you sacrifice being able to pull of the super slide manoeuvre faster. Not that important though.
Hold To Zoom: Keep this on because it allows for descoping faster.
Auto-Clamber: If you turn this on, you can clamber, drop down, and clamber back up to throw off your opponent. However, you may find yourself clambering in situations you don’t want to. Decide which is more important to you.
Centre Deadzone: Zero if your controller has absolutely no drift, but if it has some, bump it up until there isn’t a problem.
Put at performance mode rather than graphics mode because even when the graphics settings are turned down, the game doesn’t look terrible, and all the visual feedback is there. For PC you can individually change different parts of the graphics settings to better fit the build of your PC.
For everything else keep it at the default setting, unless it feels wrong, in which case you play around with them in training mode until you find your optimal settings. Don’t change right before a matchmade game unless you want to throw off your aim and lose.
Alternate Gamemodes
Unlike the slayer gamemode both in Arena and BTB, there is a specific point to most of the other gamemodes other than having a high Kill/Death Ratio. The confirmed gametypes so far that have been played are Capture The Flag (CTF), Oddball, Strongholds, Total Control, Stockpile, and Fiesta (Tenrai Event Mode). Another gamemode that hasn’t been properly added yet is Elimination, and there are almost certainly more modes to be added in the future, possibly including a Battle Royale.
Starting off with Capture The Flag (simple objective everybody knows this), the first thing you want to learn is how to ‘flag juggle’. This is when you are carrying the flag, either walking or running, you look up using the right joystick, then press the switch weapon button (Y for zoom & shoot). That will cause you to throw the flag a few metres in front of you. After that, sprint forwards to where you threw it, pick it up by pressing the interact button (X), and repeat the whole sequence. The benefits of juggling the flag are that it’s faster than sprinting with the flag, definitely faster than walking with it, you can shoot and use equipment in between throwing and picking it back up, and you can pass it to teammates if you are in a situation that will get you killed.
Sprinting with the flag will reveal your exact position to enemies with an audio cue, as well as them being able to see you through walls. Therefore unless you have been already spotted or are really close to capping a flag at your base, you shouldn’t use this function. If a Grappleshot is in your inventory, you can grapple the flag so you pick it up and get it closer to base, or you can alternatively grapple it from above, grapple cancel halfway through the grapple’s windup time, and the flag will fly a fair distance to wherever you aimed.
As aforementioned, teamwork is important in CTF. A team strategy that can be used in this mode is engaging the enemy team near the flag, have a teammate throw it to the nearest secure position, win the team fight by having the flag carrier join in, and progressively move the flag back to base. An alternative is have one teammate sneak into the enemy base to extract a flag while the opposition is fighting their flag back through another lane. This means they can’t return their captured flag while theirs is gone, which can buy you some time to claw back the game from defeat.
To return the flag you can’t pick it up, instead you must stand in a relatively small circle around it for a set amount of time. If its too in the open, take out nearby enemies before trying to return it. Grenade spamming people trying to return their flag is a legitimate tactic. Never forget that power weapon and equipment control is still important in this mode. In previous games the melee of a flag would instant kill, but in Halo Infinite, it takes two melees to kill, although the speed of them is faster than normal.
On to Oddball, the point of the game is to hold the Oddball for the longest amount of time. Two rounds out of three and you win. All the maps that are in its playlist have places where you can throw it off the map. You need to know this because if your team is losing a battle and the setup is completely falling apart, you have the option of throwing it off the map, stopping the enemy team from taking it and allowing teammates that have respawned a chance to nab the newly respawned skull. Make your business to know these places, although the one on Streets in less practical.
The way you throw it is by looking up, moving forward, and pressing the switch weapon button (Y). This is much like the mechanics of the flag in CTF. Throwing it also allows you to get it away from enemies into an exposed position, or simply pass it to teammates. When you have a secure setup and your team is fending off the opposition, take part in the fight if you have the opportunity. Finishing off the enemy and stopping them from getting the skull/ball is more important than keeping it for a couple extra seconds.
The skull can also be grappled, has a two-hit melee which is faster than usual, also like the flag in CTF. Never forget power weapons and equipment in this mode either! A SPNKR Rocket Launcher can break a setup faster than you can say “Were it so easy”. If a team is camping and sacrificing power item control, take full advantage of this while you can. Rotating around the map with the ball is a viable strat, possibly more than camping. You can’t sprint with the ball.
Now moving to Strongholds, the objective of this gamemode is to capture zones for your team. There are three of them spread around the map – A, B, and C. Your team starts scoring when you’ve captured 2 out of the 3 zones. Like with returning a flag, capturing a zone takes time in which you could find yourself vulnerable to grenade spamming. If an enemy is capturing a zone, and you kill him before that happens, then move to the zone yourself, it will instantly revert the effect of their temporary presence.
Like in CTF and Oddball, it isn’t a good idea to ride it solo in Strongholds. Since the zones are usually in vulnerable areas open to gunfire, trying to capture or defend one when you’re on your own is likely to end up with you dying instantly to a 1v2/3/4. Rotate around the map in tandem with allied players and you should be good. Always remember the power items around the map. Like with Oddball, the SPNKR, Cindershot etc are really good for clearing out groups of enemies clustered around the objective.
However if your respawn doesn’t allow you to do this, adjust strategies to the situation accordingly. Can’t give you information for every single scenario, that’s why its important for you to develop smart decision-making on the spot. Now, away from that quick tangent, Total Control is a mode that was almost forgotten about and is similar to Strongholds but implemented in Big Team Battle (BTB). Same idea and strategies except you need to capture all three zones at once to score once. Three scores wins the game. Less rotating around the map, and more getting there and trying not to die for as long as possible.
Stockpile is a mode that is exclusive to BTB, and involves these funny things called power seeds (I know, I know!). The point of the game is to get the seeds that are dropped in random spots near the centre of the map, bring them back to home base and insert the seeds into these nice holes to score (right imma stop). Your team gets 5 of them you score once, score three times and the game is won. Vehicles such as the Ghost and Rocket Hog are very useful for clearing out enemies trying to get them. Power weapons and equipment are still important and there are more of them on an average BTB map.
When you pick up a power seed, it functions like an oddball. You can’t sprint with it, but you can juggle it if you are skilled enough at the art. Two hit melee kill, faster than normal. Makes a funny clanking sound when it rolls along the ground and hits people, glows a bright blue, reveals your position when moving it back to base. You can also sneak to the enemy base and scoop the seeds out of the holes halfway through a round (God help me Infinite doesn’t deserve a Teen Rating in America).
To the last alternative gamemode, Fiesta. Nothing much to say here, except that this really should be a base mode rather than an event one, but you can’t have everything in life. Really useful and just plain fun mode for quickly learning how to use all the weapons in the sandbox if you don’t like the Training Mode or Weapons Practise. The way it works is you spawn with 2 random weapons, from the plasma pistol to the S7 sniper. You also spawn with random equipment, so pay attention to that emblem on your HUD too. When you kill enemies you can take their weapons and swap out your crappy drop wall for a grappleshot. You however don’t spawn with active camo or overshield. Team with most kills wins. Only available for limited times during Halo Infinite Season 1: Heroes of Reach, which lasts until early 2022.
Additional Information (kinda random)
Melees from the front are two to kill, but one to the back of a Spartan is an instant kill (don’t ask me about the lore implications of this). You can get a Ninja, Backsmack, or Boxer medal for melee kills. They have a small lunge range that isn’t indicated by any HUD elements but you’ll intuitively learn it over time.
The logical progression to getting multiple kills is Double Kill, Triple Kill, Overkill, Killtacular, Killtrocity, Killimanjaro, Killtastrophe, Killpocalypse, and lastly, Killionaire. You need to get a kill within 4.5 seconds to start the multikill streak, but once you get to Overkill or so (I think), the time increases by 0.5 seconds until Killionaire, where it caps at seven seconds.
If you’re looking to progress in the Battle Pass, unless you’ve bought it don’t bother. If you have look at completing challenges to boost your XP gains. Although you automatically get some just by playing games, performance in them doesn’t affect your XP unless you complete specific challenges.
For people looking to level up in ranked, personal performance is more important than in other Halos, where your whole team winning the matchup was crucial to doing well.
In regular social modes both in Arena and BTB, the radar allows you to detect where enemies are before you see them. To avoid appearing on the radar yourself, use Active Camo, or crouch walk and stop shooting/using equipment.
You can Repulsor an enemy grappling to you so they are repelled from reaching you.
Man cannons and gravity lifts are a useful way to traverse maps, mostly found in BTB.
Fusion coils (aka Noob Cubes) are explosive plasma boxes that can be found around maps and picked up. They can be thrown great distances towards enemies and do large explosive splash damage that can also damage teammates, so be careful. Also be careful to use it before enemies see you with it, because it’s possible to shoot it out of your hands to instantly kill you.
Turrets on the vehicle aren’t affected by EMP shock damage, you can still shoot them while under that effect.
Rockets from the SPNKR and other similar weapons travel slowly so lead your shots.
You can shoot grenades that drop of a dead Spartan or that hover on pads. They will consequently explode and deal the same damage.
Your reticle turns red when your weapon is in the rough optimal distance for shooting. It also gives vital info such as projectile spread and bloom.
Vehicles can be dealt damage to different parts of their hitbox to affect their handling. For example you can shoot off the wings of flying vehicles, tyres of the warthog and mongoose, treads of the scorpion to deal more damage, etc.
Turning your head away and down from your enemy makes it harder to finish you off. (possibly mentioned before)
Switching to your secondary to finish someone off is faster than reloading. Reload in between battles when not fighting.
Forerunner weapons make enemies and vehicles disintegrate into thin air. Good for keeping the battlefield in a cleaner state!
If you have two power weapons, you can share the power around with teammates by using the drop weapon function on your controller/keyboard.
Doing a melee when an Energy Sword user lunges could save your life, or at the very least do some damage.
You can rip a machine gun or plasma cannon turret off its pedestal, but while you have higher firepower, you go into third-person mode and your movement is greatly encumbered. This doesn’t include Shade Turrets, which are stationary and have additional shielding.
A grenade strategy is where you spot an enemy, throw a long one then a shorter one, so they are caught between two explosive blasts. If someone is pursuing you to finish you off in close, throw grenades at your feet to blow up the attacker. If you manage to stick someone with a plasma nade, its almost certainly a kill.
Don’t forget to use your AI scan function to locate nearby pickups like weapons and equipment, as well as activatable objects or POIs.
To teabag, stand on top an enemy’s body that has died with the last couple seconds, then press the crouch button multiple times (hold longer if on toggle). Not too fast otherwise the movement becomes imperceptible. Not too slow or the corpse won’t jiggle around as much.
Find that sweet spot where it’s just right.
Play the campaign. If you can afford it, play the story mode because it trains you to be versatile and adapt to different enemy types/situations. Also it’s just really fun! The Halo universe has lots of juicy lore and content for countless fanfics. If any of you champs are interested, there's also the Master Chief Collection (MCC) which is a collection of old Halo titles. I'm mainly doing all this frantic advertising to defend myself from Microsoft. Please Bill Gates... I have a life...