Today several new items were added to Halo 4 Matchmaking, including new game types, maps and more. Check out the full details below!

In Spartan Ops, we are featuring a “fan favorites” selection of Episodes 1-5, which includes the most played missions by you, the community. The below missions have the highest number games played per mission, so if you haven’t played through all of them yet, you may want to check out some of the most popular selections this week.

Spartan Ops Fan Favorites: Episodes 1-5

Episode 4 – Chapter 2: Rally Point
Episode 3 – Chapter 4: Shootout in Valhalla
Episode 5 – Chapter 2: Nothing Can Go Wrong
Episode 5 – Chapter 4: The Cauldron Base
Episode 2 – Chapter 5: Gagarin

Big Team Skirmish

Big Team Skirmish premieres today, replacing the Team Objective playlist. We have chosen to offer 8 vs. 8 objective as a separate offering from Big Team Infinity Slayer so as to not disrupt our most popular playlist. However, we’ll monitor population and trends so that we can react accordingly. The following 8 vs. 8 game modes are currently offered:

Big Team CTF – Longbow, Ragnarok, Complex
Big Team King of the Hill – Exile, Longbow
Big Team Regicide – Complex, Settler

The above are some of our favorite map and game type combinations. We are currently planning on adding additional maps and game types to this playlist in the future, so as always, swing by the War Games Feedback section of our forums and let us know what you’d like to see!

Flood Updates

We’ve teamed up with the Community Cartographers and Flood fanatics to deliver a new game type and accompanying maps, which premiere in the Flood playlist today. The new game type, Hivemind, adds a brand-new experience to the playlist.

If you’re a Flood fanatic and dying to know some of the settings in this game type, you can find some of the key values below:

Hivemind Base Human Player Traits

• Damage Resistance: 90%
• Shield Recharge Rate: 10% (Slower)
• Shield Recharge Wait: 20 Seconds
• Damage Modifier: 75%
• Melee Modifier: 500%
• Primary Weapon: Assault Rifle
• Secondary Weapon: Magnum
• Weapon Pickup: Enabled
• Armor Ability: None
• Sensor Range: 25 Meters
• Player Speed: 90%

Hivemind Flood Traits

• Damage Modifier: 50%
• Melee Modifier: 50%
• Ability Usage: Disabled
• Sensor Range: 40 Meters
• Jump Height: 125%

Thanks to the above settings and new maps, the game type creates an entirely new experience for the Flood playlist, and I’d recommend checking it out (even if you don’t frequent the playlist). Hivemind is offered on the following maps:

Payload by Narb Guy
Drillsite by Pa1nts
Temple by Mr Pokephile
Repression by Auxi Klutch

Dominion

Dominion has received some updates as well. First, the resupply of the bases now provides mostly Loadout weapons and grenades rather than a large number of power weapons. Also, we’ve added a brand-new game type named Lockdown. This new mode focuses the action on one central base that both teams must fight to control. The scoring settings are as follows:

• Score to win: 100
• Capture Points: 0
• Standard Capture Time: 1
• Fortified Capture Time: 5
• Fortify Points: 0
• Fortify Time: 15
• Resupply Points: 10
• Resupply Frequency: 25
• Last Stand: False

We’ve also updated weapon and power-up respawns across the following maps in Dominion:

Exile
Overshield near Blue spawn – Repawns in 90 seconds
Sticky Detonator above Red spawn – Respawns in 120 seconds

Longbow
Shotgun near each spawn – Respawns in 120 seconds
Rocket Launcher on back beach in between Alpha and Charlie – Respawns in 120 seconds

Meltdown
Needlers in each teleporter bunker – Respawns in 60 seconds
Fuel Rod Cannon on main bridge – Respawns in 120 seconds

Vortex
Concussion Rifle near Red spawn – Respawns in 120 seconds
Sniper Rifle near Blue spawn – Respawns in 120 seconds
Energy Sword underneath Bravo – Respawns in 120 seconds

Additionally, we’ve optimized spawns on Haven (removed the “ditch” spawns on bottom Open Ramp), fixed a rotating ordnance issue on Simplex, and updated voting options in Infinity Slayer, SWAT and Big Team Infinity Slayer to include an on-disk map in the first slot to allow for the best experiences for split-screen players and optimized overall map variety.

Action Sack’s Mini Slayer has also received a new map! The map, appropriately named Napoleon, uses a blocked-off section of Complex’s central cliff-side base and provides compact, arena-esque chaos to tickle your Mini Slayer fancy. Hop into the Action Sack playlist to give it a shot.

We’re excited about all of the new maps, game types and settings, and we hope to see you online!

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