Season 2 (Halo Wars 2)

Season 2 was the second season of Halo Wars 2 to launch, beginning on April 28, 2017. The season followed Season 2 and was succeeded by Season 4 on May 22, 2017. The season launched alongside the release of the leader Colony; as such the season's emblem is represented by a Goliath.

Season 2 Title Update
The launch of Season 2 saw the release of an accompanying Title Update, with a balance patch released later in the season.

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 * title1=April 27 patch
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April 27 patch notes
Alongside the release of Colony, the latest Halo Wars 2 DLC Leader, the team has implemented a host of various updates, general tweaks, and bug-fixes to improve your Halo Wars 2 experience. Check out a detailed overview of these changes below.

Core systems

 * Made various stability improvements
 * Fixed some secondary objectives not triggering after loading from a save
 * Fixed some more cases that could cause infinite loading
 * Fixed a performance issue on Banished buildings caused by some audio looping inappropriately
 * Fixed an issue causing desync for some players

Leader Powers

 * Archer Missiles now interact with Fog of War appropriately
 * Fixed an issue with players being able to build toward the pop cap of temporarily stolen units with Isabel’s Ghost in the Machine
 * Fixed an issue where a shield generator wouldn’t spin up if the main base was damaged during construction
 * Fixed an issue where Isabel’s ‘The Best Offense’ passive power would render Scorpions unresponsive

Blitz/Firefight

 * Ark Defense spawns the correct number of Sentinels in Blitz, for all interactions with line of sight
 * Grunt Mob returns the correct amount of energy on death in Blitz
 * Fixed an issue with audio corruption in longer games of Blitz Firefight

Campaign/Gameplay/Settings

 * Grunts no longer shoot each other in the back, reducing their damage output
 * The campaign log "Beyond the Edge" is now unlocked when completing campaign mission “The Halo”
 * Neutral marines in the tutorial no longer attack and kill the player’s units, preventing them from completing the mission
 * Strongholds custom game setting for “starting population count” now works as expected
 * Fixed it so “Minibases count as HQ” enabled now prevents the game from ending when the player has no units and only minibases
 * Added some Sentinels to capture points on Sentry and Badlands
 * Marines’ grenade throw is more responsive
 * Deployed Blisterbacks are now attackable by all units, not just anti-air
 * Hunter upgrade no longer renders Hunters unresponsive
 * Fixed an issue where Holo-decoy units under the effects of the Hellcharge ability would do damage to enemy units
 * Global unit upgrades now apply to the Scorpion
 * Fixed text on Forge’s Rolling Economy text to match the changes that were applied in the previous update
 * Aligned Kinsano’s flame VFX for her Flamewall power with the area in which it does damage
 * Fixed several translation errors in Russian, Polish and Japanese
 * Fixed some instances of debug strings showing up as UI text in a few locations

AI Fixes

 * Shipmaster AI can no longer teleport units into the void
 * Changed the way AI uses and reacts to Nightingale smoke ability
 * Fixed an issue that allowed the AI to control a jackrabbit drone
 * AI players are now more aware of cloaked bases
 * AI players will retake power nodes which were reclaimed by Sentinels
 * An AI will no longer kill its own units by disabling a Lightbridge while they're on it… RIP

Achievements

 * Fixed “Two Heads are Better than None” achievement

Audio/Effects

 * Fixed audio with several leader powers
 * Fixed several issues with units not having appropriate audio on destruction
 * Fixed several instances in campaign when background music could be heard in cutscenes or ingame cinematics
 * Adjusted some leader powers' audio
 * Synced some audio with animations for Kinsano’s Cyclops
 * Fixed an issue with audio events getting spammed when interacting with Fog of War or Cloaking ability
 * Fixed an issue with large scale battles causing some audio corruption
 * Fixed death visual effects on the Veteran Flame ‘Hog in Blitz
 * Fixed some particle issues with the Flame Warthog incendiary grenade
 * Fixed Guard units generating noise endlessly in Blitz
 * Douglas’s taunt is no longer heard globally

And now for something completely different:
 * Fixed an issue where Grunt Squads turn into Grizzlies after the player kills them in any mission when loading a save file with the skull “Grunt Birthday Party” active from a previous release


 * title2=May 5 patch
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May 5 balance patch notes
All units! The team has deployed a mid-season balance update to address a few things that have surfaced based on player feedback and game data analysis. This update is now live and will automatically apply the next time you launch Halo Wars 2 (the game will restart once updated). Here's a summary of what's been changed:

Shipmaster

 * Spirit Support - Now drops a veterancy level 2 Hunter (Previously veterancy level 3 Hunter)

Kinsano

 * Kinsano Cyclops
 * Flamewall ability cooldown time increased from 45 to 60 seconds
 * Flamewall damage versus buildings reduced by 70%
 * Flamehog w/ Flame Mortar Upgrade
 * Flame Mortar damage over time effect reduced damage by 35%
 * Flame Mortar damage over time effect, reduced damage vs buildings by 40%
 * Flame Mortar range decreased by 14%
 * Flame Mortar fire rate reduced by 0.5 seconds, overall impact damage per second not affected, but will create fewer DOT scorch areas.
 * Inferno
 * Reduced damage versus buildings by 20%
 * Reduced duration from 25 seconds to 20 seconds

Colony

 * Hunter Captain - Move speed increased by 19%
 * Skitterer - (bug fix) Now receives upgrade benefits from Global Vehicle Upgrades
 * Vehicle Symbiotes - (bug fix) No longer shows buff effect through Fog of War

Global Banished

 * Grunts
 * Banished leader now start with 3 Grunt squads instead of 2
 * Grunt squad resource gather speeds increased by 32%
 * Engineers - HP reduced by 20%
 * Hunters
 * Basic speed increased by 15%
 * Fuel rod projectile velocity increased to help hit moving
 * Brute Chopper
 * Move speed increased 11%
 * Explosive rounds upgrade now also increases damage by 15%
 * Locust
 * Line of sight reduced by 12.%
 * Locust cost increased from 250/175 to 300/200
 * Wraith - Scorch projectile initial damage reduced by 50%

Global UNSC

 * Jackrabbit
 * Basic DPS increased by 15%
 * Drone delay before healing reduced from 10 seconds to 7 seconds

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 * Scorpion
 * HP increased by 10%
 * Cannon DPS increased by 10%
 * (bug fix) Unit ability Canister Shell now fires almost instantly