Regicide

Regicide is a gametype for Halo 4. It is a variation of Free-For-All gametype where the leading scorer is declared the "king." The king is identified by a beacon which appears above their heads, and a bounty is placed on their heads. The other players need to kill the king to claim the bounty and earn bonus points. The minimum bounty is 15 points; maximum bounty is 35 points. Surviving as king for 20 seconds awards the Kingtacular medal and an Overshield. Surviving for a full 60 seconds awards the Reign of Terror medal and a Damage Boost. Killing the king is known as a Regicide. Assassinating the king is known as an Execution.

Team Regicide is a variant of Regicide in which both teams have their own kings, and players need to do their part in killing the opposing team's king and protecting their own. It resembles the VIP game types in Halo 3.

Regicide gameplay differs from traditional slayer in two major ways. The first is that players inevitably flock toward the king or kings, making players more likely to encounter one another and speeding up the game. The second is that earning the most kills does not necessarily guarantee victory; a player with the most kills will often lose to a another player who has earned more Regicides.

Regicide is a particularly useful gametype for local custom games where one player is noticeably more skilled than the others. The bonus points the gametype awards allow the less skilled players to keep pace with their more experienced friend and potentially steal a win.

Tips
Unlike many other gametypes, playing it safe is not a wise strategy Regicide. With other players all heading toward the same location, sitting back and firing into the fray will generally not score enough kills and Regicides to win. Because of the tendency of players to crowd the same location, close quarters loadout weapons such as the Assault Rifle, Storm Rifle and Suppressor are good choices.

Active camouflage is a particularly useful armor ability when not the king, as other players are often too preoccupied moving toward the king to notice that they are being snuck up on. Once the player becomes king however, the beacon which appears above their heads makes active camo useless against all but the most inexperienced players.

Defensive armor abilities such as the Hardlight Shield and Regeneration Field are only of use to a king in Team Regicide where there is a possibility of assistance from team mates. In free-for-all a player using a Hardlight shield will likely find themselves shot in the back (or assassinated for an Execution medal) by another player, and so are only preventing themselves from shooting back. Similarly, a Regeneration field is not capable of recharging a player's shield during a concentrated attack from multiple directions. In this specific case, the best defense is a good offense.

Arguably the best armor ability for a king is the Autosentry. Enemies attempting to close with and engage the king are unable to avoid the autosentry like they would in other gametypes. Should they focus on the autosentry instead of the King, they open themselves up to be taken out by the King. The additional fire from the autosentry can help a king kill multiple attackers before they are taken out.

The Hologram is a good choice for distracting or delaying other players while moving towards the King. Due to the competition for points in Regicide, most players would instead attack the hologram in hopes of getting a surprise attack. While they are distracted by the hologram, attack them from their backs, or get to the King first.

Tactical Packages and Support Upgrades are more flexible, depending on the situation. However, several are (while not necessarily must-haves) certainly useful. Mobility's infinite sprint is a wonderful tool for charging down the King, or running away as the King. Dexterity's decreased reload time means that you have a shorter period of vulnerability while you reload, which is often the downfall of players in Regicide as they are gunned down while reloading after a kill. Ammo is an especially useful tool for the King, who will often find themselves running low on ammunition should they get on a streak. While picking up an enemies dropped weapon is fairly easy, simply having more ammo to start with (and being able to carry more) may be the more attractive option for some players.

Trivia

 * Regicide is also the name of a Foundry map variant in the Bungie vs World Halo 3 playlist.
 * King powerups (Overshield and Damage Boost) can be disabled in custom games. Players may wish to do this to level the playing field even more in small local matches in which the king is more likely to survive for a long time.