Season 1 (Halo Wars 2)

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Next:	Season 2
Season 1
Start date:	February 28, 2017
End date:	April 7, 2017
Includes content for:	Halo Wars 2

Season 1 was the first season of Halo Wars 2 to launch, beginning on February 28, 2017. The season followed the launch-era Season 0 and was succeeded by Season 2 on April 7, 2017. The season was released to coincide with the Kinsano DLC, and features Kinsano's Cyclops as the Season banner.

Season 1 Title Updates

A number of patches were released for Halo Wars 2 during Season 1.

March 7 patch

A major patch for Halo Wars 2 is now available for Xbox One. The team is working to get the Windows 10 patch out as soon as possible and the current ETA is ideally within the next 24-48 hours. While we regret that PC players have to wait a bit longer, the team didn't want to delay Xbox One solely on account of the Windows 10 release. Due to the much more complex nature of the PC platform everything just takes a little bit longer (certification pass, testing, etc...). We will provide updates as new information becomes available.

Please note this patch is a 9.9GB download.

Here are the top issues being addressed in this latest patch:

Crashes/Errors/Performance

• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on the loading screen
• Fixed an issue that caused some PC players to see a black screen on startup
• Several "desync" fixes, one of which covered most of the tracked occurrences
• Fixed a variety of PC crashes that were hardware-dependent
• Fixed a Network Error on opening Blitz Packs
• Fixed some AI issues in Skirmish that could cause performance hits
• Fixed some performance hitches in Cooperative Campaign
• Made performance improvements on various hardware
• Overall multiplayer performance improvements
• Fixed some crashes that could occur when loading a saved game
• Fixed an issue that would cause a Campaign mission to get stuck after loading a save
• Fixed a bug with joining a party and getting a network error
• Added a driver check on PC to alert users to the presence of old drivers
• Fixed an issue that caused players to disconnect from multiplayer games at the beginning of the match

Gameplay

• Fixed issue with ‘Detect’ on some starting units not working properly
• Fixed an issue with getting the Palmer’s Pure Gold Achievement
• Fixed some bugs with Kodiaks in Campaign
• Fixed a bug with garrisoned Snipers not getting additional stats
• Fixed issue with squads getting stuck trying to garrison if another squad beats them to it
• Gold medal can now be more easily attained in ‘Hold the Line’
• Fixed a Cyclops and Reaver pathing bug where they would sometimes stop moving
• Fixed an issue with units getting stuck in bases after being made
• Fixed various skull functionality not working on some units or abilities
• Fixed some cross-skull interactions between Annihilation and Pestilence
• Fixed some Locust pathing issues in Blitz (even though they’re driven by Grunts)
• Fixed an issue with units becoming unresponsive in Blitz
• Fixed an issue in Blitz with units getting a x4 speed boost in a specific situation
• Fixed a conflict created by swapping d-pad functionality in Blitz
• Fixed an issue with the Blisterback not recovering from damage in Blitz
• Fixed behavior of Marines sometimes failing to get new targets after throwing a grenade
• Friendly cloaked units now appear on the minimap
• Made some adjustments to Scarab creation
• Tweaks to Grunt Mob, Bloodfuel Grunts, and Bloodfuel Locust
• Holo Decoy can no longer be used on Pelicans or Spirits
• Fixed card level of units affected by Holo Decoy not showing over clones
• Glassing beam always creates vision now in Blitz
• Adjusted AI to make better use of Healing and Cloaking fields
• Skirmish AI now uses Extraction and Teleport
• AIs have been practicing their Domination game

Metagame

• Fixed a bug where parties were always assigned to Team 1
• Fixed a rare issue with users not actually getting to play the leader they selected in Blitz
• “Halt” cinematic should no longer be unlocked early in theater
• Fixed some daily/weekly challenge issues where they were not tracked in some playlists
• PC players can no longer tab target to whisper to themselves
• Phoenix Log page adjustments
• Pause menu adjustments
• Set default difficulty of AI to normal from easy

Cosmetic

• Cleaned up some language localizations
• Fixed a bug with UI textures failing to load
• Fixed some minimap graphical issues
• Fixed a PC issue with starting army text overlapping some UI
• Fixed some issues with individual card pack opening animations
• Fixed an issue with a terminal for a red barrier not having a display string
• Fixed a Domination icon issue, where it would rotate briefly when being recaptured
• Fixed an issue with Health bars getting stuck on the screen
• Fixed some issues with particles randomly shooting across the maps for various objects
• Adjusted transparency on locked skulls in the side panel
• Radial menu has been cleaned up a bit
• Added extra visual indicator to aid players when they are selecting cards
• Made some enhancements to the leader selection carousel

Audio

• Fixed an issue with the announcer constantly reporting Zone B is contested when it’s not
• Fixed an issue with the Condor being able to be heard through fog of war
• Fixed incorrect audio playing on some units when damaged
• Fixed some issues with units calling out the wrong attackers
• Fixed an issue with using right trigger or mouse wheel would cause audio spam
• Added audio to Plasma Mines deploy
• Added a variety of sound effects, and adjusted timing on some existing ones

Last, But Not Least

• Under-the-hood preparation for future ranked multiplayer

Known Issues

In addition to these fixes, the teams are continuing to investigate and track various issues being reported by some players. A few known issues that are not fixed in this patch but are being worked on include:

• We are still working on a fix for a known issue where a game can sometimes freeze or result in a very low frame rate
• Investigating reports of the "Short Term Commitment" achievement not registering as intended
• Investigating some reports of performance issues with cinematics
• Investigating reports of the mini-map occasionally being unresponsive on PC
• Occasional infinite loading screen when loading into consecutive missions in co-op
• Game can sometimes hang indefinitely when restarting a mission
• Unit balance feedback and assessment is ongoing by the design team
• This is not a full list of in-progress fixes, the team has a number of player-reported bugs at various stages of investigation/fixing. As always we appreciate your feedback here in the Waypoint forums and we'll provide more details and updates as we have them. Thank you!
• Design & Balance Change Details
• The unit balance adjustments included in this patch pre-date the release of the game and as such are not in specific response to game data and player feedback since launch.

Balance changes:

• Scout Vehicles now take increased damage from Turrets, Leader Powers, Basic infantry weaponry, Marine grenades and Grunt squad Mines.
• Scout Vehicles deal reduced damage against Non-scout vehicles.
• Warthogs and Marauders increased damage versus Scout vehicles
• Ramming Vehicles now take increased reflect damage.
• Scout Vehicle cost changes: (100/50 = 100 Supply & 50 Power)
  • Banished Brute Chopper – 270/0 to 280/20
  • Banished Ghost – 250/0 to 265/20
  • UNSC Jackrabbit – 210/0 to 220/15
• Scout Vehicle build time changes:
  • Banished Brute Chopper - 23 to 25 seconds
  • Banished Ghost- 23 to 25 seconds
  • UNSC Jackrabbit – 21 to 24 seconds
• Grunt squad mines arming delay reduced from 5.0 to 3.0
• Grunt squad mines damage increased by 13%
• Marine grenade secondary area of effect damage increased from 30% to 50%
• Grunt Mob card cost increased from 50 to 60
• Bloodfuel Grunts card cost increased from 30 to 50
• Bloodfuel Locust card cost increased from 60 to 80
• Increased Watchtower’s line of sight from 50 to 90

March 20 patch

The latest update for Halo Wars 2 is rolling out today for Xbox One & Windows 10 and includes more fixes, improvements, a number of balance changes, and paves the way for our first new leader, Kinsano!

Crashes / Errors / Performance

• Fixed a crash that occurred in Skirmish against AI opponents
• Fixed some error handling with Xbox live service messages
• Fixed a crash that can occur in a LASO play through
• Fixed a hardlock that could occur when loading into “Lights Out”
• Fixed a desync that could be hit in Firefight
• Fixed a crash that could occur while watching the prologue cinematic
• Fixed a crash that could occur while a user signs out while loading into a certain game mode
• Fixed a crash that could occur when transporting newly deployed units
• Fixed an Win 10 specific issue with the game hanging sometimes when restarting a mission
• Fixed some suspend/idle issues that caused infinite loads
• Fixed some Intel Iris Graphics 520 issues that could cause a crash
• Improved performance when running on various Intel integrated GPUs
• Fixed some improper localization strings in controller layout while playing the Basic Tutorial
• Fixed an issue that could cause a crash when a Wolverine is destroyed by a Lightbridge toggling off while it was on it
• Improved stability by fixing a large variety of one-off crashes
• Fixed some performance hitches in Campaign that were caused by scripted events triggering

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where players were sometimes able to quickly assign one Leader Power point to two different Leader Powers
• AI now garrisons a bit more often in Legendary when low on health
• Nightingale Smoke bombs now stop Turrets shooting outside of the smoke, identical to how units behave
• Damage against Bases show as soon as it happens
• Fixed an issue with Hornets sometimes not responding to Banished unit attacks
• Fixed an issue with pressing the ‘Q’ key twice did not select all units, if there were no units on the screen
• Fixed an issue with Challenges sometimes not progressing in Solo/Team War or Team Objective Playlists
• Fixed Shift-Right-clicking to set multiple waypoints not working in some cases
• Fixed an issue with AI ignoring Sentinel recaptured Control Points
• Fixed some units getting stuck on the campaign mission “The Halo”
• Fixed a bug where the enemy AI retreats too often on Normal
• Fixed an issue where the AI would sometimes kill its own units by toggling a Lightbridge
• Fixed an issue with units doing no damage in a specific scenario
• Fixed an issue with “Departures” video being unlocked after completing “The Halo”
• Fixed a bug with “Just the Facts” and “The full story” achievements not triggering properly
• Fixed an issue where players would get their Favorite Leader instead of the one picked
• Various unit animation fixes
• Added three new achievements unique to the upcoming “Kinsano” leader DLC

Cosmetic

• Fixed some text truncation that could occur in some Campaign missions
• Fixed some text in a few Phoenix logs
• Fixed some UI callouts for failed objectives in a previously played mission showing in a different mission

Audio

• Fixed some cases of audio corruption when multiple sound effects were played at the same time
• Fixed an issue with vehicle engine audio stuttering when on the edge of battle
• Fixed an issue with clipping/corruption occurring in higher waves of Blitz Firefight

Design & Balance Changes

Note: Balance changes affect units in standard and Blitz multiplayer modes unless otherwise noted. For Halo Wars 2 game designer notes and context surrounding these changes, please check out the March 16th Community Update blog.

Leader Powers

• Shipmaster’s Scout mines cannot be dropped on buildings anymore
• The Banished Cleansing Beam speed slightly reduced
• ODSTs cost increased from 600 to 800, HP slightly decreased

Economy

• Adjusted the Supply income curve to give less of a bonus income on the first few Supply Pads/Warehouses, but less limiting as player’s build additional pads.

Leaders

• Sgt. Forge: Removed the discount on Supply Pads and Reactors in the “Rolling Economy” leader power
• Sgt. Forge: Accelerated Assembly and Lotus mines swapped places

Units

Jump Pack Brutes:

• Increased HP
• Incased basic DPS
• Slight increase to move speed

Hellbringers:

• Significant increase to HP
• Significant increase to fire damage dealt to basic infantry units
• Move speed slightly increased
• Cost reduced from 80/50 to 80/40
• Reduced pre-attack and post-attack cooldown to improve responsiveness

Suicide Grunts (NOT Blitz Suicide Grunts)

• Increased HP
• Base damage decreased
• Base AOE range increased
• Move speed slightly increased
• Charge distance increased
• Charge speed decreased
• Cost reduced from 100/25 to 100/20

Elite Rangers

o Significantly increased HP o Armor type changed to be more resistant to small arms fire from Marine & Grunt squads o Cost reworked from 80/110 to 125/90 o DPS increased

Jackrabbit

• Cost reduced from 220/15 to 200/12

Ghost

• Cost reduced from 265/20 to 230/15

Chopper

• Cost reduced from 280/20 to 245/15

Hunters

• Cost reduced from 150/200 to 160/160
• DPS reduced

Cyclops

• Cost reduced from 120/150 to 120/120
• DPS reduced

Wraiths

• HP significantly increased
• Shields significantly increased
• Build time reduced
• Cost changed from 550/40 to 525/70
• Plasma Cannon DPS increased
• Plasma Mortar DPS increased
• Plasma Mortar Fire rate increased
• Y ability initial damage increased significantly
• Incoming healing reduced

Scorpion

• HP increased
• Cost changed from 650/50 to 600/90
• Machinegun DPS increased
• Cannon DPS increased
• Cannon AOE size decreased
• Canister shell DPS increased
• Canister shell AOE size increased
• Incoming healing reduced

Grizzly

• HP increased
• Machinegun DPS increased
• Missile pod DPS increased
• Cannon DPS increased
• Missile Barrage ability damage increased

Grunts

• Grunt squad build time reduced
• Overall DPS increased for basic and mine-upgrade squads
• Overall DPS increased for pack brother upgrade squads

Marines

• Grenade DPS decreased significantly
• Grenade large AOE size reduced

Anders’ Sentinels

• Move speed decreased
• No longer has a huge damage bonus vs. buildings
• General DPS decreased
• Lockdown Bolt damage decreased significantly

Banshees

• Banshee Plasma Torpedo damage reduced

Locusts

• Basic DPS slightly reduced
• Line of sight range reduced
• Weapon range reduced

Base Turrets

• UNSC and Banished upgraded turrets DPS increased
• Banished turrets HP increased
• UNSC turrets build time reduced
• Banished turret build time reduced

Strongholds

• UNSC and Banished HQ HP increased to a constant, high HP amount across all tech tiers

April 4 patch

This week another small patch will be released for Halo Wars 2 that addresses a saved-game issue that was introduced with the Kinsano update in addition to a few smaller fixes. Please see below for the full details:

Crashes / Errors / Performance

• Fixed an issue where campaign save files from previous versions/patches were crashing on load. The save files now load successfully.

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where watchtowers and motion sensors did not detect cloaked units
• Fixed an issue where cloaking generators would stop cloaking after 15 seconds if the advanced cloaking leader power was fully unlocked/upgraded
• Fixed an issue where Forge’s warthog was not displaying aura VFX and his upgrades were not working.

Cosmetic

• Updated text for Forge’s “Rolling Economy” Leader Power to match balance changes made in the Kinsano update (removed text referring to reduced building cost)

The next Halo Wars 2 update is underway and is currently scheduled for release in conjunction with the new leader launch later this month. More details to come!