Skirmish

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Skirmish is a mode in Halo Wars and Halo Wars 2 which allows the player to battle against opponents, either human or A.I., on various maps and under a variety of conditions. The player can select the number of opposing A.I. teams, leaders, game modes, difficulty levels, and the map. In Halo Wars skirmish may be played in Standard, Deathmatch mode. Downloading the Strategic Options DLC adds three more modes: Keepaway, Tug of War, and Reinforcements.

Teams

There are three leaders each for the UNSC and the Covenant. The player can choose leaders for himself and for any A.I. opponents by selecting a slot on the Alpha or Bravo Team. Also, a random team leader or both random faction and leader can be selected.

Each character the player pick has his/her own special offensive abilities and upgrades, and each UNSC leader has a special economic bonus.

Halo Wars

UNSC

Each UNSC leader power can be upgraded in four stages, which increase damage, area of effect, and/or duration.

Captain Cutter

• Leader power: MAC Blast
• Unique unit: M312 Elephant: mobile infantry trainer
• Super upgrade: Orbital Drop Shock Troopers: Marines can upgrade to ODSTs and then drop from orbit anywhere on the map.
• Economy bonus: Bases start with more building sites.

Sergeant Forge

• Leader power: Carpet bomb
• Unique unit: Cyclops: Anti-structure exoskelton, repairs allied buildings and vehicles
• Super upgrade: Grizzly: A superior refit of the M808B Scorpion, with greater armament and armor
• Economy bonus: All supply pads start as heavy supply pads.

Professor Anders

• Leader power: Cryo Bomb: Freezes enemies in place and instantly destroys aircraft
• Unique unit: Gremlin: Dedicated anti-vehicle unit
• Super upgrade: Hawk: An upgrade to the Hornet, with increased offensive and defensive power
• Economy bonus: Cost and research time for unit upgrades is reduced by half.

Covenant

Prophet of Regret

• Special ability: Cleansing beam: Calls down an energy beam which can be guided by the player
• Unique unit: Elite Honor Guard: Powerful against infantry, can receive stealth ability
• Combat upgrades:
  • Blessed Immolation: Upgrades Gravity Cannon to fuel rod cannons for increased damage
  • Ancestral Perversion: Two Protector Sentinels hover near the Prophet and defend him
  • Divine Absolution: Upgrades Gravity Throne to enable powered flight
• Special upgrades:
  • Regret's Sentence: Increases size and damage of cleansing beam
  • Regret's Doom: Further increases size and damage of cleansing
  • Regret's Condemnation: Further increases size and damage of cleansing beam

Brute Chieftain

• Special ability: Vortex: Gravity hammer draws in enemy infantry and inflicts heavy damage
• Unique units:
  • Brutes: Powerful against infantry and light vehicles
  • Type-25 Chopper
• Combat upgrades
  • Inheritance: Adds passive stun ability to normal attacks
  • Birthright: Chieftain can pull enemies closer to him during combat
  • Destiny: Adds area of effect (AoE) stun to gravity hammer
• Special upgrades:
  • Tsunami: Increases vortex damage and AoE.
  • Hurricane: Further increases vortex damage and AoE.
  • Singularity: Further increases vortex damage and AoE.

Arbiter

• Special ability: Rage: Arbiter enters a mode of increased damage in which he can be directly controlled by the player
• Unique unit: Suicide Grunts: Armed with Type-25 plasma pistols, can detonate methane tanks for AoE damage
• Combat upgrades:
  • Fiendish Return: Arbiter's armor reflects a portion of incoming damage back to the attacker
  • Vicious Blades: Adds damage to attack and increases damage reflected
  • Ghastly Vision: Permanent cloak enabled and damage reflection increased
• Special upgrades:
  • Defiant Rage: Health partially restored with every inflicted fatality
  • Spiteful Rage: Rage mode costs less to maintain
  • Blinding Rage: Rage damage massively increased, also increases the power of nearby allies