Warzone

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A game of Warzone in progress on the map Escape from ARC.

Warzone is a multiplayer gametype introduced in Halo 5: Guardians. Similar in concept to Big Team Battle, Invasion, and Halo 4's Dominion, Warzone pits two teams of 12 players against one another in a race to capture bases, kill bosses, and destroy the opposing side's core.

Warzone featured a few offshoot variants, including Warzone Assault, an asymmetric gametype where one team is tasked with capturing bases in three phases. This gametype opted to remove bosses and AI. Warzone Turbo was a developmental gametype turned official, in which both teams start with full energy. This gametype operates the same as a normal Warzone match bar this.

In the titular Warzone Firefight update, a new gametype turning Warzone into an 8 player, PvE (player versus enemy), wave-based gametype was introduced. Removing base captures, core destruction, and PvP (player versus player) gameplay, Warzone Firefight operated in a manner closer to Halo 3: ODST's and Halo: Reach's Firefight offerings, with its own twist, forcing players to engage in five waves with various challenges, ranging from base defense to basic enemy destruction.

Overview[edit]

Warzone features large-scale combat with two teams of 12 Spartans facing off against each other on large maps populated by AI-controlled Covenant and Promethean enemies, including named boss units that occasionally appear on the battlefield. A team achieves victory by attaining 1000 points, which are gained by killing both enemy players and AI enemies, or by capturing all three bases on the map and destroying the enemy team's core, located in their base.^[1]^[2] In the beginning of a match both teams are dropped to their respective bases via Pelican and have to clear the base of AI enemies. A contingent of AI-controlled Marines aligned with either team is also stationed in each base. There are armories and garages on the map that can be captured by the players to give access to superior weapons and vehicles, respectively, and are part of the game's new Requisition system.^[3]^[4]

The Requisitions available to the players are determined by their energy level, which is accrued over the course of the game, as well as the REQ cards they have purchased or earned by leveling up their Spartan Rank. The requisition packs allow players to respawn with a certain weapon or in a vehicle of their choosing,^[3] with a higher energy level providing access to more powerful items (although the player must also possess the REQ card for that item). Warzone is the only multiplayer mode in the game allowing the use of non-cosmetic Requisitions.^[1]

Six maps supported Warzone at launch while another six will be available as DLC.^[5] Some of the maps built for Warzone have been said to be four times larger than those in prior Halo games.^[4]

Warzone Promethean and Covenant enemies' difficulty is Heroic, but due to the great amount of players, their health and AI are improved, making them stronger than the standard Heroic ones.^{[citation needed]}

The mode is tied to the Halo series fiction as a type of War Games Spartan training simulation. It features opening and closing cutscenes and Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer in the place of the Arena multiplayer announcer.^[3]^[6] However, many of Warzone's enemy titles are specific to the UNSC's war game simulations instead of their respective factions.^[7]

Spawning[edit]

Warzone features two new spawning systems. The first system ensures players spawn on capturable Warzone Bases. This system uses spawn points placed in three groups called "rings". The first ring is made up of spawns placed inside the base. These are the highest priority spawns that are most commonly selected by the engine when the player selects the base as a spawn location. If there is combat inside the base, however, the engine will ignore spawns in the first ring and instead evaluate spawns in the second spawn ring. This second ring is comprised of spawns placed just outside the base. The third ring is the failsafe ring and contains spawn points significantly further away from the base. The spawn engine will only spawn players in the third ring if combat around the base is so chaotic that all spawn points in the other two rings are suppressed.

The second system, called "bro spawning", finds groups of players using clustering analysis to understand who is working together as a team. Each set of players is then evaluated to determine if it's suitable to for a player to join by looking at a number of factors: confidence level in group directional heading, number of players in the cluster, combat status and enemy player presence. Once a compatible cluster has been identified, spawns are generated dynamically around that group.^[8]

Warzone variants[edit]

Warzone Assault[edit]

Main article: Warzone Assault

Warzone Assault is an asymmetrical 12 versus 12 base attack/defense scenario without AI enemies. In this variant, one team is tasked with defending the bases on the map while the other team attempts to capture each base and push the other team back. The defending team must hold each base until a set time limit runs out. If the attacking team manages to capture a base, they force the defending team back and extend the timer. If all bases are captured the attackers must assault the defenders' home base and destroy their core to win.^[9] Warzone Assault is conceptually very similar to the Invasion mode of Halo: Reach.

Warzone Turbo[edit]

Main article: Warzone Turbo

Warzone Turbo is a gametype in which players automatically reach Level 9 after securing their Home Base. They obtain full access to their REQ inventory, with energy recharging significantly faster than usual, thus enabling the use of a myriad of REQ cards throughout the game. It is conceptually a mix of Fiesta and Big Team Battle Heavies.

Originally the gametype was not intended for inclusion in matchmaking, as it was created for playtesting so that developers could efficiently test Warzone's features at any time during the game. However the developers decided to include it temporarily after recognizing it was an interesting concept. The weekend playlist "Weekend Warzone Turbo" has been added to matchmaking several times, usually around the release of a new content update.^[10]

Warzone Firefight[edit]

A game of Warzone Firefight on Escape from ARC.

Main article: Warzone Firefight (gametype)

Warzone Firefight is a recreation of the Firefight gametype from Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach built on the Warzone game mode, and was released as part of the Warzone Firefight content update on June 29, 2016^[11] while a public beta was available between April 14–19, 2016.^[12] Up to eight players work together to complete five rounds of increasingly difficult, dynamic objectives set against a timer. Warzone Firefight also includes a new tier of Mythic enemy bosses even more difficult to defeat than the Warden Eternal. Like Warzone and Warzone Assault players have full access to their REQ collection for use against enemies.^[13]^[14]

Features[edit]

Maps[edit]

Warzone[edit]

Warzone Assault[edit]

AI units[edit]

Escape from ARC[edit]

Base/Minion Units	Boss Takedown	Legendary Takedown
Marine Crawler Alpha Crawler Watcher Armiger Soldier Mikpramu-pattern Phantom Unggoy Heavy Kig-Yar Storm Kig-Yar Heavy Sangheili Ranger Soldier Captain	Knight Dignitary Knight Marshal Sangheili General Sangheili Ranger Commander Remnant Hunters Soldier Enforcer Patrol Leader in a Sword Ghost	Baron 'Sraom in a Sword Banshee Warden Eternal Knight Strategos

Raid on Apex 7[edit]

Base/Minion Units	Boss Takedown	Legendary Takedown
Marine Soldier Captain Armiger Soldier Knight Battlewagon Mikpramu-pattern Phantom Unggoy Storm Unggoy Imperial Sangheili Storm Kig-Yar Storm Kig-Yar Heavy Stealth Sangheili Kig-Yar Sniper D'nomlhe-pattern Banshee	Banshee Raider in a Sword Banshee Ghost Marauder in a Sword Ghost Hunter Elders Knight Champion Sangheili Ultra Sangheili Zealot Assassin Soldier Guard	Tankmaster Rok in a Sword Wraith Captain Hestro in a Phaeton Warden Eternal

March on Stormbreak[edit]

Base/Minion Units	Boss Takedown	Legendary Takedown
Marine Crawler Alpha Crawler Armiger Soldier Watcher Mikpramu-pattern Phantom Unggoy Heavy Sangheili Officer Sangheili Storm Kig-Yar Heavy Kig-Yar Storm	Knight Luminary Knight Bannerman Soldier Commando Serpent Hunters Sangheili General Sangheili Covert Major Wraith Officer in a Sword Wraith	Commander Lochagos Captain Wamik in a Sword Banshee Warden Eternal

Battle of Noctus[edit]

Base/Minion Units	Boss Takedown	Legendary Takedown
Marine Sangheili Storm Unggoy Imperial Kig-Yar Storm Unggoy Storm Unggoy Heavy Kig-Yar Heavy Watcher Armiger Soldier Mikpramu-pattern Phantom Commander	Duelist Hunters Sangheili Prime Ghost Jocky in a Sword Ghost Hydra Soldier Knight Noble Platoon Captain in a Sword Wraith Recon Pilot in a Phaeton	Warden Eternal Pilot 'Dalamen in a Sword Banshee

Skirmish at Darkstar[edit]

Base/Minion Units	Boss Takedown	Legendary Takedown
Marine Armiger Soldier Alpha Crawler Crawler Nuro'k Xur-pattern Spirit Sangheili Storm Commander Hydra Soldier Mikpramu-pattern Phantom Watcher Knight Battlewagon	Promethean Scout Soldier Operative Special Operations Sangheili Soldier Specialist Soldier Bandit in a stolen Corp Warthog Knight Excavator Wraith Captain in a Sword Wraith	Endurance-of-Will Lord Viratus in a stolen Tundra Mantis Warden Eternal

Attack on Sanctum[edit]

Base/Minion Units	Boss Takedown	Legendary Takedown
Marine Armiger Soldier Alpha Crawler Crawler Nuro'k Xur-pattern Spirit Sangheili Storm Commander Mikpramu-pattern Phantom Watcher	Colonel Ke 'Nzahz Commander Soldier Commando MelterMaster Yimblap	Jul 'Mdama Warden Eternal

Firefight AI units[edit]

Enemy Units	Boss Takedown	Legendary Takedown	Mythic Takedown
Crawler Alpha Crawler Armiger Soldier Mikpramu-pattern Phantom Nuro'k Xur-pattern Spirit Kig-Yar Storm Kig-Yar Heavy Sangheili Ranger Sangheili Storm Commander Sangheili Warrior Special Operations Sangheili Watcher Phaeton Knight Battlewagon Knight Commander Stealth Sangheili Unggoy Storm Unggoy Imperial Karo'wark-pattern Ghost D'nomlhe-pattern Banshee Unggoy Bodyguard Unggoy Heavy Kig-Yar Sniper	Hunter Aggravtor Sangheili Pathfinder Sangheili Prime Sangheili Ultra Sangheili Covert Major Spec-Ops Sangheili Soldier Enforcer Knight Bannerman Knight Marshal Soldier Guard Ghost Marauder In a Sword Ghost Banshee Raider In a Sword Banshee Ghost Scout In a Sword Ghost	Banshee Raider In a Temple Banshee Colonel Ke 'Nzahz Daz 'Shul's armored lance In 3 Temple Wraiths Diving Sun In a Phantom Commander Rive Commander Malice Commander Animus Commander Sever Knight Luminary Soldier Commando Knight Dignitary Ranger Commander Ghost Jocky In a Temple Ghost Jul 'Mdama Knight Ascendos Knight Prevalos Knight Noble Knight Champion Swarmlord Nakagagalit Soldier Bandits in Woodland Warthog/Woodland Rocket Warthog Warden Eternal Tankmaster 'Luk In a Temple Wraith Tankmaster Rok In a Temple Wraith Tankmaster 'Ahtulai In a Temple Wraith Tankmaster 'Lcmutee In a Temple Wraith Tankmaster 'Reiss In a Temple Wraith Malevian Armsman Serpent Hunters Hunter Devastator Deacon Pipap In a Temple Pnap-pattern Goblin Phaeton Helmsman Tomp, Fury of Balaho In a Pnap-pattern Goblin Prophet's Wrath In a Phantom	Warden Eternal Hunter Elders Knight Praeliator Knight Sectator Knight Ortus Knight Bellator Tankmaster Luk In a Temple Wraith Swarmlord Nakagagalit Swarmlord Makipagtunggali Swarmlord Magsanggalang Swarmlord Magtanggol Hunter Devastator

Cut AI Units[edit]

Master Intex was a Legendary boss in a Phaeton that was featured in the E3 build of Escape From A.R.C.
Soldier Commando was called Soldier Commander in the E3 build of Escape From A.R.C., though it was later removed and placed in March on Stormbreak

REQ Station[edit]

See List of REQ cards for a complete list.

Trivia[edit]

Warzone was originally going to feature ODSTs in drop pods.^[15]

Gallery[edit]

Concept art[edit]

Concept art of a power core room in Warzone.
Concept art for the Home Base interior.
Concept art of Home Base exterior.
Interior base concept art.
Concept art of a "ready room" for the mode, with Brokkr Armor Mechanisms.
Armory concept.
Concept art of the garage structure.
Concept art of a Warzone base structure.
Concept art for the REQ terminal.
Concept art of the Warzone Generator.
An early version of Warzone called Alamo.

Warzone[edit]

A team's core.
The beginning of a match.
A Spartan engaging a Knight Marshal on Escape from ARC.
A REQ terminal.
Power weapons in the REQ terminal.
Power weapons in the REQ terminal. Note how there are more listed. This may be because the player has unlocked more REQ cards, and thus the deck appears expanded.
Vehicles in the REQ terminal.
The end of a match.