King of the Hill

The King of the Hill icon.

King of the Hill is a multiplayer gametype. The point of the game is simple, hold a designated area known as the hill for the longest time or to the time requirement. Depending on if the game has a moving hill, you may need to search for the hill periodically. The hill is either a square or circular holographic which is projected by an indestructible holographic projector which shows neatly the boundaries of the hill. This game type may be played as a FFA or Team based game.

Built-in variants

Halo: Combat Evolved

Title	Description
King	Control the hill for a total of 2 minutes to win the match.
Crazy King	Control the hill for a total of 2 minutes to win the match, but watch out: it moves from place to place!
Team King	The first team to control the hill for a total of 2 minutes wins. 10 second respawn time
Classic King	Control the hill for a total of 2 minutes to win the match.
Classic King Pro	Control the hill for a total of 2 minutes to win the match. Start with Grenades, Pistol, and AR.
Classic Crazy King	Control the hill for a total of 2 minutes to win the match, but watch out: it moves from place to place!

Halo 2

Title	Description
King	Stay on the hill for a total of 2 minutes to win the game. Hill does not move.
Team King	Your team must take the hill and control it uncontested for 1 minute to win. Hill does not move.
Phantom King	Control the hill uncontested to earn time. Everyone has active camo and the hill does not move. 1 minute wins.
Crazy King	The hill moves once a minute. Be the first to earn 2 minutes on it to take the crown.
Team Crazy King	Your team must earn just 1 minute uncontested on the moving hill to take the crown.

Halo 3

Title	Description
Crazy King	Free for all. Gain points by controlling the hill. 100 points to win.
Team King	Hold the Hill as a team. The hill must be uncontested. 150 points to win.
Moshpit	There is a single, unmoving hill. Everyone inside is tougher. 100 points to win.

Halo: Reach

Title	Description
Crazy King	Control the hill to earn points. Earn points to win. It's good to be the King.
King of the Hill	Control the hill to earn points. Earn points to win. It's good to be the King.

Halo 4

Title	Description
King of the Hill	Control the hill to earn points.

Halo 2: Anniversary

Title	Description
Team Crazy King	Your team must earn points uncontested on the moving hill to take the crown.
Crazy King	The hill moves once a minute. Be the first to earn points on it to take the crown.
Team King	Your team must take the hill and control it uncontested for points to win. Hill does not move.
King	Stay on the hill and earn points to win the game. Hill does not move.
Phantom King	Control the hill uncontested to earn points. Everyone has active camo and the hill does not move.
Kill From the Hill	Points are awarded for kills from inside a hill. Hills move and award fewer points.

Halo 5: Guardians

Title	Description
KOTH (Crazy King)	Classic King of the Hill mode features one hill with the ability to change location. Hold the hill to earn points, Spartans!
KOTH (Diminishing)	Rounds begin with multiple hills to hold. As time ticks away, hills are removed and point values increase.

Halo Infinite

“

Hold the hill. Hail to the King.

”

In Halo Infinite, this mode was introduced in Season 02: Lone Wolves and has received a large overhaul compared to previous games.

Instead of earning points, controlling a hill fills up a 'Capture Meter', which will earn a team a single point when it is filled. Once a point is earned, the hill will move elsewhere and both teams' capture meters will reset. The first team to earn 4 points wins the game. Hills now have a short capture time before a team can control them, and contested hills will pause the capture meter. As in previous iterations of the mode, teams must keep at least one Spartan in the hill to control it.

This mode uses the 'Objective Clock', in which the time limit will only count down when the objective is unoccupied. In Ranked modes, the order that hills will appear is fixed based on the map.

Trivia

• In Halo: The Fall of Reach, Doctor Halsey comments that John-117 is playing 'King Of the Hill' with some other children.
• King of the Hill was one of the original multiplayer gametypes in Marathon.
• Some people use King Of The Hill for races.
• In Halo: Reach the hill can be placed on a vehicle.

Tactics

• A useful tactic during team games, is to have one person inside the hill scoring points, and the rest of the team fanning out and defending the hill and player in it.
• Close Quarters weapons are usually the best weapons for holding the hill, as the close proximity to other players makes them desirable.
• Due to the hills visual style it could be used as a form of camouflage to surprise opponents attacking or defending the hill.
• Often players will throw a grenade into the hill in an attempt to clear out opposition before moving in. Hence, a player can accumulate a number of multiple kills if the opposition is standing too close to each other when the grenade explodes. Occasionally some servers may limit access to grenades to make this much more difficult.
• When controlling the hill, a bubble shield tends to be very useful.

Production Notes

The changes to the mode in Halo Infinite were designed to address three design problems with the mode in prior games: That the hill moving on a fixed schedule punishes late hill captures, that being able to instantly capture the hill leads to an extremely frantic pace of play, and that it is possible due to time limits to enter a mathematically unwinnable situation or win a game by controlling a new hill for a very short duration. The control meter and objective clock aims to fix the first and third issues, while the second issue is addressed by giving hills a short capture time.

Gallery

• 

  A Halo 3 King of the Hill match on Waterfall in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

• 

  King of the Hill in Halo Infinite.

• 

  A Halo Infinite King of the Hill match on a Forge remake of Rat's Nest.

See also

• Team Objective
• Team Skirmish