Season 4 (Halo Wars 2)

Previous:	Season 3
Next:	Season 5
Season 4
Start date:	June 28, 2017
End date:	July 25, 2017
Includes content for:	Halo Wars 2

Season 4 was the fourth season of Halo Wars 2 to launch, beginning on June 28, 2017. The season followed Season 3 and was succeeded by Season 5 on July 25, 2017. The season launched alongside the release of the leaders Arbiter and Commander Jerome; as such the season's emblem is represented by a the Arbiter and a M650 Mastodon.

Season 4 Title Updates

The launch of Season 4 saw the release of an accompanying Title Update and several balance patches.

June 28 patch

June 28 patch notes

The next game update and patch for Halo Wars 2 is scheduled for release on Wednesday, June 28th.

Note

The patch notes contain more content than a single post will allow so please see the next post for the continuation. In addition to the notes below there will be a service-side balance update released after the game patch has been deployed. The details of these additional balance changes are NOT currently included in the notes below. We will update once that information is finalized.

UI/Navigation

• Improved selection box to allow for easier selection of units when on the fringe of the unit
• Selected unit sub-selection now more responsive when using Right Trigger and Y button to cycle through the selection
• Fog of war made more readable
• Now lines up more closely with logical sight ranges
• The visual transition when units emerge from the fog of war is much quicker
• Improvements to camera scroll speed and feel when playing with a controller – regular scroll is noticeably more responsive, and fast scroll (holding LB) gives a much larger speed boost
• Changing the Scroll Speed settings in options also has a much greater effect than before, resulting in more control over how scroll speed to feels
• Speed can be reduced to previous levels by adjusting the Scroll Speed setting in the Options menu
• Hid player gamertag and rank in the map load screen

AI

• AI is no longer able to place rally flags in places players are not allowed to place
• AI no longer knows when the player is beginning to target them with a leader power before they use it
• Units won’t be aggroed by Suicide Grunts and won’t automatically move towards them to engage (they will stand their ground instead)

Buildings/Units:

• Supply Pad upgrade time reduced from 25 to 18s
• Shield Generator stacking reduced per generator from 50% efficiency to 20%
• Special abilities (Hijack, Slam, Phoenix Missile, Brute Warlord’s Hammer Shockwave, etc.) now gain the benefit from generic damage upgrades
• Fixed an issue where the Hunter Captain would not be able to attack if its taunt ability was interrupted
• Hunter Captain no longer receives as much healing from Combat Repair
• Hunter Captain health lowered
• Adjusted Locust’s behavior when targeting units in the fog of war
• Upgrade 3 for Vehicle, Air, and Infantry apply the correct amount of health to appropriate units
• Skitterer health from Vehicle Upgrade lowered at all levels
• Skitterer can no longer become useless if the unit it is going to pair with dies before pairing is complete
• Kodiaks should no longer fail to target an enemy on the other side of a cliff or hill if they have line of sight
• Cutter’s Jerome Hero unit will no longer get stuck in a vehicle if upgraded while in a vehicle
• Spartans no longer become unresponsive when slamming a teleport pad
• Spartans no longer damage the unit they’re hijacking
• Honor guard will now have more success when attempting to slay a fleeing unit
• Units grouped with engineers should now be able to use their Y ability when the group is selected
• Snipers can now be commanded to attack units in garrisons without being grouped with other units who could
• Units will now auto attack garrisoned units as they walk past
• Scorpions now have better accuracy when attacking garrisoned units
• Scorpion can no longer fire two canister shots
• Chopper can no longer trigger ram animation when selecting an air unit
• Condors will no longer waste their Y ability when targeting air units
• Decimus can now use Y ability on buildings
• Hornets no longer fail to do damage after firing at a target for a prolonged time
• Blisterbacks shouldn’t be deployed under the surface of the map anymore
• Veteran Blisterbacks can once again be healed to full
• Johnson’s heal beacon size and effect now correctly match
• Johnson can no longer move to cancel his animation and fire additional smart missiles
• Skitterers now correctly apply full damage from focus beam upgrade
• Colony’s Living Barrier benefits from base Fortify upgrades
• Shipmaster’s Grunt squad leaders are now rightfully Sangheili instead of Jiralhanae, and now can be upgraded to cloak instead of having Shrapnel Mines
• Normalized damage of hijacked vehicles regardless of who made the vehicle
• Kinsano’s Cyclops Hero unit selection circle should now be more visible when not hovering over it
• Decimus and Warlord will no longer try to pull units that are already close to them
• Warlord no longer resets his attack animation when selecting a unit to attack
• ODST charges will now explode when placed on top of or next to buildings in side plots
• ODSTs can no longer throw more than 1 charge at a time
• ODSTs can’t attempt to throw their demo charge at air units

Leader Power:

• Atriox Fortifications slightly reduced in effectiveness at level 1, and greatly reduced at level 2, and is specifically less beneficial to shield generators
• Cost reduction on bases, stronghold upgrade, turrets and shield generators changed reduced to 15% per level.
• Fortifications-altered cost of Fortify upgrades rounded to nearest 5.
• Upgrade speed buff on stronghold upgrade and turret upgrades reduced to 15% per level.
• Vehicle Symbiotes power can now target turrets
• Buffed Vehicle Symbiotes to now apply correct armor and health
• Scorch Mines can no longer blow each other up on deployment
• Shipmaster’s Displacement can now affect Protector Sentinels
• Restoration Drones can now target turrets
• Scatter Bomb now more correctly aligns with its targeting reticle
• Vortex Lightning now damages and debuffs units in garrisons
• Garrisoned units no longer heal faster from leader powers than ungarrisoned units
• Mech Overcharge and Combat Salvage can now be invoked regardless of whether the reticle is in the fog of war or not
• Mass Cloaking now removes units from the minimap in Blitz mode
• Reavers will no longer continue to shoot when hit with EMP Mac Blast while stunned
• Vehicles stolen by Ghost in the Machine are no longer visible in the Fog of War
• Ghost in the Machine can no longer permanently increase Isabel’s population cap by using it on units that are teleported
• EMP Mac Blast now more correctly matches the targeting reticle

Engine:

• Graphical settings now defaults to ‘Low’ when using an integrated GPU
• Fixed an issue with AMD Radeon R9 390 GPU that could cause some graphical corruption in campaign
• Fixed an issue where the “Graphics Driver out of Date!” message could refer to an incorrect driver version in some cases
• Idling in the main menu for extended time should no longer permanently disconnect the player from services for that session
• Players should no longer be able to remove the command point cap earned in a mission by loading a save
• Loading a save and finishing a previously completed mission should no longer add the complete mission time to time played
• Fixed a desync that could happen in 3v3 Strongholds
• Fixed a crash that could occur when loading saved games
• Multi-GPU support is now enabled on Windows 10
• Up to two GPUs are supported
• This implementation of Multi GPU synchronizes data between the two GPUs. Running at 4K resolution and higher-quality graphics options may exceed the bandwidth available to synchronize the cards, which may cause in-game *performance issues.
• Updating to the Creators Update of Windows 10 is strongly recommended
• Make sure you’re on the latest graphics driver

Art:

• Fixed graphical corruption that could appear near wraiths in campaign
• Nightingale’s smoke screen no longer disappears when camera moves view off of it and back
• Colossus’ legs face the right way when targeting enemies now
• Vulture’s yellow warning light is now attached to the craft when firing its missile
• Mantis chaingun effects have been cleaned up
• Decimus’ Siphon no longer leaves green effects on the units

Audio:

• Added some audio to the Cyclops death animation
• All leaders were missing the voice over callout when the player’s base was destroyed
• Fixed Chopper’s ramming audio loop
• Corrected explosion of Lotus Mines to play the appropriate sound effect
• Anders sentinels will no longer play Grunt audio upon death
• Johnson’s EMP should no longer cause audio to stutter
• Last, but not Least:
• Players affected by earlier issues with loss of progress will have their progress restored, based on their halowaypoint.com Service Record

June 29 balance patch

June 29 balance patch notes

On June 29th a new balance update will be applied to Halo Wars 2 in response to player feedback and gameplay data. Please see below for the specifics of everything being adjusted in this latest update.

Note this is in addition to the fixes and changes included in the June 28th game patch. You can read those full patch notes HERE.

Heroes

All Hero units have been adjusted to make them more powerful and available more quickly and be a potent force in the early, mid, and late game. They are more vulnerable initially, but are also more powerful when fully upgraded, so protecting them will pay off as they gain Veterancy. Heroes have been balanced between leaders to make them more competitive with each other. Lower armor benefits and increased damage from Tier 3 Vehicles and Artillery while garrisoned makes it easier to pry them out of their defenses.

Spartan Alice, Jerome and Douglas

• Starting HP reduced -50%
• Basic DPS increased +67%
• Cost decreased from 450/450 to 200/250
• Build time reduced from 40 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced from 400/600/800 to 300/450/600 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus increased +4%
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -11%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +29%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -19%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +19%

Forgehog

• Starting HP reduced -40%
• Basic Autocannon DPS increased +68%
• Basic Cobra Cannon DPS increased +67%
• Cost decreased from 500/400 to 250/220
• Build time reduced from 45 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced from 450/650/850 to 325/550/650 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus increased +4%
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -4%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +31%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -7%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +29%

Kinsano’s Cyclops

• Starting HP reduced -33%
• Basic Flamethrower DPS increased +66%
• Basic Anti-inf Flamethrower DPS increased +66%
• Basic Anti-building Flamethrower DPS increased +43%
• Cost decreased from 500/400 to 250/300
• Build time reduced from 45 to 27 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced from 450/650/850 to 325/550/650 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus increased +4%
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -11%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +29%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -19%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +19%

Sgt. Johnson

• Starting HP reduced -50%
• Basic Minigun DPS increased +67%
• Basic Artillery DPS increased +67%
• Cost decreased from 450/450 to 200/250
• Build time reduced from 40 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced from 400/600/800 to 300/450/600 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus increased +10%
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +29%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -7%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +36%/+14%

Commander Jerome

• Starting HP reduced -50%
• Basic Hydra DPS increased +54%
• Basic Hydra Vehicle DPS increased +55%
• Jerome’s Mantis Laser DPS increased +50%
• Jerome’s Mantis Missile Launcher DPS increased +60%
• Cost decreased from 550/450 to 350/250
• Build time reduced from 40 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced from 600/800/1000 to 450/600/750
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus unchanged
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Mantis Upgrade 1 damage bonus reduced -14%
• Mantis Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus increased +8%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +29%
• Mantis Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -7%
• Mantis Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +42%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus increased +17%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +36%/+19%
• Mantis Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -7%
• Mantis Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +36%/+19%

Brute Warlord

• Starting HP reduced -25%
• Hammer DPS increased +72%
• Cost decreased from 450/400 to 200/250
• Build time reduced from 40 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced 400/600/800 to 300/450/600 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus increased +4%
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -4%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +38%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -7%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +36%

Atriox’s Chosen

• Starting HP reduced -44%
• Bruteshot DPS increased +72%
• Cost decreased from 450/400 to 200/250
• Build time reduced from 40 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced 400/600/800 to 300/450/600 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus increased +4%
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +17%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -13%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +31%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -16%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +20%

Elite Honour Guard

• Starting HP reduced -50%
• Sword DPS increased +66%
• Cost decreased from 450/400 to 200/275
• Build time reduced from 40 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced 400/600/800 to 300/450/600 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus reduced -9%
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +33%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -9%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +33%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -4%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +19%

Hunter Captain=

• Starting HP reduced -50%
• Starting SP reduced -6%
• Beam DPS increased +29%
• Beam lifesteal reduced -24%
• Cost decreased from 450/400 to 200/225
• Build time reduced from 40 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced 400/600/800 to 300/450/600 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus unchanged
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -8%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +35%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -11%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +32%

Arbiter

• Starting HP reduced -50%
• Sword DPS increased +66%
• Rage Sword DPS increased +52%
• Cost decreased from 550/450 to 350/250
• Build time reduced from 40 to 30 seconds
• Upgrade cost reduced 400/600/800 to 300/450/600 power
• Upgrade effects reworked:
• Upgrade 1 damage bonus unchanged
• Upgrade 1 HP & SP bonus increased +13%
• Upgrade 2 damage bonus reduced -4%
• Upgrade 2 HP & SP bonus increased +35%
• Upgrade 3 damage bonus reduced -11%
• Upgrade 3 HP & SP bonus increased +32%

Hero Veterancy

• All Hero Veterancy requirements increased:
• Level 1 vet requirement increased +108%
• Level 2 vet requirement increased +100%
• Level 3 vet requirement increased +67%
• Garrisoned Heroes
• Damage vs. Heroes in Garrisoned increased for Tier 3 Vehicles and Artillery units

Buildings/Units:

Choppers and Jackrabbits have been adjusted to bring them closer to each other. Jackrabbits now have guns without requiring an upgrade which makes them, and UNSC leaders, more competitive against Banished units from the start of the match. Ram damage has also been reduced to balance the impact of those attacks on Tier 1 units.

• Chopper health and damage lowered slightly, build time increased by 1 second:
• HP reduced -13%
• DPS reduced -15%
• Upgrade no longer increases speed or HP
• Build time 25 sec -> 26 sec
• Jackrabbit health and damage increased slightly:
• DPS increased +14%
• HP increased +9%
• Jackrabbits now start with the guns by default, gun upgrades no longer needed.
• Jackrabbit drone upgrade, cost increased from 350 to 450 and time from 25 to 30 seconds
• Ram damage reduced against Hero units, Infantry and Scout units
• Ram damage vs. Heroes reduced -63%
• Ram damage vs. Infantry reduced -28%
• Ram damage vs. Scouts reduced -45%
• Ram is a little more responsive and has less wind-up time

Key Tier 2 Vehicles (Mantis, Warthog, Marauder) have been adjusted to improve their impact and cost-effectiveness in the mid and late-game while Tier 3 UNSC Vehicles (Colossus, Grizzly, Kodiak ) are now more powerful to improve their competitiveness against their Banished counterparts. Reavers have increased rate of fire which makes them a more potent anti-air threat and Shrouds are less effective at intercepting projectiles requiring more of them to achieve the same levels of protection.

Mantis health and damage increased:

• HP increased +20%
• DPS increased +10%
• Colossus damage and health increased slightly, build time reduced:
• HP increased +15%
• DPS increased +15%
• Build times reduced from 48 to 42 seconds
• Warthog health and damage increased:
• HP increased +15%
• DPS increased +10%
• Marauder cost and population requirement lowered, missile slow reduced:
• Cost 400 -> 320
• Population Cost reduced 5 -> 4
• Missile 70% -> 50% slow
• Grizzly damage and health increased slightly, build time reduced:
• HP increased +8%
• DPS increased by 15%
• Build times reduced from 58 to 48 seconds
• Kodiaks will now fire more often when targets are within range:
• Post fire delay reduced from 3-3.2 seconds, to 2.6-2.8 seconds
• Shroud now has a slower recharge rate on its anti-projectile defense
• Reavers now have an increased rate of fire (same overall DPS but overkill has been reduced)
• Reinstated Turrets gaining damage improvements from Fortify upgrades

As always the Halo Wars 2 team will continue to monitor gameplay data and player feedback to help inform future updates and adjustments to balance and game mechanics. Please continue to share your feedback here on Halo Waypoint!

July 7 patch

July 7 balance patch notes

All units! Following last week's game update and new DLC release the team has been monitoring feedback and player data closely and has determined that a few further balance adjustments are needed. As a reminder you can check out the full details of the June 29th balance update HERE.

These changes will be going through test today with the goal of releasing them to the public within the next day or two barring any unforeseen issues.

Balance updates of this nature don't require a game patch and instead will happen invisibly behind the scenes. If you're in a game session when the changes are deployed you will prompted to restart/re-login to the Halo Wars 2 services.

(Update 7/6 - The balance notes were adjusted to remove the Mantis "now starts on cooldown" as the team found an issue arising from that specific change. Some additional detail was added around the new/final tweaks to the Mantis' cooldown)

The focus of this update is on reining Jerome in a bit, reducing the impact of his Mantis (especially in team games), and limiting the early Rush potential of other hero units.

Time for Heroes

• Speed bonus 30% -> 15%

The interaction with the much cheaper early game Jerome hero was too much, especially because he could hit-and-run very effectively.

All heroes

• Clamped at a minimum cost of 300 supply, 275 power
• Arbiter and Jerome keep their slightly higher supply costs (350)
• Kinsano dropped in power cost slightly as a result (300 -> 275)

To reduce the impact of early game Hero rush attacks, we've increased any heroes cheaper than 300/275 up to those costs. This provides a common baseline for Hero building and prevents any single Hero unit from becoming uniquely dominant. Some Heroes have been reduced in effectiveness as a result but we will continue to adjust for any weakness in the future as we gather more data.

Commander Jerome

• Takes damage upon death of the Mantis if he's inside
• Mantis summon cooldown 25s -> 70s
• 1st upgrade time 25s -> 30s, power cost 450 -> 500
• Jerome damage reduced -10%/-8%

The major change here is slowing down the Mantis push timing, and making it take substantially longer to replace if it dies.

Jerome's Mantis

• Initial HP/SP reduced -50%/-25%
• Mantis missile range reduced -14%
• Mantis lasers initial damage reduced -17%
• Velocity reduced -9%

To limit the early game impact of Jerome's Mantis we have reduced its durability, making it beatable at Tier 1 with upgraded core infantry or scout vehicles. With upgrades the Mantis at max level is still at its original power. Mantis Summon Cooldown When the research is finished, the ability will be available for use immediately.However, if Jerome is killed and then trained again, the ability will start on cooldown. Examples: Jerome on the battle fighting and starts research on the Command Mantis upgrade. It finishes and he can immediately use his ability to call in the Mantis. During this fight, Jerome and the Mantis are killed. The player recruits Jerome again, he comes out of the base, the ability will not be usable for another 70 seconds.

Brute Warlord

• HP/SP reduced -14%/-13%
• 1st upgrade power cost 300 -> 350, time 25s -> 30s
• Pull cooldown 10s -> 15s

Decimus' Warlord rush needed to be slowed down, and the frequency of his Pull ability made him punishing, and too effective at assassinating enemy heroes. These changes bring him more closely in line with the other hero units at Tier 1.

Atriox's Chosen

• Initial damage reduced -10%
• Final damage upgrade reduced -4%
• Build time 30s -> 33s

In addition to the minimum cost changes for heroes, this greatly slows down the Atriox's Chosen early game, increases the hit to long-term economy, and allows all heroes (including Johnson and Forge) to beat this rush.

As always, thank you for sharing your feedback with the team and we look forward to getting these adjustments out the door soon.