Blitz

Blitz

Blitz is a gametype introduced in Halo Wars 2. The game revolves around the use of cards that can deploy units or abilities onto the battlefield at the expense of energy. The mode was first trialled in the Halo Wars 2 - Blitz Beta and was the subject of the ViDoc Strategy.

Gameplay

Players enter the game with a deck that consists of a leader and 12 cards, where you will have 4 cards in one hand at all times. After deploying a card, a new card will takes it's place. After cycling through all other cards players will draw this card again and be able to use it. Energy is scattered throughout the map and requires players to find and collect. Spawning units not only costs energy, but there is also a health penalty for spawning units outside a player's home base. This system is known as "Fatigue", which some units are able to avoid (see Card keywords).

Blitz can only be played on The Proving Grounds multiplayer level, though the map has several themes.

Blitz cards

Breakdown of the information on a Blitz card.

Main article: List of Blitz cards

The Blitz cards take the form of units (or variations thereupon) and leader powers found in the regular multiplayer, with some exclusive to the mode. The UNSC and Banished each have access to nineteen base units, covering all the basic infantry, vehicles, aircraft and leader powers. Each leader (including DLC leaders such as Morgan Kinsano or Halo Wars 2 Open Beta on the cards can be viewed here.

Card keywords

Due to the unique gameplay of Blitz, Blitz cards have "Keywords" associated with them, which define the unique abilities a given unit has compared to its base game counterpart. A full list of keywords can be found below;

• Blast: This unit explodes violently on death, damaging enemy troops in its radius.
• Cloak: This unit is hidden and cannot be targeted for a short period, unless revealed by an enemy with Detect.
• Detect: This unit detects and reveals nearby Cloaked enemies.
• Guard: This unit covers nearby allies, receiving all damage they would normally take.
• Last Stand: When this unit falls in battle, a number of infantry troops jump out to continue the fight.
• Rally: This unit inspires nearby troops to deal increased damage.
• Reflect: Half of the damage this unit takes is automatically dealt back to an enemy attacker.
• Rush: This unit ignores Fatigue when deployed, charging into battle at full strength.
• Shield: This unit has energy shield protection that absorbs damage and regenerates when out of combat.
• Shock: This unit intimidates nearby enemy troops, significantly reducing their armor.
• Siphon: This unit has special weaponry that steals health from its enemies equal to the damage dealt.
• Support: This unit cannot attack and instead focuses on support or healing skills to boost your army.

Card naming

The names of Blitz card variants can help give insight into the card's unique abilities.

• Cards with names such as Veteran (Such as the Veteran Cyclops, Veteran Hellbringer, Veteran Jackrabbit, Veteran Flame Warthog, Veteran Mantis) or Scarred (such as Scarred Hunters and Scarred Grenadiers) start with the upgrade that would be available to that unit in the regular multiplayer. For example, a Cyclops in Skirmish can be upgraded to fire shock rounds, whereas the Veteran Cyclops has this upgrade by default.
• Cards with names such as Prowling (such as the Prowling Reaver) and Stealth (such as the Stealth Kodiak) have the Cloak keyword assigned.
• Cards with names such as Unstable (such as Unstable Banshee, and Unstable Jump Brutes) and Wild (such as Wild Hellbringers, and Wild Jackrabbit) have the Blast keyword assigned.
• Cards with names such as Bloodfuel (such as Bloodfuel Locust, and Bloodfuel Grunts) and Extractor (such as Extractor Marines) have the Siphon keyword assigned.
• Cards with names such as Ironclad (such as Ironclad Wraith, Ironclad Hunter, and Ironclad Blisterback) and Armored (such as Armored Warthog, and Armored Marines) have Guard assigned.
• Cards with names such as Terror (such as Terror Chopper, and Terror Wraith) and Lockdown (such as Lockdown Scorpion) have Shock assigned.
• Cards with names such as Enduring (such as Enduring Locust, and Enduring Blisterback) and Trooper (such as Trooper Warthog, and Trooper Nightingale) have Last Stand assigned.

The above list covers the majority of common names, though some cards may have multiple keywords or have wholly unique name prefixes.

Blitz packs

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Cards can be unlocked via Blitz Packs, rewarded for achieving ranks, completing campaign missions and challenges, microtransaction purchases and other miscellaneous means.

Levelling up cards

Every single card starts with level 1 when unlocked and can be level up to a very high amount as there is no rank limit to them.

When a card gets leveled up, their stats will get increased by the following stats below:

Units

• Hit points (HP): The units' Hit points has been increased.
• Armor (ARM): The units' armor has been increased.
• Range (RNG): The units' range has been increased.
• Damage (DMG): The units' damage has been increased.
• Shield (SHD): The Units' shield has been increased.

Powers

• Power (PWR): the powers' efficiency has been increased.
• Speed (SPD): the powers' speed effect has been increased.
• Duration (DUR): the powers' durations has been increased.
• Damage (DMG): the powers' damage has been increased.
• Area of Effect (AOE): The powers' wide range has been increased.
• Count: the powers' unit count has been increased.

Trivia

• The Cannon Fodder Grunts can be used by the start of the match of a Yapyap player, but the Cannon Fodder unit lacks a card.
• Decimus appears in Banished boss waves, Decimus himself lacks a card to be used by the player.
• The Reactive Cyclops, Stealth Kodiak, Grunt Squad (Elite) & Grunt Mob, Assault Elites, Prowling Marauder & Reaver are absent from the Blitz Firefight.
• The Shroud is absent from this game mode, despite appearing in the beta trailer.
• The Grizzly is the only DLC unit that appears on this game mode.

Blitz Firefight

Main article: Blitz Firefight

Aside from the regular PvP Blitz mode, a PvE co-operative mode called Blitz Firefight can be played on The Proving Grounds, using the same mechanics as the base gamemode to fight off waves of AI hordes.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Blitz card packs, including Covenant, Flood, Promethean and UNSC designs.

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  Artwork of a Spartan-II instructing Marines during a Blitz match.

External links

• Blitz 101 - a comprehensive guide to the Blitz mode posted on Halo Waypoint for the Blitz Beta.