Dominion

A Dominion game on Longbow.

"Teams are pitted against each other to capture, fortify, and resupply bases to win. After infiltrating a base, a player can capture it for their team, whether it is a neutral base or a base previously claimed by the enemy. When a team has held a base for long enough, it will automatically fortify, defending itself with turret emplacements and energy shields. Holding a base earns teams points for each resupply, and provides teams with heavy ordnance drops and vehicles each supply cycle."

— Halo 4 Interactive Guide description.

Dominion is a game mode in Halo 4, in which players compete to capture, fortify, and hold bases from the opposite team. A team wins when they reach the score limit (400 points by default^[1]) or if they have the highest score when the time limit is reached. Teams can gain an early victory by capturing all of a map's bases and then killing all members of the opposing team.^[2] Dominion is a 6v6 mode, not unlike the similar-in-concept Invasion from Halo: Reach.

Overview

Two teams compete to capture bases on the map. A base that is captured and held for a certain time will fortify, activating turrets, shield doors, and other base defenses. Fortified bases are periodically resupplied with new vehicles and Ordnance drops. Points are awarded for each base capture (10 points), fortification (20 points), and resupply (30 points). Bonus XP is awarded to players that kill opponents while near a base.

Capturing and fortifying

Capturing a base in Dominion is divided into two primary phases; capturing and fortifying. To begin capturing a base, a player must go up to the interactive terminal inside the base and hold down the interact button for a short period of time (usually a few seconds). Once this is complete, the base will begin a capture timer (15 seconds by default) at the end of which the base is then considered owned by the player's team. Once the base is captured, the base enters the fortifying stage, in which another timer (30 seconds by default) begins to count down. At the end of this timer, the base is considered fortified, and the base in question will be given a layer of defenses to help the player's team defend it such as autoturrets, deployable barricades and breakable shield doors. Capturing the base will additionally turn on a multitude of monitors, antennae and screens inside the base, tinted the controlling team's color.^[3]

The initial deployment of turrets are built upon the initial fortification of the base, though they can be destroyed by sustained fire from enemy players. Auto turrets do not respawn automatically, and require to repair them by interacting with them. Capturing an enemy base will immediately switch the autoturrets to the new team's side, and they will immediately begin attacking enemy players. The turrets are equipped with machine guns and an EMP launcher, making them effective against both infantry and vehicles. The shield doors are designed in such a way that the defending team can walk through them without issue, though the attacking team cannot - sustained gunfire or one or two melees can destroy the shield temporarily and allow gunfire passage through.^[3]

To capture an enemy base, players must enter an enemy base and interact with the central terminal as they would to capture any other base. This begins the capture and fortify stages as described prior, though with the exception that the base's defenses are now already up. Capturing a base earns 10 points, while fortifying a base earns 20 points. Dominion games typically only have three bases on the map, meaning consistently controlling two bases is a must for victory.^[3]

Resupply and vehicles

Once fortified, a base will begin resupply regular timers (45 seconds by default), at the end of which the base will recieve a resupply of ordnance drops consisting of power weapons and ammunition. The base is additionally equipped with several vehicle pads, that periodically allow allied players to call in preset vehicles at those locations. Vehicle pads are marked by a holographic representation of the vehicle they spawn. Succesful resupplies award a team with 30 points each time.^[3]

Victory conditions

Should a team gain control of all bases on the map, the opposing team will be put into a state of "last stand". All players in last stand are given an overshield (or other traits as defined in custom game settings) and a marker visible to all players, but are unable to respawn. If the team with control of the bases is able to kill all members of the last stand team, they win the game immediately, though should the last stand players be able to capture any base the game resumes as normal.^[3]

By default, Dominion games are 12 minutes long, and the team with the most points at the end wins. ^[3]

Variants

Lockdown

Lockdown is a specialised game variant of Dominion, designed with a focus on more concentrated gameplay. The mode has a score limit of 100, with both teams only fighting over one central base. The mode reduces the capture time for new bases to 1 second and the capture time on enemy bases to 5 seconds, as well as reducing the standard fortify time to 15 seconds. The mode gives 0 points for fortifying a base and 10 for a resupply, with a resupply timer of 25 seconds. Additionally, last stand is disabled in Lockdown. Bases in lockdown have no turrets or shield doors.^[4]

Legendary Dominion

Legendary Dominion is a variant in which players use the "Legendary" standard loadouts found in other "Legendary" gamemodes - putting both teams on an equal footing. Players can choose to spawn with an assault rifle or a battle rifle.^[5]^[6]

Shotty Sniper Dominion

A variant of Dominion where players spawn with the shotgun and the sniper rifle, and can change armor abilities in their loadouts.^[6]

Dominion Pro

A variant of Dominion that employs standardised loadouts with the option to spawn with a battle rifle, DMR, LightRifle or Covenant carbine, and no armor ability. Additionally, the motion tracker is disabled.^[6]

Supported maps

Due to the particularly specific design of Dominion and it's 6v6 player count, it by default only supported by the larger-scale maps in Halo 4. These include;

Halo 4 base game

Crimson Map Pack

Shatter

Castle Map Pack

Outcast

Tips

A player's optimal choice of armor abilities, tactical packages and support upgrades depends on whether they intend to attack enemy-held bases or defend their own.
Mobility's unlimited sprint allows attackers to quickly assault enemy bases (or retreat from a battle thats turning against them), while Stealth and Active Camouflage allows them to flank and infiltrate unseen to eliminate defenders with ease. A Jet Pack will enable attackers to breach bases otherwise inaccessible angles, and to quickly return to the battle following a respawn.
Defenders by comparison should place their focus on detection, protection, and supplies. The sensor upgrade increases the radius of the motion tracker and allows defenders to detect attackers who are further away, allowing for an additional few seconds to prepare. Three armor abilities are particularly useful. Promethean vision allows defenders to see attackers through walls and move to intercept them accordingly, while the Regeneration Field grants defenders extra protection and resilience against assaults. Perhaps the most useful however is the Autosentry. A defender can deploy an autosentry on or near the base capture point to provide much needed deterrence and fire support, and, at the very least, a distraction. Active Camouflage and Stealth can also be useful for base defense, but utilizing such a combination can easily be neutralized by a hail of grenades or other explosives.
Players who rely primarily on vehicles to defend or attack would do well to use the Wheelman package and Gunner upgrade. The latter is also useful for operating the occasional mounted turrets placed within bases, and for moving with them detached for base defense.

Unlocks and rewards

The COMMANDO-class Mjolnir armor can be unlocked for completing the Dominion Victory commendation.

Commendations

Main article: List of Halo 4 Commendations

Dominion Victory

Win a match in any Dominion gametype in matchmaking. Completing this commendation will unlock the Commando armor set

Tier	Required #	Rewarded XP
Novice	5	250
Proficient	10	500
Adept	25	750
Expert	50	1000
Master	150	2000

Captured

Earn any of these 7 medals: Base Capture Initiated, Capture Initiation Assist, Base Captured, Capture Assist, Turret Destroyed, Base Offense, Base Saved

Tier	Required #	Rewarded XP
Novice	5	250
Proficient	10	500
Adept	20	750
Expert	40	1000
Master	60	2000

Base Defense

Earn any of these 4 medals: Base Defense, Turret Built, Fortification Assist, Resupply Assist

Tier	Required #	Rewarded XP
Novice	5	250
Proficient	25	500
Adept	50	750
Expert	75	1000
Master	150	2000

Dominion Mastery

Complete all of the following commendations: Dominion Victory, Captured, Base Defense. Completing this commendation will unlock the "Dominated" emblem

Medals

Main article: List of Halo 4 Medals

The following medals can be unlocked in the Dominion gamemode.

Icon	Name	Requirement
	Base Capture Initiated	Initiate a base capture.
	Base Captured	Initiate a successful base capture.
	Base Conqueror	Initiate 5 successful base captures.
	Capture Assist	Be within a base when it is captured.
	Capture Initiation Assist	Assist a teammate in initiating a base capture.
	Base Defense	Kill an opponent inside a base your team controls.
	Base Offense	Kill an opponent inside a base your enemy controls.
	Base Saved	Reclaim a contested base your team owns.
	Security Chief	Reclaim 5 contested bases your team owns.
	Fortification Assist	Be within a base your team controls when it is fortified.
	Resupply Assist	Be within a base your team controls when it is resupplied.
	Turret Built	Build a base turret.
	Chief Engineer	Build 10 base turrets.
	Turret Destroyed	Destroy an enemy base turret.
	Demolition Expert	Destroy 10 enemy base turrets.
	Gotcha!	Kill an enemy player while they are building a turret.
	Shield Door Destroyed	Destroy 5 enemy team shields.
	Breach	Destroy 10 enemy team shields.
	Sapper	Destroy 15 enemy team shields.
	Survivor	Survive Last Stand without dying.
	Hero!	Instigate a successful capture that saves the team from Last Stand.
	Kill Shot!	Get the final kill in Last Stand mode.

Gallery

Concept art of the communication tower.
Concept art for the decorative antennas present in the mode.
Another concept of the antennas.
Concept art for a generator in the mode.
Concept art of the decorative banners that let players know which team a base belongs to.
Concept art of the monitors present in the mode.
Concept art of the Dominion terminal.
Another concept of the Dominion terminal.
Concept art of the vehicle pads present in the mode.
Another vehicle pad concept.