Season 8 (Halo Wars 2)

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Next:	Season 9
Season 8
Start date:	November 2, 2017
End date:	January 16, 2018
Includes content for:	Halo Wars 2

Season 8 was the eighth season of Halo Wars 2 to launch, beginning on November 2, 2017. The season followed Season 7 and was succeeded by Season 9 on January 16, 2018. The season's release coincided with the launch of the Xbox One X and as such, the season's emblem is the same stylised representation of John-117 boarding a Scorpion tank - itself a reference to the console's codename "Scorpio" - printed on the console's motherboard. This season saw the release of 4K support for Halo Wars 2 on Xbox One X consoles.

Season 8 Title Update

The launch of Season 8 saw the launch of an accompanying Title Update for Halo Wars 2.

November 2 patch notes

Halo Wars Patch Notes - Xbox One X Update & More!

November 2, 2017

New features

• Added support for 4K Ultra HD & HDR gameplay on Xbox One X
• Crossplay is here for Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs!
  • Crossplay will be supported for Campaign, Blitz Firefight, Terminus Firefight, Custom Games, and all UNRANKED Playlists
  • All of the existing ranked playlists will remain platform-specific for the sake of fairness and parity
  • For players who really want to see how console stacks up against PC, a new playlist called "Ranked 3v3 X War" will be added that will support crossplay.
  • Crossplay will be rolled out in phases to make sure everything is working as intended and to give the team time to assess.
• When the update is released, the following will be enabled for crossplay:
  • Campaign
  • Blitz & Terminus Firefight
  • Custom Games
  • Unranked Playlists: 3v3 Deathmatch, Terminus Firefight
  • Ranked Playlist: (NEW) "Ranked 3v3 X War"

Crossplay will be added to more playlists at a later date once everything is verified to be in good shape.

• Arena support on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs
  • Halo Wars 2 now supports tournament play between members in the same club.
  • Available tournament types at launch:
  • 1v1 Deathmatch – Rift
  • 1v1 Deathmatch – Bedrock
  • 2v2 Deathmatch – Sentry
  • 2v2 Deathmatch – Vault
  • 3v3 Deathmatch – Ashes
  • 3v3 Deathmatch – Fissures
  • 2v2 Blitz
  • 3v3 Blitz

Core systems

• Fixed various crashes, soft locks and desyncs
• Improved disconnection handling
• Fixed medals and progress not being restored from services
• Fixed potential cause of lost progression

Gameplay

• Fixed mobile garrison units not ejecting garrisoned units
• Fixed ODST units not capturing Power Nodes and Control Towers

Campaign

• Fixed progression blocker in Manifestation caused by recycling a Mega Turret
• Fixed temporarily invincible scripted Flood Infectors in Manifestation

Firefight

• Fixed friendly fire towards the Nexus and Spires from player turrets and offensive leader powers
• Fixed the Find Match tile in the Firefight menu
• Fixed an issue where season leaderboards were not loading in the leaderboard data

Cosmetic

• Fixed placeholder mission briefing video in Manifestation
• Fixed Operation: Spearbreaker DLC placeholder achievement images
• Fixed missing splash art from the ATN loading screens
• Fixed missing Shield Barrier VFX in Firefight
• Fixed missing flare VFX for Lotus Mines in Firefight
• Fixed missing supplies glow VFX
• Fixed flickering Barriers during deployment
• Fixed premature Colossus deployment animation in Not On My Watch
• Fixed inconsistent camera boundary on mini-map in Gatecrashers

PC only

• Restored ability to rebind the Cancel command
• Fixed default Push to Talk key (‘\’) not functioning until rebound

Balance updates are being worked on and will be forthcoming in a separate server-side update at a little later date. Stay tuned for more details!

Gallery

• 

  A fan-made recreation of the Master Chief emblem.

• 

  The Master Chief emblem printed on an Xbox One X motherboard.