343 Industries has just released a massive Halo Infinite update for today, March 19, that adds easy anti-cheat on PC, along with some new custom firefight modes, and so much more! Here are the full patch notes for today’s Halo Infinite update.

Halo Infinite Update for March. 19 Patch Notes | Halo Infinite Content Update 31 Patch Notes:

NEW FEATURES

This update brings new content, numerous bug fixes, and several new features to Halo Infinite. For a full list of this update’s bug fixes, see the Resolved Issues section below. New features and content included in this update are:

OVERHAULED NETWORK MODEL

The new networking model ⁠introduced in the Firefight matchmaking playlists in December 2023 has been rolled out to the rest of the Halo Infinite online multiplayer experience. Players should experience less instances of rubberbanding movement, taking damage around corners, and other issues caused by becoming desynchronized with the multiplayer server.

The development team will be monitoring backend metrics, Halo Support bug report tickets, and player feedback to determine how this new networking model is working. If you encounter any issues in online multiplayer that may be network related, please submit a ticket so the development team can investigate!

EASY ANTI-CHEAT ON PC

Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) has been added to Halo Infinite on PC. EAC helps provide a level playing field in online sessions by ensuring the integrity of all players’ game files and background programs. When EAC detects that a player may be attempting to cheat or alter game files in a multiplayer session, they will be removed from the match. EAC is not active in Campaign or Forge’s Edit Mode.

When playing Halo Infinite, players are bound by the Halo Spartan Code and the Xbox Community Standards. If you encounter a player in Halo Infinite who you believe to be cheating, follow the steps below to report a player during a multiplayer match:

1. Using the default control bindings, open the multiplayer scoreboard by pressing either the View button on a controller or the Tab key on a keyboard.
2. From the scoreboard, navigate to and select the Gamertag of the player you would like to report.
3. Press the corresponding button prompt at the bottom of the screen to initiate a report.
4. Select the reason for reporting the player.

For more information on reporting players and instructions on how to report a player outside of an in-progress multiplayer match, visit the How to Report a Player article.

If you happen to record in-game behavior that appears to be cheating, please submit a Report a Player ticket and attach the related video clip. Player-submitted tickets and videos are the most direct way to help the Halo Safety team investigate cheating.

The existing automated ban system for Halo Infinite will not be changing with this update. Players will still receive automatic bans for unsporting behavior such as idling, quitting matches repeatedly, and betraying teammates.

If you believe that you were incorrectly removed from a multiplayer match by EAC, try disabling any non-essential programs you may have running in the background on your PC. If you believe you were banned incorrectly, submit a Ban Appeal ticket and the Halo Safety team will re-review the evidence that led to your initial ban and any additional evidence you supply in your appeal.

EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINISTIC COMPETITIVE SKILL RANK (CSR) PAYOUTS

Alongside this update, players with a CSR of 1800 or higher will now earn 7 CSR for every win and lose 7 CSR for every loss in Ranked matchmaking playlists. The Halo Infinite development team will be monitoring telemetry and feedback for any unintended consequences of this change. You can share any feedback on this CSR payout change on the official Halo Discord server or, if you encounter any bugs or issues in-game due to this issue, submit a Bug Report ticket.

For additional information on this change, visit the “CU 31 Ranked Changes” blog on Halo Waypoint.

FIREFIGHT CUSTOM GAME MODE VARIANT

The new Firefight Custom game mode variant removes the King of the Hill game mode logic from the existing Firefight game mode variants. Similar to the Minigame Mode introduced in the Season 4 update, this game mode variant provides Forge creators a blank slate with which to build all-new Firefight experiences. To help support this, the following nodes are now available for Script Brains in Forge’s Edit Mode:

• On Firefight Set Start: Event called when any Firefight game variant starts a new Set. Returns the Group Index the Set was Launched with, which determines which spawners and objectives were triggered for that Set. Only works in Firefight variants.
• On Firefight Set End: Event called when any Firefight game variant ends a Set. Returns the Group Index the Set was Launched with, which determines which spawners and objectives were triggered for that Set. Only works in Firefight variants.
• End Firefight Custom Set: Ends the currently running Firefight Custom Set. The defending (Eagle) team will gain a point if Defenders Successful is TRUE; otherwise, Cobra will earn a point. Only works in Firefight Custom. If called between Sets, will have no effect.
• Fail Firefight Custom Perfect Set: Causes the defending (Eagle) team in the Firefight variant to fail their perfect Set, preventing them from earning Skulls after the Set completes. Only works in Firefight Custom when dynamic Skulls are enabled.
• Adjust Firefight Lifepool: Adjusts the Team’s lifepool by the provided Life Count, if teams and lifepools are enabled. Negative values will subtract lives. Only works in Firefight variants.
• Get Firefight Custom Set State: Returns information about the currently running Firefight Custom Set. If no Custom Set is active, Custom Set Active will be FALSE and the other pin values will default to FALSE and 1 as appropriate. Input pins determine the value in Forge to facilitate script testing. Only works in Firefight Custom.
• Get Firefight Wave Spawners: Returns a randomly ordered Object List of AI Spawner objects that have the Firefight Spawner game mode label, a matching Group Index, and a matching Subgroup Label. List contents will be filtered to first provide Phantom spawners up to the max, and then the rest of all other spawner types. Only returns up to 32 spawners. Works in all game modes.
• Get Firefight Boss Spawners: Returns a randomly ordered Object List of AI Spawner objects that have the Firefight Spawner game mode label and a matching Group Index. List contents will be filtered to first provide Phantom spawners up to the max, and then the rest of all other spawner types. Only returns up to 32 spawners. Works in all game modes.
• Override AI Spawner: Overrides the units on the given AI Spawner with a squad definition from the Firefight enemy tables. Higher Difficulty and/or higher Intensity will produce harder squads. Works in any game mode.

2024 HCS WEAPON BUNDLES

2024 HCS Weapon Bundles are now available in the in-game Shop menu. These bundles contain the Corpsewrap Weapon Model for the BR75 Battle Rifle, a Multi-Use Weapon Coating, a Backdrop, an Emblem, and a Nameplate. Each of the following HCS teams has its own version of this bundle:

• Cloud9
• Complexity
• FaZe Clan
• OpTic Gaming
• Quadrant
• Sentinels
• Spacestation Gaming (SSG)

For players who purchase multiple 2024 HCS Weapon Bundles, the first bundle purchase costs 1500 cR as it includes the Corpsewrap Weapon Model. The Corpsewrap Weapon Model is not themed for each team, so players will only be able to purchase it once. Subsequent purchases of other teams’ bundles cost 1000 cR as they will exclude the Corpsewrap Weapon Model.

Download Size by Platform

BALANCE CHANGES

WEAPONS

Gravity Hammer (all variants)

A bug that affected the Gravity Hammer’s damage and knockback values has been resolved, however, its new damage and knockback values will remain higher than they were in pre-Season 5 updates.

Bandit Evo and M392 Bandit

Based on community feedback, the reload speed has been increased for both the Bandit Evo and the M392 Bandit.

Developer Notes

We have received feedback that the reload speed from both Bandit variants is feeling clunky and slow. The act of reloading is something we want players to continuously think about, but not feel like a chore to complete.

• Reload speed increased 10%.
• Reload speed while empty increased 10%.

VK78 Commando Rifle

The VK78 Commando Rifle’s bloom now resets slightly faster.

Developer Notes

We have been getting consistent feedback that players struggle to find success when operating this weapon. Bloom and recoil control are both a requisite, which can be difficult for players to control. Also, with the change from the Battle Rifle to the Bandit EVO as the primary weapon in Ranked Arena, it inherently lowered the viability of the Commando Rifle as a scavenging pickup option. The goal of this change was to give the Commando Rifle better handling, more friction from close ranges, and the potential for consistent damage output.

• Lower bound deceleration time decreased 0.22 >> 0.21 seconds.
• Upper bound deceleration time decreased 0.22 >> 0.21 seconds.
• Magnetism near fall off range increased 0 >> 1 wu.

Heatwave

To reduce its long-range viability, the Heatwave’s aim assist has been decreased.

Developer Notes

There’s been long standing feedback from competitive players that the effective range of the Heatwave is excelling outside of its intended range. We’ve made tunings to limit its mid to long range capabilities.

• Aim assist angle decreased from 5 >> 4.
• Aim assist range decreased from 12 >> 11.
• Aim assist falloff range decreased from 7.5 >> 6.5.

Stalker Rifle

The Stalker Rifle now takes longer to vent once overheated and will require less shots before it overheats.

Developer Notes

Feedback from the ranked community signaled that the Stalker Rifle is over performant. Players can use the advantages of the weapon to chain together multiple kills without much counter play. This change will still allow players to achieve multiple kills in succession, but there will be less room for error and a bit more time spent venting.

• Aim assist angle decreased from 5 >> 4.
• Aim assist range decreased from 12 >> 11.
• Aim assist falloff range decreased from 7.5 >> 6.5.

Plasma Pistol

The Plasma Pistol has received multiple changes: its rate of fire has decreased, it now overheats faster than before, and it now requires less time to fully charge up.

Developer Notes

Over time the single shot firing method for the Plasma Pistol has become the most effective way players utilize this weapon. By using it that way they are able to get most of the benefits the weapon provides with little to no risk. These changes are meant to give the charged shot more viability while still allowing the option to find success with the single shot.

• Rate of fire for single shot trigger decreased from 10 >> 6.75 rounds per second.
• Overheated threshold decreased from 1 >> 0.8.
• The amount of time for trigger to fully charge decreased from 1.6 >> 1.2 seconds.

SYSTEMS

Bandit Spawn Influencer

The development team resolved an issue caused by the Bandit Evo and the M392 Bandit’s spawn influencer that resulted in players experiencing disadvantageous respawns in the Ranked Arena playlist.

Developer Notes

Since the Bandit EVO launched there has been feedback that the spawn logic has changed in Ranked Arena. Players were reporting that at times they would more frequently spawn into advantageous or disadvantageous locations. The intent of this change is to align the spawn behavior more closely with that of when the Battle Rifle was the starting weapon for Ranked Arena, which follows more consistent logic in connection with how players influence spawn locations.

• Adjusted weapon spawn influencer for Bandit EVO to match BR75.
• Adjusted weapon spawn influencer for M392 Bandit to match Assault Rifle.

Bandit Fire Volume

The M392 Bandit and Bandit Evo’s firing sound effects are now quieter.

Developer Notes

A bug was called out that the Bandit first-person firing audio was suppressing other environmental and hit detection sounds. While we can agree that weapon audio is important to player fantasy and immersion, there is importance in how the weapon audio mixes with other acoustics.

• Lowered Bandit player fire volume >> -3dB.

RESOLVED ISSUES AND BUG FIXES

Many improvements come from Halo Insider and Halo Support tickets submitted by our community. Thank you for participating and please keep submitting tickets!

Halo Support tickets help the team here at 343 Industries understand what issues you would like to see addressed in future Halo Infinite updates. The development team is actively working on a variety of game updates and improvements based on both player feedback and bug report tickets.

If you experience a crash in Halo Infinite, please include as much of the following information as possible:

• Step-by-step instructions on what caused the crash. The more specific, the better!
• Attach an up-to-date DxDiagfile. To create a DxDiagfile, type “dxdiag” into the Start menu’s search bar, press the Enter key, then click “Save All Information” when the DirectX Diagnostic Tool pops up.
• Include the Problem Report from the Control Panel app. To find this, open the Control Panel and enter “problem reports” in the search bar. Click “View all problem reports” then locate the recent Halo Infinite report. Double click on this Halo Infinite entry then use the “Copy to clipboard” button near the bottom of the window. Finally, paste this text into your ticket’s comments.

GLOBAL

• Improved stability for Halo Infinite on both Xbox consoles and PC.

MULTIPLAYER

Gameplay

• Resolved an issue that unintentionally increased the knockback and damage of the Gravity Hammer and its variants.
  • For more information on this change and the Gravity Hammer’s new knockback and damage values, review the Balance Changes section above.
• Equipment dropped upon death will no longer become stuck underneath the map’s playable area.
  • Due to this fix, Equipment Pads in the Ranked Arena matchmaking playlist will now enter the “red rack” state when players pick up their equipment.
• Picking up Equipment just before being killed is now less likely to result in a crash.
• Walking or jumping into the side of a Cone object placed in Forge no longer results in player movement becoming unpredictable.
• Opening the scoreboard while loading into a multiplayer match no longer allows players to move during the match’s non-interactive intro sequence.
• The spectator camera is now more stable when the spectated player is killed.
• Resolved an issue that sometimes caused Extraction Devices to be planted in inaccessible areas while standing on dynamic map objects.

New Networking Model

The improvements in this section come from feedback and Halo Support tickets submitted by our community. Thank you for participating in the Combat Workshop playlist and please keep submitting tickets!

• Pinging enemies or locations on a map will now work consistently.
• The Banshee and Wasp’s aiming reticles no longer rapidly swap between their two firing modes while being piloted.
• Banshee bombs now fire immediately after switching weapon modes while holding the fire button or key down.
• When looking at a vehicle being driven by another player, it will no longer appear to turn in unintended directions.
• Wraith mortar shots now fire at their intended targets more consistently.
• Vehicle Pads will now push players obstructing the spawn area out of the way when spawning a new vehicle.
• Grenades are now picked up consistently when throwing grenades when standing near a Grenade Pad.
• The Warthog and Chopper no longer appear to turn in unintended directions when their drivers use the A or D keys.
• Grappleshot charges are now counted correctly when they detach shortly after latching onto their original target.
• The Repulsor no longer has a chance to consume 2 charges at once.

Menus

• The post-match New Rank splash screen no longer displays an incorrect rank emblem.
• The initial Operation Pass purchase menu will no longer allow players to purchase either premium offer while its price is loading.

Custom Games

• 343 bots will now deal the appropriate amount of damage when playing a Forge map with the AI difficulty node set to Legendary.

Customization

• Addressed various customization combinations that resulted in “Profile Sync” error messages or players becoming locked out of the Armor Hall menu.
• Applying an Armor Emblem to an Armor Kit released since the Season 5 update then changing the Emblem Palette to a non-default option will no longer result in the Armor Kit being unequipped.

Visual

• Firing a weapon mid-sprint no longer has a chance to show the weapon’s projectile emitting from an incorrect location.
• The text size for both match time and team score on the heads-up display (HUD) has been increased.

Audio

• The Thruster’s sound effects now play as intended when the Ark Reaction Mythic Effect Set is equipped.

Observer Mode

• The Observer scoreboard no longer highlights two players at the same time.

FORGE

Edit Mode and Creation Tools

• Improved stability when spawning and placing multiple objects in quick succession.
• Leaving a Forge session via the pause menu while objects are selected is now less likely to result in a crash.
• Improved stability when loading into Forge maps created on the Void or Ecliptic canvases.
• Halo Infinite is now less likely to crash after placing multiple Biome objects in a row.
• Player collision for the Leafy Bush A, B, C, and D objects is now aligned with their appearance.
• Script Brains that grant Equipment charges upon use of existing charges no longer cause player movement to become unpredictable.
• The “Get Random N Objects” node no longer returns an incomplete list of objects.
• Selecting the Eye icon in the Folders menu will now hide and unhide FX objects as expected.
• Removed two non-functional camera objects that appeared on all Halo Infinite Forge canvases.

File and Map Publishing

• Resolved issues that allowed players to edit and save Copy Protected maps and Mode Prefabs.

KNOWN ISSUES

With this update, the team has added multiple new issues to our Known Issues lists:

MULTIPLAYER

• Vehicles may play their “doom state” sound effects when they’re approaching the doom state but prior to it actually triggering. When this issue occurs, observe whether the vehicle is glowing red to confirm whether it is about to explode.
• When leading in score in a match of Free-For-All (FFA) Escalation, the mini-scoreboard along the bottom center of the Heads-Up Display (HUD) may show the incorrect player in second place.
• On the map Deadlock, Pelicans only deploy Scorpion and Wraith tanks when playing non-Heavies variants of Big Team Battle.
• Rarely, EAC is not installed preventing players from launching the game.
  • Workaround: If Halo Infinite was installed via Steam, use the “Verify integrity of game files” option to resolve this issue. If this does not resolve the issue or if Halo Infinite was installed via the Microsoft Store or Xbox app, uninstall then reinstall Halo Infinite to re-trigger the EAC installation process.”
• When Halo Infinite is installed via the Microsoft Store or Xbox app on PC, Comodo Antivirus may block Halo Infinite from launching.
  • Workaround: Manually add Halo Infinite to the Excluded Applications list in the Comodo Antivirus client to allow Halo Infinite to launch as expected.

FORGE

• The Snapped Log A, B, C, and D objects appear as solid black models.
• When its Object Mode setting is set Dynamic, the Broken Stump A object’s Physics dropdown does not list an option for Normal physics.
• When two or more Script Brains approach their max node capacity and a caution symbol appears in its Budget meter, all scripts on that map will not function as expected.
• When a player joins an in-progress Forge session where two objects have been welded together, the joining player will not see the two objects as welded and may experience “rubberbanding” or jittery movement when moving near the objects.
• After placing a saved Prefab object, deleted gameplay objects may still appear in Forge’s Play Mode.

Source: Bungie