As November 8 approaches, 343i has revealed the Halo Infinite Winter Update’s balance adjustments in detail. A number of weapon tunings have been updated in order to ensure an optimal gameplay experience across Halo Infinite’s wide variety of weapon options. You can read the changes in detail below.

Halo Infinite Winter Update Balance Adjustments | Halo Infinite Winter Update Weapon Tuning Updates:

Plasma Pistol:

Sandbox Team Dev Note: Many players reported that the Plasma Pistol was underperforming against Spartans, especially when using its overcharged shot. To help the overcharged shot track as expected at mid-to-close range, we’ve updated its values slightly in the Winter Update. We also noticed the base shot was not seeing much use, so we’ve increased the damage of the base shot to make it a more viable option for players.

Tuning details:

• Increased base shot damage from 20 to 28
• Increased charge shot angular velocity from 20 to 35 degrees per second
• Increased charged shot guided angular velocity at rest from 50 to 70 degrees per second

Pulse Carbine:

Sandbox Team Dev Note: Even as players have gotten more proficient with the Pulse Carbine, it has not been as successful in short-to-mid range as we would like. To help with this, we’ve updated the tracking to help it out in shorter range. To help balance out its power though, we’ll be reducing its tracking at longer range. These changes should help player land shots more consistently in short to mid-range while slightly reducing the effectiveness at longer ranges.

Tuning details:

• Increased guided angular velocity at rest from 25 to 35 degrees per second
• Decreased angular velocity from 50 to 30 degrees per second
• Increased targeted leading fraction from 0.35 to 1
• Increased guided projectile error radius from 0.2 to 0.22 degrees

VK78 Commando:

Sandbox Team Dev Note: One of the most common pieces of feedback we’ve seen is that aiming with the VK78 Commando felt loose, especially at shorter range. To help increase its effectiveness up close, we’ve slightly increased the bullet magnetism and slightly reduced the high minimum error. We’ve seen this help players finish off targets at closer range during internal playtests, so we’re eager to see how this plays out in the wild.

Tuning details:

• Increased Headshot Prioritization Angle from 0 to 0.1 degrees
• Increased Bullet Magnetism Angle from 1.25 to 1.3 degrees
• Increased Aim Assist Angle from 5 to 6.25 degrees
• Decreased minimum error angle max from 0.8 to 0.6 degrees 

BR75:

Sandbox Team Dev Note: We want the BR75 to remain the versatile weapon we know and love, but also have noticed it has been performing a bit too well – making it not feel as rewarding as it should. In the Winter Update, we wanted to raise the skill ceiling on landing the final kill shot as well as reduce its effectiveness at range from the hip. These changes should help make kills with the BR75 feel even more rewarding.

Tuning details:

• Headshot Prioritization Angle reduced from 0.25 to 0.2 degrees
• Bullet Magnetism Angle reduced from 2.4 to 2.2 degrees
• Bullet Magnetism Range reduced from 20wus to 18wus
• Bullet Magnetism Falloff Range reduced from 12wus to 10wus

Frag Grenade:

Sandbox Team Dev Note: The Frag Grenade has received feedback that it’s a bit too effective and that throwing one just before dying results in easier trades than intended. In order to help address these issues, we have increased the detonation time slightly. This will give players a little bit more time to react to a grenade that has landed near them. It will also reward players for better placed grenades. 

Tuning details:

• Increased detonation timer by 0.2 seconds

Snap Slide:

Sandbox Team Dev Note: Movement is always tricky to balance. We want to allow players to express their movement skill in matches, but we also don’t want that movement tech to completely break maps or create unpredictable gameplay flow. For example, “Curb sliding” and its current uses have been fun to watch and hasn’t been interrupting gameplay flow too much. On the other hand, “snap sliding” allows players to make jumps that could truly break the game flow, including having players jump from Top Mid to the bases on Aquarius. 

Tuning details:

• Fixed a physics bug that allowed “snap sliding”

Disruptor:

Sandbox Team Dev Note: The Disruptor has started to see more use as we’ve gotten further into Halo Infinite’s lifespan, but it still isn’t doing as well as we’d hoped. To help with this, we’re updating the ammo count to help players close out kills a little more easily. We’ve also spotted reports of the DoT effect being inconsistent and will be working to get an improvement out in a future update. 

Tuning details:

• Increased magazine ammo count from 10 to 12

Along with these weapon tuning updates, a number of balance, input, and networking updates will also be rolled out over the next few months, including improvements to the keyboard and mouse experience on PC, fixes for networking issues and desyncing, and reworks of problematic equipment including the Energy Sword and Thruster. Interested players can read all about those future changes on the official blog post.

The Halo Infinite Winter Update rolls out across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One on November 8. You can read about the update’s features including Match XP Beta, a Playlist structure rework, a revamped Challenge system, and more here.