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Upcoming Matchmaking Playlist Schedule Here is the upcoming playlist schedule for MCC through the beginning of April 2023! Social Playlist Rotations January 25, 2023 → February 1, 2023 Shotty Snipers February 1, 2023 → February 8, 2023 Grifball February 8, 2023 → February 15, 2023 Fiesta February 15, 2023 → February 22, 2023 Recon Slayer February 22, 2023 → March 1, 2023 Escalation Slayer March 1, 2023 → March 8, 2023 Grifball March 8, 2023 → March 15, 2023 Rocket Race March 15, 2023 → March 22, 2023 Halo: Reach Combat Evolved Anniversary March 22, 2023 → March 29, 2023 Shotty Snipers March 29, 2023 → April 5, 2023 Fiesta April 5, 2023 → April 12, 2023 Grifball Ranked Playlist Rotations January 25, 2023 → February 1, 2023 Halo: Reach Hardcore | Halo 3 Hardcore Doubles February 8, 2023 → February 22, 2023 Halo: Reach Hardcore | Halo 3 Doubles February 22, 2023 → March 8, 2023 Halo 2: Anniversary Hardcore | Halo 3 Doubles March 8, 2023 → March 22, 2023 Halo 2: Anniversary Hardcore | Halo 3 Hardcore Doubles

Happy Lunar New Year for 2023! 🐇 Hop over to MCC and log in between now and February 1, 2023 to unlock this free Lunar Near Year nameplate, celebrating year of the rabbit!

I’m just gonna assume that Spartan Nina Kovan let you borrow that… Complete all of your Weekly Challenges and the Ultimate Challenge to earn this week’s Ultimate Reward – the Abbey Lime coating for your S7 Sniper Rifle. A new Ultimate Reward will become available every week, so be sure to keep an eye on your Challenges and take advantage of these free rewards. Brave the chem-scarred battlefields that await… Drop into the trenches with the BRODIE Armor Set, featuring the BRODIE helmet, GUMMYTUBE FILTER helmet attachment, JOURNEYMAN chest attachment, Graphite Soul visor, Rat Pack shoulder pads, RIGGED knee pads, along with the Praetorian Zephyr armor coating, and Seongnam Special task Group Two emblem. Get your gear from the Shop today!

Hello! Welcome to Hopoo Games Dev Thoughts 29 Before we get into the main topic of today’s Dev Thoughts, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone for the amazing reception and reaction to the announcement of Risk of Rain Returns – the entire development team has loved reading all your comments and sharing in the excitement of the reveal of our latest game. To keep discussing Risk of Rain Returns you can join me and the rest of Hopoo Games right on our Discord[discord.gg], and don’t forget the rest of our Hopoo social media like Twitch[www.twitch.tv], Twitter, and Tiktok[www.tiktok.com], and the official Risk of Rain twitter account right here! While you’re busy clickin’ links please visit the store page and give the game a wishlist – it really helps us get the game in front of as many new eyes as possible – with your support we’ve already made the top 75 most wishlisted games on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1337520/Risk_of_Rain_Returns/ And without further ado, the subject of today’s Dev Thoughts… One of our biggest new features in Risk of Rain Returns that breathes new life and replayability into the game are the new Alternate Abilities for each survivor. Each survivor has three extra abilities to use as alternates – today I’m going to showcase one from each of the returning survivors leaving plenty for you to discover yourself when we release the game! Let’s start off with the face of Risk of Rain – the Commando. The alternate to his secondary attack Phase Round is the Combat Knife. The Combat Knife is a close range melee attack that deals 150% damage and also wounds the enemy – Wounded enemies take an additional 50% damage from all attacks. Great when used in concert with the rest of his moves, slash your enemies with the Combat Knife, create some distance then blast away with your long range abilities for devastating effect. Next up is Huntress (who, by the way, is now unlocked by default like in Risk of Rain 2) – the alternative to her Laser Glaive is the new Laser Cyclone. This large slow-moving attack deals damage over time before returning back to the Huntress. The trick with this ability is to carefully kite the Laser Cyclone in and around enemies that are attacking you while continuing to pelt them with your other abilities. While on paper this ability is lower damage than the Laser Glaive – with skillful movement you can achieve near 100% uptime on this ability doing huge damage over the course of a full run. Enforcer comes racing into Risk of Rain Returns with his new secondary ability Shield Tackle. Starting to get overwhelmed by a group of enemies overrunning your defences? Put them back in their place and under your control by charging into them, knocking them back, stunning them & dealing 5 x 100% damage on the way. One alternate ability we gave a short glimpse of in last month’s dev thoughts is Bandit’s new primary alternate – the Whip. This ability switches Bandit into a melee/ranged hybrid – the Whip deals 200% damage while pushing enemies back. A more powerful alternative to Blast – use your evasive abilities to avoid damage while cracking the Whip then finish them off with Lights out. Everyone’s favorite robot survivor, HAN-D, returns with an alternate to its special ability FORCED_REASSEMBLY called… DISASSEMBLE. Instead of a massive hammer HAN-D whips out a giant buzz saw which tears combatants apart and hits more times the more attack speed you have – perfect when used in conjunction with Overclock. Another advantage of DISASSEMBLE is the ability to slowly move while casting which allows you maximum damage especially against conga-lines of chasing enemies. Engineer returns with one of the strongest single abilities in the game – you can now replace his standard Auto Turrets with the experimental V.0.2 Prototype Laser Turret. You can drop one of these huge hulking sentries down, inheriting all of your items just like your regular turrets, which charges up over 8 seconds before letting loose with a huge 1200% damage laser blast. Being able to 1-shot most enemies in the game does come with a drawback – firing this turret rapidly damages itself and will be completely destroyed after a single shot needing to be replaced to fire again – Unless you can find a Dios Best Friend! The Survivor with the biggest amount of changes between Risk 1 and Risk of Rain Returns is Miner with his new heat meter that allows him to dish out more and more damage the hotter he becomes – On top of this new mechanic he has a new set of moves including a replacement for his primary where he throws his pickaxe towards his enemies. When your heat meter is full and you start Scorching these Throwing Axes pierce enemies and are thrown more rapidly making Miner deal a huge amount of damage at mid range. One of the trickier aspects of playing as Sniper in Risk 1 was hitting specific targets with your strongest abilities when the level fills up with enemies quite quickly on later stages. With the alternative to Steady Aim you can overcome this: introducing the Quick Scope. While it does a lower but still impressive 600% damage compared to Steady Aim the biggest benefit of this shot is the ability to pick exactly where it lands by releasing the fire button when the aiming reticle is over your desired target. Acrid returns once again to spread poison to the inhabitants of Petrichor V with the alternative to his secondary ability – the Toxic Bubble. One of the most diverse abilities in the game, the Toxic Bubble does 60% damage over time to any enemy it touches and also does 600% damage to any enemies in range when it explodes after 5 seconds. Need to infect more enemies than you can kite into the bubble? Simply give it a whack with your melee

It’s that time again for another issue of Forge Features! We’re doing things Halo 2-style for this particular outing, as there have been a considerable number of stunning remakes and reimaginings of both campaign and multiplayer spaces from the 2004 classic. As a reminder, these maps can be found in the “Recommended” section of the Content Browser on Halo Waypoint[www.halowaypoint.com] and in Halo Infinite. Maps & Modes Backwash Credits: D3LTA V, Foge, SARIZON, NZO7, DeadlyAp, ForgeRunnerXBookmark: Backwash[www.halowaypoint.com] The year is 2005. It’s the height of summer and the Maptacular Pack has just released for Halo 2! Backwash was made to resemble the final area of the campaign mission 343 Guilty Spark from Halo: Combat Evolved, with additional cool details like 2401 Penitent Tangent flying around. It was famously the only map to be removed from matchmaking during the heyday of Halo 2, as the fog which compromises the player’s visibility couldn’t be loaded properly. I used to enjoy playing “cat-and-mouse”-type custom games on Backwash where players had active camouflage and snipers. Now I can relive that thanks to this very loyal remake! Groundwork Credits: ARPODBookmark: Groundwork[www.halowaypoint.com] A remake of Foundation from Halo 2, but with at least six-hundred times the detail to make it feel like a genuinely lived-in courtyard. Thankfully, you don’t need to go through any convoluted steps to unlock this one! Apostate Credits: soft sharpBookmark: Apostate[www.halowaypoint.com] I love interactive map elements. Even when it’s something as simple as being able to extend a bridge or open a gate, or activate a shield somewhere… being able to subtly alter the way a map plays always makes me love it more. On Apostate, one of the central features of the top part of the map is its light bridge. Shoot the shock cores on either side of the map and you’ll disable it, sending any Spartans caught on the bridge plunging to the depths below, leaving you to reactivate the bridge from a nearby terminal. Sometimes true brilliance is found in the simplest ideas, and that’s exactly what you get with Apostate! Halo 2 Outskirts Credits: NextGenAccountBookmark: Halo 2 Outskirts[www.halowaypoint.com] It’s the dense alleys and housing districts of Outskirts from the Halo 2 campaign, but greatly expanded in detail and there are no Jackals in this courtyard. Look, if “No Jackal Snipers!” doesn’t sell you on a reservation at Hotel Zanzibar, I don’t know what will. Vagabond Credits: Squally DaBeanz, PersianForge, INeedMoreBleachBookmark: Vagabond[www.halowaypoint.com] While not a direct recreation of any particular space, Vagabond evokes the neon-lit cityscapes seen throughout the series. There are elements of Plaza, Streets, and other urban maps that give a grounding sense of familiarity to this city of dreams. Nemesis Credits: WAR FH, b0b is here, MythicFritz, I Crush All, AgentPaperCraft, VwS Executioner, Trignate, I am a Luxury, marka2263, tdubfed1Bookmark: Nemesis[www.halowaypoint.com] I’m a big fan of seeing how creatively folks can marry the visual simplicity of Halo: Combat Evolved’s Forerunner aesthetics with some of the design sensibilities introduced in Halo 4. In terms of appearance, that’s exactly what you get with Nemesis, which also boasts an incredible level of detail in its out-of-map environments – sentinels fly into distant cavernous openings, birds pass overhead… Getting caught unawares because you’ve found yourself staring at every little thing on this map is definitely a danger! Community Creations Are you looking to add some falling rocks to your map? Check out this handy YouTube tutorial that’ll teach you to create this ambient occurrence using a recursive event that will make five rocks constantly fall. Speaking of which, VidGamesPete has put together a handy Forge script tutorial covering the basics of how to use the “Every N Seconds Event,” helping you to better automate certain elements of your map. Finally, DEWtheMCCOY continues to diligently cover a swatch of amazing community creations in Forge and has put together an end-of-year round-up for 2022 – check it out! That brings this issue of Forge Features to a close. Stay tuned on Halo Waypoint, check out the content browser, hop into the Custom Games Browser, and follow @Halo on Twitter for more Forge goodness!

It’s Black History Month 2023! We stand in solidarity with our colleagues and community in celebration of Black History Month and remain committed to creating a positive and inclusive space to fight against systemic racism. Celebrate Black History Month and add a special nameplate and emblems for your armor, weapons, and vehicles to your armory by logging into Halo Infinite between now and February 28, 2023.

It’s Black History Month 2023! We stand in solidarity with our colleagues and community in celebration of Black History Month and remain committed to creating a positive and inclusive space to fight against systemic racism. Celebrate Black History Month and add a special nameplate by logging into Halo: The Master Chief Collection between now and February 28, 2023.

A transcendent invitation to the zero hour. Complete all of your Weekly Challenges and the Ultimate Challenge to earn this week’s Ultimate Reward – the Double Zeroes Mark VII visor. A new Ultimate Reward will become available every week, so be sure to keep an eye on your Challenges and take advantage of these free rewards. Considered by some to be the zenith of human endeavor, a perfect encapsulation of human talent, and a terrible idea that snowballed out of control by others, the legendary Mister Chief has arrived. Level up the symbiosis of man and machine with the Mister Chief AI, augmented by the picture-perfect Mystery Mister AI color, the Mister Chief gun charm, and the Social Media Chief emblem. Humanity has never been in better (or worse) hands! Hungry like the wolf. Bare your fangs on the way to the Shop to pick up your matching set of Reavian Werewolf shoulders for your Mark V armor today. Let everyone know your bite is worse than your bark.

You’ve seen how their story ended with the fall of Reach… The Noble Intention Event is taking us back to a very different time, when Noble Four was Rosenda-A344 and Noble Six was Thom-A293. Play Noble Intention from February 7-21 and unlock new items for your Mark V in the free 10 tier Event Pass. Remember Reach one last time as you pay homage to the forgotten members of Noble Team!