Last week, we detailed the "version 2" update of the official HCS settings that were being tested. Today, we're revealing the final version of these settings that will be used for the duration of the Summer 2017 season starting with Placement Cup #2 next weekend and HCS Daytona on May 12-14. The multiplayer team have been meeting with top HCS pros and reviewing feedback for these "version 3" changes, and we're excited for competition to kick off!

All final settings are now updated in the newly named, "HCS Summer 2017" playlist which is live now. Players can also grab the final settings in the Official HCS file share here.

MAP-BY-MAP CHANGES

FATHOM

Added Tactical Magnums to Red and Blue Porches

Halo Multiplayer Team: After testing out the Tactical Magnum location in the Red and Blue Tree Houses, players were concerned with how close they spawned to the Top Mid portion of the map. In order to maintain the delicate balance of Top Mid control, we’ve moved these silenced shooters over to the Porch area of both Red and Blue Bases.

Reduced ammo count in Railgun by one spare clip

Halo Multiplayer Team: Our team has been keeping a close eye on the strength of the Railgun, especially after its notable sandbox change post-launch. Following our recent updates, players mentioned how controlling the Railgun on Fathom could result in a string of multiple flag caps. To implement this feedback, we’ve decided to reduce the ammo by a single spare clip.

THE RIG

Reduced ammo count in Railgun by one spare clip

Halo Multiplayer Team: Once again, players brought it to our attention that the Railgun can cause overwhelming odds when attempting to battle after respawning. To reduce the momentum swings seen by the team controlling the Railgun, we’ve decided to reduce the ammo by a single spare clip.

Reduced ammo count in Scattershot by one spare clip



Halo Multiplayer Team: Various competitors have been asking us to tweak the Scattershot spawns so that it doesn’t play such a dominant part of gameplay on The Rig. After doubling its respawn time, we still saw players bagging more kills than expected. To adjust, we’ve reduced the ammo count in the Scattershot by a single spare clip.



TRUTH

Replaced Storm Rifle in Bottom Mid with Tactical Magnum

Halo Multiplayer Team: Players have been curious about the Tactical Magnum and its potential on the map Truth for quite some time now. After several iterations of Truth containing an abundance of rifles on the map, we’ve decided to swap in the Tactical Magnum to help reduce the long-range effectiveness on this map.

Removed Battle Rifle from Carbine Tower Two

Halo Multiplayer Team: To further balance the addition of the Tactical Magnum, we chose to remove the Battle Rifle from the Carbine Tower in order to ensure that players do not have too much power when firing from far distances.

Set Tactical Magnum respawn time to 40 seconds and despawn time to 30 seconds

Halo Multiplayer Team: Bringing its respawn and despawn time in-line with the rest of the Tier 1 weapons placed on-map.

RADAR

Halo Multiplayer Team: By disabling base movement from showing up, we want to enable players to be smarter about how and when they appear on enemy radar. The slight increase in range is key to the base movement visibility change because it reduces the effectiveness of Spartan Charge and makes sprinting have a real trade off. We feel these changes will make moment-to-moment decision making more interesting for players and more exciting for viewers.

This new radar was something that we kept an eye on during testing, and received great feedback on. After discussing radar extensively with HCS pros, players had concerns about some aspects including range. We wanted to collect more data and feedback, and will be closely monitoring gameplay throughout the season, which begins next weekend. During the season, we'll be reaching out to gather feedback on all settings, including radar.



We can’t wait to see these new settings in action for the upcoming tournaments! Best of luck to all teams competing this season!

To see the full change list from the Halo World Championship 2017 season to the HCS Summer 2017 season, see below.

SEASON-TO-SEASON CHANGES

Game Variant Changes [from Team Arena]

Changed starting Primary Weapon from Assault Rifle to Magnum

Changed starting Secondary Weapon from Magnum to None

Changed starting Primary Rounds from Default to 60

Changed all Tier 1 weapon respawn times to 40 seconds

Changed all Tier 2 weapon respawn times to 20 seconds

Removed all automatic weapons from all maps

Removed all Splinter Grenades from all maps

Set Motion Sensor Inner Range to 60%

Set Motion Sensor Base Movement Speed Visibility to Off

Coliseum

Removed Splinter Grenades from Red Pillar, Blue Pillar, and Trench

Removed Silenced Assault Rifle from Trench

Removed Brute Plasma Rifle from Top Mid

Removed SMGs from under Red and Blue Base

Replaced Rocket Launcher on Yellow Tower with SPNKr Rocket Launcher

Set DMR respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Battle Rifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Covenant Carbine respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Boltshot respawn time to 40 seconds

EDEN

Removed Splinter Grenades from Red Platform and Blue Catwalk

Removed Brute Plasma Rifle from Red Nest

Removed SMG from Red Basement

Removed SMG from Blue Bend

Replaced Silenced Assault Rifle in Security with Plasma Pistol [Slayer Only]

Replaced SPNKr Rocket Launcher located Outside with Overshield [Slayer Only]

Set Battle Rifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set LightRifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Hydra respawn time to 20 seconds [Slayer Only]

Set Plasma Pistol respawn time to 20 seconds [Slayer Only]

Empire

Removed Silenced Assault Rifle from Tower One

Set Battle Rifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set DMR respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Boltshot respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Plasma Pistol respawn time to 20 seconds

FATHOM

Added Tactical Magnums to Red and Blue Porches

Removed Silenced Assault Rifles from Red and Blue Tree Houses

Removed Splinter Grenades from Red and Blue Sub

Reduce ammo count in Railgun by one spare clip

Set LightRifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Battle Rifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Boltshot respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Tactical Magnum respawn time to 40 seconds and despawn time to 30 seconds

PLAZA

Removed SMG from Yard

Removed Storm Rifle from Bottom Mid

Removed Splinter Grenade from Cinema Loft

Removed Splinter Grenade from Elevator [Slayer Only]

Set Battle Rifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set LightRifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Boltshot respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Plasma Pistol respawn time to 20 seconds

Set Shotgun respawn time to 20 seconds [Strongholds Only]

REGRET

Removed Splinter Grenades from Red and Blue One

Removed Silenced Assault Rifle from Bottom Nest

Removed Storm Rifle from Tunnel

Set Battle Rifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Covenant Carbine respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Boltshot respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Plasma Pistol respawn time to 20 seconds

THE RIG

Removed Splinter Grenade from Open Deck

Removed SMG from Bottom Nest

Removed Storm Rifle from Pit

Reduce ammo count in Railgun by one spare clip

Reduce ammo count in Scattershot by one spare clip

Set Battle Rifle respawn time to 40 seconds

Set DMR respawn time to 40 seconds

Set Scattershot respawn time to 20 seconds

Set Needler respawn time to 20 seconds

TRUTH