Halo Wars 2 Getting a Huge Update, Check out the Notes

Halo Wars 2 was recently released on the Xbox One and PC and many Halo fans have been enjoying waging war in the real-time strategy game. If you’re spending your free time crushing your enemies and building up your forces then you’ll be interested to learn that 343 Industries has announced that a huge patch update is on its way for the game.

Announced on Halo Waypoint, the patch will sure up the game and address many of the bugs and issues that have been reported by players since the game launched. It will specifically target an issue where some players were getting stuck on loading screens and another where PC users saw a black screen when they tried to boot the game up.

There will also be fixes to the gameplay. An issue where units would become unresponsive in Blitz mode is being patched and friendly cloaked units will be visible on the mini map. The patch won’t see any changes come to the game’s units but 343 is noting user feedback on this and may adjust things at a later date.

The size of Halo Wars 2’s patch has not yet been revealed nor has its release date but 343 has stated it wants it out as soon as possible. It will arrive first on the Xbox One, then PC. This is because 343 has said PC is a “much more complicated platform.”

The full patch notes are as follows:

Halo Wars 2 Patch Notes:

Crashes/Errors/Performance

• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on the loading screen
• Fixed an issue that caused some PC players to see a black screen on startup
• Several “desync” fixes, one of which covered most of the tracked occurrences
• Fixed a variety of PC crashes that were hardware-dependent
• Fixed a Network Error on opening Blitz Packs
• Fixed some AI issues in Skirmish that could cause performance hits
• Fixed some performance hitches in Cooperative Campaign
• Made performance improvements on various hardware
• Overall multiplayer performance improvements
• Fixed some crashes that could occur when loading a saved game
• Fixed an issue that would cause a Campaign mission to get stuck after loading a save
• Fixed a bug with joining a party and getting a network error
• Added a driver check on PC to alert users to the presence of old drivers
• Fixed an issue that caused players to disconnect from multiplayer games at the beginning of the match

Gameplay

• Fixed issue with “Detect” on some starting units not working properly
• Fixed an issue with getting the Palmer’s Pure Gold Achievement
• Fixed some bugs with Kodiaks in Campaign
• Fixed a bug with garrisoned Snipers not getting additional stats
• Fixed issue with squads getting stuck trying to garrison if another squad beats them to it
• Gold medal can now be more easily attained in ‘Hold the Line’
• Fixed a Cyclops and Reaver pathing bug where they would sometimes stop moving
• Fixed an issue with units getting stuck in bases after being made
• Fixed various skull functionality not working on some units or abilities
• Fixed some cross-skull interactions between Annihilation and Pestilence
• Fixed some Locust pathing issues in Blitz (even though they’re driven by Grunts)
• Fixed an issue with units becoming unresponsive in Blitz
• Fixed an issue in Blitz with units getting a x4 speed boost in a specific situation
• Fixed a conflict created by swapping d-pad functionality in Blitz
• Fixed an issue with the Blisterback not recovering from damage in Blitz
• Fixed behavior of Marines sometimes failing to get new targets after throwing a grenade
• Friendly cloaked units now appear on the minimap
• Made some adjustments to Scarab creation
• Tweaks to Grunt Mob, Bloodfuel Grunts, and Bloodfuel Locust
• Holo Decoy can no longer be used on Pelicans or Spirits
• Fixed card level of units affected by Holo Decoy not showing over clones
• Glassing beam always creates vision now in Blitz
• Adjusted AI to make better use of Healing and Cloaking fields
• Skirmish AI now uses Extraction and Teleport
• AIs have been practicing their Domination game

Metagame

• Fixed a bug where parties were always assigned to Team 1
• Fixed a rare issue with users not actually getting to play the leader they selected in Blitz
• “Halt” cinematic should no longer be unlocked early in theater
• Fixed some daily/weekly challenge issues where they were not tracked in some playlists
• PC players can no longer tab target to whisper to themselves
• Phoenix Log page adjustments
• Pause menu adjustments
• Set default difficulty of AI to normal from easy

Cosmetic

• Cleaned up some language localizations
• Fixed a bug with UI textures failing to load
• Fixed some minimap graphical issues
• Fixed a PC issue with starting army text overlapping some UI
• Fixed some issues with individual card pack opening animations
• Fixed an issue with a terminal for a red barrier not having a display string
• Fixed a Domination icon issue, where it would rotate briefly when being recaptured
• Fixed an issue with Health bars getting stuck on the screen
• Fixed some issues with particles randomly shooting across the maps for various objects
• Adjusted transparency on locked skulls in the side panel
• Radial menu has been cleaned up a bit
• Added extra visual indicator to aid players when they are selecting cards
• Made some enhancements to the leader selection carousel

Audio

• Fixed an issue with the announcer constantly reporting Zone B is contested when it’s not
• Fixed an issue with the Condor being able to be heard through fog of war
• Fixed incorrect audio playing on some units when damaged
• Fixed some issues with units calling out the wrong attackers
• Fixed an issue with using right trigger or mouse wheel would cause audio spam
• Added audio to Plasma Mines deploy
• Added a variety of sound effects, and adjusted timing on some existing ones

Last, But Not Least

• Under-the-hood preparation for future ranked multiplayer

Known Issues

• We are still working on a fix for a known issue where a game can sometimes freeze or result in a very low frame rate
• Investigating some reports of performance issues with cinematics
• Investigating reports of the mini-map occasionally being unresponsive on PC
• Occasional infinite loading screen when loading into consecutive missions in co-op
• Game can sometimes hang indefinitely when restarting a mission
• Unit balance feedback and assessment is ongoing by the design team

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