Welcome back to Firefight! The classic Firefight experience returns to Halo Infinite, alongside the King of the Hill variant. Dropping out of slipspace in tandem with the launch of Operation: Blue Team, the PvE fight begins come March 11.
Firefight Through Time
Firefight was first introduced way back in 2009 with Halo 3: ODST. You and up to three of your buddies could squad up and put your skills to the test surviving round after round of Covenant hordes attacking your position.
Through the years, Firefight has seen various iterations and has evolved in many ways. In Halo: Reach, you had armor abilities and additional customization. Halo 5 saw the introduction of Warzone Firefight that pitted a team of eight against Covenant and Promethean forces. Even Halo Wars 2 brought in a tower defense-inspired variant, Terminus Firefight.
The latest, Halo Infinite’s Firefight: King of the Hill, has you and your squad capturing and defending hills against incoming Banished forces.
But now it’s time to return to the classic.
Current Objective: Survive
It’s the formula we all know and love. You and three squadmates versus the endless waves of enemies with one thing running through your mind:
Survive.
In KOTH, it’s easy to know when you’ve won or lost because you are either in the hill at the end of the round, or not (or MIA I suppose), but Classic comes with waves, rounds, and sets. Let’s break it down.
- One Round is comprised of five Waves of enemies
- Wave 1 is an easy wave
- Waves 2-4 are mid-tier difficulties
- Wave 5 is a boss round
- Three Rounds (plus a Bonus Round) comprise a Set
- This is a total of 15 waves
Did we mention this mode is endless? The game keeps going as long as you keep surviving so stock up on snacks and water if you’re in this for the long haul.
Bonus rounds are little mini-breaks between sets. All Skulls are on, enemies are on Easy mode, no lives are lost, and the stakes are low. And speaking of the stakes, let’s talk lives.
I Will Survive
At the start of each match, you’ll have 7 lives in your team’s life pool. These are shared amongst the four of you, so if someone is charging forward willy-nilly you’ll quickly find yourself looking at the Post-Game Carnage Report. If you play well and stay alive, you’ll preserve your life pool for the later, harder rounds.
But sometimes, deaths happen—we’ve all been there. At the end of each set your team will earn an extra life. Additionally, you’ll gain a life for each 1,000 points earned during the bonus round. So if you turn around and find yourself face to face with a Grunt rushing you with plasma grenades, don’t sweat it too much – you can always make it up later.
We Need to Evac
New to Halo Infinite, you’ll now be able to choose to end your match at the end of a set. Before the next round begins, you’ll see a zone pop up that says, “Complete the mission.” If at least two of you hop into the zone, you’ll be extracted from the mission and the match will end. If you don’t get in the zone before the next round, you’ll be committed until you either:
- Run out of lives
- Make it to the end of the next set
If you’ve survived, congratulations! The next round is about to begin. Each set has a new set of Skulls that will activate. You’ll see a new Skull activate on rounds two and three, adding an extra layer of difficulty to the firefight.
If you’re running low on ammo, don’t fret—you’ll get a resupply between each round.
The Maps
You can bookmark the mode created by Artifice7285 here:
And then grab the maps you’ll be playing on below!
Alpha Site
Credits: Its L0L0, LudoHT, MikRips, Mr Greencastle
Bookmark
Many a Vidmaster: Endure achievement was earned within these hallowed halls on the Road to Recon.
Courtyard
Credits: bullet2thehead9, Mr Greencastle
Bookmark
We’ve got Jackals in the Courtyard!
Forest Firefight
Only you can prevent forest fires.
House of Reckoning
Do you reckon anyone’s home?
Security Zone
Credits: Its L0L0, LudoHT, MikRips, Cousin Tim, VIrus11010, ArtN00b, Mr Greencastle
Bookmark
Perhaps the most quintessential map from Halo 3: ODST returns so secure those zones.
We’re very excited to have this mode available in matchmaking and we know you are looking forward to jumping in. How long you survive the waves of enemies is up to you.
Play smart, help each other out, and watch those lives!