The 2025 Summer Update kicks off with a bang in Operation: Last Stand.
Later this month, we’ll return to the Spartan Academy in a linear Firefight experience and introduce a heroic assortment of updates, including a devastating new power weapon, sniper ricochets, expanded Weapons Bench customizations, a monstrous Juggernaut mode, and a 50-tier Premium Operation Pass with four armor sets and a variety of instant unlocks.
Ready up, Spartan. It’s time to fight.
Update Calendar
The 2025 Summer Update continues the Operation format introduced in the 2024 Winter Update. We’re looking at a new season of month-long Operations packed with playlists, modes, unlockable armor, and a few surprises to come!
Here’s a look at our sizzling Summer Update schedule:
- Operation: Last Stand (May 6)
- Operation: Legacy (June 10)
- Operation: Reclaimer (July 8)
Since our 2025 Spring Update, each seasonal Update also starts with a Spartan-sized kickoff, featuring a 50-tier Premium Operation Pass and major milestones such as new weapons, mechanics overhauls, Forge updates, and exciting new game modes.
Read on to see everything that’s coming in Operation: Last Stand.
New Weapon: Mutilator
Long rumored, and ever feared: the mighty Mutilator is finally here!
If you want brute force with no assembly required, look no further. The Mutilator is a double-barreled powerhouse with a Gravity Hammer at the business end. Unload one shell at a time, or switch to alt-fire mode for a twofer of titanic output. If there’s anything left to devastate, the hammer should finish the job.
Starting in Operation: Last Stand, you can wield this abominable bludgeoner in Mutilator Madness, a new Juggernaut variant for the truly courageous. The Mutilator can also be found as a power weapon on maps, added to custom matches, or spawned in Forge.
Operation Pass Overview
The start of a season always warrants a celebration! As the first Operation in the Summer Update, Operation: Last Stand arrives with a 50-tier Premium Pass featuring four full armor sets and plenty of party favors.
Free Operation Pass
20 tiers, available to play free May 6–June 10.
Complete a 20-tier reward track to unlock the SECOPS armor set, plus a healthy supply drop of Spartan Points to score more customizations from The Exchange. Designed by ONI Security for counterinsurgency and precision interventions, this tactical gear is as quiet as it is lethal.
Premium Operation Pass
50 tiers, never expires, includes bonus XP and an additional challenge slot, PLUS instant customization unlocks.
Purchase the Premium Operation Pass to expand your armory in a durable, 50-tier reward track offering four unlockable armor sets! In addition to the SECOPS armor, Premium Pass operators can get tactical with the new Raider, EVA GEN1, and Scarred Comet armor sets.
Once purchased, Premium Pass operators can complete all 50 tiers at their leisure. They’ll also receive an exclusive unlock bundle containing the Commander Agyrna armor kit and more customizations.
How It Works
Free Operation Pass rewards are available for the duration of their respective Operation. In Operation: Last Stand, you’ll have until June 10 to complete the 20-tier reward track and earn all its unique armor customizations.
Premium Operation Passes can be purchased at any time during their respective Operation. In Operation: Last Stand, you’ll have until June 10 to upgrade using one of two redemption options:
- 1,000 Credits: Reward tiers become durable (i.e., never expire), bonus XP activates, an extra challenge slot opens, and a bonus customization bundle is instantly unlocked
- 2,500 Credits: Unlocks all the above perks, plus instantly completes the first 20 tiers of the reward track and unlocks its customization rewards
If you missed any free customizations from Spring Update Operations, watch for those to hit The Exchange during the Summer Update. Premium Pass customizations will arrive in The Shop to be purchased separately at a later date.
Upcoming Playlists
Eagle-eyed Spartans will have already seen two major playlist updates teased in this announcement. We can’t divulge too much info (Iratus is listening), but we hope you can make something of this coded communique:
Firefight: Battle of the Academy
The captured AI Iratus has exposed the location of the Spartan Academy. It’s up to you to fend off a Banished onslaught in Firefight: Battle of the Academy. Can you repel invaders, secure objectives, and protect humanity’s best-kept secrets?
Mutilator Madness
A new Juggernaut has arisen—and it’s got two barrels of buckshot and one mean wallop. Prepare for slaughter in Mutilator Madness, a social free-for-all mode that brings a devious twist to Juggernaut with a merciless new power weapon.
Sandbox Updates
The Summer Update adds five new customizable weapons to the Weapons Bench and satisfies the murderous urges of the angularly inclined, plus a pair of quality-of-life improvements made in accordance with player feedback.
Expanded Weapons Bench
The Weapons Bench has been expanded! Players may now apply weapon coatings, emblems, charms, and death effects to the:
- MA5K Avenger
- Needler
- Heatwave
- Shock Rifle
- Mutilator
Sniper Ricochets Return
Better start thinking ahead, because bouncy bullets are back on the menu! Starting May 6, bullets fired from the S7 Sniper Rifle and Flexfire Sniper will ricochet off terrain and other hard surfaces.
This development has naturally occasioned the triumphant return of the Bank Shot medal. Try taking down a foe with a ricochet skill-shot to earn the new medal (and kindly accept our condolences in advance if they snatch the sniper first).
Improved Perfect Kill Tracking
You saw it: nary a missed shot, a decisive kill, and nobody clapped. That’s the past. When you score a perfect kill with a precision weapon, a star will now display in the Event Feed, so that your glory may be properly exalted amongst commoners.
As a reminder, you’ll earn the Perfect medal in Halo Infinite if you down an enemy using a precision weapon without missing a shot.
Banshee Attack Re-Tuned
In response to player reports that the Banshee was overperforming in certain combat scenarios, we have adjusted a few of its attack variables:
- Cooldown time has been raised for the fuel rod cannon
- Velocity of Banshee projectiles has been reduced
- Sustained collision damage has been minimally augmented
We hope these nudges will ensure a more balanced experience for all players. Ramming speed remains unchanged.
Coming Soon: Ranked S&D Extraction
In case you missed our preview teaser, S&D Extraction mode arrives in Ranked playlists later this summer. See the mode in action at the FaZe Kaysan Invitational in the video above, featuring the work of expert Forge creators Mikrips and Artifice.
Mode Overview
This competitive, round-based mode is built on Extraction objectives with a match economy for purchasing weapons, equipment, and even lives.
Teams trade off Offense and Defense scenarios in asymmetrical maps with two Extraction sites active simultaneously. Offense has its pick of targets—but once Extraction begins, the defending team must convert the site or lose the round.
With one life for each player and limited credits to buy respawns, S&D Extraction takes no prisoners.
ForgeHub Map Contest
To celebrate our competitive community, we’ve partnered with ForgeHub to offer a $20,000 prize pool in the S&D Extraction Map Contest. Submit your best 4v4 Forge map by May 12 for a chance to win cash and have your map featured in a forthcoming Halo Infinite playlist.
Check out our announcement blog for more details on the contest and mode.
Forge Updates
The Summer Update introduces long-awaited functionality to Forge via new and updated nodegraph elements. Read on for brief explanations of each and how to use them in your next masterpiece.
Updated Set Object Team Nodes
The Set Object Team and Set Object Team to Neutral nodes have been updated to support a variety of Generic Objects and Spawners. Starting in Operation: Last Stand, Forgers will be able to assign and revoke team ownership of the following Forge Objects:
- Generic Delivery Plate
- Generic Bomb
- Generic Flag Spawner
- Generic Flags
- Generic Power Seed
- Generic Power Seed Deposits
- Generic Skull
- Generic Sportsball
- Generic Capture Zone
To help understand the impact of these changes, here’s a quick refresher on the fundamentals of Set Object Team nodes:
- Set Object Team nodes assign ownership of Forge Objects to a given team
- Set Object Team to Neutral nodes return Generic Objects to a neutral State
- Get Object Team nodes return the team that currently owns an Object
When used together in a nodegraph, these nodes can help Forgers create scripts that return Objects to neutral ownership when a certain condition is met (like when a Flag is returned, or a Bomb is successfully planted on a Delivery Plate by a specific team).
New Spawn Order Nodes
A new set of Spawn Order nodes now makes it possible to assign spawn order, index players and objects by spawn order, and return lists of objects and players arranged by spawn order.
Get the lowdown on all five new nodes below!
Get All Objects by Label With Spawn Order
- Takes inputs: (label, spawn index value [number, 0–64])
- Returns a list of all Objects with given label AND spawn index value
Get All Objects by Spawn Order
- Takes input: spawn index value [number, 0–64]
- Returns a list of all Objects with the given spawn index value
Get All Players With Spawn Order
- Takes input: Object [or Player]
- Returns the spawn order index of the input Object or Player
Get Object Spawn Order
- Takes input: spawn index value [number, 0–64]
- Returns a list of all Objects with the given spawn index value
Set Object Spawn Order
- Takes inputs: (execute, Object [or Player], spawn index value [0–64])
- Sets the spawn index value of the provided Object to match the input
The Set Object Spawn Order node can be used to ensure that a player spawns on a Spawn Point with the corresponding index value, or to make Objects more easily discoverable to Get Object Spawn Order nodes. (If no valid Spawn Point is available for a respawning Player, they will spawn at a backup location and their spawn value index will be set to -1.)
When used together, these new nodes allow Forgers to apply robust spawn-order logic to govern the rulesets of their custom maps and modes. Head to the Objects menu in the Node Browser to find the new Spawn Order nodes.
Exchange Updates
Some players have reported difficulties finding customizations in The Exchange. To address these concerns and make it easier to find items by type, we've added folders to The Exchange browser for the following categories:
- Helmets (includes helmets and helmet attachments)
- Body attachments (includes gloves and gear for hips, knees, and wrists)
- Visors
- Torso attachments (includes chest gear and shoulder attachments)
- Armor coatings
- FX (includes armor effects, mythic effects, and death effects)
- Spartan customization (includes stances and AI colors)
- Weapon coatings
- Emblems
- Weapon modifications (includes weapon models and charms)
- Vehicle customization (includes vehicle models and coatings)
- Backdrops
To access The Exchange, first visit the "Shop" tab from the menu and select "Visit The Exchange." These new folders can be found by scrolling to the end of the list of featured items displayed in The Exchange.
Using Spartan Points
As you play matches and complete challenges in Halo Infinite, you’ll earn Spartan Points (SP) that can be used in The Exchange to acquire armor and other customizations. You can also earn bonus allotments of Spartan Points as you progress through the reward tiers of an active Operation Pass.
Many customization items in The Exchange were once earnable in a past Operation Pass, but some are new or exclusive to The Exchange.
New: Buy Spartan Points
To provide players with alternative ways to acquire customizations from The Exchange, Spartan Points may now be purchased using both Shop Credits and currency, so you can complete your collection any way you like!
All Exchange items will continue to be redeemable with Spartan Points obtained through matches and challenges.
More News to Come
We can’t wait to share more details as the Summer Update continues! Look out for a full writeup of Operation: Last Stand when it launches on May 6, and watch Halo Waypoint for more news about Operation: Legacy and Operation: Reclaimer coming soon.