It’s not easy to pick up Halo Infinite multiplayer and become a Spartan-slaying killionaire from the jump. The PVP in Halo Infinite has a steep learning curve, throws you up against formidable opponents from the very first match and requires proper knowledge of weapons operation, positioning, angle isolation and map composition. While all that might seem daunting, you can become a much better player with some patience and practice. And from following the tips in our Halo Infinite multiplayer beginner’s guide, of course.
Run the tutorial
Commander Agrynna and some prospective Spartans/343 Industries
We know, nobody wants to “read the instruction manual” or “run the game’s multiplayer tutorial” before diving into the actual gameplay, but Halo Infinite features a well-made, engaging instructional tutorial called Halo Infinite Academy.
The Academy does a great job of immersing players in what feels like an actual Spartan bootcamp, with an introduction to the AI system, a movement and melee obstacle course and an extensive weapons drills system wherein prospective Spartans can train with every single weapon in the game on a shooting range that features stationary targets and bots of varying degrees of difficulty.
In addition, there’s also a Training mode which simulates an actual Halo Infinite multiplayer match. Here players can choose the amount of bots to run with and against (and their difficulty level), arrange weapons loadouts and designate the multiplayer map on which to play, which makes it a fine option (in addition to Bot Bootcamp) for warming-up before the real thing or acclimating oneself to the map layouts, power weapon spawn locations and engaging in basic firefights.
To top it all off, the Academy is prefaced by an inspiring cinematic which introduces Commander Agrynna, the focal point of which is a flashback to her days as a young woman being cornered on the streets of London during the Battle for Earth in 2552 by a group of Jiralhanae – and the life-changing moment that ends up serving as the impetus for her becoming a Spartan instructor herself.
TL;DR: Play the Halo Infinite multiplayer Academy mode, as it’ll adroitly acclimate you to one of the most enjoyable facets of the Halo franchise and get you hyped to “become” a Spartan to boot.
Stick with your teammates
343 Industries
As the saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work, and that adage certainly applies to Halo Infinite, where sticking together, cover-firing and map control are all crucial components to winning matches.
This applies double if you’re a Halo Infinite multiplayer beginner, so try to shadow one of your teammates from the start of the match and cover them the best you can. Not only will you up your chances for survival by sticking closely to a more seasoned player, you can also observe their actions, emulate their strategies and through them become more cognizant of which places on the map power weapons spawn, which areas are best to fire or hide and shortcuts to different levels or sections of which you might not have been previously aware.
Stick and move
If you’re a Halo Infinite multiplayer beginner, you’ve probably realized that Halo Infinite is different from other popular console shooters like Call of Duty in that the average time to to kill, or TTK, is longer. That results in more engagements becoming gun fights rather than simply instances of whoever landed the first shot.
This makes movement during a gun fight, such as strafing, dodging, jumping and crouching far more important than other console shooters.
The best way to improve your movement is to emulate the pros. While you might not be able to pull off maneuvers that the pros do right away (or even down the line), it will give you a better sense of the type of movement and strategies you should be employing to win gun fights and down your opponents. This strafing video from Lucid is a good start.
Pop the shield, then go for the head
343 Industries
Here’s a fact that even some Halo Infinite multiplayer vets might have overlooked: hitting an enemy Spartan anywhere on the body does the same damage as a headshot prior to the shields being broken. Once the shield is popped, headshot damage becomes instantly deadly but prior damage anywhere on the body is the same.
This would prove valuable in fights where, to give an example, you’ve depleted the enemy’s shield with the MA40 assault rifle but ran out of ammo doing so – in which case you could whip out your pistol and nail a headshot for the kill.
Controller settings
One thing that has helped me personally as a Halo Infinite multiplayer beginner was modifying my controller settings. This means going into the settings and messing with your horizontal and vertical look sensitivity, as well as the move thumbstick deadzones and the look thumbstick deadzones.
Naturally, this will come down to personal preference so you can modify these settings to your own liking, emulate your favorite professional players or if you’re still having trouble, refer to this handy video guide from Gamesager.
One more note: increasing my field of view setting from the default setting to around 100 helped with my situational awareness and vision as well – this is another setting worth tinkering with.
Assess your performance honestly
343 Industries
So you had a bad game where you lost every close fight, fell off a ledge (twice) and walked into an easily avoidable grenade cluster. While your first reaction might be to scream obscenities and blame your teammates or fling your controller into the wall – don’t.
If you had a match where your KDA was subpar, try to evaluate the mistakes you might have made and how to improve upon your gameplay. Were you caught in a bad position or away from your teammates? Did you fire too early at an enemy from across the map and give away your position? Did you stubbornly try to kill your opponent with the MA40 assault rifle when they had you cracked with the BR75? Assessing your performance in each match from an honest and objective point of view and thinking about how you can play differently/better the next time around is an approach that has to be taken to truly improve one’s gameplay as a Halo Infinite multiplayer beginner.
Did our Halo Infinite multiplayer beginner guide help you step your game up? Are there any tips or hints you want us to add or elaborate upon? Let us know in the comments.
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