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Halo 4 Specializations
The UNSC Infinity, the largest starship in the UNSC fleet, is
your gateway to the Infinity Multiplayer experience in Halo 4 and serves
as the center of your Spartan career. Here you will build your custom
Spartan-IV super-soldier, and progress your multiplayer career across
both Spartan Ops and the multitude of competitive War Games modes.
Halo 4 has fifty levels. Once you have advanced through the
standard fifty levels, you will get the option to enlist in a
Specialization. You can choose the order in which you tackle unlocked
Specializations. However once you select one, you must advance through
it completely before enlisting in a separate Specialization.
Specializations allow you to enlist in specific rank paths.
These paths are composed of ten levels each. As you level up through
these dedicated paths, you will unlock armor sets, emblems, visor
colors, weapon and armor skins, and armor mods – which provide even more
options to customize your Spartan-IV to fit your preferred role on the
battlefield.
These armor mods will work exactly like all other tactical and
support mods in the game. They are not tied to specific armor for each
Specialization, so you don’t have to wear the armor to use that
particular mod. They enhance a small part of the sandbox (meaning good
players will still be good, and not good players will still be not
good), allowing people to play the style they want to play and
experience the parts of the sandbox they like on a more frequent basis.
We consider Specializations end-game content because even if you
have “access” to all of them on day one, you will still need to reach
level 50 before you can enlist in any Specializations. Think of them as
giving you control over extending your level cap.
Two Specializations – Wetwork and Pioneer – will be available to
all players when the game launches, and the rest will gradually be made
available in the months following launch. We will be keeping a close
watch on player participation post-launch and will roll out the
additional six Specializations when the player base reaches certain
milestones. There will also be playlists available that do not utilize
loadouts or armor mods.
Halo 4 features the following Specializations:
Wetwork
Wetwork Specialization: Spartan optimization for
stealth operations which focus on the elimination of an enemy target
with the goal of leaving no tactical footprint behind.
Stealth Armor Mod: The Stealth armor allows
users to move quickly and silently in combat, executing enemy
assassinations with lightning fast dexterity.
The Stealth armor mod – which has very sharp shapes and angles,
reminiscent of a knife or blade – does a number of things to help a
player that likes to get up close and personal. It adds sound dampening
when sprinting, animations are performed faster (to minimize the time
you’re vulnerable), and it has a minor effect on Promethean Vision.
Typically, when Promethean Vision is activated, people appear red. When
you use Stealth, though, only your outline appears red. Many times when
someone is using Promethean Vision, they scan quickly so if there’s a
lot going on, they may miss you. Or you can hope, anyway.
Wetwork gold visor,
Wetwork blue/orange visor,
Wetwork armor set,
Wetwork armor set variant,
DMR Weapon Skin
Pioneer
Pioneer Specialization: Spartan optimization for
deployment into uncharted, hostile territory (such as uncolonized
worlds or Forerunner constructs like Requiem) for the purpose of
gathering/relaying information.
Fast Track Armor Mod: The Fast Track armor mod
allows Spartans to gain more experiential data from each encounter,
effectively ranking up quicker during the process.
The Fast Track armor mod features armor that has wiring which
runs throughout the armor to control temperatures in extreme conditions.
Gameplay-wise, it gives the player more post-game experience. In-game,
if you get 10 points per kill, you don’t get more at that exact moment,
but after the game it modifies the amount of experience your Spartan
earns to increase the speed at which you rank up. It’s not for everybody
because it takes up a primary spot (that could be used for something
like carrying an extra grenade or sprinting longer). And, in case you
were wondering, you can’t change to it at the end of a game and get more
experience for the entire match. Yes, we’re on to you...
Pioneer gold visor,
Pioneer silver/blue visor,
Pioneer armor set,
Pioneer armor set variant,
Plasma Pistol Weapon Skin
Engineer
Engineer Specialization: Spartan optimization
for the subversion, repair and reconstitution of a wide range of
technology, including Covenant and Forerunner complex networks.
Drop Recon Armor Mod: Armor mod allows users to predict the location and time of an Ordnance Drop through an external suborbital monitoring system.
The Drop Recon armor mod – the helmet of which has four socket
connections for add-ons, depending on the task – lets you know that
Infinity Ordnance is coming and what the Infinity Ordnance is. You see
the waypoint and type of weapon that is coming down prior to the weapon
entering the game (the specific time is still being fine-tuned).
Organized teams will find this armor mod useful because, with
communication, there is the likelihood you can beat everybody to the
weapon spawns your team finds most desirable.
Engineer gold visor,
Engineer pink/purple/blue visor,
Engineer armor set,
Engineer armor set variant,
Suppressor Weapon Skin
Tracker
Tracker Specialization: Spartan optimization for
long-range target tracking (trans-continent and off-world),
particularly in scenarios where conventional tracking has failed or such
a substantial time has passed that the trail has gone cold.
Requisition Armor Mod: The Requisition armor
mod allows users the ability to recall their own ordnance requests in
order to acquire more helpful weapons in the field.
The Requisition armor mod – the helmet of which has a scanning
device on the front of the visor – allows you to choose a new set of
personal ordnance when personal ordnance is granted. When the menu for a
personal ordnance appears on your screen, hitting left, down, or right
on the D-pad selects the relevant option. When you have Requisition and
hit “up”, you receive a new random selection of choices. This armor mod
doesn’t have knowledge of what ordnance had previously, so while you’re
not guaranteed better choices, you’re more likely to get the weapon
you’re good with or your favorite power-up, if you didn’t get it the
first time around.
Tracker gold visor,
Tracker purple visor,
Tracker armor set,
Tracker armor set variant,
Boltshot Weapon Skin
Rogue
Rogue Specialization: Spartan optimization for
single-operative missions which require a lone Spartan to be deployed on
their own for incredibly long durations of time, even years if
required.
Stability Armor Mod: The Stability armor mod allows users to increase their aiming stability when being fired upon.
The Stability armor mod – which features several sharp fin
elements and sharp angles – makes you flinch less when you’re zoomed in
and getting hit. It will be valuable to players that prefer using
precision weapons and often find themselves engaged in long-range
battles. If two similarly skilled players, both with DMRs and using
scopes go head-to-head, the person using Stability has a small
advantage. Skill and steady hands will still win the day but Stability
allows you to keep your aim on target when facing multiple bullet
strikes. Similarly, the player with DMR and Stability will have a larger
advantage over a player with AR at long range. But (and yes, there’s
always a “but”) the player they're fighting may have made a choice for a
different mod in that slot, which may come into play with an additional
grenade or something else. Victory is never guaranteed…
Rogue gold visor,
Rogue red/orange/silver visor,
Rogue armor set,
Rogue armor set variant,
Carbine Weapon Skin
Stalker
Stalker Specialization: Spartan optimization for
target shadowing missions which require tactical invisibility despite
operating at an extremely close range to the target itself.
Nemesis Armor Mod: The Nemesis armor mod allows
users to target and track down previous attacking enemies, highlighting
them on the armor’s passive sensors.
Nemesis armor – which features lines that are both strong and
stealthy – gives you an icon on your HUD of the last person that killed
you. While some people utilize it to get revenge, others use it to avoid
that person (for obvious reasons). It’s also useful when playing
defense for seeing where an offensive player is going. On maps with
limited visibility, Nemesis can provide a short window of intelligence
in the movement of enemy players or teams, allowing a respawning team to
react and steal a match. In play testing, we’ve seen players trusting
the extra information implicitly and falling for feints or being target
fixated with the extra information and being lured into unfavorable
situations. As with everything in Halo, this upgrade allows you to
tailor your play to your style but remember that the enemy team is aware
of the ability and will be countering and often using it or another
option to tip the scales back in their favor.
Stalker gold visor,
Stalker yellow/green visor,
Stalker armor set,
Stalker armor set variant,
Battle Rifle Weapon Skin
Pathfinder
Pathfinder Specialization: Spartan optimization
for deep, unconventional deployment within unknown enemy territory and
with little to no assistance from command.
Gunner Armor Mod: The Gunner armor mod
decreases the time of weapon overheat when occupying a vehicle weapon
position and increases Spartan speed while carrying a detached turret.
The Gunner armor mod – which was designed to explore alien
worlds – has two major functions: One, when you’re on a mounted
anti-infantry gun (Warthog and the secondaries of Wraith, Scorpion,
etc.), the guns overheat less quickly, allowing you to fire longer at
the maximum rate of fire. And two, when you pull the gun off an emplaced
mount, you move faster, allowing you to use those guns more effectively
offensively instead of just defensively. You still won’t be able to use
Armor Abilities or Sprint, but you can move faster, bringing some heavy
firepower to any offensive attack.
Pathfinder gold visor,
Pathfinder orange/green visor,
Pathfinder armor set,
Pathfinder armor set variant,
Assault Rifle Weapon Skin
Operator
Operator Specialization: Spartan optimization for the operation and control of a wide-range of vehicles; space, air, ground, and sea.
Wheelman Armor Mod: The Wheelman armor mod gives Spartans the skill to coax every bit of stamina and durability out of vehicles they are piloting.
Wheelman armor – which features cylinder packs that could be
preplaced with more oxygen or cooling material depending on the mission –
makes you suffer the negative effects of an overcharged Plasma Pistol
burst for less than the normal time. Vehicles you drive are also more
durable over a longer period of time. You can still get hijacked, but
the window for that is smaller.
Operator gold visor,
Operator orange/purple visor,
Operator armor set,
Operator armor set variant,
Magnum Weapon Skin
Some players will select their Specialization based on
weakness, trying to make up for a skill-based deficiency. Others will
select their Specialization based on strength, hoping to turn close
games into more solid victories. Whichever path you choose to take, you
should make a meaningful decision for your play style, no matter what
decisions others are making because, as you’ll find out in a mere three
months, it’s all fun and games. Until your buddy takes your personal
ordnance, that is…
Following the official revelation of the Halo 4 ‘season pass’ for downloadable content (DLC), known as the War Games Map Pass, Microsoft Studios has today released a retail package designed specifically to promote the upcoming videogame add-ons. Halo 4 is set for release next month, but eager fans can purchase the branded Microsoft Points package from today.
Spartan-IV “Scanner” and “Strider” helmets and the “Falcon” in-game emblem. The War Games Map Pass
is priced at 2000 Microsoft Points which, according to Microsoft
Studios, represents a fifteen percent saving from the cost of purchasing
the three map packs individually. No release date have yet been
announced for any Halo 4 DLC.
The Inquirer (http://s.tt/1oqt9)
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