New Features and Content:
- Forge is now available!
- Added a basic implementation of File Browser. Players can now bookmark and share custom maps and modes through Active Roster, by following (or become friends with) a player.
- Over 30 new REQs including weapons, armor, emblems, and more have been added.
- Battle of Noctus map added to Warzone.
- Overgrowth map added to Arena.
- Entombed and Antifreeze maps added to Big Team Battle.
- Commendations and Service Record for Spartan Companies have been added, and can be tracked on Halo Channel and HaloWaypoint.com.
- Social playlists have been added (Big Team Battle and Holiday Social).
- Holiday Doubles playlist added (ranked).
- Advanced controller setting options have been added, including controls for aim acceleration as well as deadzone controls. These settings are automatically set to the previous defaults you've been playing on. Full details here.
- Seasons for ranked playlists have been added; The January 2016 Season begins today.
- Enabled the ability to purchase multiple gold REQ Packs in one single purchase, several of which include free bonus packs. (These will be coming online within the next few days).
Multiplayer:
- FFA playlist reduced to 6 players from 8 players.
- Fixed the Warzone Assault armory exploit
- Replaced Scorpion on Recurve with Gauss Warthog.
- Removed Mantis from Guillotine and added a Warthog for each team.
- Fixed spawning bug that sometimes spawned a player on Red team in the Blue base on Deadlock at the start of a match.
- Fixed an issue where players could escape Gambol’s normal play boundaries.
- Added interactive switches to Deadlock to control window shutters and doors for each base.
- Fixed a bug in Breakout that awarded kills after the flag has been captured.
- Add Flag Grabs statistic to the post-game carnage report.
- Fixed a Free-For-All bug where kills were shown in scoreboard rather than score.
- Added medal for melee’s performed to an enemy’s back.
- Added in-game text for Flag Driver medal.
Campaign:
- Improved stability when joining a Fireteam’s Campaign mission in progress.
- Joining a Fireteam’s Campaign mission in progress will no long force all Fireteam members back to the character select screen.
- Fixed a bug on Guardians that hindered a player’s movement if they’ve died and were unable to complete the mission.
Ranking:
- Adjusted CSR placements for SWAT and FFA playlists.
- Fixed bugs surrounding players being placed too high across all playlists.
User Interface:
Lobby:
- Amount of REQ Points and number of unopened REQ packs will be visible during intermission and in Lobby.
- Fixed bug around Fireteam sorting – The Fireteam Leader will now be displayed at the top followed by his or her team in alphabetical order by Gamertag. For Custom Games, all other teams will be grouped together and then sorted alphabetically as well.
Active Roster:
- Friend Status will now be visible from the Friends list so you can see what your friends are doing in Halo 5: Guardians.
- Fixed bug around Friend sorting so it sorts online and offline friends alphabetically.
Spartan Hub / REQs:
- REQ Rarity and Description will be visible for all REQs when opening a REQ pack or browsing your Collection whether you own it or not.
- REQ Energy Cost will also be displayed for all REQs when opening a REQ pack or browsing your REQ Collection.
Spectate / Theater:
- Added hidden controls to change player POV for up to 8 players in the match. Holding left trigger will enable the use of the d-pad and ABXY face buttons to change player POV on the fly. Players are mapped to buttons alphabetically.
- Added ability to change player POV from the Scoreboard. Press the View button to bring up the Scoreboard; use d-pad to navigate and A-button to select a POV.
- Fixed bug aroundPlayer POV Selector sorting. It will now sort by team, and then alphabetically by Gamertag.
- Fixed bug around controls for Zooming while in Free Cam.
- Fixed bug around not being able to hide the Player POV Selector in some cases when toggling UI visibility.
- Fixed a bug where ending a theater film placed players into a solo campaign lobby
- Added ability to play and pause film while UI is hidden using the A button.
HUD:
- The location callout will now appear when dead, spectating, in Smart-Link, etc.
- The Highest Score per Column in the in-game Scoreboard will have a visual callout allowing you to see very quickly which player has the most kills, most assists, and least deaths.
Controls:
- Added advanced controller options. Full details here.
Networking:
- Improved ping times to dedicated servers in matchmaking.
- Improved gameplay quality under network conditions with high packet loss.
Last week, 343 Industries detailed the Cartographer's Gift as part of this today's free content update in Halo 5. The Cartographer's Gift update has officially released on the Xbox One bringing Forge, new Arena and Warzone maps, new assassinations, Seasons and social playlists, and brand new REQs.
Below you'll find a brief overview of what the update brought, as well as update details on the following page!
Using player feedback, 343 Industries rebuilt Forge 'from the ground up' for Halo 5 and will continue to update the feature as time passes. With the Cartographer's Gift update, players will be able to select up to 64 objects at one time to move or rotate, play with over 1,700 objects, change object colors, adjust additional light fixture objects and more.
The new REQ Packs will bring the Mark IV [Gen1] Armor set and the Raifin Armor set, as long as a number of various other items. You can take a look at more of the REQ items here.
New Maps:
Warzone
- Battle of Noctus:
Battle of Noctus takes place on Andesia and features two garage bases, a first for Warzone! Using vehicles early is a key tactic for locking down base control. Since you can’t spawn ground vehicles at the Monument, it might appear to be less important than either garage, but capturing this base provides quick access to plenty of boss locations and sightlines into both garages. Smart teams will definitely want to hold this position. If you find yourself facing a team stacked with vehicles be sure to use the many man cannons littered around the map to cut down on travel time and perhaps drop in on an unassuming vehicle below.
Arena
- Overgrowth:
Overgrowth is a small-scale asymmetrical map that plays best on Slayer and Strongholds. For Slayer, controlling the Energy Sword is key as the map features tight corridors and small combat spaces for you to slice up your opponents. For Strongholds, the covered bridge offers many tactical options, as it allows players to engage on any of the three stronghold locations quickly, and is the location where the Plasma Caster can be found.
Big Team Battle
- Entombed
- Antifreeze
New Assassinations:
Nice Try
Oh Snap
