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Halo Wars 2 |OT| Warranty For Suckers

Streaks

Member
I haven't played in about 2 weeks, would that be why?

Possibly, there was another patch a little bit ago so it's probably a combination of both. First patch was a stability patch and minor gameplay tweaks and this one is the big balancing one.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Have they fixed the short term/long term achievements yet?

nope. still says 0% of gamers have unlocked

Nope. Which sucks.. Game has been out for almost a month,

Sincerely, I don't even know how a game launches with broken achievements.. Did they not test this?

the new gen "ship now patch later" pretty much results in broken achievements in every damn near game i've played on both PS4 and Xbox :(
 

B3N1

Member
So Blitz 1v1 is in fact removed, which bothers me. Why do we really need both casual and ranked 2v2 and 3v3, splitting the player bases for those player counts, but can't support 1v1 which had reasonable matchmaking times on XBox whenever I tried and usually on PC. And if PC can only have one of them ranked, shouldn't it be 2v2?

Now that death match has been heavily patched hopefully I'll get more into that as the core game mode, and the changes sound good, but like I said earlier Blitz 1v1 was my go to for jumping on alone for half an hour to play a few quick games for fun or to clear the challenges.

Yeah it's stupid. 1v1 Blitz was my favorite mode. It's the first time in a game that I got rage messages after a match :D I've never really tried 2v2 though, but had mostly negative experiences with 3v3. Tried to play 3v3 ranked today, but couldn't find a match, with dropping 1v1 they still managed to split the userbase. Why can't we have 1v1-2v2-3v3 ranked and a 3v3 unranked mode to grind the challanges? I don't see a reason not to play ranked anyway. It should be in everyone's best interest to be matched with a player around their skill level.

Guess I'll need to try 1v1 Deathmatch now, but it seems so scary and a much higher commitment than Blitz matches.
 

Voho

Member
This game needs more maps. 1v1 maps are non-existent, and the game launched with 8 maps, compared to the original's count of 14. While there is definitely variety in what's there, the current selection has grown somewhat tiring. Also slightly bitter at no snow maps, but that's just me.

Kinsano, at least from what I've played with her so far, has proven to be fun.
 

FyreWulff

Member
This game needs more maps. 1v1 maps are non-existent, and the game launched with 8 maps, compared to the original's count of 14. While there is definitely variety in what's there, the current selection has grown somewhat tiring. Also slightly bitter at no snow maps, but that's just me.

Kinsano, at least from what I've played with her so far, has proven to be fun.

More maps are coming and they'll be available to everyone. You only have to pay for leaders and campaign DLC.

Also, I sorta miss maps being more unique in HW1, where they had various gimmicks. They just blend into each other in this one. It's strange how they said this game wasn't being made with tournament play in mind, but all of it's maps have that genericized competitive feel. Like how HW1 had Blood Gulch in it, it was hilarious because it was a FPS map adapted to RTS, and even if it was kinda weird to play on, at least it was unique.
 

Voho

Member
More maps are coming and they'll be available to everyone. You only have to pay for leaders and campaign DLC.

Also, I sorta miss maps being more unique in HW1, where they had various gimmicks. They just blend into each other in this one. It's strange how they said this game wasn't being made with tournament play in mind, but all of it's maps have that genericized competitive feel. Like how HW1 had Blood Gulch in it, it was hilarious because it was a FPS map adapted to RTS, and even if it was kinda weird to play on, at least it was unique.

I know they'll be coming, I'm just saying the game is in dire need of them. I hope the final count will far exceed the first game, which got only 4 DLC maps.

In terms of unique maps, YES! I agree wholeheartedly. Release was one of my favorite maps in the first game, since you could spawn neutral flood units. Also, in the Halo Wars 2 files (alongside the Forge DLC) there's a folder for "Valhalla", so maybe you'll get a sequel to Blood Gulch in the future :)
 
Also, I sorta miss maps being more unique in HW1, where they had various gimmicks. They just blend into each other in this one. It's strange how they said this game wasn't being made with tournament play in mind, but all of it's maps have that genericized competitive feel. Like how HW1 had Blood Gulch in it, it was hilarious because it was a FPS map adapted to RTS, and even if it was kinda weird to play on, at least it was unique.

I agree with this even more on the campaign side. (Minor spoilers incoming).
The original Halo Wars had a level inside a Forerunner structure, the Arcadia missions, the one mission with the moving Scarab head and even missions on top of the Spirit of Fire!

The missions and maps in Halo Wars 2 are just set on bland Forerunner platforms in forests and deserts. The worst thing is that they did not even bother to adhere to H3-style Forerunner architecture, for all I know we could have been on Requiem (from H4) the entire time. I was at least hoping that we'd visit the Citadel or the Map Room in the campaign. We got a map platform instead. They did a lot of things right with the art direction in HW2 but the environments are rather uninspired.
 
I lost every single placement match for 1v1. I just keep playing the same +40 level players that all just go Cutter and spam marines.

I got Silver two, lol.
 

FyreWulff

Member
I lost every single placement match for 1v1. I just keep playing the same +40 level players that all just go Cutter and spam marines.

I got Silver two, lol.

it's his infantry starting buff, it's very powerful.

my build order is roughly

gen
supply pad
(upgrade gen when finished)
barracks
supply pad
supply pad

build snipes to counter any infantry that comes sniffing around and pump marines yourself. cap minibase and other bases and build marines at each one simultaneously.
 
it's his infantry starting buff, it's very powerful.

my build order is roughly

gen
supply pad
(upgrade gen when finished)
barracks
supply pad
supply pad

build snipes to counter any infantry that comes sniffing around and pump marines yourself. cap minibase and other bases and build marines at each one simultaneously.

I used Kinsano for all my placement matches. You'd think Hellbringers would be good against Marines. Apparently not.

I like Kinsano, but she's not good at all.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I agree with this even more on the campaign side. (Minor spoilers incoming).
The original Halo Wars had a level inside a Forerunner structure, the Arcadia missions, the one mission with the moving Scarab head and even missions on top of the Spirit of Fire!

The missions and maps in Halo Wars 2 are just set on bland Forerunner platforms in forests and deserts. The worst thing is that they did not even bother to adhere to H3-style Forerunner architecture, for all I know we could have been on Requiem (from H4) the entire time. I was at least hoping that we'd visit the Citadel or the Map Room in the campaign. We got a map platform instead. They did a lot of things right with the art direction in HW2 but the environments are rather uninspired.

Yep. It's something we touched on in the campaign review but the complete discontinuity between the Ark we remember from H3 and HW2 was a major disappointment. Even stuff as simple as seeing the H3 campaign locations on the maps in unreachable areas would have helped.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I used Kinsano for all my placement matches. You'd think Hellbringers would be good against Marines. Apparently not.

I like Kinsano, but she's not good at all.

Haven't tried her out in skirmishes, but she's pretty effective in Blitz. Her nuke powers are a pretty effective counterstrategy to the usual "turtle up with siege units" tactics since she can break those fortifications pretty rapidly. Her hero power also functions as a pretty cool area denial tactic, which opens up interesting strategies for containing enemies or funneling them to chokepoints.
 
Yep. It's something we touched on in the campaign review but the complete discontinuity between the Ark we remember from H3 and HW2 was a major disappointment. Even stuff as simple as seeing the H3 campaign locations on the maps in unreachable areas would have helped.

I agree, I was pretty stoked by the thought of seeing the Citadel again, if I remember correctly they even visited it in Hunters in the Dark.

Great review by the way!
 

SCHUEY F1

Unconfirmed Member
I don't know if it's the patch or the Xbox preview but I can't continue my campaign. Game locks when I press A to start the mission.
 

m23

Member
Agreed. In blitz it is extra annoying because if the enemy cloaks on a point and you do not have any units that can detect they can just sit there keeping it contested.

I hate it in PvP. It really should be timed or something on the units. The bases also completely vanish from the map as well.
 
I'm really surprised at how well this game turned out. I had very low expectations, but it's one of the two main games I'm playing right now.

The balance patch really fixed a lot, and most of the leaders seem very viable if played to their strengths, but also intelligently. One thing bothers me though. I hear people say covenant is under powered or not viable. Which I immediately think "in what dimension" because I have to work twice as hard to win as Humans as I do the Covenant. Which leads me to the one thing:

How is everyone not aware that Atriox is far and away the best leader in this game hands down? I mean he get Invulerability (which IMO no one should get in an RTS for a large army, it's like Armor lock or Promethean Vision) plus his healing invulnerability, plus dying breath. This all in all makes his units outlast every other leader when played half way well. Then you've got his OMFG Eradication beam which can wipe out entire bases and armies (especially if they have any slow units).

It's just staggering to me the decision making with Atriox vs all other leaders. Like, did they just let the worse players play Atriox in testing or what? I mean, can he be beaten? Sure, but you sure as hell better hope you are far better than your opponent or on top of your game.

We're it up to me, I would remove invulerability entirely from him and his heal, and just buff living dead. Maybe make it like Dark Knight in Final Fantasy XIV where if you can heal your units to full before it runs out, they live, if not they die. They still get to fight well after they should have died turning fights in their favor.

This is just me, but I'm earnestly suprised I don't hear more about it.

Overall though game is a solid 8/10 for me, which is a lot considering I wasn't expecting much from the sequel. It's great!
 

Werd

Member
Playing some 3v3 Blitz middle of the night/early morning with 1-2 teammates when there aren't as many online to give decent matchmaking, man that is a grind to rank up I was getting 2% per game at one point. Where as when I played with randoms after I was getting 20%, 34%, 12%, etc. Which is fair really since a lot of the games were hopelessly mis-matched, but still!

Anyway got up to Onyx then had my long win streak broken by a power outage of all things. I'm pretty sure getting disconnected mid-game gives you a massive penalty as I lost a ton of points in that game and an earlier OOS error. Enjoying playing with teams but I still want 1v1 back.
 

Hawk269

Member
After the last patch released and they added the new leader and rankings, it renewed my faith in the game. I am still very impressed at the visuals and all the subtle things going on, with the new leader, some of the effects are truly breathtaking. A couple things that would really take this game over the top are (and I know some are coming):

1.) Continue balance and bug fixing
2.) 2-3 additional Single Player missions with at least 1 or 2 more Blur Cinematics
3.) At minimum 3 more Blitz Maps
4.) At minimum 6 more MP Maps/Perhaps some from Halo Wars
5.) Stat screen to show your record in Skirmish mode, showing how you are doing on each map, each leader, each level and also show more stats and ranking in the SP portion of the game (refer to the original Halo Wars).
6.) We now need 2 additional Banished leaders

I know it sounds like a lot, but I think many are in the works or at least I hope they are.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Also it'd probably make more sense if the menu Resign just recycles all your buildings for you with a separate Quite that disconnects you. I think some people are leaving where they want to forfeit but not get treated like they just disconnected, especially in 1v1.

I always make sure to recycle all my bases to properly resign but could be helpful to speed it up.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
It would be nice to have some classic Halo Wars maps. Not really sure which ones I'd want, though.

And we're definitely getting our campaign DLC, although I don't think we've gotten any confirmation on additional Blur cinematics to go with them.
 

m23

Member
It would be nice to have some classic Halo Wars maps. Not really sure which ones I'd want, though.

And we're definitely getting our campaign DLC, although I don't think we've gotten any confirmation on additional Blur cinematics to go with them.

I doubt we'll get any more blur cut scenes, as much as I would love some more.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I doubt we'll get any more blur cut scenes, as much as I would love some more.

We'll see. I'd put our chances at even odds. If we get some they're only going to be an intro or closing one, obviously, not a whole raft of new footage.
 

louiedog

Member
Anyone else getting crashes when loading campaign maps since the last update? Nvidia hardware on PC.

edit: Apparently it was just that level because my checkpoint was corrupt. Had to start over.
 

m23

Member
Worked my way up to Platinum 1 after getting put into Gold 5 in solo deathmatch. I don't want to rank too high though, I'm really not that good.

Do they have the ability to drop down a division? Like go from platinum down to gold? I remember in Halo 5 you couldn't.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Long Term Commitment just randomly popped for me after a match

Checking TrueAchievements it's popped for other people, so it looks like they deployed that server-side fix. Excellent.

(And are you around this week sometime to do those co-op achievements?)
 

FyreWulff

Member
Checking TrueAchievements it's popped for other people, so it looks like they deployed that server-side fix. Excellent.

(And are you around this week sometime to do those co-op achievements?)

I'll be in Seattle for the next week. But I'll definitely be up for achievement grinding once I get back.
 

m23

Member
I love Atriox but I think he may be a bit OP. Having the Invincibility ability along with the short invincibility when using the health boost is a bit much I think.
 
Real question here: What is a good counter to Anders mass Sentinel spam/rush. I've tried AA, and they get decimated, and mixed in infantry which was also decimated. Should I just be going straight base infantry to counter mass air? Because as it is, the AA units don't seem to do very well. If they do win, they're useless after that. If the air wins, they still can attack everything to a fair degree unlike the AA.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Real question here: What is a good counter to Anders mass Sentinel spam/rush. I've tried AA, and they get decimated, and mixed in infantry which was also decimated. Should I just be going straight base infantry to counter mass air? Because as it is, the AA units don't seem to do very well. If they do win, they're useless after that. If the air wins, they still can attack everything to a fair degree unlike the AA.

Upgraded infantry and turrets can shred Anders, but like a lot of cheesy strats the most effective is to never let them actually have a chance to snowball up a big mass of units. Punish them early with lower-tier units or counterattack and destroy their means of replacing their force.

On an unrelated note, it's really nice having the new achievement overlays for keeping track of all the leader abilities achievements. Still grinding through Kinsano's.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
Just booted up my game and got a 749MB update, what was it about?

UPDATE: April 4, 2017
This week another small patch will be released for Halo Wars 2 that addresses a saved-game issue that was introduced with the Kinsano update in addition to a few smaller fixes. Please see below for the full details:Crashes / Errors / Performance

Fixed an issue where campaign save files from previous versions/patches were crashing on load. The save files now load successfully.

Gameplay

Fixed an issue where watchtowers and motion sensors did not detect cloaked units
Fixed an issue where cloaking generators would stop cloaking after 15 seconds if the advanced cloaking leader power was fully unlocked/upgraded
Fixed an issue where Forge’s warthog was not displaying aura VFX and his upgrades were not working.

Cosmetic

Updated text for Forge’s “Rolling Economy” Leader Power to match balance changes made in the Kinsano update (removed text referring to reduced building cost)

The next Halo Wars 2 update is underway and is currently scheduled for release in conjunction with the new leader launch later this month. More details to come!
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