New Mode Sneak Peek: S&D Extraction – Halo Waypoint

Today we’re excited to give an early sneak peek at a new competitive mode coming later this year to Halo Infinite – S&D Extraction (Seek and Deploy)!As the name suggests, this is an S&D mode, and this is the first time a mode like this has made its way to Halo. This mode is built on Extraction so be prepared to Seek and Deploy!Here’s how it works:While S&D Extraction has Bandit Evo starts, it also features an expansive economy system. Players are rewarded with Credits for initiating Extractions, converting Extractions, as well as getting kills. There are also neutral devices on the map where players can secure extra credits (assuming they’re able to safely do so).Before each round begins, players can spend their credits on things like weapons, grenades, equipment, and even power equipment like Active Camo. The cost of items is based on their overall effectiveness and power potential in the round, with more powerful items of course being more expensive. Overall, you should see cheaper items in the first few rounds, more expensive items in the middle of the match, and towards the end if players save up you might see even more expensive items.Everything you’ve purchased goes away at the end of each round so you’ll want to make sure you purchase only what you’ll need because you’ll be buying again next round. For S&D Extraction, we felt it was important to maintain the same base gameplay that Halo Infinite fans know and love – the same Spartan movement abilities, the same weapon lethality, and of course the same shields as well. This is quite different from other games where the time-to-kill is a lot faster and even a single headshot from a rifle could take you out. Because of this, what we’ve found is that in one life modes typically one team will get the numbers advantage and then from there it’s very easy for them to just steam roll the rest of the round. It’s disproportionately difficult for the team, let’s say in a 3v4 situation, to come back and win the round. This is the main reason why the mode is built on Extraction vs. Assault (because you don’t need to carry a bomb and thus put your team at a big disadvantage) but it’s also why we’re introducing the Buy Back mechanic.If you’ve just died in a round and you’ve got enough Credits, you’ll be given the opportunity to Buy Back into the round. If you Buy Back, you’ll spawn at your team’s initial spawn and with just your base loadout (Bandit Evo, no grenades, no equipment). The introduction of this mechanic not only helps balance out matches due to Halo’s base mechanics but also introduces another layer of depth. Do you save for Buy Back? If you use the Buy Back, will you have enough to buy more gear in later rounds? Is it too late to Buy Back or can you help your team win the round?While we’re still fine-tuning the economy, the intention is to make the Buy Back expensive so that it not only requires saving for, but is also treated as a big tradeoff decision. We feel there needs to be an appropriate level of risk/reward for this mechanic. There may even be matches you play where there are no Buy Backs used.We’re also excited to announce our partnership with ForgeHub for the S&D Extraction Forgehub Map Contest. Halo Studios contributed $10,000 and ForgeHub have graciously decided to match, bringing the total contest prize pool to a whopping $20,000!The contest starts today and we’ve worked with ForgeHub on the rules, guidelines, and judging. To see all of that information, please head to ForgeHub.com/Events.Additionally, we’ve been building S&D Extraction with members of the Forge community already and we’re excited to confirm that we’ve hired Artifice and Mikrips to build the mode and map respectively. It’s been great working with these skillful Forgers and we can’t wait to see the final experience come together for you all to play.S&D Extraction will be coming to Halo Infinite and HCS later this year. We’re still in the early days but we wanted to get the word out as soon as possible to allow Forgers as much time as possible to submit maps to ForgeHub.The next time you’ll get to see S&D Extraction will be at the FaZe Kaysan Invitational on March 29 where we’ll be hosting a special match to show the first-ever pro gameplay on S&D Extraction – you won’t want to miss it live on Twitch.tv/Halo and Twitch.tv/Kaysan.We are so excited to not only be working on a fun and exciting new competitive mode but also be able to now build the experience alongside the community. We can’t wait to see what you all make in the contest, and best of luck to all Forgers participating, and thank you again to ForgeHub for your partnership!Thanks!

Source: https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/seek-and-deploy-extraction