Your Halo Reach Beta Guide

[BobYoMeowMeow]

Aisha Tyler does want to hear you crying after she smokes your ass.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty1P_gUI_IQ

What's in the beta
-New game modes
-New Maps
-Customizable Armor and colors
-Sprint option
-evade option (it's basically a barrel roll)
-Active camo (slow moving camo)
-Armor lock ability (charge your shields and gain invunerability for a brief moment)
-Jetpack (you dunt need a description)

Armor abilities are chosen each time you respawn

New weapons
-Magnum (slow but strong handgun)
-Needle rifle (long range but slow)
-Plasma launcher (has a charge ability and lock on ability)
-Grenade launcher

Health packs and shields still recharge
Updated Motion tracker

Filtered online matchmaking

more online gameplay credits
Viewable profiles

[Bankai231]

Aisha Tyler does want to hear you crying after she smokes your ass.


What's in the beta
-New game modes
-New Maps
-Customizable Armor and colors
-Sprint option
-evade option (it's basically a barrel roll)
-Active camo (slow moving camo)
-Armor lock ability (charge your shields and gain invunerability for a brief moment)
-Jetpack (you dunt need a description)

Armor abilities are chosen each time you respawn

New weapons
-Magnum (slow but strong handgun)
-Needle rifle (long range but slow)
-Plasma launcher (has a charge ability and lock on ability)
-Grenade launcher

Health packs and shields still recharge
Updated Motion tracker

Filtered online matchmaking

more online gameplay credits
Viewable profiles

Is halo reach also for teh PC? I saw it on youtue and wanted to play it but I dont have a 360 :x

[BobYoMeowMeow]

Sure when microsoft feels like it....

wait
Halo 3 isn't even on PC

[Bankai231]

Gah Im gonna have a bunch of crap to deal with my friends tommarow x.x This is all they have been talking about. One even set his aim status to :REACH REACH REACH REACH REACH

[BobYoMeowMeow]

The controls have also changed

Halo 3 controls
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/05/500x_buttonlayoutdefault.jpg

Halo Reach controls
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/05/500x_controls.jpg

Armor Abilities
Armor abilities make a big difference in Halo: Reach. Players will be able to choose between five new powers, depending on their loadout.

Sprint makes you run faster. Active Camo makes you invisible. Armor Lock grounds you in place, unable to fire, but makes you invincible, and the Jet Pack is self-explanatory. The Elites also have a special armor power, Evade, which allows them to dodge and roll.

All powers are tied to a power gauge that depletes, refilling automatically over time.

Loadouts
Also new is the ability to select loadouts each time you spawn, giving you a particular combination of weapon and armor power from the get go. Different game types offer different loadout choices.

Game Types
The Halo: Reach beta test also introduces several new game types.

Headhunter sees players collecting the skulls of their fallen foes, becoming a bigger target with each skull they collect, making them choose whether to deposit what they have, or keep collecting for a bigger payout.

Stockpile has two teams competing for a number of neutral flags, with each team trying to amass them at their base. Flags are tallied each minute, with the first team to reach ten flags winning the round.

Generator Defense pits a team of three Spartans against three Elites, with the Spartans attempting to protect a set of generators from being destroyed.

Invasion is an expanding game type, pitting Spartans against Elites in an ever-expanding battlefield. As the game progresses, the weapons and vehicles available to each side grow more powerful. Invasion won't be available for play until May 7.

The Arena
The Arena is pure player-versus-player combat. This is where the killers will shine in free-for-all matches to the death. Players who play enough each day will be added to the Daily Ratings. Earn enough ratings and you'll be placed in a division at the end of a season. Consider it the Halo Pro League.

Voting
Instead of the veto system from Halo 3, players are given a selection of available game types to choose, casting votes for the ones they'd like to play. It's multiple choice!

Credits
Instead of unlocking new equipment at specific ranks, you earn credits every round that act as both experience points and currency, good towards buying new armor pieces for your character. New ranks unlock new things to buy. It's a much friendlier way to handle handing out the gear.

Take Downs
Sneak up behind another player, hit the melee button, and you'll perform the ultimate dick-move. Take Downs are much more impressive than teabagging, but they leave you just as vulnerable.

Getting Started

What do I need to participate?
If you've gotten a code, you've likely already been playing. If you're joining the beta today from the Halo 3: ODST disc, insert the disc and choose the 'Play the Beta' option. That's how you download the beta, and that's how you'll play once it's installed.

How do I customize my character?
Once you're into the beta proper, hitting the start button and choosing the Armory option brings you to the customization screen, where you can modify your colors, change your armor, and purchase new armor with points earned during multiplayer matches.

Certain customization choices carry over from your ODST or Halo 3 characters, including armor color and emblem.

Playing the Game

The Playlists, and When You Can Play Them

When you begin matchmaking, you'll have to select a playlist to determine what sort of games you'll be playing. Here's a rundown of what to expect.

Grab Bag - Starts May 3
Game Types: 1 Flag CTF, Stockpile, Oddball, Team Crazy King, 3 Plots, Team Slayer, Team SWAT, Covy Team Slayer
Maps: Powerhouse, Sword Base

Free-For-All - Starts May 3
Game Types: Slayer, Slayer Pro Round, Classic Slayer, Oddball, Crazy King, Juggernaut, Headhunter
Maps: Powerhouse, Sword Base

The Arena - Starts May 3
Game Types: Classic Slayer, Team Slayer, Team Slayer Pro

Invasion - Starts May 7
Game Types: Invasion, Invasion Slayer
Map: Boneyard

Network Test 1 - Starts May 14
Game Type: Generator Defense
Map: Overlook
General Tips

Learn your armor powers. Love your armor powers. Just because you have a jetpack doesn't mean you need to fly all the time.

Learn your maps. With only two maps - Powerhouse and Sword Base - initially available, you should know them like the back of your hand within a couple hours. Figure out where the good weapons are hiding, find the prime sniping position, and don't be that jerk on top of that one building in Powerhouse with the Focus Rifle. You'll know who we're talking about.

Remember your objective. IF the goal is to capture the flag, there are only two reasons you should be shooting people - in defense of your flag, or in defense of the flag carrier. Chasing folks halfway across the map for no good reason is not helping your team.

And above all, have fun! It's a video game. Some of us have trouble remembering if we're red or blue. That's no reason to talk about our mothers that way.

Want more beta information?
Go to Bungie's in depth guide
Bungie.net : Halo Reach (http://www.bungie.net/projects/reach/article.aspx?ucc=faq)

[RicochetOrange]

One of the few reasons too get an 360.

[BobYoMeowMeow]

Just hope the beta players arent stupid and send wrong complaints to Bungie like
OMG EVADE IS SO OVERPOWERED, YOU SHOUDNT BE ABLE TO DODGE THAT EASILY.

[Chockeh]

How come once I download it and click the play beta feature, it tells me to re-dl?

[BobYoMeowMeow]

the servers are dead and the beta is down.

[Chockeh]

the servers are dead and the beta is down.
LIES D<

Just played the game, it's actually quite fun. More fun then odst at least. I like Airborn the most 8D.

[BobYoMeowMeow]

LIES D<

Just played the game, it's actually quite fun. More fun then odst at least. I like Airborn the most 8D.

NO U
Chocklit
Bungie is having problems with servers because of the many people in the beta

so don't be surprised when there's problems connecting
it is a beta

[Chockeh]

NO U
Chocklit
Bungie is having problems with servers because of the many people in the beta

so don't be surprised when there's problems connecting
it is a betaThat can explain why there`s only a small amount of players per match (8players).

[BobYoMeowMeow]

They also might do "stress tests"
where they put less bandwitdh and more people to test how good the servers.
Once the real game goes up, they put the real servers on.

[Tibarn]

Just hope the beta players arent stupid and send wrong complaints to Bungie like
OMG EVADE IS SO OVERPOWERED, YOU SHOUDNT BE ABLE TO DODGE THAT EASILY.

They're complaining already about how they basically nerfed the BR. It was also said that there were more players on the first day of the Reach beta than there were in the entirety of the Halo 3 beta.

I love Reach.

- The armor abilities are genius
- The weapon upgrades are great (Magnum more powerful with zoom, frag grenades stronger, BR nerfed, etc.)
- The voting system is better than the "veto and deal with whatever comes up next" system in Halo 3
- New gametypes are great (Invasion specifically)

After Beta ends in 9 days, I'll have to wait until it comes out in the fall to enjoy it...

[BobYoMeowMeow]

Armor abilities are nice since they bring variety
The cat doesn't really care about the ideas of jetpacks though.

The cat is used to other FPSes, so it's weird for the cat to UNLOAD THE MAJORITY OF A CLIP TO KILL SOMEONE rather than 2-3 bursts.

However, the addition of the needle rifle might change that if the cat plays halo reach.

[Tibarn]

I just realized that if you hold down the fire button when you have the grenade launcher, the grenade won't detonate. Release the fire button to detonate it.

I love it loads more now.

[BobYoMeowMeow]

The cat remembers that she mentioned that in the video

[Infamy]

Looks like Halo Reach is doing to Halo what CoD4 did to CoD =P

[Tibarn]

The cat remembers that she mentioned that in the video

Didn't bother to watch the video.

[Chockeh]

Looks like Halo Reach is doing to Halo what CoD4 did to CoD =P
LOL the class of scout makes you run like a CoD character. I am so use to running that I can't take the walking in Halo 3.

[BobYoMeowMeow]

LOL the class of scout makes you run like a CoD character. I am so use to running that I can't take the walking in Halo 3.

you might like the sprint armor then
it seems useful as it takes like more than half a clip to kill someone

[Chockeh]

you might like the sprint armor then
it seems useful as it takes like more than half a clip to kill someone
I skipped straight to playing xD, so now Armour in the game can effect game play? Wonder if my Hayabusa armor is available in reach ._., also I still have no idea what the class where the guy hit`s the ground with his hand and some kind of force field pops up do... Every time I try to shield myself with that, I end up getting killed.

[BobYoMeowMeow]

I skipped straight to playing xD, so now Armour in the game can effect game play? Wonder if my Hayabusa armor is available in reach ._., also I still have no idea what the class where the guy hit`s the ground with his hand and some kind of force field pops up do... Every time I try to shield myself with that, I end up getting killed.
Yes there's now "armor abilities" which are kind of like classes but not really

that's called armor lock
it takes a couple seconds to charge but you'll be invulnerable for a few seconds

[Chockeh]

Kind of weird how every spartan in reach seems to be better than the chief, weird since that the chief has a weaker spartan model (I think), but he was also the captain of his team in reach.

Just checked the spartan armor. Seems like you have to pay for better equips and all. Not so bad, at least you can have a goal and be a little motivated to play ._.