Halo Infinite: Campaign Equipment Guide

If you’ve managed to literally play Halo Infinite at all, you’re probably aware that there is a variety of equipment available to you in both multiplayer and campaign. However, if you’re new to the game, or simply spend most of your time in multiplayer and have yet to start the campaign, you may not be aware that the equipment available to the Master Chief is somewhat different than what’s available to you in the multiplayer arena.

As stated, this guide is mostly intended for new players to the campaign, although there may be some tips and tricks helpful to more experienced campaign players. Rest assured that the guide is 100% spoiler-free, so it’s completely safe to read even if you haven’t touched the campaign yet. This is not a guide to multiplayer equipment, and will feature little to no information regarding anything about multiplayer. With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Good news! Finding equipment is literally as easy as playing through the story. All five upgradeable pieces of equipment will be unlocked for you as you progress through the main story missions. I will not list the exact points in time at which you unlock them, but rest assured that you will have all of them before you are even halfway through the campaign. You will be prompted with a mission objective each time you find one, and will be unable to continue before grabbing it, ensuring that you cannot miss them.

Another piece of good news is that, unlike multiplayer, equipment does NOT have a limited number of uses, and instead functions on a recharge timer, like armor abilities. You will also be able to carry all of your equipment at once, and you can freely switch between them at the push of a button, allowing you to effectively use all of them in a single encounter. This also means that once you have your equipment, nothing will take it away from you.

Equipment is upgraded throughout the game solely by expending Spartan Cores, a special type of collectible found in the free-roam section of Zeta Halo. Unlike other collectibles, they are exclusively found in the free-roam portion of the game, meaning you don’t have to worry about missing a single one in a campaign mission that you would later be unable to access.

Nearby Spartan Cores are marked for you on the map if you get close enough; capturing an FOB in the campaign to reveal the nearby area will also reveal any Spartan Cores in the vicinity. They can be found in square boxes projecting a green light and UNSC logo, and will make a pulsating beep when you are close, allowing you to track one down by sound. They are also revealed by the Scan ability, marked as orange silhouettes to distinguish them.

There are a total of 49 Spartan Cores in the campaign. You need 9 to fully upgrade any single piece of equipment; each one has 4 upgrades, costing 1, 2, 3, and finally another 3 Spartan Cores, respectively. This means that, for all five to be fully upgraded, you will need to acquire 45, a vast majority of the Cores. Though this is not as daunting of a task as it may sound, your upgrades do not carry over between saves, meaning you must hunt them all down again each time you begin a new playthrough.

Almost certainly the most valuable tool in your arsenal, the Grappleshot is exactly what you’d expect of it: a grappling hook allowing you a level of mobility unheard of in any previous Halo game. It is the first piece of equipment you will have in the game, as you will start off with it equipped at the very beginning. It is already incredibly useful at the start, and when upgraded, only becomes even more formidable and useful in any situation.

Operating the Grappleshot is easy: while it is equipped, point it at a valid surface or target (discussed later) and fire it using the assigned equipment key. If it is in range of a surface it can latch onto, it will do so and quickly begin to reel you in. Note that the range is somewhat short; a small yellow dot in the center of your crosshair will signal whether a valid target is in range of the hook. You can use this to get to cover, traverse up walls, or simply move faster in a desired direction.

If you use it on a living being, it will operate similarly, latching onto them and pulling you in. The hook itself will do no damage, but you can quickly pull yourself into melee range and attack your target up close. If you change your mind, you can simply cancel your grapple by pressing the equipment button again or by pressing the crouch button. Knowing how and when to cancel your grapple can save your life almost as much as using it.

The Grappleshot can also be used to hijack enemy vehicles with incredible ease, as you simply need to fire at one and reel yourself in. Once within range, you will automatically board the vehicle, without having to worry about the potential of being shot or rammed by them like in previous games. Should you fire it at an empty vehicle, you will automatically enter it just the same.

The Grappleshot has one last basic use to it, slightly different from the others. If fired at a smaller object (namely, a weapon or explosive coil), rather than reeling you towards it, it will instead reel the object towards you, automatically grabbing it once it reaches you. With this, you can quickly retrieve a coil to be thrown, or swap weapons, without having to walk into a potentially dangerous zone. Do note that this can somewhat annoyingly cause you to swap your weapons on accident.

With such a long list of uses to the Grappleshot, and even more to come, it seems fitting to make an entirely separate section for the upgrades and their potential uses. Though it already has a long list of uses, an upgraded Grappleshot is a force to be reckoned with throughout the game.

1. Voltaic: Grappling into a live target will electrocute them, stunning them for the duration of the grapple.
2. Quickshot: Grappleshot cooldown is reduced by 40%.
3. First Strike: Holding the melee button while grappling will cause you to lunge to the point of impact, causing a powerful melee attack with a small shockwave.
4. Reachfall: Increases the size and damage of the lunge attack.

First on the list, let’s discuss the initial upgrade, which gives the Grappleshot offensive capabilities. Though the electrocution deals no damage, it leaves an enemy completely vulnerable as you reel yourself into them. This is effective against nearly all smaller enemies, as well as lower-ranking larger ones (Brutes and Elites of higher ranks may not be affected, though shields do NOT affect this). This prevents them from running away, or counterattacking with a melee when you get in close. They will remain stunned for about a second or so after the grapple breaks; this can be all the time you need to get the edge on a Brute or Elite before they can fight back.

The second upgrade, however, is probably the most useful of the bunch, if not the single most useful equipment upgrade in the entire game. The Grappleshot already has a fairly short cooldown, but with this upgrade, it’s next to nothing. The cooldown is so quick, in fact, that it allows you to grapple up completely vertical surfaces faster than you can fall down, allowing a whole new range of mobility. You can Spider-Man your way up virtually anything in the game, provided you have the patience to do so.

The last two upgrades are a little more situational, though not useless by any means. You will know if the lunge attack is executed properly when your view briefly switches to third person, switching back once the attack is completed. Though the shockwave is small, it is useful for damaging small groups of Grunts or Jackals, or dealing additional damage to a stubborn Brute or Elite. Note that you do NOT have to grapple a live target to execute the lunge, and you can still execute the attack while reeling towards a surface. Just beware of nearby explosives in either case.

The Shield Core is a very simple piece of equipment, as it is not truly an actual, usable piece of equipment in itself. It is merely a passive buff to your shield strength, doing nothing but increasing your durability. It is permanently active and does not need to be equipped, so you do not have to worry about it once it is acquired. Note that it does NOT act as an extra layer like Overshield does; it simply strengthens the durability of your existing shield.

The Shield Core already gives you a bonus of 15% stronger shields when first acquired, free of charge. Upgrading it has no special benefit besides increasing your shield strength further, though it is able to be strengthened to a whopping 75% bonus, nearly doubling your durability, which can be especially valuable on higher difficulties. The upgrades are as follows:

1. Fortress: Increases shield strength by 15% (up to 30%)
2. Bastille: Increases shield strength by 15% (up to 45%)
3. Redoubt: Increases shield strength by 15% (up to 60%)
4. Citadel: Increases shield strength by 15% (up to 75%)

The next piece of equipment on your shopping list will be the Threat Sensor, a device that can be fired onto surfaces to reveal nearby enemies, whether around walls/cover or cloaked from sight. Though easily the most situational of the bunch (especially since you still have a motion tracker on your HUD), it is not without its uses. Once fired, it will send out regular pulses of enemy silhouettes; though they will remain in view for several seconds, they will begin to fade, eventually disappearing outright for a moment or two before the next pulse.

The Threat Sensor’s main use is in revealing cloaked enemies, which are considerably harder to spot than in previous Halo games. As such, the Threat Sensor is incredibly valuable if you know one is present, as it will render their cloaking almost entirely useless while within the sensor’s radius. Enemies do not seem to be aware of the sensor’s presence, and will make no active attempts to avoid it.

1. Seeker: Increases sensor radius by 50%.
2. Operative: Adds a second charge, allowing two sensors to be deployed at once.
3. Clairvoyant: Decreases cooldown by 40%.
4. Enemies are constantly revealed (instead of pulsing), and have health bars displayed, regardless of species or rank.

Truly, these upgrades don’t add much new functionality to the Sensor, only making it function better at its sole purpose of revealing people. The added radius is definitely helpful, especially as cloaked Elites are very mobile and may often leave the radius, which can be buffed even further by being able to deploy a second sensor. The decreased cooldown ensures that you can have minimal downtime without a sensor, but they already last for a long time, and you don’t have to wait very long to put down another; ideally, by the time it expires, you or the cloaked enemy should be dead.

The last upgrade is simply a quality-of-life upgrade, as the constant visibility is a convenience, but not a necessity by any means, as the pulses are regular enough to keep an enemy visible for a vast majority of the time. The health bar display over enemies is neat, but ultimately a gimmick, though it might be helpful against high-ranking enemies if you want to know exactly how much more damage you need to inflict to bring them down.

As the next piece of equipment on your list, the Drop Wall is a much more helpful ability in a combat situation, deploying a simple but sturdy one-way piece of cover that blocks incoming fire while allowing you to shoot through it unhindered. It is not infinitely durable, though it fortunately changes color as it takes damage to signal you of how much health it has left. Additionally, it has different “sections” with individual health; if one section takes damage and goes down, the others will remain up to provide partial cover.

Though it is decently useful when first acquired, the Drop Wall’s upgrades make it into a defensive powerhouse, and has become a community favorite for many campaign playthroughs.

1. Swift Shelter: Decreases cooldown by 20%.
2. Rampart: Increases wall durability by 35%.
3. Blockade: Increases wall strength by 70% and increases wall size.
4. Direct Current: Adds shock damage to any projectiles fired through the wall (including explosives).

The Drop Wall goes from being a decent defensive option at first to being borderline unfair once upgraded. Though it still has a lengthy cooldown, the increased durability practically makes it a deployable fortress. Its greatest benefit, however, is likely the increased size, as it practically doubles in length. This gives you an incredibly wide angle of protection if you stand right up against it, preventing any chance of frontal attacks getting through. The additional shock damage, though marginal, is a nice touch, though not particularly significant.

A couple of important things to note about Drop Walls is that enemy AI seems to acknowledge you as being behind cover, and as such, will often attempt to flank you while you sit behind it rather than blankly wasting ammo on it without moving. Deploying it will not automatically make you safe, though it will definitely reduce the danger of forward attacks considerably (especially from those pesky snipers).

Last on the list of equipment to be acquired in the campaign, you’ll be finding the Thruster Pack, an evasive ability allowing a quick, brief burst of speed in any desired direction. Though the Grappleshot is infinitely better for overall mobility, the Thruster Pack has its uses in quickly dodging an enemy attack, especially as it can move in any cardinal direction. Note, however, that it has a considerable recharge time, making it less useful for getting around quickly.

1. Afterburner: Adds a second charge, allowing two consecutive uses.
2. Impulse: Adds significant power, making you travel further with each use.
3. Thermal Control: Reduces cooldown by 20%.
4. Escape Velocity: Using the Thruster Pack will give you 4 seconds of active camouflage.

Though most of the upgrades simply boost its evasiveness a little by allowing you to use it more often, or making it actually move you (as it barely moves you any notable distance at its base level), the last upgrade adds an entire new level of utility to it. Though the active camouflage is brief, and cannot hide you from enemies if you are too close, it can give you a major edge in survivability. By breaking line of sight, and ideally hiding behind cover, you can make enemies lose you completely, even if only for a few seconds. A few seconds is all you need to recharge your shields, allowing you to get back into the fight at full health.

It also has limited use for ambushing enemies, especially if you have a melee weapon or other suitable close-quarters weapon equipped. With careful timing, your camo can be extended to 8 seconds, allowing you to break a powerful enemy’s line of sight, get in close, and attack without being shot on your way over. Though it is not a guarantee, as enemies will spot you out of camo more easily the closer you get (bosses in particular seem to have a constant sense of your location regardless of camo), it can still give you a possible edge in life-or-death scenarios.

And that’s it for this guide! I hope it’s helpful for anyone getting into the campaign. As a parting gift, here’s a last bundle of miscellaneous tips and tricks for various pieces of equipment:

• The Grappleshot can be used to grab Power Seeds as well. Though they are few and far between in the campaign, they are almost always necessary mission objectives, and being able to grapple them to your hand is always nice.
• You can grapple across the floor to move faster if desired, but be careful, as you can often find yourself grabbing undesired weapons on accident.
• The Grappleshot has a special use against Jackal Shields in particular. If fired directly at a shield, it will stagger the Jackal as if they’ve been hit, leaving them vulnerable. Additionally, it will not will cause any cooldown for your grapple, allowing you to immediately follow up by latching directly onto them like any other enemy if desired.
• The Grappleshot is particularly useful against enemy Banshees. Simply fire at one to get their attention, bait them into flying low to shoot you, and grapple onto them to secure a free aerial ride around the map. You can even bail out in mid-air to grab a fresh one, if you’re skilled enough.
• Though useful against most enemies and vehicles in the game, the Grappleshot is completely ineffective against Hunters. Attempting to fire it at them will simply bounce off their armor without latching on, though it will cause no cooldown.
• All things considered, even if it is possible to grapple onto a Hunter, it’s probably not advisable unless you’d like to become a Spartan piñata.
• On the topic of Hunters, who are particularly vicious in this game, the Thruster Pack can (supposedly) give you an edge in getting behind them in combat, though their annoyingly quick turning speed greatly offsets this.
• Grenades will not bounce off of or latch onto Drop Walls as if they were a solid surface. Instead, they will simply explode on impact, causing considerable damage to the wall.
• All equipment functions on their own separate cooldown timers; don’t weigh using one against the other when you can simply use all of them.
• All equipment have animations to be deployed, which will interrupt firing and reloading your weapon. In the case of the latter, you will have to start the reloading animation from scratch. This includes the use of the Thruster Pack, even though there is no visible first-person animation. It will NOT, however, cause you to drop held items (such as coils).

By Hobo Bill