Hey, remember that time that you banded together arm in arm as brother and sister and systematically crushed millions of Challenges on your way to blowing the lid off of the Rank cap and gaining access to every last stinking thing the Armory has to offer? And remember when we extended a generous helping hand of our own to expedite your acquisition of top tier items, instituting massive Credit Jackpots for great players dedicated enough to *gasp* stick around until the end of each match they play?
Yeah. That was great.
Okay, so it wasn’t exactly a Kumbaya moment for some of us, but whether you realized it or not, your quest for personal gain, matchmaking glory, and Daily Challenges came to a collective head last Tuesday, and as a result tons of new Ranks are now available for everyone, regardless of their political persuasion. Now
that's change we can believe in!
You did it! Cue the explosion!
Bam!
No doubt you’ve already purchased some hot new gear, run into some players boasting ultra-high ranks, and perused the updated list of available Ranks in our fully-functional
Halo: Reach FAQ, but just in case you want to see the full run, I’ll slap them in line and let you get your ogle on (and see how many Credits you’ll need to earn to move up the ladder).
Commander - Awarded at 600,000 cR
Commander Grade 1 - Awarded at 650,000 cR
Commander Grade 2 - Awarded at 700,000 cR
Commander Grade 3 - Awarded at 750,000 cR
Colonel - Awarded at 850,000 cR
Colonel Grade 1 - Awarded at 960,000 cR
Colonel Grade 2 - Awarded at 1,070,000 cR
Colonel Grade 3 - Awarded at 1,180,000 cR
Brigadier - Awarded at 1,400,000 cR
Brigadier Grade 1 - Awarded at 1,520,000 cR
Brigadier Grade 2 - Awarded at 1,640,000 cR
Brigadier Grade 3 - Awarded at 1,760,000 cR
General - Awarded at 2,000,000 cR
General Grade 1 - Awarded at 2,200,000 cR
General Grade 2 - Awarded at 2,350,000 cR
General Grade 3 - Awarded at 2,500,000 cR
General Grade 4 - Awarded at 2,650,000 cR
Whoops! Did I say the full run? While this covers most of the Ranks you can now acquire, there are ten more mysterious levels far beyond General Grade 4, awarded to only the most ambitious Spartans among us. Don't worry. They are NOT capped, as some people feared on our forums, but we have decided to keep them under wraps on Bungie.net so you can ooh and awe appropriately when you do finally lay eyes on them in game.
Because like you, they're "special."
Michael Williams thought you might find it worthwhile to know that the Credit Jackpots we recently introduced won’t count against your daily Credit cap. It’s basically the equivalent of tax free money, handed out under the table to reward players who invest their quality time with Halo: Reach. Hopefully, these big payouts – 7,777 Credits large – will help you introduce some new fall fashions into your Spartan wardrobe.
Just don't report your winnings at the end of the year. You don't know nothin'. We don't know nothin'.
I make this look good!
Some players want to know exactly what the threshold is for triggering the gargantuan postgame payouts. Sorry, my lips are sealed. The only thing I
will say is that if you’re not quitting our of games, you have nothing to worry about. Keep on keepin' on and eventually you’ll be living large in the post-game lobby.
Williams also wanted you to know that we deployed a Narcissistic new feature into your File Browser. Press Start and check out the last query in your File Browser to indulge in “Screenshots of You.” Anytime someone snaps an in game screenshot that features your beautiful mug, it’ll show up here so you can check yourself out in all your majestic, self-centered glory.
ME ME ME!
Also launching this week, The Carnage Report, our fancy pants newsletter designed to deliver steaming hot Bungie news straight into the inbox of your choosing. In it, we’ll summarize recent Bungie events, report on internal goings-on, and from time to time, we’ll give you something exclusive to make it even more worth your while. The inaugural edition is being printed and delivered as we speak.
If you want to sign up, you need to create a Bungie.net profile and hand over your email address. We promise to respect your right to privacy and we promise to never be a bother. It’s what we like to call an opt-in experience.
If you want to insure you receive our message loud and clear, add our email address, webmaster at bungie dot net, to your email client's address book for good measure.
Alright, let’s get down to the good stuff.
Anchor 9 is hands down the most difficult space in the Noble Map Pack to show off with a Synth. It’s a compact symmetrical space perfectly suited for fast pace, frenetic action – but aside from the open, central bay, much of that action takes place on the interiors of the two adjacent bases, along the raised rear platforms, or out in the cold confines of space. You really need to run the routes to understand the how the map ultimately flows.
Still, you worked hard these past few weeks and you deserve another good look at the Noble Map Pack. Click on the embedded synth below to claim your prize.
This isn’t the last you’ve heard of the Noble Map Pack prior to launch on November 30th, either. Earlier this week, we recorded some unscripted commentary from our DLC team while they were right smack in the middle of some heated competitive matches.
The current plan is to unleash these hybrid multimedia offerings just prior to launch. Similar to the “First Looks” we produced during Invasion week, these concise gameplay featurettes are designed to give you insight into the creative design process for each map, while simultaneously showing off some of the core gametypes each space is best suited for.
Don’t get too spun up, though. While they are awesome in their own right, they’re definitely not meant to be full on, feature length Director’s Commentaries. Instead, they’re quick hits of clean, crisp footage married with the insider info and crude immature humor you crave.
If the Synths weren’t doing it for you, Stosh also finished up work on all three of the maps’ top down schematics. Since he’s in a good mood, he decided we should share them with you. Time to start thinking about your plan of attack on each new map (Anchor 9 Pro-Tip: Get the Rocket Launcher).
Anchor 9
Tempest
Breakpoint
Speaking of attack plans – this Spartan’s rush was more than a little unsuccessful.
That’s it and that’s all for now, Seventh Column. Have a great weekend. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.
We're watching.