So thinking about it I think about lots of ways they could do the halo wars 2 story I want to know how would you like it to go
There’s threads with similar topics already created, but it’s always good to hear others’ thoughts on this as well since I’m curious. For me personally, I want the SoF crew to figure out that Mendicant Bias is buried there… that’d be the endgame for me, at the very least knowing he’s there (and bringing in MC to find him which I think is what happens in Halo 5’s original trailer). How and where the Banished come into play and what role they play in the future, I’m not sure on but hope for a great story and developed villains (maybe potential allies) there. I do think the Created will come into play as well, being a major reason for MB to be at the heart of the Halo Wars 2 story.
Also, the flood spore from Halo Escalation on Spirit of Fire, could be a way to reintroduce everyone’s favorite galactic parasite of all time. I’m hoping that happens.
Better than the gameplay that is for sure.
> 2535472813333744;3:
> Better than the gameplay that is for sure.
Hahaha 
I haven’t played it but for some reason that’s funny for me. (I mean your comment)
we need JOHN that about it… the rest is history unfolding…
Well, the issue is this game looks like it’s going to have A LOT of stuff going on. Spirit of Fire’s crew waking up after so much has passed, the fact the Banished have attacked the Ark, and the apparent tension between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae. There’s a LOT of potential with the game’s story in terms of character development…however I’m not sure it could be done justice without resorting to longer cutscenes, or putting some of it into the actual mission. So I’m resigning myself to believing that the character development will be rushed.
For the overall plot: I’m more curious because of such little information we have. We have a basic revenge & survival deal going down from the looks of it, but for the apex threat we know absolutely nothing. I hear so many halo YouTubers hyping up at the prospect of either the Flood or even Cortana’s “Created” will be the end threat. I personally doubt either will be. Very little from Halo Escalation has been implemented into other media, I expect the Flood infection form to be retconned or just forgotten about entirely. As for Cortana, I expect the bulk of her threat is going to be focused more in Halo 6, however I wouldn’t be surprised if the Prometheans do end up as a 3rd faction threat.
All that aside, what I personally would like to see is more involvement with Atriox and Let 'Volir. We get the basic idea that Atriox isn’t just strong but intelligent and tactical; let us see it. maybe have a cutscene where he and a lance of Brute Warlords are overlooking a firebase, one of them is eager for the attack but Atriox holds him back as he scans the defenses the marines has. He then issues orders for a very tactical attack. the next time we see the base is in-game, and it is utterly destroyed with all the marines dead, but not a single Banished casualty.
Another one that I’d personally LOVE is have a point in the game where Isabel attempts to access the enemy’s battlenet as so many have, and then she’s shut out and we hear Atriox say something along the lines of, “You won’t find me as careless as the incompetent Covenant…”
My biggest hope however is for Let 'Volir. Not only do I want to see the conflict between him and the brutes, but I’m crossing my fingers that he and his crew end up betraying Atriox and joining forces with the Spirit of Fire. It’d be like Halo 3: Elites and Humans versus the Brutes.
> 2535415375530295;6:
> Well, the issue is this game looks like it’s going to have A LOT of stuff going on. Spirit of Fire’s crew waking up after so much has passed, the fact the Banished have attacked the Ark, and the apparent tension between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae. There’s a LOT of potential with the game’s story in terms of character development…however I’m not sure it could be done justice without resorting to longer cutscenes, or putting some of it into the actual mission. So I’m resigning myself to believing that the character development will be rushed.
>
> For the overall plot: I’m more curious because of such little information we have. We have a basic revenge & survival deal going down from the looks of it, but for the apex threat we know absolutely nothing. I hear so many halo YouTubers hyping up at the prospect of either the Flood or even Cortana’s “Created” will be the end threat. I personally doubt either will be. Very little from Halo Escalation has been implemented into other media, I expect the Flood infection form to be retconned or just forgotten about entirely. As for Cortana, I expect the bulk of her threat is going to be focused more in Halo 6, however I wouldn’t be surprised if the Prometheans do end up as a 3rd faction threat.
>
> All that aside, what I personally would like to see is more involvement with Atriox and Let 'Volir. We get the basic idea that Atriox isn’t just strong but intelligent and tactical; let us see it. maybe have a cutscene where he and a lance of Brute Warlords are overlooking a firebase, one of them is eager for the attack but Atriox holds him back as he scans the defenses the marines has. He then issues orders for a very tactical attack. the next time we see the base is in-game, and it is utterly destroyed with all the marines dead, but not a single Banished casualty.
> Another one that I’d personally LOVE is have a point in the game where Isabel attempts to access the enemy’s battlenet as so many have, and then she’s shut out and we hear Atriox say something along the lines of, “You won’t find me as careless as the incompetent Covenant…”
>
> My biggest hope however is for Let 'Volir. Not only do I want to see the conflict between him and the brutes, but I’m crossing my fingers that he and his crew end up betraying Atriox and joining forces with the Spirit of Fire. It’d be like Halo 3: Elites and Humans versus the Brutes.
I agree we may need ‘longer’ cutscenes, but I do believe we will have decently long ones. The original Halo Wars used them to great effect to tell the story, so I’m hopeful a few extra minutes can be added to help flesh out some of the story/characters as you mentioned.
I disagree that the infection form will be forgotten about. I believe it will play some part in the story… perhaps a small role at the end even, but it won’t be completely disregarded. Additionally with directions the story could go, there’s the Mendicant Bias possibility as well, leading directly into Halo 6 (and saving the Created storyline for Halo 6 as you mentioned).
> 2533274796523661;7:
> > 2535415375530295;6:
> > Well, the issue is this game looks like it’s going to have A LOT of stuff going on. Spirit of Fire’s crew waking up after so much has passed, the fact the Banished have attacked the Ark, and the apparent tension between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae. There’s a LOT of potential with the game’s story in terms of character development…however I’m not sure it could be done justice without resorting to longer cutscenes, or putting some of it into the actual mission. So I’m resigning myself to believing that the character development will be rushed.
> >
> > For the overall plot: I’m more curious because of such little information we have. We have a basic revenge & survival deal going down from the looks of it, but for the apex threat we know absolutely nothing. I hear so many halo YouTubers hyping up at the prospect of either the Flood or even Cortana’s “Created” will be the end threat. I personally doubt either will be. Very little from Halo Escalation has been implemented into other media, I expect the Flood infection form to be retconned or just forgotten about entirely. As for Cortana, I expect the bulk of her threat is going to be focused more in Halo 6, however I wouldn’t be surprised if the Prometheans do end up as a 3rd faction threat.
> >
> > All that aside, what I personally would like to see is more involvement with Atriox and Let 'Volir. We get the basic idea that Atriox isn’t just strong but intelligent and tactical; let us see it. maybe have a cutscene where he and a lance of Brute Warlords are overlooking a firebase, one of them is eager for the attack but Atriox holds him back as he scans the defenses the marines has. He then issues orders for a very tactical attack. the next time we see the base is in-game, and it is utterly destroyed with all the marines dead, but not a single Banished casualty.
> > Another one that I’d personally LOVE is have a point in the game where Isabel attempts to access the enemy’s battlenet as so many have, and then she’s shut out and we hear Atriox say something along the lines of, “You won’t find me as careless as the incompetent Covenant…”
> >
> > My biggest hope however is for Let 'Volir. Not only do I want to see the conflict between him and the brutes, but I’m crossing my fingers that he and his crew end up betraying Atriox and joining forces with the Spirit of Fire. It’d be like Halo 3: Elites and Humans versus the Brutes.
>
>
> I agree we may need ‘longer’ cutscenes, but I do believe we will have decently long ones. The original Halo Wars used them to great effect to tell the story, so I’m hopeful a few extra minutes can be added to help flesh out some of the story/characters as you mentioned.
>
> I disagree that the infection form will be forgotten about. I believe it will play some part in the story… perhaps a small role at the end even, but it won’t be completely disregarded. Additionally with directions the story could go, there’s the Mendicant Bias possibility as well, leading directly into Halo 6 (and saving the Created storyline for Halo 6 as you mentioned).
Something that was brought up to me yesterday, maybe there is a chance that the Flood won’t appear in the campaign, but that there might be a multiplayer mode that involves Flood and that’s what the Infection Form ties in. (please let me know if that made sense)
As for Mendicant Bias, I’ve completely forgotten about him. I’d also really like him to make some form of appearance, however I’m unsure if he’ll play a major part in the story. I mean, what can be done with him? Readers of Escalation rightly flipped out when Halsey actually HACKS what we presume to be Offensive Bias; what can be done with Mendicant that doesn’t screw up what character he has by either make him look much weaker or gives him the Cortana treatment by turning him into a villain?
> 2535415375530295;8:
> > 2533274796523661;7:
> > > 2535415375530295;6:
> > > Well, the issue is this game looks like it’s going to have A LOT of stuff going on. Spirit of Fire’s crew waking up after so much has passed, the fact the Banished have attacked the Ark, and the apparent tension between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae. There’s a LOT of potential with the game’s story in terms of character development…however I’m not sure it could be done justice without resorting to longer cutscenes, or putting some of it into the actual mission. So I’m resigning myself to believing that the character development will be rushed.
> > >
> > > For the overall plot: I’m more curious because of such little information we have. We have a basic revenge & survival deal going down from the looks of it, but for the apex threat we know absolutely nothing. I hear so many halo YouTubers hyping up at the prospect of either the Flood or even Cortana’s “Created” will be the end threat. I personally doubt either will be. Very little from Halo Escalation has been implemented into other media, I expect the Flood infection form to be retconned or just forgotten about entirely. As for Cortana, I expect the bulk of her threat is going to be focused more in Halo 6, however I wouldn’t be surprised if the Prometheans do end up as a 3rd faction threat.
> > >
> > > All that aside, what I personally would like to see is more involvement with Atriox and Let 'Volir. We get the basic idea that Atriox isn’t just strong but intelligent and tactical; let us see it. maybe have a cutscene where he and a lance of Brute Warlords are overlooking a firebase, one of them is eager for the attack but Atriox holds him back as he scans the defenses the marines has. He then issues orders for a very tactical attack. the next time we see the base is in-game, and it is utterly destroyed with all the marines dead, but not a single Banished casualty.
> > > Another one that I’d personally LOVE is have a point in the game where Isabel attempts to access the enemy’s battlenet as so many have, and then she’s shut out and we hear Atriox say something along the lines of, “You won’t find me as careless as the incompetent Covenant…”
> > >
> > > My biggest hope however is for Let 'Volir. Not only do I want to see the conflict between him and the brutes, but I’m crossing my fingers that he and his crew end up betraying Atriox and joining forces with the Spirit of Fire. It’d be like Halo 3: Elites and Humans versus the Brutes.
> >
> >
> > I agree we may need ‘longer’ cutscenes, but I do believe we will have decently long ones. The original Halo Wars used them to great effect to tell the story, so I’m hopeful a few extra minutes can be added to help flesh out some of the story/characters as you mentioned.
> >
> > I disagree that the infection form will be forgotten about. I believe it will play some part in the story… perhaps a small role at the end even, but it won’t be completely disregarded. Additionally with directions the story could go, there’s the Mendicant Bias possibility as well, leading directly into Halo 6 (and saving the Created storyline for Halo 6 as you mentioned).
>
>
> Something that was brought up to me yesterday, maybe there is a chance that the Flood won’t appear in the campaign, but that there might be a multiplayer mode that involves Flood and that’s what the Infection Form ties in. (please let me know if that made sense)
>
> As for Mendicant Bias, I’ve completely forgotten about him. I’d also really like him to make some form of appearance, however I’m unsure if he’ll play a major part in the story. I mean, what can be done with him? Readers of Escalation rightly flipped out when Halsey actually HACKS what we presume to be Offensive Bias; what can be done with Mendicant that doesn’t screw up what character he has by either make him look much weaker or gives him the Cortana treatment by turning him into a villain?
So, to be honest, I hadn’t really known too much about the Offensive Bias theory for Escalation. Tried researching it a bit real quick, and it seems to me that it is just speculation on whether it’s actually him. Either way, your point makes sense as it was a Contender Class AI, but to be frank, I think a few people hit the nail on the head when trying to explain the situation. Sometimes, we shouldn’t dig too deep. Halsey could have just upset it’s protocols (perhaps not directly hacking the AI, but a different system since it retreated into the Sentinel body). Or, the Librarian’s imprint on her could have just known how to do it… I think a lot of people forget about that part. I get it’s kind of a cop-out, but in the long running narrative, it’s not since it’s been clearly setup that she has the imprint. Neither are perfect, but it doesn’t fully bother me.
As for where Mendicant Bias can play a role, they find his resting ground, and since his sole goal now is redemption, one would think he’d be a value asset in the war with the Created.
And, explain to me your flood in MP comment a bit more. Would MP be story driven, say taking place right after the campaign, and the flood would be introduced? Just want to make sure I follow.
> 2533274796523661;9:
> > 2535415375530295;8:
> > > 2533274796523661;7:
> > > > 2535415375530295;6:
> > > > Well, the issue is this game looks like it’s going to have A LOT of stuff going on. Spirit of Fire’s crew waking up after so much has passed, the fact the Banished have attacked the Ark, and the apparent tension between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae. There’s a LOT of potential with the game’s story in terms of character development…however I’m not sure it could be done justice without resorting to longer cutscenes, or putting some of it into the actual mission. So I’m resigning myself to believing that the character development will be rushed.
> > > >
> > > > For the overall plot: I’m more curious because of such little information we have. We have a basic revenge & survival deal going down from the looks of it, but for the apex threat we know absolutely nothing. I hear so many halo YouTubers hyping up at the prospect of either the Flood or even Cortana’s “Created” will be the end threat. I personally doubt either will be. Very little from Halo Escalation has been implemented into other media, I expect the Flood infection form to be retconned or just forgotten about entirely. As for Cortana, I expect the bulk of her threat is going to be focused more in Halo 6, however I wouldn’t be surprised if the Prometheans do end up as a 3rd faction threat.
> > > >
> > > > All that aside, what I personally would like to see is more involvement with Atriox and Let 'Volir. We get the basic idea that Atriox isn’t just strong but intelligent and tactical; let us see it. maybe have a cutscene where he and a lance of Brute Warlords are overlooking a firebase, one of them is eager for the attack but Atriox holds him back as he scans the defenses the marines has. He then issues orders for a very tactical attack. the next time we see the base is in-game, and it is utterly destroyed with all the marines dead, but not a single Banished casualty.
> > > > Another one that I’d personally LOVE is have a point in the game where Isabel attempts to access the enemy’s battlenet as so many have, and then she’s shut out and we hear Atriox say something along the lines of, “You won’t find me as careless as the incompetent Covenant…”
> > > >
> > > > My biggest hope however is for Let 'Volir. Not only do I want to see the conflict between him and the brutes, but I’m crossing my fingers that he and his crew end up betraying Atriox and joining forces with the Spirit of Fire. It’d be like Halo 3: Elites and Humans versus the Bru
>
>
> So, to be honest, I hadn’t really known too much about the Offensive Bias theory for Escalation. Tried researching it a bit real quick, and it seems to me that it is just speculation on whether it’s actually him. Either way, your point makes sense as it was a Contender Class AI, but to be frank, I think a few people hit the nail on the head when trying to explain the situation. Sometimes, we shouldn’t dig too deep. Halsey could have just upset it’s protocols (perhaps not directly hacking the AI, but a different system since it retreated into the Sentinel body). Or, the Librarian’s imprint on her could have just known how to do it… I think a lot of people forget about that part. I get it’s kind of a cop-out, but in the long running narrative, it’s not since it’s been clearly setup that she has the imprint. Neither are perfect, but it doesn’t fully bother me.
>
> As for where Mendicant Bias can play a role, they find his resting ground, and since his sole goal now is redemption, one would think he’d be a value asset in the war with the Created.
>
> And, explain to me your flood in MP comment a bit more. Would MP be story driven, say taking place right after the campaign, and the flood would be introduced? Just want to make sure I follow.
Well it’s more speculation than anything else, but this Halo Wars definitely seems to be focusing on the conflict between the Spirit of Fire and that Banished
so I suspect that’s what the story will focus on. And if a 3rd faction arises, I’ve no doubt it’ll be the Prometheans. They’re 343i’s creation, they’re their babies, and the Ark is already known to house Soldiers and Armigers.
but to the game mode, I suspect that innovation is wanted as always in the game. Hiddenxperia on YouTube has discussed the possibility of Flood in multiplayer. While there’s still a lot of hope for that (especially the idea of player controlled Flood), I suspect if they are implemented the most likely game mode would be something akin to Warzone in H5; two players face each other as a flood base on the map attacks both of them.
But then I could be wrong. Maybe the Flood will have a role in the campaign, and I’ll have acknowledge my foolish doubt like se good Christian boy I am. Believe me, I truly want them more in the game as much as the next player.
> 2535415375530295;10:
> > 2533274796523661;9:
> > > 2535415375530295;8:
> > > > 2533274796523661;7:
> > > > > 2535415375530295;6:
> > > > > Well, the issue is this game looks like it’s going to have A LOT of stuff going on. Spirit of Fire’s crew waking up after so much has passed, the fact the Banished have attacked the Ark, and the apparent tension between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae. There’s a LOT of potential with the game’s story in terms of character development…however I’m not sure it could be done justice without resorting to longer cutscenes, or putting some of it into the actual mission. So I’m resigning myself to believing that the character development will be rushed.
> > > > >
> > > > > For the overall plot: I’m more curious because of such little information we have. We have a basic revenge & survival deal going down from the looks of it, but for the apex threat we know absolutely nothing. I hear so many halo YouTubers hyping up at the prospect of either the Flood or even Cortana’s “Created” will be the end threat. I personally doubt either will be. Very little from Halo Escalation has been implemented into other media, I expect the Flood infection form to be retconned or just forgotten about entirely. As for Cortana, I expect the bulk of her threat is going to be focused more in Halo 6, however I wouldn’t be surprised if the Prometheans do end up as a 3rd faction threat.
> > > > >
> > > > > All that aside, what I personally would like to see is more involvement with Atriox and Let 'Volir. We get the basic idea that Atriox isn’t just strong but intelligent and tactical; let us see it. maybe have a cutscene where he and a lance of Brute Warlords are overlooking a firebase, one of them is eager for the attack but Atriox holds him back as he scans the defenses the marines has. He then issues orders for a very tactical attack. the next time we see the base is in-game, and it is utterly destroyed with all the marines dead, but not a single Banished casualty.
> > > > > Another one that I’d personally LOVE is have a point in the game where Isabel attempts to access the enemy’s battlenet as so many have, and then she’s shut out and we hear Atriox say something along the lines of, “You won’t find me as careless as the incompetent Covenant…”
> > > > >
> > > > > My biggest hope however is for Let 'Volir. Not only do I want to see the conflict between him and the brutes, but I’m crossing my fingers that he and his crew end up betraying Atriox and joining forces with the Spirit of Fire. It’d be like Halo 3: Elites and Humans versus the Bru
> >
> >
> > So, to be honest, I hadn’t really known too much about the Offensive Bias theory for Escalation. Tried researching it a bit real quick, and it seems to me that it is just speculation on whether it’s actually him. Either way, your point makes sense as it was a Contender Class AI, but to be frank, I think a few people hit the nail on the head when trying to explain the situation. Sometimes, we shouldn’t dig too deep. Halsey could have just upset it’s protocols (perhaps not directly hacking the AI, but a different system since it retreated into the Sentinel body). Or, the Librarian’s imprint on her could have just known how to do it… I think a lot of people forget about that part. I get it’s kind of a cop-out, but in the long running narrative, it’s not since it’s been clearly setup that she has the imprint. Neither are perfect, but it doesn’t fully bother me.
> >
> > As for where Mendicant Bias can play a role, they find his resting ground, and since his sole goal now is redemption, one would think he’d be a value asset in the war with the Created.
> >
> > And, explain to me your flood in MP comment a bit more. Would MP be story driven, say taking place right after the campaign, and the flood would be introduced? Just want to make sure I follow.
>
>
> Well it’s more speculation than anything else, but this Halo Wars definitely seems to be focusing on the conflict between the Spirit of Fire and that Banished
> so I suspect that’s what the story will focus on. And if a 3rd faction arises, I’ve no doubt it’ll be the Prometheans. They’re 343i’s creation, they’re their babies, and the Ark is already known to house Soldiers and Armigers.
>
> but to the game mode, I suspect that innovation is wanted as always in the game. Hiddenxperia on YouTube has discussed the possibility of Flood in multiplayer. While there’s still a lot of hope for that (especially the idea of player controlled Flood), I suspect if they are implemented the most likely game mode would be something akin to Warzone in H5; two players face each other as a flood base on the map attacks both of them.
>
> But then I could be wrong. Maybe the Flood will have a role in the campaign, and I’ll have acknowledge my foolish doubt like se good Christian boy I am. Believe me, I truly want them more in the game as much as the next player.
Yea, there’s no doubt that the Spirit of Fire and Banished are the major players and are going to be the focus of the game. I agree on that, I was just throwing out how Mendicant Bias could come into play even if it’s how the games end, the Spirit of Fire/Banished finding him. It wouldn’t take too much from focus away from those two factions and sets up H6 (at least I hope it’d be continued in H6 :), but who knows).
As for the Flood in MP, that sounds quite intriguing. I know I’d enjoy a gametype like that, and I do wonder how much fun it’d be controlling the Flood faction and just spamming infection and combat forms at another player lol.
I have an identical post in another thread but it fits well in here too. I think that is also important that the story also takes place on the Ark. Think about it, it would be so much easier to put this entire conflict on a planet in the middle of nowhere then have the story fizzle out similarly like the original game. 343 made this story on the Ark so that the Spirit of Fire will play a role in the conflict between the Created on the Creators. Cortana is looking to control the universe and what better way to do it with the Halo array. The UNSC can work to destroy/disarm the rings as the Infinity had been doing Halo 4, but with the Ark, where the rings are created, she has control. We make a pretty good assumption that either the Created or the UNSC will show up in some way at some point. I don’t think that is the main reason that the story is set on the Ark though. I feel like everyone has forgotten what also is on the Ark, Mendicant Bias. Yes it is entirely possible that he could’ve been destroyed when Installation 04b(not certain this is right but the one fired by chief at the end of H3), assuming the rings firing can harm created. On a side note, I remember reading that the Domain was severely damaged by the original firing of the halo rings thats why it hadn’t appeared until H5, that’s why its possible that Mendicant Bias could be gone. Back on topic, his presence on the Ark could also explain why the Banished are there assuming they are still religious, they could just be mercenary faction looking for weapons, and are trying to find Mendicant because they see him as a god/artifact Mendicant Bias could possibly be the way the UNSC beats the Created whether it be by kicking Cortana out of the Domain or siding with UNSC as an ally and strategist showing them how to destroy guardians. He is arguably the most powerful AIs ever created only losing to Offensive Bias due to his rampancy due to his alliance with the Gravemind. He helped the Chief so I don’t see why he wouldn’t assisted the Spirt and the UNSC. The reintroduction of Mendicant, in my opinion, can save the story and make it awesome. I’m beyond excited to see how this story will play out if you can’t tell.