The real deal with specializations

Games Other Halo
1

To clear up any confusion or answer any question people have:

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Original IGN article

Little English Halo Blog w/ tweets from David Ellis

Weekly Bulletin 8.15.12

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-There are only 8 different specializations.

-Everyone, everywhere, gets access to all 8 specializations.

-If you buy the regular edition of the game, you get access to 2 specializations after you’ve hit level 50. (wetworks and pioneer) Pick one, level it up, and then pick another.

-If you buy the LE, you will get access to all 8 once you hit max rank. As with the regular edition, pick one, level it up, and then pick another. The only difference is that you can choose from all 8, not just from the two.

-There are 10 levels per specialization.

-The first 9 levels unlock armor permutations, armor skins, a weapon skin, emblems, and a visor color.

-On the tenth level, you unlock the armor mod described in the article. You now have access to it at any time.

-343i chooses when to unlock the next specialization for all to enlist in. They will be watching to see when players are hitting max rank, and will unlock them accordingly.

-You must reach max level (50) before re-enlisting in one of the 8 specializations. You will not be able to access any right away.

-You can only have one mod equipped at a time.

-When you re-enlist in another specialization, you do not lose everything you’ve earned before.

-You do not have to wear the armor to use the mod.

-The mods unlocked through completion of each specialization are tactical/support mods. They just add to the category they belong in, they aren’t something separate.

-There will be multiple playlists that do not utilize armor mods unlocked through specializations.

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I will update the OP if I come across more information. Feel free to suggest some, or correct me if I am wrong.

2

Hopefully 343 can balance them out enough to prevent them from breaking the game.

3

that actually helps a lot thanks, but how do i level the spec up?

4

> that actually helps a lot thanks, but how do i level the spec up?

I assume you just use it enough and you’ll earn exp to level it up. Hopefully we’ll get more info in tomorrow’s bulletin.

5

You missed one very important fact: Specializations are end-game content. Nobody, regular or limited edition, gets access to any specializations right out of the box. You have to reach max rank (level 50) before you can chose a specialization, at which point there is 10 additional levels within that specialization before you can move on to another one.

The only difference with the limited edition is that once you reach max rank and can select your first specialization, you have 8 options instead of 2.

It would be awesome if 343 had a playlist limited to players who have reached max rank and have access to specializations. This way those with specializations do not have any drastic advantages over those who are still working through the first 50 levels.

6

> Ok, because there’s so much confusion around these forums lately, I’m going to clear things up.
>
> Link to article, if you need it.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> -There are only 8 different specializations.
>
> -Everyone, everywhere, gets access to all 8 specializations.
>
> -If you buy the regular edition of the game, you get access to 2 specializations right away. (wetworks and pioneer) Pick one, level it up, and then pick another. As you rank up in the game, you’ll unlock the other 6 as you go. You will then be able to pick from those, ranking them up as well.
>
> -If you buy the LE, you will get access to all 8 right out of the box. As with the regular edition, pick one, level it up, and then pick another. The only difference is that you can choose from any of them right away, not just from the two.
>
> -There are 10 levels per specialization.
>
> -The first 9 levels unlock armor permutations, armor skins, a weapon skin, emblems, and a visor color.
>
> -On the tenth level, you unlock the armor mod described in the article. You now have access to it at any time.
>
> -You do not have to wear the armor to use the mod. (Not confirmed, but probable.)
>
> -When you re-enlist in another specialization, you do not lose everything you’ve earned before.

Thanks Shado for posting this. It was really helpful

7

why would they make it end game? whats the point not a lot of people even reach max rank unless the game has so few ranks and the ladder is extremely easy to climp

8

> You missed one very important fact: Specializations are end-game content. Nobody, regular or limited edition, gets access to any specializations right out of the box. You have to reach max rank (level 50) before you can chose a specialization, at which point there is 10 additional levels within that specialization before you can move on to another one.
>
> The only difference with the limited edition is that once you reach max rank and can select your first specialization, you have 8 options instead of 2.
>
> It would be awesome if 343 had a playlist limited to players who have reached max rank and have access to specializations. This way those with specializations do not have any drastic advantages over those who are still working through the first 50 levels.

When did they ever say this? what would be the point of unlocking more if you could only use them after max rank. and depending on how long it takes to reach max rank then no one would be able to specialize till months (maybe) after release. this makes no sense.

9

> why would they make it end game? whats the point not a lot of people even reach max rank unless the game has so few ranks and the ladder is extremely easy to climp

So we have something to work towards and when we do get these the gameplay will change a bit.

10

> > You missed one very important fact: Specializations are end-game content. Nobody, regular or limited edition, gets access to any specializations right out of the box. You have to reach max rank (level 50) before you can chose a specialization, at which point there is 10 additional levels within that specialization before you can move on to another one.
> >
> > The only difference with the limited edition is that once you reach max rank and can select your first specialization, you have 8 options instead of 2.
> >
> > It would be awesome if 343 had a playlist limited to players who have reached max rank and have access to specializations. This way those with specializations do not have any drastic advantages over those who are still working through the first 50 levels.
>
> When did they ever say this? what would be the point of unlocking more if you could only use them after max rank. and depending on how long it takes to reach max rank then no one would be able to specialize till months after release. this makes no sense.

i completely agree end game makes no sense and is prob not the case, what it prob means is that you get xp for it at the end of matchmaking games, and u cant use it till its fully leveled up

11

Are you telling me that if you play the game long enough, you can gain all 8 of the mods and use them all simultaneously? In other words, are you limited to using only one mod at any one time? That better be the case, or else there will be mighty troubled waters ahead for this game…

12

> > > You missed one very important fact: Specializations are end-game content. Nobody, regular or limited edition, gets access to any specializations right out of the box. You have to reach max rank (level 50) before you can chose a specialization, at which point there is 10 additional levels within that specialization before you can move on to another one.
> > >
> > > The only difference with the limited edition is that once you reach max rank and can select your first specialization, you have 8 options instead of 2.
> > >
> > > It would be awesome if 343 had a playlist limited to players who have reached max rank and have access to specializations. This way those with specializations do not have any drastic advantages over those who are still working through the first 50 levels.
> >
> > When did they ever say this? what would be the point of unlocking more if you could only use them after max rank. and depending on how long it takes to reach max rank then no one would be able to specialize till months after release. this makes no sense.
>
> i completely agree end game makes no sense and is prob not the case, what it prob means is that you get xp for it at the end of matchmaking games, and u cant use it till its fully leveled up

that makes way more sense if that were the case. i mean why would we need to get to max rank (assuming it takes a while) to specialize. then only die hard no lifers will be able to have those game changing perks. that doesn’t sound right to me at all.

13

Im a little confused with why pioneer would be useful assuming most people will only need two spec mods.

You have to get to level 50 before you can get pioneer, I’m assuming at this point you have all the loadout guns and other mods. SO now you level up pioneer to be able to get XP faster for your other spec mod that you want and then again for the next one. Giving you 2 spec mods that you want but you would of had to level up 3 times.

Whereas if you don’t get pioneer you level up your first mod that you want then your second. So you now have what you want and have only leveled up twice. So the only way that pioneer is useful, in the 2 spec mods is all i need scenario, is if you get double the normal XP, but this means that you could quickly get everything. Otherwise your at a disadvantage of people having 2 in game spec mods where as you only have one.

Hope that makes sense.

14

> > > You missed one very important fact: Specializations are end-game content. Nobody, regular or limited edition, gets access to any specializations right out of the box. You have to reach max rank (level 50) before you can chose a specialization, at which point there is 10 additional levels within that specialization before you can move on to another one.
> > >
> > > The only difference with the limited edition is that once you reach max rank and can select your first specialization, you have 8 options instead of 2.
> > >
> > > It would be awesome if 343 had a playlist limited to players who have reached max rank and have access to specializations. This way those with specializations do not have any drastic advantages over those who are still working through the first 50 levels.
> >
> > When did they ever say this? what would be the point of unlocking more if you could only use them after max rank. and depending on how long it takes to reach max rank then no one would be able to specialize till months after release. this makes no sense.
>
> i completely agree end game makes no sense and is prob not the case, what it prob means is that you get xp for it at the end of matchmaking games, and u cant use it till its fully leveled up

IT IS end-game content. You do not acquire the specific mods until you reach the final level in a specialization. In other words, it’s going to take you a damn long time to get there. So, I don’t understand why everyone is freaking out so bad about this. You are not handed these things right off the bat. It’s going to take you a long, long time to get them.

15

David Ellis’ tweet

Two quotes from David Ellis himself to back up my post.

“You still have to rank up first to enlist in the extra specializations.”

“We will keep an eye out on how many players are reaching max level and unlock them appropriately.”

See? End-game content. The specializations are unlocked after reaching max level, and 343 will be managing the unlocking of the specializations based on how many players are reaching max level.

16

lets hope max level doesn’t take as long as in reach then. this makes buying limited kinda pointless because you have to wait to get so called “early” access to these specializations. And i still cannot find a single article or interview which states that this is end game content. so i will continue to go by the theory that you can specialize out of the box (which makes more sense anyway)

those two tweets did not specifically state that specializations are end game content.

17

> lets hope max level doesn’t take as long as in reach then. this makes buying limited kinda pointless because you have to wait to get so called “early” access to these specializations. And i still cannot find a single article or interview which states that this is end game content. so i will continue to go by the theory that you can specialize out of the box (which makes more sense anyway)
>
> those two quotes did not specifically state that specializations are end game content.

If you buy the LE, you get access to all 8 right away. No waiting for 343i to unlock them. You still have to hit rank 50 before enlisting in one, though.

18

> > lets hope max level doesn’t take as long as in reach then. this makes buying limited kinda pointless because you have to wait to get so called “early” access to these specializations. And i still cannot find a single article or interview which states that this is end game content. so i will continue to go by the theory that you can specialize out of the box (which makes more sense anyway)
> >
> > those two quotes did not specifically state that specializations are end game content.
>
> If you buy the LE, you get access to all 8 right away. No waiting for 343i to unlock them. You still have to hit rank 50 before enlisting in one, though.

Also we don’t know how they’re going to unlock them they may do 2 at a time meaning that if you want a specific one you may be waiting much longer.

19

> Im a little confused with why pioneer would be useful assuming most people will only need two spec mods.
>
> You have to get to level 50 before you can get pioneer, I’m assuming at this point you have all the loadout guns and other mods. SO now you level up pioneer to be able to get XP faster for your other spec mod that you want and then again for the next one. Giving you 2 spec mods that you want but you would of had to level up 3 times.
>
> Whereas if you don’t get pioneer you level up your first mod that you want then your second. So you now have what you want and have only leveled up twice. So the only way that pioneer is useful, in the 2 spec mods is all i need scenario, is if you get double the normal XP, but this means that you could quickly get everything. Otherwise your at a disadvantage of people having 2 in game spec mods where as you only have one.
>
> Hope that makes sense.

If you level up pioneer first, you can use that mod to unlock other mods much faster.

20

None of the 3 are speculation. We KNOW you can only have too armor mods per loadout, even less if they make 2 of them the same one so you can’t use both in one loadout (ie. Rogue and Stalker mods both being tactical packages for example).

It was either confirmed or STRONGLY hinted that you won’t lose anything if you pick another specialization.

The last one must be true since you can have different mods in different loadouts and loadouts don’t change your armor.

You might also add that 343 will unlock them once enough players have max rank, like the Rank Cap in Reach.