Tl;dr at the bottom
With the new Winter/Summer Update (Hello Australia!) came new challenges that were designed to be less intrusive to gameplay and promote more player-friendly experience.
I’ve been very critical of the challenge system since launch, believing it to be one of the core reasons why so many people have been frustrated with Infinite.
This list consists of the 10 random challenges I was assigned this week. Let’s see how good these challenges are.
Note: Not every challenge is represented here, if you have one that is not list, please leave it down below and share your thoughts.
Week 1 (Nov. 8-14)
-
Spartan-G313: Assist in a kill by marking a target, or kill the marked target with a headshot 0/3. (50 XP)
- Basically get a mark assist or a Shot Caller medal
. This teaches newer players about the pinging system, which is very helpful for the collective effort of the team. And Shot Caller medals require headshots specifically, so a bit of aim is needed. This can be completed in any match accept FFA modes (pinging is disabled since you have no allies). Approved 
- Basically get a mark assist or a Shot Caller medal
-
Spartan Branch Management: Complete any PvP Matches 0/1. (50 XP)
- Participation trophy, but not disruptive. Approved
- Participation trophy, but not disruptive. Approved
-
Score Plot: Earn Cumulative Personal Score in PvP 0/3000. (100 XP)
- Participation trophy, but you actually have to perform. Better players will complete this faster. Approved
- Participation trophy, but you actually have to perform. Better players will complete this faster. Approved
-
Lord of the Loadout: Kill Enemy Spartans with an AR, BR, Sidekick or Frag Grenade 0/25. (150 XP)
- This is great! You have many options of weapons to choose from. Some more skillful than others, but players don’t need to seek out 1 specific weapon on a map to progress. Lots of player freedom here. Approved
- This is great! You have many options of weapons to choose from. Some more skillful than others, but players don’t need to seek out 1 specific weapon on a map to progress. Lots of player freedom here. Approved
-
Martial Artist: Kill Enemy Spartans with a Melee Attack in PvP 0/1. (50 XP)
- Simple, and bound to happen naturally, but not disruptive. I do wish it included all melee options (swords and hammers), but this is fine. Approved
- Simple, and bound to happen naturally, but not disruptive. I do wish it included all melee options (swords and hammers), but this is fine. Approved
-
Wargames Warrior: Kill Spartans in PvP 0/20 (100 XP)
- Same as #2 and #5. Approved
- Same as #2 and #5. Approved
-
Back Smack Attack: Kill Spartans from behind with a Melee Attack in PvP 0/1. (150 XP)
- Similar to #5, but more skill is required. However, it’s well documented that Ninja
, Sneak King 
, and Achilles’ Spine 
medals didn’t count toward this challenge in Seasons 1 & 2 despite the fact they have the same requirements and more. That is, they are harder to pull off. Hopefully this has been changed. Pending 
- Similar to #5, but more skill is required. However, it’s well documented that Ninja
-
Terran Terror: Kill Spartans with UNSC weapons 0/10. (50 XP)
- See #4. This is great! Anything from the little Sidekick to the mighty SPNKr and eventually the unreleased Bandit Rifle will count. Get creative Spartans! Approved
- See #4. This is great! Anything from the little Sidekick to the mighty SPNKr and eventually the unreleased Bandit Rifle will count. Get creative Spartans! Approved
-
Ordnance Ordinance: Kill enemy Spartans with Explosives 0/5. (100 XP)
- Very good. This should cover things like the SPNKr, Hydra and Grenades. I don’t know if vehicles (Rocket Hog, Scorpion, Wasp Missiles) will count. They should though. Also I don’t know if the Ravager will count or if both of its fire modes will count. Approved, but Pending further analysis
- Very good. This should cover things like the SPNKr, Hydra and Grenades. I don’t know if vehicles (Rocket Hog, Scorpion, Wasp Missiles) will count. They should though. Also I don’t know if the Ravager will count or if both of its fire modes will count. Approved, but Pending further analysis
-
No Chain, No Gain: Earn Multikill Medals in PvP 0/3. (150 XP)
- This is great. Very skillful and if you land an Overkill, you can get this done with a single streak. This a great improvement over what we had before where only Double Kills were counted. Approved
11. ULTIMATE CHALLENGE: Earn a Killing Spree. 0/1 (500 XP)
- This a good challenge. It can be completed in any mode and requires some skill to achieve. This particular challenge only needs one medal, but in the future, we are asked to get 2+ medals I hope ANY spree medal counts. 1 Killing Frenzy is more impressive than 2 Killing Sprees. Approved
Week 2 (Nov: 15-21):
-
Atriox’s Chosen: Kill Spartans with Banished Weapons. 0/5 (50 XP)
- See #3 of week one. Again, there’s many options to chose from, and if you want a challenge, try to do it with a plasma pistol! I wonder if fusion coils are on this list… Approved
- See #3 of week one. Again, there’s many options to chose from, and if you want a challenge, try to do it with a plasma pistol! I wonder if fusion coils are on this list… Approved
-
Close Encounters: Earn a Guardian Angel, Reversal or Last Shot Medal. 0/1 (50 XP)
- I like this a lot. These 3 medals don’t really need you to do anything special and are pretty random, they do happen somewhat naturally and you have 3 options to pursue. Reversal is really the only one that can be forced (maybe Last Shot). Approved
- I like this a lot. These 3 medals don’t really need you to do anything special and are pretty random, they do happen somewhat naturally and you have 3 options to pursue. Reversal is really the only one that can be forced (maybe Last Shot). Approved
Week 3
-
Yeah, that one: Headshot a Spartan after Marking them in PvP 0/2 (150 XP)
- This seems to be an attempt to fix the “Spartan-G313” challenge (#1 from week 1). Approved
- This seems to be an attempt to fix the “Spartan-G313” challenge (#1 from week 1). Approved
-
I’m Helping!: Earn Kills or Assists 0/20 (50 XP).
- This is fine, but I don’t think adding the assist condition is necessary. Kills are easy enough. However, it does allow for vehicle drivers to progress the challenge which I think is very good. Approved
- This is fine, but I don’t think adding the assist condition is necessary. Kills are easy enough. However, it does allow for vehicle drivers to progress the challenge which I think is very good. Approved
-
Drawn & Garden: Kill a spartan with a pistol immediately after switching to it 0/3 (100 XP).
- Basically get a Quickdraw
medal. I like that this basically teaches players how to us the Sidekick the way it was initially designed, as a weapon you swap to to finish off kills. I am unsure if Quickdraws can be earned with other pistols though. Approved
- Basically get a Quickdraw
Conclusion
These challenges are clear evidence that 343 is either listening or at least took a long hard look at why their challenge system was failing. None of them require a specific playlist and so far none of them have unreasonable requirements (Get an Interlinked 
medal) or counter productive requirements (Get a Killjoy 
medal).
With the challenges being lowered from 20 to 10, I do feel the requirement could be raised slightly so the deck doesn’t get finished a few hours. On the other hand, the challenges are pretty chill so there’s less need to rush. Just play and have fun.
TL;DR
343 did a good
Discussion
What are your thoughts. Do you like these changes? Did 343 overcorrect? Undercorrect? What can they do to improve? Is there a challenge that isn’t here that you wish was?
Let’s Talk!
, the weekly challenges might as well be participation trophies… I’ve earned it in like 10 matches…