Halo 5: Guardians continues the story of the Master Chief, and introduces a brand new central character to the Halo universe – Spartan Locke.  Peace is shattered when colony worlds are unexpectedly attacked.  And when humanity’s greatest hero goes missing, Spartan Locke is tasked with hunting the Master Chief and solving a mystery that threatens the entire galaxy.

Experience the most dramatic Halo story to date in a four-player cooperative epic that spans three worlds. Challenge friends and rivals in new multiplayer modes: Warzone, massive 24-player battles, and Arena, pure 4-versus-4 competitive combat.

This week, the next free update - Cartographer's Gift - brings Forge Mode and a host of new weapons, armor sets, assassinations, Warzone and Arena maps, and much more.

Since the introduction of Forge in Halo 3, the community has been creating, sharing, and pushing the mode to its absolute limits. With Forge in Halo 5: Guardians, the only limit is your imagination. The new Forge was built with years of community feedback in mind, and arrives just in time for the holidays.

The Cartographer’s Gift update also adds a plethora of other new content to Halo 5: Guardians. For example, the classic M41 “SPNKr” Rocket Launcher and MARK IV [GEN 1] armor set REQs will become available for you to collect for your arsenal, and four new maps – the Warzone map “The Battle of Noctus,” Arena map “Overgrowth,” and Big Team Battle maps “Antifreeze,” and “Entombed” – will be added to the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer experience.

Once it’s available this week, Cartographer’s Gift will automatically download and install for all Halo 5: Guardian players.

Forge has been rebuilt from the ground up for Halo 5: Guardians. Giving more power and control to the Forge community was the primary goal, and community feedback will continue to fuel the evolution of Forge as we update the mode with new features and content. Here are just some of the features launching with Forge in Cartographer's Gift:

• Grouping – Groups can be created dynamically with a single button press. Select more objects and press the button again to add to the group or press the button again to split the group up.
• Multi-Select/Edit – Forgers can select and manipulate up to 64 individual objects at one time (more if combined with Groups); movement, rotation, property editing, everything you’re able to do to a single object.
• 1700+ Objects – Forgers can expect a variety of pieces from primitive shapes, structure parts, accent pieces, detail props, and gameplay objects custom built for Forge. Mix them in with weapons, turrets, and power-ups makes this the ultimate Forge.
• Light Objects – Place real light objects in the world to light up interior spaces or just enhance a location on a map. Light objects have a whole slew of properties; point and spot types, light color/distance/falloff, light cone shape/size, lens flairs, and more.
• Light Fixtures – Additional light fixture objects such as light posts, beacon lights, etc. that come with lights built into them making it possible to set dress and light a space at the same time.
• Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary Colors – In addition to over 100 colors available, the vast majority of the Forge building pieces have tunable primary, secondary, and tertiary color change sections on them. This allows objects color variations from the blatantly oblivious to very subtle. Many also support changing the matte/metallic reflective properties of the color surface as well.

SPNKr

Few weapons in the UNSC inventory have had such an outsized importance on the battlefield as the classic M41 Rocket Launcher. Though functionally obsolete well before the Covenant War began, when it absolutely, positively, had to be blown into small fragments the M41 could be counted on to deliver the hammerblow.

SPNKr: Make some noise! Twin-tube shoulder-fired rocket launcher with Smart-Link sights. Rockets can lock-on to air targets.

SPNKr EM: Four rockets, two tubes, one launcher. Improved SPNKr Rocket Launcher with four-round magazine. SPNKr EM rockets can home on both air and ground targets.

SPNKr EX: No place to run. No place to hide. Advanced SPNKr Rocket Launcher that fires laser-guided cluster warhead munitions. SPNKr EX Rockets detonate in proximity to enemies, releasing explosive submunitions.

SPNKr PRIME: This pain train has no brakes. Mythic SPNKr Rocket Launcher that fires fast, powerful rockets. Equipping the SPNKr Prime also boosts movement speed, shield strength, and jump height.

Mark IV [GEN1]

This unlockable REQ in Halo 5: Guardians is Mythic in more ways than one. Think you'll be lucky enough to don this historic armor set?

Armor: As the basis for the GEN1 Mjolnir standard, many components of the original Mark IV can be used with GEN2 techsuits and VISRs after firmware updates. This hybrid GEN2/MARK IV [GEN1] suit is still used by select Spartan-II's.

Helmet: A battered Mark IV helmet once worn by the Master Chief is the last thing that SPARTAN-IV candidates see before beginning their grueling evaluation and preliminary augmentation cycle.

New Warzone Map

Battle of Noctus: Takes place on Andesia and features two garage bases, a first for Warzone! Using vehicles early is a key tactic for locking down base control. Since you can’t spawn ground vehicles at the Monument, it might appear to be less important than either garage, but capturing this base provides quick access to plenty of boss locations and sightlines into both garages. Smart teams will definitely want to hold this position. If you find yourself facing a team stacked with vehicles be sure to use the many man cannons littered around the map to cut down on travel time and perhaps drop in on an unassuming vehicle below.

New Arena Map

Overgrowth: A small-scale asymmetrical map that plays best on Slayer and Strongholds. For Slayer, controlling the Energy Sword is key as the map features tight corridors and small combat spaces for you to slice up your opponents. For Strongholds, the covered bridge offers many tactical options, as it allows players to engage on any of the three stronghold locations quickly, and is the location where the Plasma Caster can be found.

New Big Team Battle Maps

Spartan Company Commendations

In less than two months Spartan Companies has grown to host nearly 30,000 active companies here on Halo Waypoint. With Cartographer's Gift, Spartan Companies is expanding with more integration into Halo 5: Guardians.

• Service Record: Each Spartan Company will now be able to track their collective stats and performance in Halo 5: Guardians. One for all, and all for one!
• Company Commendations: Halo 5: Guardians features commendations that track a wide variety of stats and reward players for leveling up. Nearly 50 commendations have been added specifically and exclusively to Spartan Companies. Work together and tackle commendations on multiple fronts to unlock XP rewards and REQ Packs
• Special Helmet and Armor: [REDACTED]

Social Playlists and Seasons

Social Playlists: The Cartographer’s Gift update also brings with it Social playlists to Halo 5’s Arena. If you’re looking for an unranked, casual Arena experience, look no further. In this update, Big Team Battle moves to a Social 8v8 playlist, and we’ll also be revealing another all-new social playlist with the Cartographer’s Gift update.

Seasons: Pre-Season is over Spartans! Season 1 kicks off with Cartographers Gift in ranked Arena playlists. Finish all of your placement matches in a playlist to unlock a one-time only Season 1 REQ Pack