Mister Chief Explains The ‘Halo 5’ REQ System

Mister Chief is the woefully underutilized unofficial Halo mascot originally doodled by 343 Industries Franchise Director in a then-Bungie Weekly Update leading up to the release of Halo 2. The Master Chief knock-off finally gets his due with a new Halo 5: Guardians REQ System tutorial released Thursday for the upcoming Xbox One shooter and he’s voiced by the inimitable Nick Offerman.

REQ is short for Requisition and this is the new collectible card meta-game 343 Industries has added to Halo 5: Guardians. Producer Josh Holmes wrote in a Halo Waypoint post the team was inspired by games like Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering to “create a deep reward system for the game that allow players to collect items from a large pool of compelling content, delivered in a series of randomized packs.”

“We wanted the system to produce the same joy and excitement that comes from opening a booster pack of and discovering a rare card inside,” he explained. “The system would need to bridge all of our multiplayer experiences in Halo 5, and should provide an inventory of weapons, vehicles and power-ups to be used for the dynamic deployments that are featured in our new Warzone mode.”

An in-depth introduction to the Halo 5: Guardians REQ system from @JoshingtonState http://t.co/T9QOlOsVKP pic.twitter.com/XjpWUUOHlF

— Halo (@Halo) September 18, 2015

Halo 5 will have over 1,000 REQ cards at launch with more planned during the post-launch months. They are obtained in REQ Packs that can be purchased using REQ Points earned in-game via the Arena and Warzone multiplayer modes or with real world money.

There are three types of REQ Cards in Halo 5 – Cosmetic, Permanent, and Single Use.

Cosmetic REQ Cards are armor, helmets, assassination, and skins that can be used in Arena or Warzone without having an impact on actual gameplay.

Permanent REQ Cards can only be used in Warzone and unlock access to Loadout Weapons, Armor Mods, and other items that can either be cosmetic or affect gameplay. Which is why they are limited solely to Warzone and will not appear in the competitive Arena mode.

Single Use REQ Cards are used in Warzone to call in power weapons, vehicles, boosts, and power ups. As their name suggest, these cards can only be used once and are lost forever afterwards unless obtained again through a REQ Pack.

To use single use REQ Cards in Warzone, players need to obtain Req Energy from killing AI minions and bosses, plus opposing players. As matches progress, the REQ Level will increase from one to nine. This progressively unlocks the ability to obtain more powerful weapons and vehicles throughout the match and forces players to make a decision whether to use their energy early or save it for the latter stages.

Like all trading card games, REQ Cards come in different forms of rarity. There’s Common, Uncommon, Rare, Ultra-Rare, and Legendary. There’s also a Mythic level of rarity for weapons like Linda-058’s Nornfang Sniper Rifle and Kelly-087’s custom Shotgun.

REQ Packs come in different shapes and sizes as well. What kind of pack is purchased will determine the likelihood of getting a highly prized card.

Gold: Gold REQ Packs contain a large number of REQs ranging from Uncommon to Legendary. Players are guaranteed two new permanent REQs, if available.

Silver: Silver REQ Packs include Uncommon to Rare REQs with the added value of two new permanent REQs, if available.

Bronze: Bronze REQ Packs include Common, single use REQs, but is likely to unlock a new permanent REQ, if available.

Premium: Premium REQ Packs (such as the Warzone REQ Bundle pictured above) provide players with a large number of REQs with an increased chance at receiving higher levels of rarity and more permanent REQs, if available.

Supply: Supply REQ Packs can be obtained by purchasing select Halo licensed products at retail and are offered in three levels: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced.

Promotional: Promotional REQ Packs are available through various promotions, often containing pre-determined rewards, such as those available by pre-ordering Halo 5: Guardians, with two variants: Promotional and Advanced Promotional.

The addition of REQ Cards with the ability to purchase them with real world money is how Halo 5 is offering all of the planned map DLC for free. Developer 343 Industries plans to have over 20 multiplayer maps ready as part of the game’s October 27 launch with another 15 planned to be released by June, 2016.

[Images via Halo Waypoint]