The Academy mode in Halo Infinite helps new players to learn the fundamentals of Halo in a controlled environment. There is a wide selection of resources available in Academy mode that allow players to experiment with Halo Infinite’s gameplay.

Tutorial

The Tutorial takes players through a bootcamp that teaches essential skills for Multiplayer and Campaign. Multiple achievements can be earned in Tutorial, including a couple of secret ones.

The Tutorial includes:

• Learning how to move and perform different actions.
• Using your Personal AI.
• Weapon drills.
• Learning how Shields work.
• A short game of Slayer played with and against bots.

Weapon Drills

You can try out most weapons available in Halo Infinite by selecting its drill. Weapon drills are performed at a shooting range that uses bots as target practice. When you are in the shooting range, you are not locked into a single position. This allows you to move around to get a better angle on your target, depending on your target’s location.

During the drill, players earn points depending on which area of the target they shoot, as well as for killing the target.

At the end of each drill, players will receive a rank in the form of one, two, or three stars based on the number of points earned. You can also select the difficulty of each drill, which changes bot behavior.

• At Tier 1 difficulty, players practice against static bots, allowing players to get a general feel for the selected weapon.
• At Tier 2 difficulty, bots are in patrol mode, moving along pre-determined routes or alternating between crouching and standing.
• At Tier 3 difficulty, the bots possess more aggressive, combat-oriented movement. The bots do not follow a set route and provide players with the opportunity to shoot targets that move more realistically.

In addition, each weapon drill features an Endless mode, where players can practice using any weapon with no time limit. Bot movement will cycle through difficulty, with some remaining stationary, while others move around the shooting range.

Bots never fire back during any of these drills.

Your high score for each drill is recorded in the respective weapon drill menu at the end of every completed drill.

Training Mode

Training Mode allows you to explore multiplayer maps while fighting against bots, instead of other players. This mode is highly customizable via the Pause Menu (press Menu on controller or ESC on keyboard), allowing players to practice with a wide range of scenarios and difficulty levels. Additional info on specific customization options is detailed in the sections below.

No points are earned in Training Mode and there is no time limit. If you want to stop training, go to the Pause menu and select Leave Game.

While in the Training Mode Main Menu, if you would like to change which map you train on, select the current map name, then choose from either 343 Industries, Popular, Recommended, or Bookmarked Maps. Players can also train on maps created in Forge mode.

Weapons and Equipment

When you first load into Training Mode, you will be equipped with an MA40 AR, an Mk50 Sidekick, and two M9 Frag Grenades.

You can make changes to various training settings by pausing the game and selecting Training Options from the menu. In Training Options, you can modify what you have equipped by changing your weapons, grenades, or Equipment using the dropdown menus. If you run out of grenades or charges for your Equipment, selecting them again from Training Options will replenish your in-game total.

You can also turn on Infinite Ammo. With this feature enabled, you will never run out of ammunition, but you still need to reload.

Personal Health

Deathless is an option that only affects your personal health. When Deathless is turned on, your shields still take damage when you are shot, but you will not die when your health is fully depleted. However, friendly, and enemy bots can still die when this setting is enabled.

Bot Settings

At the start of each session, four enemy bots and three friendly bots will spawn into the map at Marine level difficulty. Bot behavior is based on actual player behavior. In Training Options, you will be able to:

• Modify the number of friendly and enemy bots.
• Change what Primary and Secondary weapons the bots have equipped.
• Turn on enemy location, which causes dots to appear above the heads of enemy bots, even if they are behind walls.
• Modify the bot shooting and movement difficulty level.
• Toggle the bots’ ability to shoot, throw grenades, strafe, mantle up ledges, and pick up weapons.
• Enable the bots to carry and pick up Equipment. 

Training via Custom Games

By selecting Custom Game from the main menu and selecting Mode Editor, you can have bots on your team, as well as the opposing team. This means you can explore different multiplayer modes by yourself or practice team skills with only the players in your fireteam.

To play with and against bots in Custom Game, follow the steps below:

1. In the Custom Games menu, select Create Match, then Mode Editor.
   • If you want to change the game mode, be sure to do it before changing any options.
2. Select Bots.
   • Select the number of bots you would like on each team and their difficulty.
3. Go back to the Custom Games main menu.

To move Fireteam members onto the same team:

1. Select the Change Team icon next to each player’s name and then select which team you would like them to be on.
   • If you have Observers turned on in Lobby options, you can also add players to the Observer team.
2. Select Play to start your Custom Game.
   • If the number of bots and players exceeds the number of players allowed on a team for a game mode, extra bots will automatically be removed from the team.