The Halo Infinite multiplayer component has arrived to a somewhat mixed reception. In terms of gameplay, it is almost universally praised for being true to what made the classic Halo titles so great, such as the sandbox-style combat, longer time to kill, and lack of things like loadouts in favor of weapon and equipment being picked up on the map. On the other hand, the game has come under scrutiny for some of the more modern design implementations, specifically related to the battle pass.

Technically, Halo Infinite is still in beta, but the battle pass is fully available. Since it’s a free-to-play game, we all knew well in advance that there would be a battle pass system to monetize the game, and early details about it were promising. None of the seasonal battle passes will expire, removing the pressure to either grind to get it done or pay before those rewards were lost forever.

Now that we’ve gotten our hands on the battle pass, though, the actual progression is extremely slow and tedious. While 343 is taking feedback and making changes to the system, there are still a few ways you can speed up your progress through Halo Infinite‘s battle pass.

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Play with bots

It goes without saying that, even after 343 started awarding XP for every match played, completing challenges is the best way to level up your battle pass. However, what many people may not be aware of is that many of these challenges don’t have to be played in PvP matches, and instead can be grinded out against bots. Any challenge that is called something like “kill enemy spartans with X weapon” can all be done against bots rather than real players. Only the ones that specifically state “in PvP” at the end actually need to be done in … well … PvP.

So, rather than struggle to not only find and get your hands on the weapon you need during a match, let alone get the required amount of kills with it, simply load up a Bot Bootcamp match and get these challenges done much quicker, and easier, against the A.I.

Strategize your XP boosts

If you invest in the paid version of the battle pass, you’ll start to unlock usable XP boosters for every five levels you reach, which unfortunately are not available in the free version. You can also buy them individually from the shop as well, or if you buy certain branded products in the real world, so for now, there’s no way to get one without spending some cash. Activating a booster will make any XP rewards you earn while it is active worth double that amount. While the description states this will last for half an hour, in reality, it lasts for a full hour. This is 60 minutes of real time, mind you, so make sure you’re ready to be playing for as much of that hour time period as possible to squeeze as much value out of it as possible.

Aside from that, don’t just pop your XP boosts as soon as you get them. Because these boosters will double the amount of XP you get from any challenges you complete, do your best to line up as many challenges that you have to be completed within that hour of time as possible. This would be the time to swap out any challenges you don’t see yourself completing, and get all of them as close to completion as possible before using the boost to clean them all up, and then attempt to get as many more done as you can before it expires.

Swap out tough challenges

Speaking of swapping out challenges, don’t let any challenges sit on your list that you don’t see yourself getting done. However, in that same vein, these swaps aren’t free, so don’t just use one because you don’t like playing oddball matches when there are much more difficult challenges in the rotation, like getting a number of airborne hijacks. You only get a Challenge Swap from certain tiers in the battle pass or by buying them from the shop, and they only work on the weekly challenges, so consider what other challenges there are before swapping one you’re only unhappy with in case it changes to one that you may not actually even think you can do.

Participate in Events when possible

Halo Infinite will have different special events at various points throughout the year. Unlike the regular battle pass, these events have unique rewards that can only be earned during a limited time. We’ve only seen one so far and know that it will be coming back, but 343 has told us that these events will run for at least one week at a time. Outside of the specific time frame, those rewards are locked. Outside of that cool exclusive loot, these events also come with special weekly challenges that are different from the usual rotation and can potentially be much easier to complete. Also, events come with a special version of the battle pass with their own reward tiers that may include things like XP boosts. If possible, prioritize doing these special challenges to get some extra challenges done.

Remember to stack these with the XP Boost tip we shared earlier to really bump up your battle pass level!

Buy the battle pass

If you really feel held back and want to speed up your progress, buying the premium version of the battle pass is an option. For 1,000 Credits, which equates to around $10, you can unlock this 100-level path. Aside from having XP Boosts as rewards, and even more Challenge Swaps, which alone are great incentives, it also gives you an extra weekly challenge to work toward simultaneously. Weekly challenges are worth much more than dailies, and having another one going gives you a lot more opportunities to avoid the “bad” challenges.

Pay for levels

And, if all you care about is getting those sweet, sweet rewards, you do have the option of flat-out purchasing levels in your battle pass. Each level you buy will cost 200 Credits, and you can only buy them in increments of 500, 1,000, 2,200, 5,600, or 11,500. If you wanted to go from 0 to 100 on your battle pass without playing a single game, that would cost you roughly $1,600, which we cannot reasonably recommend. Because battle passes never expire, even if the going is slow, there’s no need to feel the heat of buying it for a cosmetic before it disappears.