Halo 4 Grind Guides: King of the Hill

Of all the multiplayer modes in War Games in Halo 4, King Of The Hill is probably the one that’s seen the least modification from its prior incarnations. This classic can be a decent place to rack up things like multi-kills, and its gametype-specific commendations are some of the easier ones to come by as well.

What is it?
King of the Hill features a field-enclosed “hill” area that rotates around the map after teams spend certain amounts of time earning points by “taking” the hill; i.e. not letting any members of the other team hang out there. Once a hill’s time limit is consumed, a new one appears elsewhere on the map, and it’s another mad dash to get their first or, at least, be ready to clear it out and take command. Having multiple people on the same hill can accelerate point accumulation, and the game goes to the first team to reach the cumulative goal time for hill presence.

What can I work on?
Given the tendency for teams to bunch up on hills, multi-kills and grenade kills are yours for the taking if you’ve a good arm. Another 4v4 playlist, KotH pops up on smaller maps and Complex, so work with whatever weapons feel right. If you’re more of a charge in and slaughter kind of player, you may want to opt for an automatic weapon to loosen up your opponents for your grenades, or to clean up any that didn’t get ‘naded hard enough. It can be just as effective a strategy, however, to hang back and make a mess with precision weapons, as any hill is bound to draw in a constant stream of targets, and leave your cohorts the privilege of capturing.

Commendations for the KotH gametype are handed out for holding the hill and killing people on or from the hill. That’s it. Easy.

Any other tips?
If there’s cover, use it. Being inside the hill can disable armor abilities, so you may not have your hardlight shield as a failsafe, or an auto-turret to lay down additional fire. In fact, auto-turrets placed outside a hill by someone who subsequently runs into the hill area will explode, so it’s not the best idea to bring one to the party unless you’re going to hang out and cover your teammates.

Don’t get too bunched up. Sure, the counter racks up faster if there are more people in the hill, but it can be more prudent to have only one or two people gaining points while the other team members stay outside, covering the access points until a hill is captured.

Grenades all day, errday. This is one of the few modes where pulse grenades can actually be useful, as even though you’re unlikely to get a kill with one, just seeing that big orange sphere or hearing one pop nearby can serve as crowd control, forcing opponents to move out of on-hill cover and into better lines of fire. And, if it’s hectic enough, you may actually take out a foe or two with them, and any progress toward what is arguably the hardest grenade to grind is good progress.

As good a place as any for a little mayhem, King of the Hill is one of the few gametypes that seems to work well on any size map, be they the regular ones in the hopper now, or any larger maps they may decide to roll into the playlist later on.