This article contains various subjects that did not enough images or information to justify their own articles. The following topics are discussed here:
Bots
One of the main goals of the Technical Preview was to test how well the Bots worked as a team against a full team of players. There isn't too much to talk about here, as they mostly just played like players of a lower skill level that were somehow really good with grenades, but there was a neat detail that I thought was worth sharing.
When playing against Bots, their Service Tags will indicate their difficulty. This is a quick way to determine what difficulty the Bots are set to without needing to check the Pause Menu or the playlist name. The difficulties in the Tech Preview had the following Service Tags:
Marine: MARN
ODST: ODST
Spartan: SPTN
Mark System
The Mark System is a new tool that will have tremendous use once players become more accustomed to it. Players can press a button to instantly mark whatever it is they're looking at. There are three behaviors for the Mark System depending on whether the player is targeting the environment, an enemy, or an item.
When marking the environment, a white marker appears at the targeted location, and the location is called out in the killfeed with the message "[Player] [MarkSymbol] [Location]".
Marking an enemy causes a nonmoving red marker to appear at their location. The marker calls out the name of the location, and a line is added to the killfeed saying, "[Player] [MarkSymbol] Enemy at [Location]".
Marking an equipment item causes its location to be marked with a black indicator that shows the name of the equipment. In the killfeed, this mark adds the line "[Player] [MarkSymbol] [ItemName] at [Location]".
Respawn Tips
Occasionally after dying, a respawn tip will appear on the right side of the player's screen. These tips are usually related to whatever caused the player's death, but there are some general tips as well. Below is a series of screenshots of the respawn tips I saw while playing the Tech Preview. Note that this is not an all-inclusive list of the respawn tips that were available in the Tech Preview. If you find a screenshot or video showing one I didn't include, please send it to me.
Enhance...
Press "LS" when aiming with sniper rifles to zoom-in further.
Fear the Pink Mist
Needler projectiles detonate once enough of them hit their target. Break line of sight to avoid a grisly fate.
Folks Need Heroes
Have a Power weapon to spare? Hold to drop a weapon for an ally.
Note: This message was likely bugged. The button I used to drop weapons was Right on the D-Pad, which likely should have displayed in this tip.
Gimme the Loot
Gain power by searching the map for weapons, equipment, and grenades. Or steal from fallen enemies.
Going Loud
Sprinting, shooting, or traveling at fast speeds will reveal you on the Motion Tracker.
Hello, Goodbye
Throw Grenades to start or end fights. Press to access your grenade inventory and equip the best one for the situation.
Note: As with the Folks Need Heroes tip, this one was likely bugged. The grenade switcher button was Left on the D-Pad for me.
I Need a Weapon
If a Weapon Rack is glowing red, it can't spawn any more weapons until the current ones get depleted. Find those who have them.
Summary
There wasn't too much to discuss about Bots, the Mark System, or respawn tips, but there were a few interesting details nonetheless. Here's a summary of this information.
The difficulty of Bots in the match can be quickly checked by noticing the Service Tags for the Bots. The Service Tags seen in the July 2021 Tech Preview are as follows:
Marine: MARN
ODST: ODST
Spartan: SPTN
The Mark System behaves slightly differently when the environment, an enemy, or an item is targeted. The color and shape of the marker change, as well as the message that appears in the killfeed.
Respawn tips appear occasionally after the player is killed. Some of them are general, while others are related to the player's cause of death.