Halo Wars 2 shipped in 2017 with two playable factions, the UNSC and the Banished, and 16 leaders split eight and eight. Each leader brings ten leader powers spread over five tiers, and unlocking them costs leader points rather than resources alone. Because a point spent on a passive economy upgrade is a point not spent on a strike or a heal, the roster is really a set of trades: Cutter buys tempo with veterancy and capture speed, Atriox buys a cheaper base with fortification discounts, and neither gets the other leader’s burst. This guide compares the two factions on leader powers, the economy each one gives up, and the opening build orders that follow from both, then separates the leaders who want to fight before Tech 2 from the ones who want a long game. For a pure power-curve ranking of the same 16 leaders, see Halo Wars 2: 16 Leaders Ranked by Their Power Curve.
What this covers: The UNSC and Banished leader rosters compared by leader powers, economy passives, opening 1v1 build orders, and which leaders want early pressure versus long tech. Why it matters: A leader point is a finite spend, so an economy passive is only worth taking if the tempo it buys outweighs the strike you skipped. Who should read it: Halo Wars 2 1v1 players choosing a leader, and anyone deciding whether their matchup should end at four minutes or thirty.
What a leader point actually buys
The leader system is the clock. Halopedia’s breakdown is that two leader powers are available to unlock at the start of a match and each player is given one point; using a power makes two more available, and points arrive from scavenging resources, constructing and upgrading bases, killing units, and capturing power nodes. Every leader’s wheel runs the same shape, so the choice is not how many powers you get but which ones and when.
That makes the passive economy powers the interesting decision. The halowars2.com reference lists most tier-1 economy passives at a cost of Supply 0 / Energy 0 / Population 0 — they are free in resources but they still consume a leader point, which is the real price. The comparison below lines up what each leader’s economy power actually returns.
| Leader | Economy or passive power | What the numbers return | What it gives up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sergeant Forge (UNSC) | Rolling Economy I–II | First Supply Pad I and Reactor I upgrades are 20% cheaper and 25% faster at level 1, then 25% cheaper at level 2 | A tier-1 strike point; his damage window is vehicle-only |
| Atriox (Banished) | Fortifications I–II | Base upgrades about 18% cheaper and 15% faster at level 1; barricade pieces 33% cheaper; structure upgrades 33% cheaper at level 1 and roughly 42–43% at level 2 | Early offense — his tier-1 kit is defensive |
| Professor Anders (UNSC) | R&D I–II | 15% cheaper and 15% faster research across global infantry, vehicle, and air tech | Any real tier-1 threat; her early tiers are utility |
| Captain Cutter (UNSC) | Battle Hardened / UNSC Raid | All squads gain +50% veterancy rate, upgrading to +100%; infantry capture +50% and move speed +10% | Direct burst — his tier 1 has no strike |
| Shipmaster (Banished) | Banished Raid I–II | Infantry capture +50%, decapture +50%, sight +50%; Ghosts become capture units at level 2 | Army strength for rotation speed |
| Voridus (Banished) | Combat Spoils I–II | Global pillage return rises to +30%, then +60% | Nothing defensively — it is a kill-economy bet |
| Pavium (Banished) | Burnout I–III | Resource buildings gain +10%, then +15%, then +20% income; production and research run +50% faster | Mobility and burst; his strength is structures |
| Sergeant Johnson (UNSC) | Digging in Deep | Core base tech and barricade pieces become free in supplies, with Field Armory and two barricades also free in power | A very late payoff behind a defensive tier-1 kit |
| Commander Jerome (UNSC) | Time for Heroes I–II | Under 40 population, non-drone units keep +9% damage, +15% move speed, and 8% less damage taken; level 2 raises the threshold to 60 | Raw army size — the buff ends as you grow |
The pattern is blunt: Forge, Atriox, and Pavium convert leader points into a cheaper or faster base, Anders converts them into cheaper research, and Cutter, Shipmaster, and Voridus convert them into map control or kill income. Jerome is the outlier — his passive is a tempo buff rather than an economy one, capped by population.
The economy trade, leader by leader
Forge is the clearest economy leader on the UNSC side. Rolling Economy touches only the first Supply Pad and Reactor upgrades, but Accelerated Assembly is the bigger lever: it cuts vehicle build times by 5% and takes 60 supply and 10 energy off a Scorpion, 90 supply and 15 energy off a Grizzly, 25 supply off a Warthog, 15 supply and 20 energy off a Wolverine, 50 supply off a Fox Cannon, and 10 supply and 5 energy off a Mongoose. The catch is that Forge does not really arrive until Tech 3 — Team Respawn’s Forge guide describes a leader who opens into hero pressure and then leans on Kodiak and Grizzly timings, and notes that Grizzlies are pricey even after both Accelerated Assembly levels: 850 supplies and 140 power and 42 seconds to train, dropping to 760 and 38 seconds with the discount.
Atriox is Forge’s mirror on the Banished side, and the currency he gives up is offense. Fortifications makes the base itself cheap — base upgrades roughly 18% cheaper and 15% faster, barricade pieces 33% cheaper, turret and shield tower cost about 18% cheaper — but his tier 1 also carries Countermeasures and Dying Breath rather than a strike. Dying Breath, at 300 supply and 80 energy, marks your own army for 120 seconds so a lethal hit becomes a short invulnerability save: 3 seconds base, doubled below 30 combat value and quadrupled below 10. That is a defensive power, and it sets the tone for the whole leader.
Anders takes the shortest economy payment and the longest tech curve. R&D returns 15% cheaper and faster research, and its level-1 defensive package gives drop turrets, watchtowers, base turrets, and the Siegesiege. A timed, large-scale attack on a settlement — attackers try to destroy it, defenders try to hold it. Gun shields worth 2,000 points, with level 2 raising those emplacements to +60% shield points. She is the factionfaction. An in-game group or nation players can align with or fight against, with its own goals and reputation system.’s research leader, and the existing site guide rates her early aggression as her weakness because her early tiers are utility rather than strike.
Cutter and Shipmaster buy map control instead of discounts. Cutter’s Battle Hardened pushes every squad to +50%, then +100% veterancy rate, and UNSC Raid gives infantry +50% capture and +10% move speed. Shipmaster’s Banished Raid gives infantry +50% capture, +50% decapture, and +50% sight, then turns Ghosts into capture units and speeds Wraiths and Prowlers by 25%. Both leaders are paying for the map rather than the fight.
Voridus and Pavium approach the economy from opposite ends. Voridus’s Combat Spoils is a pure aggression passive — global pillage return rises to +30%, then +60%, so the economy runs on kills. Pavium’s Burnout instead overcharges structures: resource buildings gain +10%, +15%, then +20% income while production and research run +50% faster, and Full Salvage gives buildings, turrets, and mines a permanent 1% heal every two seconds. One is rewarded for fighting, the other for never losing his base.
Opening build orders in 1v1
UNSC openers share a skeleton. Game Rant’s UNSC tips describe building one Generator and two Supply Pads immediately, upgrading the first Generator and then the Supply Pads, and adding a second Generator — the sequence that reaches Tech 2 around the four-minute mark in regular matches.
The specifics change per leader. Team Respawn’s Jerome guide is the most explicit: Supply Pad, Supply Pad, Generator, Supply Pad, then the Armory for Jerome as the fifth building rather than queued at spawn, because queued buildings lock supplies before construction starts. The guide tells Jerome players to upgrade the first Supply Pad as soon as it finishes, to upgrade the Generator once two power bundles put them at 300 power, to take the first mini base at about 1:05–1:10, and to expect the hero around 1:55. Forge’s guide at halowars2.com gives two standard opens — Generator second with the Armory fifth and a mini Barracks, or the faster economy version with Generators third and fifth and a mini Armory.
Banished openers follow the same logic with different buildings. Team Respawn’s Atriox guide runs Supply Pad, Supply Pad, Power Extractor upgraded immediately, first mini base around 1:20, second mini, then War Council, with Fortifications as the first leader point and Plasma Mines second (Countermeasures is offered as the alternative). Meta Plays’ older Atriox quick-expo rush pushes expansion earlier: two Grunts, an upgraded Harvester, an upgraded Power Extractor, two more Harvesters, a forward Expansion, a War Council on the natural base, then three Raid Camps on the expansion to triple-pump Jump Pack Brutes, with the push landing around four to five minutes.
| Leader | Opening default | First leader point | Tempo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jerome (UNSC) | Pad, Pad, Gen, Pad, Armory; mini ~1:05–1:10; hero ~1:55 | Victory Mine | Mid-game spike; win early so leftover Marines fill Mastodons |
| Forge (UNSC) | Gen 2nd, Armory 5th, mini Barracks (or faster Gen 3rd/5th eco) | Rolling Economy | Hero + Hellbringers first, Grizzly timing later |
| Atriox (Banished) | Pad, Pad, Power Extractor; minis ~1:20; War Council | Fortifications | Defensive tempo; Unbreakable as the all-in button |
| Atriox rush (Banished) | 2 Grunts, Harvester, Power Extractor, 2 Harvesters, Expansion, 3 Raid Camps | Fortifications then Countermeasures | Jump Pack Brute push at ~4–5 minutes |
| General UNSC | Gen + two pads, upgrade Gen, then pads, then second Gen | Leader-dependent | Tech 2 around 4 minutes |
Early pressure versus long tech
The leader tags at halowars2.com tell you the intended clock before you read a single cost. Kinsano is tagged Aggro / Flame, Forge Economy / Vehicles, Shipmaster Mobility / Tricks, and Voridus Attrition / Goo — these are the leaders built to act first. On the other side, Anders is Tech / Air, Johnson Defense / Utility, Atriox Tempo / Brute Force, Pavium Siege / Defense, and Serina Control / Freeze — leaders whose ceilings sit later.
What makes a leader early-pressure rather than late is usually a tier-1 or tier-2 power with a low cooldown or a kill trigger. Kinsano’s Heat of Battle gives Kinsano infantry, vehicles, and aircraft 5.5 seconds of +20% damage and 60% less damage taken on a kill. Voridus’s Infused Mine costs 85 supply and 85 energy on an 80-second cooldown. Decimus’s Killing Frenzy gives his units six seconds of +50% damage on a kill. By contrast, the late-game leaders hold their real buttons at higher tiers: Atriox’s Unbreakable costs 1200 supply and 800 energy and makes his whole army invulnerable for seven seconds; Shipmaster’s Mass Cloaking costs 800 supply and 200 energy for a 16-second whole-army cloak with +30% move speed and 5% leech; Serina’s Glacial Storm costs 450 supply and 450 energy; and Pavium’s Stand gives friendly buildings, turrets, and mines ten seconds of invulnerability for 425 supply and 425 energy. A leader whose best power has a five-minute cooldown and a four-figure cost is not the one dictating the first engagement.
The roster itself does not swing with the leader as much as the powers do. Both factions draw from a fixed unit list — UNSC Marines, Hellbringers, Snipers, Cyclops, Warthogs, Scorpions, Grizzlies, Wolverines, Hornets, Nightingales, and the rest; Banished Grunts, Jump Pack Brutes, Elite Rangers, Hunters, Ghosts, Choppers, Marauders, Wraiths, Reavers, Locusts, Blisterbacks, and Banshees. Each faction fields one baseline super unit, the G81 Condor Gunship for the UNSC and the Barukaza Workshop Scarab for the Banished, and Anders is the exception who can field a second, the Retriever Sentinel, through a leader power. The rest of the roster asymmetry comes through leader-power unlocks rather than faction choice: Forge’s M850 Grizzly, Kinsano’s Flame Warthog, Anders’s Protector Sentinel, Jerome’s Mastodon, Serina’s Frostraven on the UNSC-linked side of the wheel, against the Arbiter’s Phantom, Colony’s Skitterer, Pavium’s Wraith Invader, and YapYap’s Methane Wagon for the Banished.
That is the short version of the trade. Pick Forge or Atriox and you are buying a cheaper base and accepting a later spike; pick Cutter, Shipmaster, or Voridus and you are buying the map and accepting a thinner army; pick Kinsano, Decimus, or a rush Atriox and you are betting the game ends before the four-figure powers come online. The leader you choose is the clock you agree to play on.
Next read
- Halo Wars 2: 16 Leaders Ranked by Their Power Curve — the same roster sorted by early-spike, setup, and sustain power curves.
- Company of Heroes 3 — another real-time strategy game built around faction and unit asymmetry.
- Age of Empires IV — a faction-asymmetry primer for a different RTSRTS. Real-Time Strategy — a strategy game where everyone plays at the same time, continuously, instead of taking turns. roster.