A Great Idea to Fix Armor Lock Without Removal

Games Other Halo
1

I already was posting on a thread on Bungie.net but I really want 343 industries to read this (if they actually read these posts).

I have been thinking about counters to armor lock and the great deal of coding that would have to be changed to fix it. What if…

Every plasma weapon pretty much instantly disabled it. Consider the current plasma weapons. Yeah, those that pretty much no one uses. Now, they can be given an actual purpose. So an armor-locker uses his ability and you, the attacker use any plasma weapon (plasma rifle, pistol, repeater, launcher, or focus rifle) and instantly burn through the shield and either deactivate it or kill the user. Plasma grenades that stick to the armor locker before armor locking should not be shed.

So any plasma weapon (including focus rifle) should be used to either burn through AL and kill the user after about two seconds of continuous fire (depending on weapon) or deactivate the ability. Also, plasma grenade sticks prior to the usage of armor lock should not be shed. This ruins potentially really lucky sticks that were coveted in the Halo series.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Hate? I’m all ears.

2

It doesn’t stop the AL-melee combo, or AL ruining splattering… but it’s an improvement. Really, any nerf to AL is welcome. This could at least mean you can combat AL noob squads.

3

I still believe the best way to nerf AL, would be to make it unable to be used if you had no sheilds. So the folk that jump in it when they start losing, can’t just sit in AL and wait for a teammate to appear.

4

The problem with your solution is, it then makes the plasma pistol (an already beast weapon) into a neccessity. Armor Lock was designed to combine overshield and the power drain. The only way to fix armor lock is to NOT change its abilities, but make it avaliable 1 time every 30 seconds, and to last only for 1.5 seconds.

Ghost wants to splatter you, you time it right (1.5 seconds is easily enough time) he dies.
But if you’re trapped in a room while the whole other team is lobbing grenades onto you, you should still die.

Rockets? yeah, you’ll survive the first rocket, but again aren’t rockets made to grant anyone an easy kill with them? The 2nd rocket would kill any armor locker

And finally, since halo 2 then sword has been nerfed time and time again. The fact that swords was a gametype in halo3, and could only be blocked by another sword, was genius. But now it’s possible to survive 2 swings from the sword. Why not make IT the only weapon to cut through armor lock. (Plasma Sword is hotter than lava, it should go through anything)

But to actually want armor lock to stop random ghost, and to stop deflecting rockets, or plasma grenades, defeats the purpose of them adding it as an ability in the first place.

5

MM will not be fixed until AL is out of small maps…

AL DOES NOT FIT in Halo. In vehicle battle, well it messes that up to…

When you let a gimmick (AL) ruin two important aspects of Halo, equal health/sheild and vehicle superiority, then you realize why some people don’t have as much fun in Reach.

Yeah, AL is a neat trick, now it needs to dissappear…

6

For all things, there is a time and a place. AL’s is not on the scrubbed list. Playlists and gametypes without AL, not a prob. Maybe a minor tweak or 2 that doesn’t nerf the ability, again, not a prob. Getting rid of AL entirely because of the strategies available to deal with it are not liked, though numerous and easily executable, a big problem.

7

I think it should be considered a power weapon, and thus you have to pick it up. That way only very few people will be able to use it at one time. Plus, it’s totally different than the rest of the Armor Abilities.

8

> I already was posting on a thread on Bungie.net but I really want 343 industries to read this (if they actually read these posts).
>
> I have been thinking about counters to armor lock and the great deal of coding that would have to be changed to fix it. What if…
>
> Every plasma weapon pretty much instantly disabled it. Consider the current plasma weapons. Yeah, those that pretty much no one uses. Now, they can be given an actual purpose. So an armor-locker uses his ability and you, the attacker use any plasma weapon (plasma rifle, pistol, repeater, launcher, or focus rifle) and instantly burn through the shield and either deactivate it or kill the user. Plasma grenades that stick to the armor locker before armor locking should not be shed.
>
> So any plasma weapon (including focus rifle) should be used to either burn through AL and kill the user after about two seconds of continuous fire (depending on weapon) or deactivate the ability. Also, plasma grenade sticks prior to the usage of armor lock should not be shed. This ruins potentially really lucky sticks that were coveted in the Halo series.
>
> Thoughts? Suggestions? Hate? I’m all ears.

Or to avoid frustration and cut your loses, just remove armor lock from the game-types load-out selection and BAM! Problem solved.

9

A friend of mine and I were thinking that since the EMP of armor locking is what effects people in close combat situations the most, why not reserve the EMP for after the player has depleted half of the full armor lock life span in one sitting?

So you would have to fully waste half of the armor lock in one go before you even get the EMP.

10

One important thing: can this be the one and only Armour Lock thread? Yes it’s an issue, but we don’t need 5000 threads on the same topic.

Now, onto my fix. The way I see it, there are four problems with AL:

AL noob squads. Here, four players go round together, each one activating AL when they’re about to die. It is impossible to kill anybody on your own as the first person just goes into AL while the other 3 clean you up. This would be fine if the game only matched teams with teams, but when randoms are being set against parties it’s not fair.

The overpowered use of AL in CQC. It’s easy for an ALer to enter AL, drain their oppoennts shields, then come out and finish them off. There is no way of knowing the person has AL unti they do this, by which time it’s too late - and anyway, even with knowledge, a whole aspect of the game - CQC combat - has been butchered as one easy, available-off-spawn tactic will win every time.

The ruination of splattering. This was one of the most fun aspects of Halo. Now you can’t try and splatter in case the person has AL, in which case they will flip your vehicle - or more likely plain blow it up - at the click of a button. This often happens even when you’ve slowed down and is hugely annoying and cheap.

People activating AL as they’re about to die, just to slow the game down and postpone the inevitable for 6 seconds. This does nothing but lead to boring waits in the middle of every kill. I mean, who wants to spend 6 seconds staring at a glowing blue guy 10 times a match? That’s a minute of your life wasted right there.

These can all be fixed like so:

An addition of a second AA, Beta Lock, with the following changes. 10-second cooldown time between each individual use. Maximum half-second activation time. No EMP on exit, no shield drain on melee. Vehicles bounce off (similar to boosting into a Shield door, only stronger) and are damaged as if they’d hit a wall. This second AA can replace AL in all playlists deemed necessary (aka all playlists).

Any objections?

11

> One important thing: can this be the one and only Armour Lock thread? Yes it’s an issue, but we don’t need 5000 threads on the same topic.
>
> Now, onto my fix. The way I see it, there are four problems with AL:
>
> AL noob squads. Here, four players go round together, each one activating AL when they’re about to die. It is impossible to kill anybody on your own as the first person just goes into AL while the other 3 clean you up. This would be fine if the game only matched teams with teams, but when randoms are being set against parties it’s not fair.
>
> The overpowered use of AL in CQC. It’s easy for an ALer to enter AL, drain their oppoennts shields, then come out and finish them off. There is no way of knowing the person has AL unti they do this, by which time it’s too late - and anyway, even with knowledge, a whole aspect of the game - CQC combat - has been butchered as one easy, available-off-spawn tactic will win every time.
>
> The ruination of splattering. This was one of the most fun aspects of Halo. Now you can’t try and splatter in case the person has AL, in which case they will flip your vehicle - or more likely plain blow it up - at the click of a button. This often happens even when you’ve slowed down and is hugely annoying and cheap.
>
> People activating AL as they’re about to die, just to slow the game down and postpone the inevitable for 6 seconds. This does nothing but lead to boring waits in the middle of every kill. I mean, who wants to spend 6 seconds staring at a glowing blue guy 10 times a match? That’s a minute of your life wasted right there.
>
> These can all be fixed like so:
>
> An addition of a second AA, Beta Lock, with the following changes. 10-second cooldown time between each individual use. Maximum half-second activation time. No EMP on exit, no shield drain on melee. Vehicles bounce off (similar to boosting into a Shield door, only stronger) and are damaged as if they’d hit a wall. This second AA can replace AL in all playlists deemed necessary (aka all playlists).
>
> Any objections?

12

Yep, AL as a p/u item I’m fine with…

Having available AL at loadout and possibley 2 -3 AL at once on a small map is a definate problem…

13

Treat AA’s as equipment in Halo 3 and all will be good.

14

Remove AAs.

15

Sorry but that is a horrible idea.

What needs to happen is it need to be shortened to 4 seconds in duration and frosting removed. EMP can stay as a defense.

16

What NEEDS to happen is that we as a group come to a CONCLUSION…a HAPPY medium…

I am against AL in Halo .

But I’m willing to give and accept it as a P/U item (i.e. overshield) so

that 343i can focus on the new Halo rather than monkey w/the actual code in Reach(TU)…(but if they want to modify AL please go right ahead LOL)

17

Great, the Bnetters are here…

AL is Fahine!

18

Yeah, they are…fine…and hopefully the more mature ones… :slight_smile:

19

I think the best way to nerf it is to remove the ability to shed Sticky grenades, remove the Frosting Affect, require full use of AL to use the EMP, and cut it’s duration in half.

It’s duration is what makes it so annoying.

These are common sense fixes that turn AL into a more skillful and a less-annoying, spammable device. People will actually start using it as a tactical device where they have to think, not a noob’s crutch.

20

Pretty long, I’d appreciate it if it was read though.

The only problem armor lock may have is frosting. I say may because I think if actual team work were being used this wouldn’t be much of a problem. Though I guess the argument is that you shouldn’t need teamwork to take down one guy.

Anyway frosting is the real problem. First, just so I understand it properly, frosting is invincibility when coming out of armor lock. Included with that is the ability to move attack and such. Unless what I’m about to describe is what frosting actually is I will be using my own definition. Which is merely being invincible without being in the crouch position. Whichever it may be I still think it needs removed.

That all said, I clearly agree with those who want frosting removed. I’ll be clear though, that’s the only major change that I feel is needed. I’d even go as far saying it is the only major change needed.

Now for my ideas. Just make it, like it should be in a gaming environment, consistent and readable. Consistent, meaning after some time you are not confused as to what to do when presented with a problem. Being readable goes with this by visually telling the player what is going on, and so helps communicate what actions should or should not be taken.

Starting with consistency, frosting needs to go, obviously. Though more specifically frosting, as I see it, needs to go. Meaning that the armor locker is only invincible during the time that they are in the crouch position. I might give a little and say they don’t need to be completely in position but, eh, I think you get it by now. This is really the only problem I feel it has. Everything I’m going to suggest further is for the possible needs it still may require for future fixes.

So readability, something it in a way has but thanks to frosting is kinda questionable. Pretty much armor lock changes color to indicate when they are, or are not, invincible. So in short, the color red would mean that they are either activating armor lock or coming out of it. More importantly it would mean that they are vulnerable, and there would be no exceptions to this. It changes blue when the locker is invincible. This would tie into the idea above about them only being invincible while in the crouch position.

Afterwards the only other changes that are needed are to its usage, recharge rate, or recharge criteria. Basically how much it is in the game. There’s the simple route which is recharge rate is slower or usage is less. Both of which are fine and much less complex as what I’m going to describe. My idea is that armor lock if used completely would need to recharge completely. Similar to hologram, but if not used completely it would basically act as it always has.

Essentially these ideas all allow armor lock to keep nearly if not all of it’s powers, but be easier to take down if needed. All that would be lost is popping in and out CQC tactics. Which could still be done, just it would be harder to do and probably unfavorable.