This took me awhile to write out and is a bit of a read, but I hope this list can spark some positive discussion for improvements to Halo 4 that can be done via the TU. I’ve been a fan of Halo since H1. It single-handedly got me to get an Xbox and captivated me with its gameplay, story, breathtaking universe and endlessly entertaining multiplayer. Here are my hopes for the TU:
A TU that properly balances the DMR/nerfs camo/makes the boltshot a required full charge time like the laser.
A true FFA playlist instead of the Mario Party “you’re too good at this, so we’re gonna make you lose by giving the bad kids more points than you” garbage that is Regicide. A ranked Lone Wolves playlist would be nice. Include classic BR slayers settings with default loadouts and fixed ordinance.
A doubles playlist and multiteam. Objective gametypes in BTB. Squad Battle and Team Snipers returning. Team Hardcore.
A patch to the scattershot that makes it have a consistent damage output and range. I’m fine with it having more range than the shotty but a being a tad weaker, but it’s currently a “lotteryshot” that randomly will get 30 foot one shot kills when used against you, but takes 4 shots point blank to pop the guy’s shields in front of you. Terrible excuse for a power weapon, it gets stomped on with regularity against the boltshot 1v1, which is a joke considering it’s a supposed “power weapon” and the boltshot is a SECONDARY.
I’d like to see the magnetism out of scope nerfed on the beam rifle a little. It’s a little TOO easy to noscope with.
A change to the binary rifle’s ability to 1sk anywhere that works like the TF2 sniper’s charge time. The visible laser scope would balance the ability to 1sk. It’d function like a clunkier version of the sniper/beam rifle when quickscoping or noscoping (and remove the lame COD random hipfire on it,) but if you scope in to hardscope, it’d charge for three seconds and be able to 1sk disintegrate enemies anywhere on the body. Maybe a chest/torso shot quickscoped would still 1sk, I dunno. It just seems really OP as it is currently.
A slight nerf to the incineration cannon’s primary splash damage, but a slight buff to the secondary bursts.
A slight buff to the Mantis’s shield strength and resistance to EMPs, as well as a longer time to overheat the chaingun. Possibly a quicker recovery from stomping too, but more vulnerability to explosives and heavy weapons like the turret/SAW/railgun/warthog gunner.
Reduced magnetism on sticky grenades. It’s maddeningly easy to deathstick people, and they seem WAY more forgiving than in previous Halos.
Reduced bloom for the suppressor to make it a viable weapon. Make the lightrifle hitscan. (seriously, it shoots LIGHT. Why the f%&# is it a projectile hit detection weapon?!)
A 4sk BR that requires all 12 bullets to hit with the last one being a headshot, and a slightly slower time in between bursts to make it viable against the DMR. Slight nerfs to the DMR’s magnetism and ROF.
Buff the carbine to a 7sk to make it a decent weapon again. Buff pulse grenades to be a usable option instead of weak firework displays.
Add the railgun and sticky detonator to dominion ordinances. Add a Covenant-themed dominion map. Buff the railgun’s tracking and splash damage a bit. Buff the sticky det’s splash damage to somewhere in between the launch version’s OP splash and the current weak version.
Buff the plasma pistol’s primary fire and slightly nerf the EMP charge effect on vehicles. Maybe make the Wheelman mod’s effect default and the new Wheelman effect to be near-immunity. You’re giving up mods like mobility or resupply for it, it should be a powerful choice for BTB seeing as you have to unlock it through a specialization.
Nerf camo’s duration and charge time and make the outline visible to PV unless the user stacks the stealth mod with it. Make the radar dots red again to compensate.
Buff the thruster pack to two uses per charge, or increase it’s strength to the campaign version so it’s actually useful. Change the way hardlight shield’s recharge mechanics work; it should start recharging your shields right after you drop it if it took long enough that it would recharge your shields, not starting the timer over again after you drop it. I understand it’s to prevent it being OP, but it already is very vulnerable to grenades and is really only worthwhile to deflect PP charge shots or rockets.
Reduced bloom on the magnum, and make it a 5sk. The 6sk magnum feels worthless considering you’re sacrificing the ability to spawn with an EMP noob combo secondary or a pocket shotgun that can 1sk. The fact that it has a 2x scope doesn’t really make up for its lack of utility in general, and it’s redundant as a cleanup weapon if you’re running dexterity for your primary. Take the scope off of the “flagnum,” and make it a 4sk.
If adding things are possible, bring back the sentinel beam and Reach pro-pipe. It’d be cool seeing the dynamic between the sticky det/pro-pipe/railgun in the sandbox. Possibly a “cannon” warthog for Halo 5 that works like a blend of the chaingun hog and rocket hog. Minor splash damage, concussive effect on target, good damage against armor and vehicles, moderately slow projectile speed (less than the rocket hog, similar to the pro-pipe’s speed,) and a ROF like the Halo 2 brute shot. Actually, yeah, make it like a Halo 2 brute shot turret on a warthog, that’d be cool. Call it a cannon warthog.
The return of the hornet/falcon. Bring back the chopper and maybe introduce the locust from Halo Wars as a mantis equivalent for the Covies. Introduce a Forerunner tank. (this was discussed in the behind the scenes stuff for Halo 3 and was supposedly a cut level from the campaign.) Make it like a larger, slower Wraith that shoots the mortar thingies the Enforcer heavy sentinels had in the Quarantine Zone level of Halo 2 with the incineration cannon’s disintegration effect and add the suppressor/red spiker thing from the Enforcer as a secondary turret, or the blue sentinel major beam.
The return of the awesome Halo 1 plasma rifle as a loadout option that’s a moderately accurate mid range automatic. MUCH better than the storm rifle in overall usability, as well as not having the visual similarity to the carbine that can cause frustration. Bring back “plasma freeze” on Covenant weapons from Halo 1.
Bring back some of the awesome maps from the series. I’d love to see a Containment remake in Halo 4, or Relic. Terminal is probably one of my all time favorites as well. A Sandtrap remake with Mammoths for bases would be a really cool addition for a spiritual successor. Possibly make it set in a snowy valley and call it “Frostbite” or something. Adding a snowfall effect would be really cool and would help balance the snipers and binary rifles. Maybe replace the sniper with a binary, and add mantises inside the mammoths. A nighttime snow map remake of Sandtrap with a full moon and starry night sky would probably become my favorite map ever, haha. Waterworks from Halo 2 would be another really cool remake to see. I think its verticality and scale would adapt well to Halo 4’s mechanics with sprinting default and PV and jetpack as abilities, and the new power weapons would play pretty well on it. Replace the rockets with railguns and add a neutral incineration cannon.
A lot of this doesn’t make much sense . I myself hope the title update actually improves the game , and does not make it into this wish list circus you’ve created .
More competitive arena-style maps. The Forge Test playlists is a great start for this, but this should have been done from the get-go. Heck, even Reach had Zealot and Countdown. Aside from Haven, there’s nothing like this to be found in Halo 4. Simplex is good, but it’s only one map. 343 need to deliver on this if the competitive community can be salvaged after the -Yoink!- Gaming/MLG fiasco.
A slight buff to the Spartan Laser. I’m not asking for the Halo 3 laser back, but Halo 4’s version could use some more oomph. It frequently manages to only damage vehicles from glancing blows, and it requires the shot to be DEAD center on people on foot, sometimes not even managing to kill then. It’s a giant red death beam, why does it only pop people’s shields sometimes? It has a longer charge time than previous versions AND it’s weaker. Pick one or the other, not both 343. I’d be fine with the current weaker version if it had the Halo 3 version’s quicker charge time.
Changes to the vehicle health system to work more like Halo 2 and 3’s. Spontaneously combusting vehicles getting plinked at by DMRs are a problem that I thought would have been fixed after Reach, but I guess not. The vehicle health “improvements” in Halo 4 are minor at best.
Active camo and custom powerup options for custom games.
The return of precision editing and zoom functionality in Monitor mode for Forge.
> Ok, like I <mark>have</mark> to say every single time, buffing other precision weapons doesn’t fix the DMR. It just makes it so you have 4 OP weapons instead of 1.
>
> And the Magnum is fine as it is. Giving it less bloom and more damage would make it a god weapon. <mark>Do you even think about your decisions?</mark>
First off, who are you, and what gives you the impression that you “have” to say your opinions as facts and act like a reigning authority on the matter? Nerfing the DMR into a toothless weapon and making it a 6sk is a terrible decision that would just make it redundant and make the lightrifle the new king of ranged combat. Balancing the other precision weapons to match up to it gives each weapon a functional niche instead of making a formerly OP weapon worthless.
And I obviously thought about my decisions, that’s why I created this thread for discussion and some recommendations from my opinions on the game. Get off your high horse and quitting making an -Yoink- of yourself.
> A lot of this doesn’t make much sense . I myself hope the title update <mark>actually improves the game , and does not make it into this wish list circus you’ve created .</mark>
Would you like to explain what you’d prefer to see, and what exactly makes my ideas a “wish list circus?” I wanted to start this thread to start some positive brainstorming, not get in bitter little arguments with people.
> > Ok, like I <mark>have</mark> to say every single time, buffing other precision weapons doesn’t fix the DMR. It just makes it so you have 4 OP weapons instead of 1.
> >
> > And the Magnum is fine as it is. Giving it less bloom and more damage would make it a god weapon. <mark>Do you even think about your decisions?</mark>
>
> First off, who are you, and what gives you the impression that you “have” to say your opinions as facts and act like a reigning authority on the matter? Nerfing the DMR into a toothless weapon and making it a 6sk is a terrible decision that would just make it redundant and make the lightrifle the new king of ranged combat. Balancing the other precision weapons to match up to it gives each weapon a functional niche instead of making a formerly OP weapon worthless.
>
> And I obviously thought about my decisions, that’s why I created this thread for discussion and some recommendations from my opinions on the game. Get off your high horse and quitting making an -Yoink!- of yourself.
See, I DO have to say it every time because you still fail to realize it: there are these things called “automatic weapons”. Shocking, right? Buffing every precision weapon around the DMR makes the automatic weapons even more useless than they already are. If only one weapon is the problem, nerf that ONE weapon. The BR, Carbine, and LightRifle are all very balanced with each other. Every time I hear a complaint about the BR, it’s usually in comparison with the DMR, not something pathetic like the Suppressor.
Also, about the Magnum. In Reach, it was intended to be a full-fledged weapon that could hold its own against the DMR and Needle Rifle. Now that we have a much fuller sandbox full of many precision weapons, the Magnum has been repurposed as a more traditional sidearm. It’s less powerful, but more accurate so you can pull off quick cleanup kills. And yeah, I honestly don’t believe you thought this part through. A 5sk Magnum with even more accuracy would be one of the most powerful weapons in the game. Think Zero Bloom Slayer from Reach…
> See, I DO have to say it every time because you still fail to realize it: there are these things called “automatic weapons”. Shocking, right? Buffing every precision weapon around the DMR makes the automatic weapons even more useless than they already are. If only one weapon is the problem, nerf that ONE weapon. The BR, Carbine, and LightRifle are all very balanced with each other. Every time I hear a complaint about the BR, it’s usually in comparison with the DMR, not something pathetic like the Suppressor.
>
> Also, about the Magnum. In Reach, it was intended to be a full-fledged weapon that could hold its own against the DMR and Needle Rifle. Now that we have a much fuller sandbox full of many precision weapons, the Magnum has been repurposed as a more traditional sidearm. It’s less powerful, but more accurate so you can pull off quick cleanup kills. And yeah, I honestly don’t believe you thought this part through. <mark>A 5sk Magnum with even more accuracy</mark> would be one of the most powerful weapons in the game.
Fine, I’ll give you that. I still think that having bloom on a precision weapon, even a sidearm, is an awful idea though. If anything, give it a larger default “zero bloom” spread instead of a huge bloom expansion that makes it either a spam cannon or a sluggishly slow ROF secondary for precision shooting. A 6sk pistol with no bloom and a larger spread would be fine.
As for the point about buffing the other precisions and the automatic weapon balance; you do realize that the automatics rip people up in a second up close, right? They have an enormous advantage in melee trades, and are powerful up to mid range combat. I mentioned reducing the suppressor’s bloom already, and I’d be willing to do the same for the AR and storm rifle along with a boltshot nerf and small BR/Carbine buff.
Automatics SHOULD be at a disadvantage overall in the sandbox; they require far less of a demand on the user’s part, and can be sprayed with minimal skill involved to get kills. They’ve always been niche weapons in the sandbox previously in the series for close range combat and a stepping stone for new players to the game’s dynamics, not fully fledged utility weapons like the BR and Carbine. There’s a reason precision weapons are used more often and are more useful; they can fire accurately over a range of more than 30 feet and require the user’s ability to actually aim their shots. They require headshots to get their optimal killtimes, and they have considerable skillgaps once the metagame elements of AAs and grenades come into play. There’s a reason you never see automatic loadout weapons in competitive settings dude.
Like you fellas I think the DMR needs to be nerfed somewhat so the a BR is able to at least challenge. I agree with the rest of the input. What you have with the DMR is a weapon that dominates the battlefield, in gthe right hands of course. I don’t mind being faced with a good sniper. but four is a challenge.
> you do realize that the automatics rip people up in a second up close, right? They have an enormous advantage in melee trades, and are powerful up to mid range combat.
You obviously don’t use them very much, as I expected. No, they don’t “rip people up” in close range. It’s more like a gentle, prolonged process of widdling them down until they give up and die. If you mean melee-range, then you’re still better off going for the double melee, regardless of weapon. They are also TERRIBLE at mid-range. The AR is the only of the three that can even attempt mid-range combat, and it’s suicide if you attempt it against a precision weapon (which literally everyone has).
> Automatics SHOULD be at a disadvantage overall in the sandbox; they require far less of a demand on the user’s part, and can be sprayed with minimal skill involved to get kills.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Again, a sign that you have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re talking from the victim end of automatics, not the user end. It takes a unique type of skill to use automatic weapons effectively. You have to time your assaults, pick your battles wisely, and keep your reticle perfectly centered on the torso because even one or two rounds that miss could mean death. Even with a perfect kill, you’re not coming out of it with shields. You also need to strafe WHILE moving forward if fighting a precision user. And, there’s no such thing as spraying in Halo. You can’t “spray” with a weapon that requires you to dump half your clip into someone.
> There’s a reason precision weapons are used more often and are more useful; they can fire accurately over a range of more than 30 feet and require the user’s ability to actually aim their shots. They require headshots to get their optimal killtimes, and they have considerable skillgaps once the metagame elements of AAs and grenades come into play. There’s a reason you never see automatic loadout weapons in competitive settings dude.
The reason precision weapons are used more is because they are simply effective. Automatic weapons frankly suck and I don’t understand how a noob would prefer a terrible weapon over something blantantly more useful. I don’t ever see noobs using anything other than a DMR, honestly. And you talk as if it’s hard to get headshots in Halo. Everyone moves at the same pace and their head is always at the same level. Plus, there’s a separate magnetism for the head as opposed to the body.
If it is possible, fix the lighting so the players do not look like they glow even if they are in the shade.
Wargames should introduce double exp playlists, classic slayer with no loudouts or sprint, and Highest skill level aside everyone’s SR.
Fix the weapon lowering mechanics and possibly introduce a machinima slayer variant that allows online players to lower their weapons. Maybe introduce playable elite models.
Theatre needs to disable kill feeds and the announcer in free camera mode.
Infection needs more customisation. eg. Changeable player colours, flood weapons, loudout traits, flood appearance etc. Maybe even make a player turn into an elite.
Bring back gametypes such as “Insane”, “Race”, “One Flag”, “Assault”, “Invasion” and “Classic Flag”.
Introduce Mark VI GEN 2 armour (Halo 4 Master Chief Armour) into multiplayer. I have no idea why they didn’t do it in the first place.
Reduce DMR hitscan/auto-aim by 20% and up BR, no-scoped light rifle, covenant carbine, and storm rifle damage by 5%.
> * Introduce Mark VI GEN 2 armour (Halo 4 Master Chief Armour) into multiplayer. I have no idea why they didn’t do it in the first place.
It’s not Mk VI GEN2, it’s still just regular Mk VI but Cortana upgraded it with nanites on the Forward Unto Dawn. It’s a suit that’s entirely unique to Master Chief.
Patch theater to have the announcer’s voice in replays.
Patch theater to fix a bug where the “whooshing” sound effect from Promethean Vision continues infinitely in theater if you paused accidentally while it was activating. The same problem happens with the boltshot’s charging sound.
Some people ask for crazy stuff. 343 just need to reduce aim assist, magnetism. Do this and the DMR is less powerful. No buffing and nerfing power to ANY GUN! BR would be OP
removing an AA isn’t going to happen so camo is going to stay the only thing that may be fix is the no jam glitch.
Boltshot overcharge should cost a whole clip and all the bullet need to hit to kill.
adding elites won’t happen so stop.
Put down logical things that actually has a possiblity of happen…Okay?
> Some people ask for crazy stuff. 343 just need to reduce aim assist, magnetism. Do this and the DMR is less powerful. No buffing and nerfing power to ANY GUN! BR would be OP
>
> removing an AA isn’t going to happen so camo is going to stay the only thing that may be fix is the no jam glitch.
>
> Boltshot overcharge should cost a whole clip and all the bullet need to hit to kill.
>
> adding elites won’t happen so stop.
>
> Put down logical things that actually has a possiblity of happen…Okay?
> Some people ask for crazy stuff. 343 just need to reduce aim assist, magnetism. Do this and the DMR is less powerful. No buffing and nerfing power to ANY GUN! BR would be OP
>
> removing an AA isn’t going to happen so camo is going to stay the only thing that may be fix is the no jam glitch.
>
> Boltshot overcharge should cost a whole clip and all the bullet need to hit to kill.
>
> <mark>adding elites won’t happen so stop.</mark>
>
> Put down logical things that actually has a possiblity of happen…Okay?
I never asked for Elites returning in multiplayer, I’m not sure where you got that from. Boltshot would be balanced if the burst fire took the entire mag and had a required full charge time like the laser does to fire. I didn’t ask for camo to be removed either, only nerfed for its large charge time and fairly quick recharge.
I had a sneaking suspicion that I should have posted this to The Halo Council or Halotracker or something. The Waypoint forums are nice on occasion, but it seems to always get derailed by kids with no reading comprehension bickering and complaining. Damn shame.