______Shield____Body____HSK_______BSK_______MTTK__Magazine__MKPM
BR___4(12)[12]__3(8)[9]__5(13)[15]__7(20)[21]__1.8s____12[36]____2
DMR__4_________3_______5_________7_________1.5s____14________2
CC____7_________5_______8_________12________1.7s____18________2
LR____5(14)[15]__3(8)[9]__5(15)[15]__8(22)[24]_1.8s____12[36]____2
LRS___3_________2_______4_________5_________1.4s____12________3
Mag___5_________3_______6_________8_________1.6s____8_________1
Bolt___10________6_______11________16________4s______10_______0
Pl.P___4__________8_______X_________12________2s______12_______1
Notes: the Plasma Pistol overheats at 12 shots when shot as fast as the game allows. It has 50 shots per battery, giving it the ability to kill 4 enemies max (6 if using ammo support upgrade).
The Bolt Shot’s and Plasma Pistol’s charge abilities are not factored into the chart.
Key:
HSK = Head Shot Kill _ BSK = Body Shot Kill _ MTTK = Minimum Time to Kill
MKPM = Maximum Kills Per Magazine _ CC = Covenant Carbine _ LR = Light Rifle
LRS = Light Rifle Scoped _ Mag = Magnum _ Bolt = Bolt Shot (no charge)
Pl.P = Plasma Pistol (no charge)
No Parenthesis/Bracket = number of times you pulled the trigger for 3-burst guns
Parenthesis = the number of bullets that actually helped for 3-burst guns
Bracket = the number of bullets actually fired for 3-burst guns; bullets in clip
Keep in mind that while the Magnum is accurate and has a 2x zoom, the Bolt Shot and Plasma Pistol have their respective charge abilities. The Plasma Pistol can easily compete with the Magnum [only] in CQC. Though, the Plasma Pistol should be a straight 3 shot to break a shield, instead of 4, then make it take 9 shots for a flesh/blood damage finisher to rebalance it.
The Bolt Shot, I feel, needs a buff on it’s single shot, but then I doubt that feeling when I remind myself of it’s charge shot. The feeling is again reinforced when I remember that the Bolt Shot has the headshot capability. Then I think “Why does it take 11 shots for a headshot kill with a 10 shot clip? Why even give it the headshot capability? I might as well only use that annoying charge shot everyone wants nerfed.” The chance that anyone will want/need to use the Bolt Shot’s weak single-fire is miniscule. It’s a sidearm so you’d think you’d use it if you run out of your clip, but the charge is the only option because single-fire sucks. I have found that the only viable use for single-fire is when the charge-shot fails to insta-kill and instead breaks the shield, allowing a headshot. Final note: the Bolt Shot’s charge shot should be patched to deal half shield depletion at it’s current max kill range and should shield break at half the current max kill range and less, insta-kill should make you [almost] hug the enemy. The single-fire should deal a 7 shot shield pop, making it an 8 shot kill weapon with the final shot being a head shot.
Light Rifle-BR comparison. The BR takes exactly 12 bullets (4 trigger pulls) to take out a shield, then afterward only one is needed for a headshot. Meaning that on the 5th trigger pull, the 14th and 15th bullets don’t matter and you could actually miss exactly 2 bullets throughout the firefight and the circumstance would still be in your favor. The Light Rifle (3-burst mode) takes exactly 14 bullets (5 trigger pulls) to take out a shield, allowing only the 15th bullet the chance to get a headshot. This means out of the 5 trigger pulls, every shot must connect for a 5 trigger pull kill. This would make the Light Rifle more skillful to use as opposed to the BR, but also makes it inferior because, as before, the BR can miss 2 bullets and still win, while the Light Rifle is forced to never miss. I don’t think this is fair and both should be patched to be equals by buffing the Light Rifle to allow it to miss twice like the BR. On select playlists for MLG (that may or may not be released), the BR should be nerfed to the level of the Light Rifle. The Light Rifle is set apart [only] for it’s ability to take the role of the BR and DMR. That doesn’t break the game and so the Light Rifle shouldn’t be kept the way it is now.
The Light Rifle’s 3-burst requires 5 trigger pulls for an optimal kill, while it’s single-fire only needs 4. This is nonsensical. I shouldn’t have to explain why, not even on Halo’s theoretical realism level. I will say that the Light Rifle’s single-fire should do bonus vehicle damage versus it’s 3-burst, though I think it’s like that right now. If a patch on this comes, 343i, be careful to have the 3-burst be weak (not too weak) compared to semi-auto (keep the damage like it is now) when dealing with vehicles.
The BR and Light Rifle (burst mode) should be buffed to allow 3 trigger pulls (9 bullets) to take out a shield to balance them out with the DMR. On MLG playlists, they should of course need 11 bullets to take out a shield. The DMR, as many people recognize, outclasses the the 3-burst of the BR and Light Rifle. It is because the DMR has the luxury to accurately pack the same punch as the BR’s and Light Rifle’s 3-burst inside only 1 bullet. Even with a BR pro versus a DMR pro, the DMR pro has the advantage because it’s one bullet and on to the next. The BR pro must accurately place his 3-burst and have his reticule constantly follow his opponent throughout the burst. It is more difficult than one would think to not have any bullets in the burst miss as opposed to 1 bullet. Not only that, the burst fire is obviously less accurate than single-fire. The DMR infringes on the BR’s and Light Rifle’s mid-range effectiveness. I know the Light Rifle is equal to the DMR in it’s zoom mode, but that’s not logical at shorter ranges. The DMR sensibly performs better than burst-fire at longer ranges because it’s semi-auto, but it should only do that. Yes, if this patch happens, the DMR will be more difficult on maps like Adrift or Haven, but that’s what maps like Ragnarok, Vortex, and Longbow are for. The DMR will still be capable of beating the BR and Light Rifle; there are some good players that can strafe properly to make BR/Light Rifle players miss some bullets. The DMR will still have it’s use. To mention, I do not think the BR or Light Rifle need their rate of fire increased. I actually think that is the worst possible idea, it’s plausible, but still worse than what I stated.
I do not use the Covenant Carbine enough to know it’s place in the weapon balance fight. If someone uses the Carbine a plenty, say your thoughts. From the chart, it looks like it needs to be patched to have 6 bullets needed to take out a shield, like in Halo 2.
If you would like to add to the previous ideas, do so. This forum was posted for a reason. Maybe a talk about the full auto assault weapons?