It’s just balanced. People just don’t used AR to be something else than precision rifle’s little b…ch. Seriously, these are small maps we’re having now, what do you expect?
However most important question is: shouldn’t start weapon be less effective than pick up weapons?
What I personally hated in previous Halos were BR starts - something that makes fighting for majority of weapons unnecessary. It just hurts overall diversity when vast majority of kills is done with exact same (start) weapon. Games like CoD took care of that by allowing people to choose their starts (from variety of everything). Older arena shooters (like Quake and UT) forced people to fight for any pick up weapon by giving them the least useful junk.
Halo was something in between by having BR starts - but in the end, in terms of diverstiy, it was losing to both. Maybe start weapon should be single, “unsilenced” SMG, that’s weaker than AR, current SMG and precision rifles? Even making single magnum as start weapon seems to be better option than nerfing AR - which works well (at last).
When I start the game I usually switch to the Magnum. Just me, I prefer the DMR, I think it’s the only power weapon I need as I always need to ditch the AR but currently I think balance is perfect. 343 really nailed it.
> 2533274820093296;1:
> It’s just balanced. People just don’t used AR to be something else than precision rifle’s little b…ch. Seriously, these are small maps we’re having now, what do you expect?
>
> However most important question is: shouldn’t start weapon be less effective than pick up weapons?
>
> What I personally hated in previous Halos were BR starts - something that makes fighting for majority of weapons unnecessary. It just hurts overall diversity when vast majority of kills is done with exact same (start) weapon. Games like CoD took care of that by allowing people to choose their starts (from variety of everything). Older arena shooters (like Quake and UT) forced people to fight for any pick up weapon by giving them the least useful junk.
>
> Halo was something in between by having BR starts - but in the end, in terms of diverstiy, it was losing to both. Maybe start weapon should be single, “unsilenced” SMG, that’s weaker than AR, current SMG and precision rifles? Even making single magnum as start weapon seems to be better option than nerfing AR - which works well (at last).
Its not that it is overpowered. An automatic weapon should tear someone up at close range. But it shouldn’t be as accurate as it is at mid to long range.
I also dont agree with your BR start opinion. Everyone is starting with the same weapon. Thats Balance. Power weapons would be snipers shotguns rocket launchers. The other weapons on the map are for different cases. If I start with BR and run and then get an SMG as my secondary I will tear someone up at close range, but mid range it would be a BR battle. If your a player that keeps a distance you would never need to pick up other weapons EXCEPT power weapons.
I agree that the AR isn’t OP. It can be rather powerful if you stick to the short bursts (or full auto at close range). On small maps, the AR can do very well. In terms of BR starts, I guess it depends on your play style. I really like having BR starts because I prefer the BR, but it can widen the skill gap. BR starts will benefit someone that does very well with BRs and it will place a less-skilled player at a disadvantage. As for fighting for power weapons, I’m all for it. It makes for a more interesting game.
Overall, time will tell how this plays out. I don’t think I would be upset if they kept AR starts for most playlists as it will become a power weapon fight. If they allow other start types (such as BR or custom loadouts) I would be fine with that too.
> 2739689773341111;4:
> I agree that the AR isn’t OP. It can be rather powerful if you stick to the short bursts (or full auto at close range). On small maps, the AR can do very well. In terms of BR starts, I guess it depends on your play style. I really like having BR starts because I prefer the BR, but it can widen the skill gap. BR starts will benefit someone that does very well with BRs and it will place a less-skilled player at a disadvantage. As for fighting for power weapons, I’m all for it. It makes for a more interesting game.
>
> Overall, time will tell how this plays out. I don’t think I would be upset if they kept AR starts for most playlists as it will become a power weapon fight. If they allow other start types (such as BR or custom loadouts) I would be fine with that too.
What do you think about BR starts with AR as a secondary? Just a thought.
> 2533274823629657;5:
> > 2739689773341111;4:
> > I agree that the AR isn’t OP. It can be rather powerful if you stick to the short bursts (or full auto at close range). On small maps, the AR can do very well. In terms of BR starts, I guess it depends on your play style. I really like having BR starts because I prefer the BR, but it can widen the skill gap. BR starts will benefit someone that does very well with BRs and it will place a less-skilled player at a disadvantage. As for fighting for power weapons, I’m all for it. It makes for a more interesting game.
> >
> > Overall, time will tell how this plays out. I don’t think I would be upset if they kept AR starts for most playlists as it will become a power weapon fight. If they allow other start types (such as BR or custom loadouts) I would be fine with that too.
>
>
> What do you think about BR starts with AR as a secondary? Just a thought.
I think that would be fine too; although, it could put less-skilled players at a disadvantage because of the BR. I guess that’s me playing devil’s advocate though. I know that if I had a BR start with an AR secondary, I would really enjoy it. I could use my BR skills to my advantage and use the AR when I get into close firefights or just want the full auto. On the same note, the opposing team would have BRs and could have players that are experts with the BR, players that are proficient with it (such as myself), or players that aren’t too good with it. I would agree that having a BR start would likely make fighting for power weapons less of an “issue.” I know for me, I would likely just play with the weapons I start with.
Overall, it’s all about finding a balance between having intense gameplay and balanced gameplay. Everyone is going to have their own preference. I’m just hoping that whatever 343 ends up doing, the weapon starts allow everyone to enjoy the match and have a great game.
> 2533274829723893;3:
> Its not that it is overpowered. An automatic weapon should tear someone up at close range. But it shouldn’t be as accurate as it is at mid to long range.
But we haven’t seen long range yet on current maps. From far corner of Midship AR is much less effective than precision rifles, so I’d say everything is in order. If we move it’s range even closer, all automatic weapons will become absolutely useless on BTB maps. Now there’s room for both (automatic and precision) even on smaller maps.
> 2533274829723893;3:
> I also dont agree with your BR start opinion. Everyone is starting with the same weapon. Thats Balance. Power weapons would be snipers shotguns rocket launchers. The other weapons on the map are for different cases. If I start with BR and run and then get an SMG as my secondary I will tear someone up at close range, but mid range it would be a BR battle. If your a player that keeps a distance you would never need to pick up other weapons EXCEPT power weapons.
While I don’t agree that only same starts is guarantee of balance, I understand that some people feels that it’s needed. However balancing is one thing and monotony is another. When start weapons are the most useful, it’s very rarely if people use anything else. I’m not talking just about shotgun, RL and sniper. I’m talking about majority of Halo’s weaponry - erasing these from game will make people tired of using same few (mostly 1 - start) weapons over and over again.
Sure you may pick up some automatic rifle for cqc, but you still will use BR, because it covers most of combat situations. When there are enemies coming and you’re about to meet them in closer distance, you still wouldn’t switch to automatic, because that will take precious time and there’s greater probabilty that you’ll do much better just with BR (or melee > headshot).
Magnum starts would be interesting to play since it would force you to look for AR if that’s your weapon of choice. But the balance of weapons is great as is. Once I accepted the fact that ARs wreck people at close range I started respecting it and stopped putting myself in bad situations. Sprint and thrusters are definitely not guaranteed to save your life so you have to play smarter.
I agree 100% that it isn’t OP and the weapon sandbox is finally balanced well, but i also agree that based on my playtime thus far, it seems like simply holding down the trigger is too effective and bursting isn’t re-warded enough.
If 343 could make it so when bursted, the AR feels exactly the same as it does now or preforms better or the same in combat, but makes holding down the trigger slightly less useful, I would be all for that.