In Halo 3, Bungie introduced Equipment, the precursor to Armor Abilities. They spawned on the map, and when picked up, could be used only once before you needed to pick another one up. Reach replaced these with Armor Abilities, which you spawned with instead of picking up, and which could be used multiple times.
Since equipment spawns on the map instead of in loadouts, it keeps every player equal at spawn, but can only be used once. Armor abilities spawn with you and can be used multiple times so the player doesn’t need to worry about wasting their one time use equipment, but requires the existence of loadouts.
Which method would you prefer to see in Halo 5’s Multiplayer?
I would like AA’s to stick around, but as map spawns. That way certain abilities only appear on certain maps, and only a certain amount of players can have them at a time.
It would make AA’s more of a dynamically controlled part of the game. Instead of the pure chaos of not knowing what to expect, you will be aware that there are x AA’s on the map, and that someone on their team has this one, or that one, and then you can be ready for it.
All abilities should be map pick-ups, operation would depend on the ability in question. Some abilities work best if they are player activated and can be used indefinitely until the player dies, some may require fuel, some may be required to be activated when picked up and last for a limited time (like power-ups). Between the original power-ups, equipment added in Halo 3, and Armor Abilities added in Reach, there is no reason to hinder their potential by trying to fit everything in the same mold.
Also: Why Equipment is Bad