Section 2 (Continued)
6) Weaponry
The core component of any shooter is the weapons, so to that end, not giving weaponry its own section, would render a critique such as this pointless. Weapon balancing issues are always a point of contention, rarely does the community readily agree as a whole that a weapon should be altered & how to go about it, with this in mind, adjustments have been looked as objectively as possible. Before addressing any claims that have been made, we got some friends around to test each one, just to be sure the issues are real & needed to be corrected.
6A) While the Promethean weapons do look good visually (ignoring Tron 2.0 leanings), the need for a set of Promethean skinned variants of existing weapons is questionable. When you get right down to it, even the Boltshot is just a Plasma Pistol that deals direct damage (instead of EMP damage/stun) when charged up. With the vast bulk of weapon concepts that have appeared over the years in the shooter genre, admittedly, devising truly original concepts is no easy task, but it would have been nice to see a couple of ideas haven’t featured in the Halo universe before.
6B) Boltshot: The reload glitch is an issue that needs addressing & simply put, disabling reloading during charge up, firing & cooldown phases would do this. The range of the charged shot, could stand a minor reduction, if that. The bigger issue is its normal shot, at most (using a full clip), it will remove a target’s shields (the only gun unable kill with a single clip). This needs correcting, as this weapon’s charged shot is the only reason to use it in its current state.
6C) DMR: this is another major point of contention, claims its overpowered, its underpowered, its the one gun to rule them all. The performance envelop of the H4 DMR seems to mirror that of the Reach DMR (range included). Suggestions, leave it as is, if enough player call for it, maybe strip it from loadouts (& the other precision rifles along with it, to avoid similar issues being claimed).
6D) Inevitably discussing the DMR brings up the Battle Rifle versus DMR argument. Many expected this to be the big showdown, but its not. Even with a one or two shot lead on the DMR, the BR loses to the DMR 99% of the time. The reason? This is not the H3 BR, ranged accuracy has a sharper falloff, damage values are lower, firing rate is fractionally slower & while the H3 BR didn’t feature barrel climb, the H4 BR definitely does. Solution, revert the BR back to its H3 variant & eliminate barrel climb, only then will that big showdown happen.
6E) Magnum: While not as divisive as the prior topics, the Magnum too has been labelled overpowered or underpowered, depending on who you ask. The only real difference observed, comparing to its H3 & Reach incarnations, was that the accuracy over range falloff was much sharper in the last few metres of its effective range. This is a non-issue, as this is a weapon meant for CQC situations, not sniping.
6F) Assault Rifle: The only noticeable change from its H3 & Reach versions is a slight increase to its damage values (with an average to-kill deviation of two to four bullets), but this brings it in line with the Storm Rifle & Suppressor for kill times. More so, the issues people have with it, can be put down to the fact more players have likely learnt that burst fire is (mildly) more accurate than just dumping the clip.
6G) Covenant Carbine: The DMR & Light Rifle have a slight edge on the H4 CC, but this probably due to the fact it is practically the same in performance envelop to the H3 CC. With a minor boost to damage &/or firing rate, the H4 CC could be brought back in line with the other precision rifles.
6H) Needler: The number of hits needed to cause a detonation has been reduced to less than that of H3 & Reach (Reach being the highest numerically). Only suggestion, possibly increase the number of needles needed for a detonation to that of H3.
6I) Plasma Pistol: It still hands in kill times equivalent to the H3 & Reach PPs with a few minor changes (including a new charge up indicator), most notably it depletes more of its battery meter per shot.
6J) Binary Rifle: Of the sniper weapons, it is the only one that can one-shot kill with body shots (or even an opponent’s weapon/extremities). While it not a totally game breaking issue, as it is not a loadout option, one suggestion would be, reduce the one-shot kill to just the head/torso region.
6K) Scattershot: Its damage is a little more random than the shotgun & the ricochet from it can claim the life of its wielder, put simply, use with caution.
6L) Grenades: With all the claims made, we tested frags & stickies in H3, Reach, & H4, verdict; if any disparity exists, its so small, its not worthy of note. Other issues? First; grenade indicators. Yes, most modern shooters have this feature, but the sound of incoming grenades should be warning enough its time to get outta Dodge… Give an option in player settings or custom games to disable it. Second; needing the Resupply package to retrieve dead players’ grenades. HUH? This adds nothing to gameplay, it just adds to player annoyance. Solution, allow all players to grab one frag & one sticky without it, or change Resupply to do something more worthwhile & just switch back to allowing grenade recovery for all players.
6M) Flinch: What was so wrong with the descoping mechanic that this was needed? Nothing it seems, even our players who play other FPS franchises, preferred being knocked out of scope over flinch. Looking further afield, its hard to find support for flinch (but easy to find detractors of it), even in other franchises that have had the mechanic for some time. A solution to this issue would be to add in the option to choose between flinch or descope.
6N) Bullet Magnetism & Hit-Boxes: Some of the biggest causes of claims a weapon is overpowered relate directly to the bullet magnetism mechanic & the sizing of hit-boxes. The issue surfaces in the form of hits scored that, even to the casual observer, clearly should have missed the target (with longer ranges & quicker target movements, this becomes seriously apparent). Evidently, bullet magnetism isn’t being applied evenly to all weaponry & some of these, several precision weapons in particular, are gaining much higher than expected bullet magnetism. A seemingly innocuous error within the coding could be the suspect, but if an error is not the cause, some degree of reduction to bullet magnetism & hit-box sizing would be highly warranted.
6O) Weaponry Despawning: In H4, weapons despawn within 15 seconds, but seem to be able persist indefinitely if they have an observer. In Reach & H3, regardless of observers present, despawning occurs within 30 seconds. Switching back to the Reach/H3 system would pacify those who take issue with the current system & in theory at least, should free up system resources (potentially reducing lag).
but honestly, very good job on giving input, ideas and suggestions rather than mindlessly insulting the game company for their faults. Kudos to you! 