Automatics Headshot Multiplier

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Before I start, I want to say that this isn’t my idea. I’ve seen it in a couple different places, but have never seen a thread for it.

The basic concept is simple:
Heads are a major target for marksman weapons in all gametypes. Automatics turn into spray-and-pray weapons that have turned into a weapon that the trigger just gets held until the bolt locks to the rear. Adding a reward for aimed fire would encourage players to fire controlled bursts to maximize their efficiency.

The AR is actually capable of hitting targets from a distance, but at moderate ranges you could pump rounds into a players face with patience and controlled pulsing of the trigger. Up close, aiming center mass would still be more effective since more of your rounds will hit the target than if you were aiming at a small, bobbing head. It wouldn’t take away from the weapon’s up close game, but would enhance it’s mid-field game.

The damage increase shouldn’t be more than x1.5 damage (possibly x2 if the base damage is low enough and it works well in play testing.). I propose something more akin to a x1.25 increase in damage. Effectively, every four shots count as five. With an automatic (especially one with a higher RoF), that is an impressive increase in damage that doesn’t knock the weapon out of balance with other firearms.

Another idea is damage scaling based on range to target. Accurate automatic fire from a farther distance could do closer to x1.5 (or even x2) damage to a player, whereas the closer they get, the less the boost. Maybe even have it so a muzzle-to-face scenario has the default x1 damage. On the flip side of that, you could reward accurate shots at close quarters with a damage boost, and maintain a low or non-existent multiplier at moderate ranges.

For those that are concerned with the potential damage increase this would cause, I have another suggestion. Energy shields are capable of absorbing massive amounts of energy before it even reaches the shielded individual. That being said, you still feel every shot. Human weapons have, traditionally, excelled at taking down unshielded enemies while Covenant weapons are more effective at stripping shields. To further secure them within this niche, human automatic weapon headshot damage could be dulled or countered by energy shields. Covenant automatics could have increased power to strip shields when they hit make hits on the head, but once they hit flesh and blood, they do considerably less. With Covenant automatics, they should still maintain a very low multiplier to headshots since it is still a projectile striking a head, but it should be very low so as to not steel from the human weapons’ sandbox. For Forerunner automatic weapons, I propose a steady, mediocre multiplier somewhere between Human unshielded damage and Covenant shielded damage since they seem to be the balanced class that maintains equal damage to both the shielded and unshielded.

What do you guys think? Any ways you can think of to improve upon these ideas? Is there a different way that you would implement them? Discuss!

2

Honestly I could be okay with it but im not sure how well it could work with a Halo game (more like fanbase)

Itd be a cool addition

3

It really just needs to be on a case by case basis as far as multipliers go. Auto weapons just need to have some life brought back into them.

Pretty much all the auto weapons in H2/H3/Reach/H4 perform identically. They are all close range only spray and pray weapons with high spread.

We need to bring back weapons(or mechanics) like the CE plasma rifle which had a headshot multiplier, plasma stun, and decent accuracy in addition to plasma damage.

Or bring in some scopes ala the ODST automag.

Auto weapons desperately need diversity.

4

No doubt that automatics need diversity. However, if 343i were to take the route of headshot multipliers, I’d only want them to be in effect when shields are down for the sake of keeping logic and canon in place. However, that could essentially be turning automatics into precision rifles with spread which would be a big problem for precision rifle users and cause a lack of diversity.

I personally feel that decreasing the spread of some automatic weapons like the AR and introducing scoped automatics weapons like the ODST SMG would be a much better route to take.

5

> It really just needs to be on a <mark>case by case basis</mark> as far as multipliers go. Auto weapons just need to have some life brought back into them.
>
> Pretty much all the auto weapons in H2/H3/Reach/H4 perform identically. They are all close range only spray and pray weapons with high spread.
>
> We need to bring back weapons(or mechanics) like the CE plasma rifle which had a headshot multiplier, plasma stun, and decent accuracy in addition to plasma damage.
>
> Or bring in some scopes ala the ODST automag.
>
> <mark>Auto weapons desperately need diversity.</mark>

I completely agree. A gun like the M7 SMG or the M6 auto pistols from SA would require a much different tuning than, say, an AR or Storm Rifle. Both sets have different niches that would require different tuning to optimize them within their engagement ranges.

H4 had a decent variety, but with the possible implementation of the MA5K, automatics will need a little something extra to set them apart from each other. How does an MA5D differ from an MA5K? What does one do well that the other doesn’t? What if you square up a storm rifle and an AR? Which does what better and why? The multipliers I’m suggesting are merely one way to diversify the weapons in the sandbox and to make them more unique and concrete than ever before.

6

I could see it working, but I could also see a whiplash like no other come from it. I want nothing more than the inclusion of a huge amount of weapons, but not all of them should end up in multiplayer for… obvious reasons. Overall if they left weapons to Forge, Customs and maybe some social playlists, I could see this idea working marvelously~

7

Headshot multipliers on automtics is a great concept in other games, such as Mass Effect, since it adds some much needed variety to the rather stale automatic weapons. However, Mass Effect is a game that doesn’t have any PvP multiplayer, so there’s no need to balance automatics vs precision weapons for a competitive environent in that particular game.

For Halo, I’m not too too certain how it would work. On one hand, giving automatics a headshot multiplier would arguably render them more skillful, but that would take away from the spar n’ pray nature of the weapons. Furthermore, it might render precision weapons a bit more useless, as an automatic user could quickly take out an enemy’s shields while spraying, and then finish them off with a headshot.

8

Based on the merit that the spread of automatic weapons cannot really be controlled due to no ADS function, scoring headshot multipliers would be pretty random.

And we all know the story behind random by now.

9

If you apply a headshot multiplier to the Assault Rifle you essentially have a weapon that is only moderately different than a Battle Rifle, consider you’re going to be forced to burst fire for any amount of accuracy. Just saying. Though I’d also prefer this weapon to the Battle Rifle, as it would function the same at medium range and have the added versatility of being spammed at close range.

Most solutions to make automatics more skillful that I see involve making the automatic…well…not automatic (I.e. most of them involve slowing down your fire rate). I’d be more interested in making automatics skillful.

10

I personally think Automatics fill there niche just fine they are meant as close quarter weapons… always have been. though I would definitely welcome the scoped SMG back into the game with open arms.

but on topic. Automatics are fine as is, and the skill required to use them, i would argue is some times more than that of a precision weapon, especially at range. But the skill required to use a weapon and the effectiveness of said weapon is dependent on when and where they are used

all this being said. yes i think that automatic weapons should be headshot capable after the shields have been downed. but it should take 2 or three shots considering spartan armor even without shielding is designed to block the light weight rounds of an automatic weapon from penetrating.

11

[duplicate post please disregard]

12

Head shot damage multipliers are an absolute must if they’re ever gonna be in the same league as the precision weapons in terms of skill and power IMO.

This needs to happen for a multitude of reasons and a lot of them have been mentioned already.

A big one for me is that the lack of them takes away their dominance in close range. If an un-shielded BR user and an un-shielded AR user were to walk around a corner into a CQC confrontation the BR user will win because they have the advantage of getting a head shot. Despite the fact that the AR should have the advantage in this situation because CQC is part of it’s niche, it doesn’t and there’s no way for the AR user to counter the BR user other than luck. The automatics are the close range rifles out of the primary rifle trio but they’re getting beaten in close range and there’s nothing they can do about while the BR and CC are retaining their dominance in medium range and the DMR and LR are retaining their dominance in long range, the weapons aren’t being treated equally according to their niches and it’s a major problem in the balance of the weapons. If the AR had a head shot multiplier it will have the advantage that it deserves and we’ll have a much more balanced load out system and sand box.

Now while the automatics will probably need adjustments to their spread, bloom and blah, blah, blah in order for this all to work the main point is that if it’s all done correctly at the end of the day we’ll have automatics that are more powerful, more fun, more skillful and are in the same league as the precision weapons where they belong.

This being included in Halo 5 is right up there with playable Elites, CQB armor and UNSC flying vehicles. It’s just gotta happen and I’ll be sorely disappointed if it don’t.

13

Headshot damage multiplier is something I’m absolutely for as it would bring some much needed skill and flexibility to using automatic weapons. As of right now automatics are nothing more than close range weapons that take little skill to use and therefore don’t really have much importance in gameplay. Giving them a headshot bonus would mean that a player with good aim could do at least some damage at mid-range, and be at least somewhat of a danger to a precision weapon user.

I also propose that at a minimal rate of fire, the automatics should be extremely accurate. At long range this would mean that even though a precision weapon is much more likely to win an encounter, the automatic weapon can still deal some damage, and especially prevent the precision weapon user from scoping-in. (I assume de-scope will return.)

I think Covenant weapons, having naturally slower projectiles, could very well have a higher headshot multiplier than UNSC weapons. Although, I don’t think it really helps too much because plasma weapons get really difficult to use very fast with increasing range.

I don’t agree with increasing damage with range. The damage output of an automatic weapon naturally decreases with distance as the player has to decrease their rate of fire. The amount of spread with respect to the rate of fire decides how much damage output the weapon has at certain range, so increasing the damage of individual bullets seems like an obsolete control measure.

14

Yeah, going by ballistics, it would make sense that they do more damage up close. I was thinking of it more as a reward for aimed fire at a distance. Logically, they would do more up close than far away…

I’m actually shocked that so many people are open to this idea, rather than shutting it out. I was half-expecting a firing squad to kick in my door xD Thanks for the feedback and constructive criticism, y’all!

15

I would support an automatic headshot multiplayer. Automatic weapons have been ignored in recent Halo games in favour of precision weapons and it is about time they got some love.

There should be unique effects for automatics, like plasma stun or a suppression mechanic. Something to actually give them a chance against most precision weapons.

16

> I would support an automatic headshot multiplayer. Automatic weapons have been ignored in recent Halo games in favour of precision weapons and it is about time they got some love.
>
> There should be unique effects for automatics, like plasma stun or a suppression mechanic. Something to actually give them a chance against most precision weapons.

I agree with you about precision weapons. I myself favor the DMR. They have become the dominant category What balance is there when the scales are tilted?

I disagree with a battlefield-esque suppression mechanic. Having your character’s breathing pick up, or having just the slightest edge of your screen grow a little warped from an adrenal boost would be okay, but anything further would change gameplay into something it never was. Having your Spartan flinch from arm and head shots, and slow from leg hits, would be another interesting mechanic… But, alas, that is for another discussion.

17

The Autos have their niche what is needed however in Mp and campaign is an Auto that can Zoom and be useful. A weapon weaker than the Ar but stronger than the smg with accuracy enough to use at mid/long range (so as long as its zoomed)

18

> > I would support an automatic headshot multiplayer. Automatic weapons have been ignored in recent Halo games in favour of precision weapons and it is about time they got some love.
> >
> > There should be unique effects for automatics, like plasma stun or a suppression mechanic. Something to actually give them a chance against most precision weapons.
>
> I agree with you about precision weapons. I myself favor the DMR. They have become the dominant category What balance is there when the scales are tilted?
>
> I disagree with a battlefield-esque suppression mechanic. Having your character’s breathing pick up, or having just the slightest edge of your screen grow a little warped from an adrenal boost would be okay, but anything further would change gameplay into something it never was. <mark>Having your Spartan flinch from arm and head shots, and slow from leg hits, would be another interesting mechanic…</mark> But, alas, that is for another discussion.

That is sort of what I meant by suppression.

I haven’t played any Battlefield game since Bad Company 2 so I didn’t know they had a similar mechanic.

19

> > > I would support an automatic headshot multiplayer. Automatic weapons have been ignored in recent Halo games in favour of precision weapons and it is about time they got some love.
> > >
> > > There should be unique effects for automatics, like plasma stun or a suppression mechanic. Something to actually give them a chance against most precision weapons.
> >
> > I agree with you about precision weapons. I myself favor the DMR. They have become the dominant category What balance is there when the scales are tilted?
> >
> > I disagree with a battlefield-esque suppression mechanic. Having your character’s breathing pick up, or having just the slightest edge of your screen grow a little warped from an adrenal boost would be okay, but anything further would change gameplay into something it never was. <mark>Having your Spartan flinch from arm and head shots, and slow from leg hits, would be another interesting mechanic…</mark> But, alas, that is for another discussion.
>
> That is sort of what I meant by suppression.
>
> I haven’t played any Battlefield game since Bad Company 2 so I didn’t know they had a similar mechanic.

All they have is your screen gets really blurry and the color drains from it. It’s actually pretty annoying, but it fits in with Battlefield’s massive warfare.

20

> All they have is your screen gets really blurry and the color drains from it. It’s actually pretty annoying, but it fits in with Battlefield’s massive warfare.

Ah right. No I meant more of a noticable slowing effect when under fire from an automatic.