Edit: I would like to point out that this is NOT an arguement for Assault Rifle starts, it is an arguement about making the Battle Rifle more balanced compared to other precision weapons.
Battle Rifle starts have been on the beta for only a day and we’re already in a firestorm of whether or not we should start with BRs. Those who are for it argue that the BR has always been the top gun of Halo, and that it rewards players who aim for the head rather than spray and pray with the AR. Others say that having everyone start with the BR makes most of the weapons on the map obsolete and overall makes the game boring. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I think there may be a solution that doesn’t involve re-balancing all of the other weapons.
What makes the BR so good is that it fires 3-round bursts that hit its target instantly, a hitscan weapon. You can divide Halo’s weapons into 2 catagories: Hitscan and Projectile. Hitscan weapons, as I’ve said, hit the target at the same instant the weapon is fired, like the Sniper Rifle. Projective weapons, on the other hand, have a travel time and speed, and can be dodged, depending on how fast it is. A good example is the Rocket Launcher.
Now, back to the Battle Rifle. Right now its a hitscan weapon, as it was in almost all Halo games, almost. The one game were it wasn’t was Halo 3. Back then, the BR’s rounds still traveled very quickly, to the point of where you may not even notice that it was a projectile weapon. However, if you tried to shoot someone across the map with it, only some of your shots would actually connect with your target. If you go into theater mode you can see the rounds of the BR traveling if you slow the film down enough.
If you were playing on a map like High Ground, you could probably still hit your target without much trouble. But if you were on a bigger map, like Standoff, you wouldn’t be able to accurately shoot at a guy who was all the way at the other base, unless they were AFK. In this case, you would have to either get closer to your target or grab a Sniper Rifle.
If we made the BR in Halo 5 a projectile weapon, as it was in Halo 3, it would still be an excellent weapon at mid-range, but it wouldn’t be able to shut out the other weapons designed for long range combat, like the DMR. I think that this would be a positive change that would keep the BR as a popular weapon, but at the same time make it so that it doesn’t literally shut out all of the other weapons. Its also worth mentioning that, since the BR fires in bursts instead of single shots, its easier to hit your target.