Community creativity thread: New and changed guns

Games Halo Infinite
1

With Halo Infinite still a long ways away I wanted to take a break from the usual plot, or gametype conversation and talk about our imaginations. Guns are a huge part of Halo and we have all loved various weapons across the series. But let’s face it not every gun is executed very well, and there are still plenty of unique niches that can be explored with whole new weapons.

In this thread I want us to share ideas we have had for both brand new, unique weapons or changes we can make to existing weapons to either balance better with the sandbox, become useful for a change, better serve their intended purpose, or just make them cooler and more unique.

Being a Covenant fanboy I want to base my examples on five existing Covenant weapons that felt a little too similar to their UNSC counterparts, the Carbine, Needle Rifle, Plasma Rifle, Plasma Repeater, and Storm Rifle. i think with enough tweaks all five of these weapons can be made unique enough to coexist in a single game, even if that game has their UNSC and Promethean counterparts in it.

The Carbine: Radiation and damage over time.
The Carbine’s lore is probably the most unique aspect of the weapon. It is fires miniature fuel rod projectiles, which combust and leak radiation into the body, or splashing it onto the surface when fired. As a game mechanic this can translate into damage over time. Not a whole lot of damage, but a lingering effect on your Shields and health (provided you don’t score a headshot and kill instantly) for a second as a game mechanic can give the gun a unique utility. It would delay shield regeneration, something we haven’t seen in Halo since CE’s Needler. This creates a unique niche for the weapon where it gains a significant advantage in firefights that disengage briefly enough for your own Shields to come back, but not long enough for the opponent’s.

The Needle Rifle: Supercombine
The biggest drawback to the Needle Rifle in Reach was more tied to the mechanics Needles followed in that game than anything. They dissipated on Shields and would only start counting towards a supercombine when fired into a shieldless opponent. This resulted in most Needle Rifle kills just being final headshots with no sweet explosion, aside from when you used it on Brutes in which case it was hilariously overpowered. With Needles behaving normally in each subsequent game and the Needle Rifle never returning I left wondering what if? It would be so easy to balance too. Make the number of shots required for a supercombine consistent with the Needler’s (between 6 and 8 depending on the game) and make the fire rate of the gun balanced to have the slowest overall killtime across all Utility rifles. The result is a gun that trades killtime for consistency. You do not need a headshot to maximize it’s killtime, making it reliable and easy to use, but not the optimal choice for skillfully taking out other players. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be the best at something and that’s where vehicles come in. This thing can supercombine vehicles, being able to completely destroy Ghosts in (6-8) shots, Hogs in two supercombines, and tanks in 3 or 4. Finding a niche as the one utility weapon that vehicles have to fear.

The Plasma Rifle: Return to glory.
Inspired by the CE version of the Plasma Rifle. Make it accurate, with a fast projectile, a consistent fire rate, plasma stun (in fact from here on out consider Plasma Stun a mechanic on all plasma weapons), and a double damage bonus on shieldless headshots. This is the most basic rifle in the Covenant military and it should feel like that when you use it. Reliable, consistent, and accurate.

The Plasma Repeater: A power weapon?
I used the Repeater a lot in Reach, it was easily the least unique Covenant rifle in the series, it had the exact same damage values as the Assault Rifle on both shields and health, and only a slightly higher rate of fire that quickly became much slower. So it needs a lot of work. Much like the SAW came in to feel like a medium ranged power weapon for the UNSC the Plasma Repeater could fill a similar niche for the Covenant. This thing spins up fast to an insane rate of fire, but the accuracy is just awful. I’d compare it to the Halo 4 version of the Suppressor. Difference is it actually does damage, a lot of it. In the mid-close range it would reign supreme over all other non 1 hit kill weapons. But not without it’s own drawbacks. It overheads faster than anything we’ve seen before, and overheating it actually damages the player. Releasing the trigger doesn’t immediately interrupt firing, as it needs to spin down and can still overheat while doing so meaning you need to know when to bite the bullet and manually vent to avoid damage.

The Storm Rifle: A utility projectile weapon
So… The Storm Rifle… It’s kind of pointless, it plays like the Reach version of the Plasma Rifle with higher damage numbers, and honestly could have just been a Plasma Rifle. But it LOOKS like a Covenant utility weapon, with a barrel resembling a Carbine or Needle Rifle. Which is why I’m reworking it completely and making the first plasma utility weapon in the game. The Storm Rifle will fire automatically, in clustered bursts of three projectiles. Each projectile goes perfectly straight, but your shot must be lead at medium range or longer. Think Halo 3’s BR without bullet spread, and with clearly visible blue plasma projectiles. In my mind this plays as a support weapon. It lacks the ability to one hit kill on a headshot but has the ability to fully drain a shield in two bursts. After a shield drain it would take a total of 5 projectiles to the head to finish them off (10 to the body) resulting a 4-6 burst kill. It’s projectile nature would make it difficult to master compared to other utility weapons, and inconsistent as range increases so it should have a competitive killtime in one on one fights. In team fights you should expect to get mostly assists when using it, since other weapons can instant headshot, but your team will LOVE you for using it because of all the shield damage your bursts put out.

So, who else has ideas for tweaks to existing weapons, or even whole new guns?

2

I love your ideas about the Covenant weapons, especially the Carbine, Storm Rifle, and Plasma Rifle. The SR in particular stands out to me because it’s a great twist on a weapon I’ve never been a huge fan of. The idea of a mid-range weapon without headshot capabilities is fantastic and I’d love to see that type of support functionality in action.

I’m not the best at pitching balanced ideas, but I think it’d be cool to see the Gravity Hammer feature a slight ‘stun’ mechanic at the expense of having slightly slower swing and holster rates. How it would work is that after the hammer is swung, all enemies in a (very) small radius would have reduced movement speed for a short amount of time. Nothing too overpowered that would make getting kills too easy, but enough to possibly throw them off and get another swing in.

Like I said, changing up weapons isn’t my strong suit, so I dunno if that would work. I’d also like to see the BR and Carbine have scopes again. I simply cannot get used to the aim down-sights in Halo 5, and if that mechanic does return, those two weapons deserve better.

3

I’d love to see the Plasma Repeater return, but making it a heavier. Squad Automatic Weapon for Covenant forces is an awesome idea! I prefer the OG plasma rifle, it was unique and definitely had a more “alien” feel and appearance.

As far has human weapon, I’d like to see the Magnum become more of a sidearm than a utility weapon. Lower the damage, increase the rate of fire, but retain excellent accuracy.

I think that the AR should be select fire- like a high ROF 2 round burst, or switch to full auto. Similarly, the BR should have its traditional burst fire, with selectable semi-auto with a high ROF.
DMR was never really an option to me. Just never found it’s intended niche, due to the variations of the BR.

When it comes to Promethean Weapons, I think they need a huge over haul. In an aattempt to make them feel more alien and more advanced, they should all have a secondary fire mode. Maybe have the Bolt Shot be a standard pistol, but have a charge-shot function where it builds up a sort of shotgun blast, excellent for CQC. But this takes more ammo per shot.
The Suppressor should be its standard high ROF but its alternate fire mode is the more focused Light Rifle. So when you zoom in, it semi-auto, slow fire rates and higher damage. Keep the Binary Rifle, and Incineration cannon the same.
Aesthetically, I think they should all start with the Bolt Shot look, but then build upon that same base platform to be thier own weapons. Just to add an advanced, modular look to Promethean weapons.

4

> 2533274815543309;3:
> I’d love to see the Plasma Repeater return, but making it a heavier. Squad Automatic Weapon for Covenant forces is an awesome idea! I prefer the OG plasma rifle, it was unique and definitely had a more “alien” feel and appearance.
>
> As far has human weapon, I’d like to see the Magnum become more of a sidearm than a utility weapon. Lower the damage, increase the rate of fire, but retain excellent accuracy.
>
> I think that the AR should be select fire- like a high ROF 2 round burst, or switch to full auto. Similarly, the BR should have its traditional burst fire, with selectable semi-auto with a high ROF.
> DMR was never really an option to me. Just never found it’s intended niche, due to the variations of the BR.
>
> When it comes to Promethean Weapons, I think they need a huge over haul. In an aattempt to make them feel more alien and more advanced, they should all have a secondary fire mode. Maybe have the Bolt Shot be a standard pistol, but have a charge-shot function where it builds up a sort of shotgun blast, excellent for CQC. But this takes more ammo per shot.
> The Suppressor should be its standard high ROF but its alternate fire mode is the more focused Light Rifle. So when you zoom in, it semi-auto, slow fire rates and higher damage. Keep the Binary Rifle, and Incineration cannon the same.
> Aesthetically, I think they should all start with the Bolt Shot look, but then build upon that same base platform to be thier own weapons. Just to add an advanced, modular look to Promethean weapons.

If they brought Elites back as a playable species, it would be neat to see the Promethean weapons take on a different appearance when they use it. “Adapting” to their physiology.

5

Ok, this thread needs to be pinned, as it’ll certainly be very useful for the Infinite dev team.

I really like your ideas OP except the Storm Rifle. I really don’t like completely changing up the way different weapons and vehicles work, which is the main reason why I absolutely hated the changes to the Forerunner weapons from H4 to H5. While your Storm Rifle idea would be pretty neat, I’d rather it be a new weapon entirely.

When I hear “Storm Rifle”, I think of a basic weapon used by infantry that will just charge you with guns blazing. H5’s Storm Rifle fits that role rather nicely. Your idea doesn’t sound like something that would fit the name “Storm Rifle” very well. It seems like something the Covenant would give to support troops like elite and jackal rangers to soften up heavily shielded targets so the guys on the front lines can finish them off. H5’s Storm Rifle belongs on the front lines.

For Infinite, I would just give the Storm Rifle the plasma stun you suggested and make it even less accurate so it can be a counterpart to the Human SMG.

For the Carbine, I love the lingering effect you suggested. I would also make the shots explode on impact. They are fuel rods after all. This would be quite unique as the only single shot rifles in the game that shoot explosives is the Dying Star, Nornfang, and (technically) Halo 2 Beam Rifle Delta. However, I don’t believe any of these weapons will be returning in Infinite.

However, you’d kinda need to apply the same lingering effect to the Fuel Rod Cannon, which I am perfectly fine with.

Regarding the Plasma Rifle, there is one thing you said I don’t agree with, and that is accuracy. The thing doesn’t have any sights to speak of, so aiming it would certainly prove difficult. However, I would give it zero recoil since it’s basically 2 guns stacked on top of each other with a common handle in between them. The first gun is above the grip so it would provide positive vertical recoil, while the second is below the grip, providing negative vertical recoil. These 2 opposing recoils would completely cancel each other out, making a very smooth and easy to control firing.

As for the Plasma Repeater, I would remove the “spin up” and “spin down” function you suggested and replace with a simple short charge up. You charge it up so it can spool up and build up some plasma. When when it finishes charging, it’ll suddenly, and quite violently, vomit plasma at a very high rate of fire and with very little accuracy. You can keep firing for as long as you wish, but the rate of fire is continuously slowing down, eventually bottoming out at around 1 shot per second.

6

> 2533274810177460;1:
> The Carbine: Radiation and damage over time.The Carbine’s lore is probably the most unique aspect of the weapon. It is fires miniature fuel rod projectiles, which combust and leak radiation into the body, or splashing it onto the surface when fired. As a game mechanic this can translate into damage over time. Not a whole lot of damage, but a lingering effect on your Shields and health (provided you don’t score a headshot and kill instantly) for a second as a game mechanic can give the gun a unique utility. It would delay shield regeneration, something we haven’t seen in Halo since CE’s Needler. This creates a unique niche for the weapon where it gains a significant advantage in firefights that disengage briefly enough for your own Shields to come back, but not long enough for the opponent’s.
>
> The Needle Rifle: Supercombine
> The biggest drawback to the Needle Rifle in Reach was more tied to the mechanics Needles followed in that game than anything. They dissipated on Shields and would only start counting towards a supercombine when fired into a shieldless opponent. This resulted in most Needle Rifle kills just being final headshots with no sweet explosion, aside from when you used it on Brutes in which case it was hilariously overpowered. With Needles behaving normally in each subsequent game and the Needle Rifle never returning I left wondering what if? It would be so easy to balance too. Make the number of shots required for a supercombine consistent with the Needler’s (between 6 and 8 depending on the game) and make the fire rate of the gun balanced to have the slowest overall killtime across all Utility rifles. The result is a gun that trades killtime for consistency. You do not need a headshot to maximize it’s killtime, making it reliable and easy to use, but not the optimal choice for skillfully taking out other players. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be the best at something and that’s where vehicles come in. This thing can supercombine vehicles, being able to completely destroy Ghosts in (6-8) shots, Hogs in two supercombines, and tanks in 3 or 4. Finding a niche as the one utility weapon that vehicles have to fear.

I’d be curious to know what kind of timings you would have in mind by both of these weapons. By which I mean, how long would the Carbine shots prevent shields from recharging, and how fast would the firing rate of the Needle Rifle be? Because while the ideas are somewhat interesting, getting the timings wrong would make these awful weapons in different ways. For the Carbine, if the “radiation” effect lasts too long, it’s going to create stalls where a player essentially has to sit in a corner and wait for the effect to wear out, which is no fun. Consider that none of the games in the franchise has it take longer than 9 seconds from no shields to full shields (delay included). Moreover, the delay itself is no longer than 6 seconds, and really, that’s the thing you want to keep down because it’s the least interesting period of the shield recharge sequence. At least while your shields are recharging you have some indicator of how long it’s taking and you can start moving. This means that if the Carbine had this mechanic, the default shield delay would have to be really short. I’d say the delay should never take longer than 7 seconds, and total recharge time should never be more than 10. With that said, I’m personally impartial to short delay, long recharge, so I’m kind of fundamentally in conflict with this mechanic.

As for the Needle Rifle, the issue is obviously too fast rate of fire. Against infantry, it’s not that big a problem as long as there are precision weapons with a minimum kill time shorter than the Needle Rifle, but the fact that the Needle Rifle doesn’t need headshots to get minimum kill time needs to be accounted for. The bigger problem are vehicles, because vehicles are really easy to hit, and often are out in the open. With hitscan (and fast projectile) weapons vehicles are just easy targets, and even if the time to fire 6-8 shots needed to destroy a Ghost takes 7 seconds (which is really long for a precision weapon kill time), it’s not feasible for the Ghost to fight back. This means that with any reasonable rate of fire, the Needle Rifle would not just be a power weapon in BTB, it would be the power weapon against vehicles, right after Spartan Laser (heck, if it has significantly more kills in it, it would probably be more worthwhile than Spartan Laser). Anti-vehicle weapons that are hitscan (or have practically instant travel time) are something you need to be really careful with because they are easily far too safe. There should really be some danger in trying to take down a vehicle on foot.

I do have an alternative suggestion that could work either for Carbine or Needle Rifle, really. It’s a secondary fire mode that shoots a medium speed projectile (i.e., not as slow as Plasma Rifle, but not as fast as, say, a Halo 3 BR). In case of the Carbine, it’s a modification on your idea. Going with the theme, it’s an overcharge shot that doesn’t do any instantaneous shield damage, but over the next three or so seconds drains the shields to zero. If it hits an unshielded opponent, it kills instantly. On vehicles it acts like a delayed Plasma Pistol overcharge, stopping the vehicle after a couple of seconds.

For the Needle Rifle, the second fire mode one massive needle that sticks to the target and explodes after a couple of seconds with a massive kick. On players, it drains shields completely and pushes them away from the explosion. On light vehicles, it does minor damage, but mostly acts by pushing with the possibility of flipping the vehicle if it hits the right spot. No effect on heavy vehicles.

In both cases, the overcharge shot drains a significant portion of the magazine, obviously only working if said amount of shots is left in the magazine.

A completely unrelated thought is a new weapon that completely reverses what shooting does to shields. Each shot overcharges the opponent’s shields a bit, actually literally giving them more shields. But much like a Needler supercombine, after a certain amount of shots the shield become too overcharged, explode, and kill the player. The catch is that if a kill is not made, it leaves the opponent essentially with an overshield effect. Also, due to how it functions, it has the same effect on overshields as it has on normal shields, making it the anti-overshield weapon. It would also have the side effect that it lights up active camo users due to the overshield effect. if you wanted to make it really fun, it could activate the boost on Covenant vehicles for a few second, with each shot adding a bit more speed to the vehicle (vehicle dependent). You may not kill the Ghost driver, but you will send them flying to the other side of the map.

7

> 2535418288909351;2:
> I love your ideas about the Covenant weapons, especially the Carbine, Storm Rifle, and Plasma Rifle. The SR in particular stands out to me because it’s a great twist on a weapon I’ve never been a huge fan of. The idea of a mid-range weapon without headshot capabilities is fantastic and I’d love to see that type of support functionality in action.
>
> I’m not the best at pitching balanced ideas, but I think it’d be cool to see the Gravity Hammer feature a slight ‘stun’ mechanic at the expense of having slightly slower swing and holster rates. How it would work is that after the hammer is swung, all enemies in a (very) small radius would have reduced movement speed for a short amount of time. Nothing too overpowered that would make getting kills too easy, but enough to possibly throw them off and get another swing in.
>
> Like I said, changing up weapons isn’t my strong suit, so I dunno if that would work. I’d also like to see the BR and Carbine have scopes again. I simply cannot get used to the aim down-sights in Halo 5, and if that mechanic does return, those two weapons deserve better.

The Gravity Hammer stun mechanic sounds kinda useless to me because at that range, it’s already a one hit kill.

> 2533274815543309;3:
> I’d love to see the Plasma Repeater return, but making it a heavier. Squad Automatic Weapon for Covenant forces is an awesome idea! I prefer the OG plasma rifle, it was unique and definitely had a more “alien” feel and appearance.
>
> As far has human weapon, I’d like to see the Magnum become more of a sidearm than a utility weapon. Lower the damage, increase the rate of fire, but retain excellent accuracy.
>
> I think that the AR should be select fire- like a high ROF 2 round burst, or switch to full auto. Similarly, the BR should have its traditional burst fire, with selectable semi-auto with a high ROF.
> DMR was never really an option to me. Just never found it’s intended niche, due to the variations of the BR.
>
> When it comes to Promethean Weapons, I think they need a huge over haul. In an aattempt to make them feel more alien and more advanced, they should all have a secondary fire mode. Maybe have the Bolt Shot be a standard pistol, but have a charge-shot function where it builds up a sort of shotgun blast, excellent for CQC. But this takes more ammo per shot.
> The Suppressor should be its standard high ROF but its alternate fire mode is the more focused Light Rifle. So when you zoom in, it semi-auto, slow fire rates and higher damage. Keep the Binary Rifle, and Incineration cannon the same.
> Aesthetically, I think they should all start with the Bolt Shot look, but then build upon that same base platform to be thier own weapons. Just to add an advanced, modular look to Promethean weapons.

Couldn’t agree with you more on the Magnum. I absolutely hate how competitive it is in Halo 5. Halo 4 did the Magnum much better imo. It was a true secondary unlike in Halo 5 where it’s a pocket DMR.

I don’t agree with adding select fire to the Assault Rifle or Battle Rifle. Each of these weapons do such low damage per shot that it would be useless to reduce the rounds per minute, this making the feature redundant. Plus, it wouldn’t be very welcoming to newcomers, and it would put a lot of veterans off for being “cod-like”.

I’m sure you already know this but your proposal to overhaul the Boltshot to have a shotgun secondary is 100% identical to the OG Boltshot in Halo 4, and I completely agree with switching it back. Halo 5’s Boltshot is absolutely not a bolt shot in the least.

I don’t agree with your suggested “Light Rifle mode” for the Suppressor. It just doesn’t fit. By name, the Suppressor would be something designed to keep the enemy at bay rather then directly doing damage to them. And that’s exactly what it did in Halo 4. This weapon would be absolutely PERFECT for taking out massive hoards of flood infection forms rushing you. The secondary function I propose for the Suppressor (after reverting it back to Halo 4’s version) would be giving it a charge up shot when scoped in that uses 30 rounds and fires an explosive that detonates on impact and has a damage over time lingering effect. The lingering effect wouldn’t do a whole lot to shields, but would be absolutely devastating to health if the shields are down. This would be an excellent arial denial, clean up, and anti flood function that would certainly make the weapon rather unique.

Halo 5’s Incineration Cannon is a pathetic shell of what it once was in Halo 4. The primary firing mode is blatantly useless and it’s “devastating” anti vehicle role is an absolute joke. I agree with switching it to battery, but everything else about it just makes me want to stick the end of a toothpick under my toenail and kick a wall.

> 2533274810177460;4:
> > 2533274815543309;3:
> > I’d love to see the Plasma Repeater return, but making it a heavier. Squad Automatic Weapon for Covenant forces is an awesome idea! I prefer the OG plasma rifle, it was unique and definitely had a more “alien” feel and appearance.
> >
> > As far has human weapon, I’d like to see the Magnum become more of a sidearm than a utility weapon. Lower the damage, increase the rate of fire, but retain excellent accuracy.
> >
> > I think that the AR should be select fire- like a high ROF 2 round burst, or switch to full auto. Similarly, the BR should have its traditional burst fire, with selectable semi-auto with a high ROF.
> > DMR was never really an option to me. Just never found it’s intended niche, due to the variations of the BR.
> >
> > When it comes to Promethean Weapons, I think they need a huge over haul. In an aattempt to make them feel more alien and more advanced, they should all have a secondary fire mode. Maybe have the Bolt Shot be a standard pistol, but have a charge-shot function where it builds up a sort of shotgun blast, excellent for CQC. But this takes more ammo per shot.
> > The Suppressor should be its standard high ROF but its alternate fire mode is the more focused Light Rifle. So when you zoom in, it semi-auto, slow fire rates and higher damage. Keep the Binary Rifle, and Incineration cannon the same.
> > Aesthetically, I think they should all start with the Bolt Shot look, but then build upon that same base platform to be thier own weapons. Just to add an advanced, modular look to Promethean weapons.
>
> If they brought Elites back as a playable species, it would be neat to see the Promethean weapons take on a different appearance when they use it. “Adapting” to their physiology.

But they never adapted to Human physiology, so why would the adapt to elites?

8

> 2535440120215345;7:
> The Gravity Hammer stun mechanic sounds kinda useless to me because at that range, it’s already a one hit kill.

I wouldn’t necessarily call it useless, but I get what you mean. One of the upgraded gravity hammers in Halo 5 features a mechanic that pulls people in towards the wielder when swung (which mostly results in a double or triple kill, depending on how many players are within the radius). I thought that would be a good base to go off of—just with much less power, so it’d work with the stock hammer.

9

> 2535418288909351;8:
> > 2535440120215345;7:
> > The Gravity Hammer stun mechanic sounds kinda useless to me because at that range, it’s already a one hit kill.
>
> I wouldn’t necessarily call it useless, but I get what you mean. One of the upgraded gravity hammers in Halo 5 features a mechanic that pulls people in towards the wielder when swung (which mostly results in a double or triple kill, depending on how many players are within the radius). I thought that would be a good base to go off of—just with much less power, so it’d work with the stock hammer.

I see what you mean, but something like that just seems way to situational to be worth it. Grinder is only worth something because the black hole vortex is powerful enough to actually make a difference in most cases.

10

These are actually some pretty exciting ideas OP!

11

I really like the ideas OP has. I mainly want to see consistancy with any changes. The humans have all straight damage weapons. The Covenant should have damage and secondary effects, plasma and needles, as long as they are consistant effects. Plasma stuns/EMP and Needles supercombine. If they add brute specific weapons maybe they burn or explode. The forerunners should have primary and secondary firing and maybe secondary effects.

12

> 2535440120215345;7:
> > 2535418288909351;2:
> > I love your ideas about the Covenant weapons, especially the Carbine, Storm Rifle, and Plasma Rifle. The SR in particular stands out to me because it’s a great twist on a weapon I’ve never been a huge fan of. The idea of a mid-range weapon without headshot capabilities is fantastic and I’d love to see that type of support functionality in action.
> >
> > I’m not the best at pitching balanced ideas, but I think it’d be cool to see the Gravity Hammer feature a slight ‘stun’ mechanic at the expense of having slightly slower swing and holster rates. How it would work is that after the hammer is swung, all enemies in a (very) small radius would have reduced movement speed for a short amount of time. Nothing too overpowered that would make getting kills too easy, but enough to possibly throw them off and get another swing in.
> >
> > Like I said, changing up weapons isn’t my strong suit, so I dunno if that would work. I’d also like to see the BR and Carbine have scopes again. I simply cannot get used to the aim down-sights in Halo 5, and if that mechanic does return, those two weapons deserve better.
>
> The Gravity Hammer stun mechanic sounds kinda useless to me because at that range, it’s already a one hit kill.
>
>
> > 2533274815543309;3:
> > I’d love to see the Plasma Repeater return, but making it a heavier. Squad Automatic Weapon for Covenant forces is an awesome idea! I prefer the OG plasma rifle, it was unique and definitely had a more “alien” feel and appearance.
> >
> > As far has human weapon, I’d like to see the Magnum become more of a sidearm than a utility weapon. Lower the damage, increase the rate of fire, but retain excellent accuracy.
> >
> > I think that the AR should be select fire- like a high ROF 2 round burst, or switch to full auto. Similarly, the BR should have its traditional burst fire, with selectable semi-auto with a high ROF.
> > DMR was never really an option to me. Just never found it’s intended niche, due to the variations of the BR.
> >
> > When it comes to Promethean Weapons, I think they need a huge over haul. In an aattempt to make them feel more alien and more advanced, they should all have a secondary fire mode. Maybe have the Bolt Shot be a standard pistol, but have a charge-shot function where it builds up a sort of shotgun blast, excellent for CQC. But this takes more ammo per shot.
> > The Suppressor should be its standard high ROF but its alternate fire mode is the more focused Light Rifle. So when you zoom in, it semi-auto, slow fire rates and higher damage. Keep the Binary Rifle, and Incineration cannon the same.
> > Aesthetically, I think they should all start with the Bolt Shot look, but then build upon that same base platform to be thier own weapons. Just to add an advanced, modular look to Promethean weapons.
>
> Couldn’t agree with you more on the Magnum. I absolutely hate how competitive it is in Halo 5. Halo 4 did the Magnum much better imo. It was a true secondary unlike in Halo 5 where it’s a pocket DMR.
>
> I don’t agree with adding select fire to the Assault Rifle or Battle Rifle. Each of these weapons do such low damage per shot that it would be useless to reduce the rounds per minute, this making the feature redundant. Plus, it wouldn’t be very welcoming to newcomers, and it would put a lot of veterans off for being “cod-like”.
>
> I’m sure you already know this but your proposal to overhaul the Boltshot to have a shotgun secondary is 100% identical to the OG Boltshot in Halo 4, and I completely agree with switching it back. Halo 5’s Boltshot is absolutely not a bolt shot in the least.
>
> I don’t agree with your suggested “Light Rifle mode” for the Suppressor. It just doesn’t fit. By name, the Suppressor would be something designed to keep the enemy at bay rather then directly doing damage to them. And that’s exactly what it did in Halo 4. This weapon would be absolutely PERFECT for taking out massive hoards of flood infection forms rushing you. The secondary function I propose for the Suppressor (after reverting it back to Halo 4’s version) would be giving it a charge up shot when scoped in that uses 30 rounds and fires an explosive that detonates on impact and has a damage over time lingering effect. The lingering effect wouldn’t do a whole lot to shields, but would be absolutely devastating to health if the shields are down. This would be an excellent arial denial, clean up, and anti flood function that would certainly make the weapon rather unique.
>
> Halo 5’s Incineration Cannon is a pathetic shell of what it once was in Halo 4. The primary firing mode is blatantly useless and it’s “devastating” anti vehicle role is an absolute joke. I agree with switching it to battery, but everything else about it just makes me want to stick the end of a toothpick under my toenail and kick a wall.
>
>
> > 2533274810177460;4:
> > > 2533274815543309;3:
> > > I’d love to see the Plasma Repeater return, but making it a heavier. Squad Automatic Weapon for Covenant forces is an awesome idea! I prefer the OG plasma rifle, it was unique and definitely had a more “alien” feel and appearance.
> > >
> > > As far has human weapon, I’d like to see the Magnum become more of a sidearm than a utility weapon. Lower the damage, increase the rate of fire, but retain excellent accuracy.
> > >
> > > I think that the AR should be select fire- like a high ROF 2 round burst, or switch to full auto. Similarly, the BR should have its traditional burst fire, with selectable semi-auto with a high ROF.
> > > DMR was never really an option to me. Just never found it’s intended niche, due to the variations of the BR.
> > >
> > > When it comes to Promethean Weapons, I think they need a huge over haul. In an aattempt to make them feel more alien and more advanced, they should all have a secondary fire mode. Maybe have the Bolt Shot be a standard pistol, but have a charge-shot function where it builds up a sort of shotgun blast, excellent for CQC. But this takes more ammo per shot.
> > > The Suppressor should be its standard high ROF but its alternate fire mode is the more focused Light Rifle. So when you zoom in, it semi-auto, slow fire rates and higher damage. Keep the Binary Rifle, and Incineration cannon the same.
> > > Aesthetically, I think they should all start with the Bolt Shot look, but then build upon that same base platform to be thier own weapons. Just to add an advanced, modular look to Promethean weapons.
> >
> > If they brought Elites back as a playable species, it would be neat to see the Promethean weapons take on a different appearance when they use it. “Adapting” to their physiology.
>
> But they never adapted to Human physiology, so why would the adapt to elites?

Elites aren’t reclaimers while humans (or at least some) are. Bit of a stretch, but I like the idea of the adapting weapons and it’s a potential justification.

13

Absolutely love these ideas for changing these weapons. Also really like StuftRock1’s suggestions for some of the same weapons. tsassi brings up some interesting points worth reading for potential balancing reasons.

I like your balancing philosophy when it comes to the Needle Rifle but other peoples thoughts are interesting on the matter too. Either way, I can totally see it being easily the best precision weapon to use against vehicles whereas other precision weapons should generally not be considered worth using because of the ammo it’d take to down various vehicles.
And while on the topic of primary weapons VS vehicles I’d actually like to add that they should make vehicles overall harder to take down but double down on making clear certain weak spots on the vehicles that might not necessarily be easy to hit. Kinda like where they were heading with the Phaeton in Halo 5. This would probably put the kill-time of vehicles using primary weapons close to how they are in Halo 4. Some Vehicles might even need to be hit initially (sometimes on specific spots) before they start taking that ‘critical’ damage. Automatic weapons should definitely be able to take down these vehicles faster than precision weapons though just because autos won’t likely have the range or overall accuracy to always achieve this. Overall this might add some more counter-play and competitiveness to vehicles while still allowing them to feel powerful, at least in casual play.

As for my own weapon suggestions, I have several so I’ll probably need to make one more post but sense you’ve covered most of what I wanted for the Covenant weapons (my favorite assortment as well) I’ll just tackle some of the rest in this post along with a Human weapon.

  • The Brute Spiker: A Melee Focused Auto
    The Brute Spiker seems to have gotten a nice aesthetic re-design with Halo Wars 2. That said, I’d also like to see it function slightly differently from its Halo 2/3 versions.
    Overall, its role in my mind should be as an extremely effective close range auto rifle with a strong focus on melee. One of the first ways I imagine this happening is the weapon has a melee damage bonus when hitting enemies with it (seeing as, well… It has a ton of razor blades on it). As for the fire rate and clip size, I think it would actually be one of the slowest firing autos in the roster (also lowest DPS on top of that) which I believe would help balance it. Clip size, because of this, I don’t imagine being too high either and most likely the lowest magazine of all autos. The headshot damage multiplier would most likely apply to the weapon and it would be the overall fastest shoot-and-melee killing weapon in the game. With the headshot multiplier and slow fire rate you just gotta make sure your accurate to attain that fastest kill-time.

  • Gravity Hammer: Fun With Gravity
    I’d like to see some additions. Currently, in Halo 4/5 we’ve been using what I consider as the Griffball variant (or Griff-Hammer). As thats been the main purpose for having it in those games. Its a shorter sticked hammer which somewhat lacks the gravity affect of the first (longer hilted) one from Halo 3 the Chieftains used.
    In the future, I’d like to see the Gravity Hammer from Halo 4/5 continue to be used primarily for Griffball so it can be specifically tuned for that gamemode. Meanwhile, the one used by the Halo 3 Chieftains and Halo Wars 2 jump pack Brutes is created to give you an option with much more gravity. (pun entirely intended).

  • Gravity Polearm: Gravity Hammer (Pull) Variant
    You see some Brutes in Halo cutscenes and Halo Wars gameplay draw objects and aliens alike towards their Gravity Hammer. What if there was a variant you could utilize similar to this? Instead of drawing a single large target though, what you would do is hold on to the right trigger to ‘charge’ it, quickly over a few seconds or more increasing the size and force of the ‘aura’ effect emanating from the weapon whilst slowing yourself down as well from the pressure. Anyone who comes near you will feel the hammer drawing them in and if they get too close or it becomes too strong, not even their thrusters will save them (if even in the game). Once they have been drawn in right next to you they can be finished off with one blow! Sending them flying across the map! (if all goes according to plan) If they don’t happen to be right next to you when you release then hopefully you charged it enough to forcefully slam them into a wall dead from the emanated force of your Hammer. Now, the many caveats to this variant of course would be that the more you charge, the more apparent your location is if your trying to hide behind the corner for a (hopefully) unsuspecting enemy. You probably also wouldn’t want to hold on to the charge forever as it might be lethal to yourself or alternatively you’d just let go. Finally, if you trying using it like a normal Gravity Hammer you might be disappointed cause it won’t 1-shot foes right next to you due to the lack of a charge.
    Although, a Hammer variant with the ability to pull in a single target from a fair distance away would also be fun to mess with.

Anyway, there are many ways you could re-design the Gravity Hammer and as long as it makes the game more silly fun I think thats the direction it should be taken.

NEW - The Brute Pincer: A Brute Hand-Cannon and Revival of The Halo 4 Boltshot?
The Brutes just have such a fun theme and instead of bringing back the Mauler which I didn’t think entirely fit that, I came up with this new weapon replacement not only for that but primarily the old Halo 4 Boltshot. Visually it works like a hand-cannon with a clip of about 12 powerful spikes which can be rapid-fired. Despite its shots being more powerful than the magnum the spikes do have travel time. Can 1-shot headshot. Additionally, it might be interesting to have the ability to charge up all 12 spikes (only when having a full clip) as the weapon visually heats up and release them as a powerful burst, similar to the Halo 4 Boltshot. Hopefully this would be more balanced than the Boltshot was in Halo 4.
As for why I’m not reverting the Halo 5 Boltshot to Halo 4 will be discussed in a post later, as I have other plans for it.

  • Energy Sword: Running Rampant
    Keep the ADS (zoom) feature from Halo 5 but don’t allow any lunge attack unless in ADS and keep lunge distance balanced. Make the small window for countering Energy Swords with a melee relevant again like it was in Halo Reach. As for the entirely new feature I think it’d be awesome to be able to swing the sword while still being able to sprint without stopping. However, there should be no speed boost for holding the sword. Unless the competitive maps or campaign environments are really huge.

  • SAW: Spray-N-Pray
    Now, this weapon is fun but its basically just an upgraded AR more or less. My suggestion to make it still powerful but more unique while still in line with its theme would be to essentially make it a beefed up version of Halo CE’s AR and Halo 4’s Suppressor. Giving it a massive bullet cone spread but with meaningful damage and possibly a somewhat bigger magazine clip. As for how its different from the SMG, its less reliable for single targets (unless in vulnerable punching distance) and harder to control but is better for doing damage to bunched up enemies or large entities like vehicles. In fact, ‘Sawing’ through vehicles would probably become one of its best uses.

14

On to more weapons, Just focusing on Promethean ones this time.

Promethean Weapon Design Philosophy:

Make them even more unique and double down on the dual functions or firing modes of the weapons. Also, Have more of a focus on mechanics that are good against groups (especially really large groups) of enemies. As that is generally not a focus of Human or Covenant weapons. But have some weapons also hyper-focused on individual enemies. Or often the extreme side of both in one weapon! They may also do less shield damage but significant health damage which balances them out to be highly effective against Flood in particular. This would make them pair pretty well with most Covenant plasma weaponry when dealing with all sorts of threats.

Additionally, ammo could even be changed to where each individual weapon would have its own base of ammo that can’t be refilled through clips but rather from the incinerated remains of foes. The ‘reload’ animation would be somewhat comparable to when you first pick up the Forerunner weapons in Halo 4 but with additional affects to show its ‘cooling off’ like with the Covenant plasma weapons. But generally they won’t have an automatic ‘cooling’ if not fired and still have to be ‘reloaded’ like UNSC weapons. For balance, these weapons would have lower base ammo compared to UNSC/Covenant forces but for lower-power weapons ammo could be sustained for a while with careful use.

On a side note, I’m giving a initial made up flavor text (and title, like the OP) to give a better idea of what I’m trying to accomplish with the weapon, especially in relation to combating the flood as that was supposedly their original purpose, at least in the days of facing them. As I’m also assuming the Flood would be in the same game as the changes of these weapons.
Disclaimer, flavor text may or may not be lore friendly :stuck_out_tongue:

  • Boltshot: Reliable Burst Damage Handgun
    “When the Flood started deploying hoards of our infected comrades it became clear a weapon was needed to quickly take down the infected forms who could be within tentacles distance in a matter of seconds. The Boltshot proved to be the answer, even if just for a short time.”

Similar to Halo 5, release all tracking bolts in a single violent burst (with Halo 4 Boltshot shotgun-burst animation) instead of quickly in a row. These bolts go about the speed of Halo 5’s and travel as a swarm to your targeted victim for a nice chunk of damage. Can be rapid-fired with one burst a second and has enough ammo before reloading to down one spartan (because of not doing as much shield damage). Acts as a reliable weapon to quickly down single opponents at close to medium range.

My philosophy with pistol weapons is they should of course fill a certain niche but perhaps not be the strongest weapon out there and that was another one of my approaches to the changes on the Boltshot. For example, I think the Halo 5 magnum, while fun, is a bit over-tuned and out of all the existing Magnums I’d probably choose the Silenced pistol from ODST to be the standard (without ‘zoom’ but perhaps an ADS feature like in Halo 5). That said, I don’t intend for the Boltshot to be weak but rather a good burst-damage tracking weapon. In the end, making it theoretically stronger than it was in 5 but with more weaknesses.

In campaign I could see Prometheans, such as Crawlers, using this weapon sparingly. In the case of Crawlers, mostly relying on wall climbing and leaps to close the distance for a fearsome melee. Firing usually only when your within a distance that you can react or hide behind cover.

  • Suppressor: Come Out, Come Out
    “Before Flood had reached overwhelming numbers a weapon was needed to deal with an assortment of amalgamations while having the option to fire and run away simultaneously. When our numbers were higher this creation helped suppress the threat for a time.”

A tweaked version of Halo 5’s Suppressor that is reworked to function the same while maintaining powerful suppressing pressure but with more counter-play. This comes in the form of a slower base bolt-speed and fire-rate but it can still spin-up to a faster one and the bullets do a little more damage to compensate for the loss in fire-rate and speed, retaining overall the same damage as Halo 5. However, it does still have the lowest kill-time against a spartan compared to the other auto rifles. To help this, the weapon and its bolts have a wide range in which it locks on to distant opponents. As such, its aiming will kinda feel like wielding and shooting a weapon from an arcade. Especially when entering precision zoom. Its overall tracking and feel can also be compared to the Halo CE Needler. Making it a medium to long range weapon. Best used to suppress and put pressure on opponents hiding behind cover, against opponents in open areas with nowhere to take cover, or for quickly targeting weak individual enemies part of a swarm.
The slower nature of this weapon would allow for not only more counterplay in multiplayer but also making campaign runs more than bearable compared to Halo 5 as enemies using the weapon probably wouldn’t even ‘hold the trigger’ while firing and the tracking in campaign could even be changed to a bare minimum if necessary.

  • Scattershot: Can’t Run, Can’t Hide
    “When the infection became vast it was clear the small and brittle forms of the flood had to be dealt with quickly and swiftly during battle. The answer to this was the Scattershot. A weapon that could fend off swarming infection forms and various floating nuisances with ease while still being able to decimate flood ridden structures.”

Able to be rapid fired, closer to how it was in Halo 4, releasing with each shot a wide scatter of bolts that will target one enemy unless that enemy has already been selected by another bolt. If the bolt hits a wall it will automatically aggressively target a nearby enemy regardless of whether their being targeted by other bolts or not. In competitive online play this would mean you’d have to bounce projectiles on walls or the floor before you can get lethal damage on the nearby foe but they have to be within about shotgun range from where they bounce to track.
//Alternatively//
Ditch the re-targeting after bouncing off a wall mechanic for a secondary firing mode which is activated when holding on to the trigger long enough to supercharge the bolts which will increase their number by three times and when dispersed will make them rapidly ricrocket off walls at incredible speeds multiple times.

All that said, I’d still be fine if the only changes made were to revert it back to Halo 4 fire rate and slightly increase the tracking of the bullets after bouncing on a wall or floor. Akin to the Didact’s Signet variant but with overall nerfed projectile damage and speed to balance it. Just thought one of these big changes would make for a more fun and dynamic weapon, especially when fighting flood.

15

On to the rest of the Promethean weapons.

  • Lightrifle: High Value Target
    “The Flood had become too vast. Our rifle had been repurposed simply for swiftly taking out the weak points of our enemies so that maybe, just maybe we could buy enough time to escape the encroaching horror.”

A versatile weapon that when zoomed in is even more powerful and slower than Halo 5’s but when not has a fast fire-rate and fires multiple shots in a burst like Halo 4’s but with even lower damage, making that alternate fire serve the purpose of landing precision shots or eliminating weak enemies like Flood Infection Forms. It continues to have the highest zoom and most powerful shot out of the precision rifles. These changes are meant to increase its strengths while leaving it with a bigger weakness which is being kinda lackluster at medium range.

Most Prometheans would just use the weak burst fire mode of this weapon, making it a somewhat annoying pelting machine against you at times but not doing significant enough damage to be an immediate threat until out of shields. However, the Prometheans that are specifically about sniping would use the high damage zoom mode of this weapon against you and probably still have the visible laser light only for campaign.

  • Incineration Cannon: All-Purpose Flood Begone
    “What was at first used for decimating continuous waves of Flood was now relegated to clearing a path against a mass that would expand like the sea in both volume and haste.”

Maintain the two modes of fire but go back to Halo 4’s single shot before reload to balance the two tweaked modes of fire. The uncharged shot fires a single projectile this time which is visually similar and follows about the same arc before dropping to the ground. When landing it works most similarly to Halo 4’s version but does less damage and has even greater range. To kill a spartan with it they’d basically have to take a direct hit from the projectile then stay in the full duration of the expanding explosion. When fully charged and released you can direct where it goes but when it lands it explodes into a high-reaching pillar of incineration, doing more damage than ever but in a smaller more concentrated radius. This makes it one of the most powerful and versatile power weapons which can adapt between crowd control and devastating single target destruction.

Generally special Knights would carry this weapon and mostly just use from a far distance in order for you to react to either their Wraith like arcing projectile or Knight-led charged shot, depending on the given situation. I could easily see a similar version of the Halo 5 Knight carrying out this duty as a small more mobile but slightly less intimidating version of the Covenant Wraith.

  • Binary Rifle: Two of a Kind
    “The enemy could be seen stumbling all across the ground. It became necessary to clear entire armies in a single decisive moment and this weapon was the very jewel that was going to accomplish that”

Similar to Halo 5 but further hyper-focused on destroying anything in front of you. It would be a direct adaption of the Twin Jewels of Maethrillian variant, still having two small lasers side by side and two ‘shots’ before having to ‘reload’. However, after firing the shot, when your mag is previously a full mag, you can immediately press the same button to consume the second one and make both lasers laterally veer in opposite directions of each other. Has a long ‘reload’ animation. Will pierce through multiple infantry. Landing a headshot will kill an opponent almost instantly while you still need to land almost the whole duration of the shot on the body. Has an inherent but weaker version of promethean-vision when zooming in but still shows long-sight laser when zoomed to make opponents wary.
I just thought retaining the highly visible laser pointer from Halo 4 into 5 didn’t make as much sense with the changes that were made to it so I thought a fun way to ‘balance’ it would be giving a weaker promethean vision. As for the twin lasers, it just seemed too fitting not to do for the sake of the theme of the Binary Rifle while making it more unique from the existing snipers.

NEW - Fissionflayer: The Promethean Fire Starter
“Was often used in in the beginning or cleaning of a Flood outbreak. They couldn’t come back if taken apart at the atomic level…” “The Covenant marveled at its design and set out to master its manipulation of what would become future Covenant plasma weapon technology.”

Unlike the turret sized Human Flamethrower, this would be wieldable as a normal weapon in your hand. A flowing ‘energy’ would be very apparent throughout parts of the weapon and its overall shape could be compared to a cross between the Sentinel Beam and Rail Gun. and The main fire mode would allow to shoot a small stream of flame akin to the flamethrower that in itself does a very small amount of damage but will additionally put a burn affect on enemies which will do damage overtime until it disappears after a few seconds. This stream of flame travels comparatively slowly to most weapons and burns out after a medium traveled distance or will stop at hitting an enemy. Even many of the floors and walls will burn for a number of seconds which will add the burning affect on to someone if they don’t already have it. Ideally, this weapon will have a killtime similar to that of autos.
Its other firing mode is accessed through holding on to the same fire button and after a number of seconds will give you access to a charged flaming orb which will go in an arc when fired. This will do high impact damage (leaving a Spartan/Elite at low shields) and create a circular pool of fire lasting around five seconds which both damages and adds the fire affect.
In campaign I could easily see this being used by the Sentinels.

For comparison, the Human Flamethrower can only be used at short range, has a very large spread when shooting out, does overall more damage, and flames simply go through enemies.

I still have ideas on certain things but all the stuff from these 3 posts is more than enough to digest for now I’d say.

16

> 2533274810100046;14:
>

Your Forerunner weapon suggestions are certainly very interesting, although I’m not quite certain I like the tracking ability. If Infinite will have a more classic movement system, evading these tracking projectiles will be extremely difficult, which really throws off balancing.

I think I would completely ditch the tracking function and instead hyperfocus anti health and dual firing modes to make them fill niches and feel unique.

I have a bunch of ideas for just about all the Forerunner weapons and I might make a dedicated thread just for that in the next few days if OP would be willing to dedicate this thread to just covie weapons. Both subjects seem way too big to have to share a thread, as there is just so much to discuss.

17

> 2535440120215345;16:
> > 2533274810100046;14:
> >
>
> Your Forerunner weapon suggestions are certainly very interesting, although I’m not quite certain I like the tracking ability. If Infinite will have a more classic movement system, evading these tracking projectiles will be extremely difficult, which really throws off balancing.
>
> I think I would completely ditch the tracking function and instead hyperfocus anti health and dual firing modes to make them fill niches and feel unique.
>
> I have a bunch of ideas for just about all the Forerunner weapons and I might make a dedicated thread just for that in the next few days if OP would be willing to dedicate this thread to just covie weapons. Both subjects seem way too big to have to share a thread, as there is just so much to discuss.

Yeah, if there are none of the newer movement options from the past few games then having tracking on those weapons won’t make much sense. However, if they are slow enough it could still work. After all, the Needler has been in Halo since the beginning and thats debatably one of the more dangerous tracking weapons in all of Halo’s existence. I do expect at least sprinting though, especially with what looks like big environments to explore.

I agree with the anti-health + dual firing modes being the way to go with pretty much all of the Promethean weapons. It wouldn’t make me sad for them to explore more creative options for the Boltshot and Suppressor. The Needler might get a little lonely though…

Well I’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing your ideas on the weapons wherever you post them.

18

> 2533274810100046;17:
> > 2535440120215345;16:
> > > 2533274810100046;14:
> > >
> >
> > Your Forerunner weapon suggestions are certainly very interesting, although I’m not quite certain I like the tracking ability. If Infinite will have a more classic movement system, evading these tracking projectiles will be extremely difficult, which really throws off balancing.
> >
> > I think I would completely ditch the tracking function and instead hyperfocus anti health and dual firing modes to make them fill niches and feel unique.
> >
> > I have a bunch of ideas for just about all the Forerunner weapons and I might make a dedicated thread just for that in the next few days if OP would be willing to dedicate this thread to just covie weapons. Both subjects seem way too big to have to share a thread, as there is just so much to discuss.
>
> Yeah, if there are none of the newer movement options from the past few games then having tracking on those weapons won’t make much sense. However, if they are slow enough it could still work. After all, the Needler has been in Halo since the beginning and thats debatably one of the more dangerous tracking weapons in all of Halo’s existence. I do expect at least sprinting though, especially with what looks like big environments to explore.
>
> I agree with the anti-health + dual firing modes being the way to go with pretty much all of the Promethean weapons. It wouldn’t make me sad for them to explore more creative options for the Boltshot and Suppressor. The Needler might get a little lonely though…
>
> Well I’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing your ideas on the weapons wherever you post them.

I will say however that the Needler in games with classic movement was pretty bad, like in Halo 3. I don’t think movement in Infinite will be completely classic, but I’m very confident it will be closer in that direction. Tracking projectiles will be very… tricky… to balance properly, and it’s way too easy to make the weapon overpowered or underpowered, and I just don’t think it’s worth it.

I’m actually really loving my Suppressor idea I posted earlier in this thread, and I think you’ll probably really like the idea I’ve got floating around for the Binary Rifle.

19

> 2535440120215345;7:
> > 2535418288909351;2:
> > I love your ideas about the Covenant weapons, especially the Carbine, Storm Rifle, and Plasma Rifle. The SR in particular stands out to me because it’s a great twist on a weapon I’ve never been a huge fan of. The idea of a mid-range weapon without headshot capabilities is fantastic and I’d love to see that type of support functionality in action.
> >
> > I’m not the best at pitching balanced ideas, but I think it’d be cool to see the Gravity Hammer feature a slight ‘stun’ mechanic at the expense of having slightly slower swing and holster rates. How it would work is that after the hammer is swung, all enemies in a (very) small radius would have reduced movement speed for a short amount of time. Nothing too overpowered that would make getting kills too easy, but enough to possibly throw them off and get another swing in.
> >
> > Like I said, changing up weapons isn’t my strong suit, so I dunno if that would work. I’d also like to see the BR and Carbine have scopes again. I simply cannot get used to the aim down-sights in Halo 5, and if that mechanic does return, those two weapons deserve better.
>
> The Gravity Hammer stun mechanic sounds kinda useless to me because at that range, it’s already a one hit kill.
>
>
> > 2533274815543309;3:
> > I’d love to see the Plasma Repeater return, but making it a heavier. Squad Automatic Weapon for Covenant forces is an awesome idea! I prefer the OG plasma rifle, it was unique and definitely had a more “alien” feel and appearance.
> >
> > As far has human weapon, I’d like to see the Magnum become more of a sidearm than a utility weapon. Lower the damage, increase the rate of fire, but retain excellent accuracy.
> >
> > I think that the AR should be select fire- like a high ROF 2 round burst, or switch to full auto. Similarly, the BR should have its traditional burst fire, with selectable semi-auto with a high ROF.
> > DMR was never really an option to me. Just never found it’s intended niche, due to the variations of the BR.
> >
> > When it comes to Promethean Weapons, I think they need a huge over haul. In an aattempt to make them feel more alien and more advanced, they should all have a secondary fire mode. Maybe have the Bolt Shot be a standard pistol, but have a charge-shot function where it builds up a sort of shotgun blast, excellent for CQC. But this takes more ammo per shot.
> > The Suppressor should be its standard high ROF but its alternate fire mode is the more focused Light Rifle. So when you zoom in, it semi-auto, slow fire rates and higher damage. Keep the Binary Rifle, and Incineration cannon the same.
> > Aesthetically, I think they should all start with the Bolt Shot look, but then build upon that same base platform to be thier own weapons. Just to add an advanced, modular look to Promethean weapons.
>
> Couldn’t agree with you more on the Magnum. I absolutely hate how competitive it is in Halo 5. Halo 4 did the Magnum much better imo. It was a true secondary unlike in Halo 5 where it’s a pocket DMR.
>
> I don’t agree with adding select fire to the Assault Rifle or Battle Rifle. Each of these weapons do such low damage per shot that it would be useless to reduce the rounds per minute, this making the feature redundant. Plus, it wouldn’t be very welcoming to newcomers, and it would put a lot of veterans off for being “cod-like”.
>
> I’m sure you already know this but your proposal to overhaul the Boltshot to have a shotgun secondary is 100% identical to the OG Boltshot in Halo 4, and I completely agree with switching it back. Halo 5’s Boltshot is absolutely not a bolt shot in the least.
>
> I don’t agree with your suggested “Light Rifle mode” for the Suppressor. It just doesn’t fit. By name, the Suppressor would be something designed to keep the enemy at bay rather then directly doing damage to them. And that’s exactly what it did in Halo 4. This weapon would be absolutely PERFECT for taking out massive hoards of flood infection forms rushing you. The secondary function I propose for the Suppressor (after reverting it back to Halo 4’s version) would be giving it a charge up shot when scoped in that uses 30 rounds and fires an explosive that detonates on impact and has a damage over time lingering effect. The lingering effect wouldn’t do a whole lot to shields, but would be absolutely devastating to health if the shields are down. This would be an excellent arial denial, clean up, and anti flood function that would certainly make the weapon rather unique.
>
> Halo 5’s Incineration Cannon is a pathetic shell of what it once was in Halo 4. The primary firing mode is blatantly useless and it’s “devastating” anti vehicle role is an absolute joke. I agree with switching it to battery, but everything else about it just makes me want to stick the end of a toothpick under my toenail and kick a wall.
>
>
> > 2533274810177460;4:
> > > 2533274815543309;3:
> > > I’d love to see the Plasma Repeater return, but making it a heavier. Squad Automatic Weapon for Covenant forces is an awesome idea! I prefer the OG plasma rifle, it was unique and definitely had a more “alien” feel and appearance.
> > >
> > > As far has human weapon, I’d like to see the Magnum become more of a sidearm than a utility weapon. Lower the damage, increase the rate of fire, but retain excellent accuracy.
> > >
> > > I think that the AR should be select fire- like a high ROF 2 round burst, or switch to full auto. Similarly, the BR should have its traditional burst fire, with selectable semi-auto with a high ROF.
> > > DMR was never really an option to me. Just never found it’s intended niche, due to the variations of the BR.
> > >
> > > When it comes to Promethean Weapons, I think they need a huge over haul. In an aattempt to make them feel more alien and more advanced, they should all have a secondary fire mode. Maybe have the Bolt Shot be a standard pistol, but have a charge-shot function where it builds up a sort of shotgun blast, excellent for CQC. But this takes more ammo per shot.
> > > The Suppressor should be its standard high ROF but its alternate fire mode is the more focused Light Rifle. So when you zoom in, it semi-auto, slow fire rates and higher damage. Keep the Binary Rifle, and Incineration cannon the same.
> > > Aesthetically, I think they should all start with the Bolt Shot look, but then build upon that same base platform to be thier own weapons. Just to add an advanced, modular look to Promethean weapons.
> >
> > If they brought Elites back as a playable species, it would be neat to see the Promethean weapons take on a different appearance when they use it. “Adapting” to their physiology.
>
> But they never adapted to Human physiology, so why would the adapt to elites?

They did. When you first pick up a Forerunner weapon in Halo 4’s campaign it plays an animation showing the parts reconfigure to have an appropriate grip for your hands, and an appropriate size for your body. When you look at the same weapon on a Knight it is much larger, and missing the grip/trigger area because it is attached to the arm. And Boltshots/Suppressors on a Crawler take the shape of their mouths, instead of guns.