Future Halo - Specializations

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Ok, I’m a little late to the party this week, but I want to talk about Halo 4’s Specializations.

Now Specializations are really actually cool, but just not how they were in H4, and I think we should discuss this, like basically tell me everything you would like to see in the newer versions of so called Specializations and what do you get, how do you get them etc, etc.

Where the hell do I begin with them, it’s just so fascinating what you could do with them.

Below are the ideas gathered so far

> “Specializations” name now called "Pursuits"
> ***********************************
>
> > 10 Pursuits, 10 levels each
>
> > Unlocks through Honor Mark system
> - Armor Set
> - Armor Set Design
> - Armor Set Material
> - Emblem foregrounds
> - Emblem Backgrounds
> - Visor Designs
> - Visor Colors
>
> > Aesthetic, and gained from both solely achievements and commendations
> - 50/50 of them will be grinding (passive), other half being skill (active)
> - 50/50 will be basic and other half will be advanced (noobs vs pros)
> - 75% complete overall in order to continue to the next Pursuit
> - Will be ‘difficult’ to fully complete each Pursuit to coax players
>
> > Each MP character (Spartan, Elite, Promethean) has it’s own:
> - Pursuits
> - Unlocks
> - Honor Marks
> - Achievs/Comms
>
> > Will have a three tier aspect for completeness for each Pursuit
> - Lacking
> - Sufficient
> - Mastered
>
> > Designed “Artistic Field” aka ‘play styles’ types for players
> > “Artistic Fields” given to players are only titles, or names exclusively
> - Dexterous… skills for being quick in combat
> - Rupture… skills for being offensive
> - Guardian… skills for being defensive
> - Strategist… skills for stationary executing
> - Sharpshooter… skills for executing from a distance
>
> After all Pursuits are mastered for a specific MP character, players are rewarded a set number (3) Armor Effects in which he/she has reached max Rank. Would be limited to a couple Armor Effects, but are really awesome. Also each MP character has a set of unique Armor Effects not found on the others.
>
> *********************
> > Pursuits can be used fully (all MP Characters) in Social playlists, while the Spartan character will only be used in Ranked playlists but still advance in it’s Pursuits

2

I would prefer they disappear and never return for balancing reasons.

Though if they are kept i hope that they do very little or stay in only a few select game modes.Away from any classic Halo playlists and not effect halo’s core.

3

I disagree with yummy, as I would not like to see specs. in any game-mode at all. Exept possibly spartan ops.

Everything else should be equal playing field and predictable mechanics, in my opinion.

4

Specializations need to be far more than just a helmet and a perk in halo 5.

Specialization should heavily define your abilities both passive and active. Players commit to one and it goes for far longer than 10 lvls and is very indepth.

5

I like what you’ve done to specializations, but I’m having trouble understanding what you mean in your last paragraph. Do you mean once you’ve completed all specializations for a character, then you unlock armor effects?

6

I would like Specializations to return as a ‘‘Prestige’’ system, that when you reach the max SR-Rank (a different rank from 1-50 ranking system) you could choose a new Specializations like the ones in Halo 4, but you just get more armors, emblems, visor colours and armor effects from them.

No perks or stuff like that. Just aesthetic stuff.

7

> > Each MP character (Spartan, Elite, <mark>Promethean</mark>) has it’s own

Stopped reading there. No way.

8

> Specializations need to be far more than just a helmet and a perk in halo 5.
>
> Specialization should heavily define your abilities both passive and active. Players commit to one and it goes for far longer than 10 lvls and is very indepth.

Not this.

> I disagree with yummy, as I would not like to see specs. in any game-mode at all. Except possibly spartan ops.
>
> Everything else should be equal playing field and predictable mechanics, in my opinion.

This.

9

> Specializations need to be far <mark>more than just a helmet</mark> and <mark>a perk</mark> in halo 5.
>
> Specialization should heavily <mark>define your abilities both passive and active</mark>. Players <mark>commit to one</mark> and it goes for far <mark>longer than 10 lvls</mark> and is <mark>very indepth</mark>.

Ok, so first off, you gained a lot more than just “a helmet” in H4, and second, are you stating you like perks? And how do should they define us passively and actively? I see where you’re getting at with just one, I actually think that’s an idea right there, and of course it should be bumped up beyond 10 levels. But this “in-depth” part you have to describe to me or I have no idea how to know what you’re thinking. It’s your job to give me that info.

> I like what you’ve done to specializations, but I’m having trouble understanding what you mean in your last paragraph. Do you mean once you’ve completed all specializations for a character, then you unlock armor effects?

Yeah, well for each MP character there are a set of specializations, and once you complete all of the specializations you reach max rank, once you reach max rank you get a set of armor effects. I’m actually rethinking about the amount of armor effects, but should just unlock a couple really awesome ones instead of being a ton of them matching up to previous specializations, which I would genuinely like to have 10 of. It’s a nice easy number to remember and have since H4 had 8 specializations.

> I would like Specializations to return as a ‘‘Prestige’’ system, that when you reach the max SR-Rank (a different rank from 1-50 ranking system) you could choose a new Specializations like the ones in Halo 4, but you just get more armors, emblems, visor colours and armor effects from them.
>
> No perks or stuff like that. Just aesthetic stuff.

Yeah, I really like this, and goes well with the first quote from this post that shootin sammy said. I think it would be ok to have, I would be fine with it to be honest. But it would be crazy long for each and very in-depth for the stuff you could get. So idk…but I can add this to the OP

It’s just that this wouldn’t really be that great simply because it might turn off a lot of people…

10

@ the squatchman

I made a thread a while back going into great detail on the matter, it is an interesting read and really gets to the roots of how we need specializations to be in halo 5

https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2783200_how-I-would-have-done-specializations.aspx

11

specializations shouldn’t return. Bring back a proper ranking system and allow people to be rewarded for their actions rather than ‘leveling up.’

12

> specializations shouldn’t return. Bring back a proper ranking system and allow people to be rewarded for their actions rather than ‘leveling up.’

im kool with this

13

> @ the squatchman
>
> I made a thread a while back going into great detail on the matter, it is an interesting read and really gets to the roots of how we need specializations to be in halo 5

I looked at it…it’s not good, it’s actually just really, really bad

> specializations shouldn’t return. Bring back a proper ranking system and <mark>allow people to be rewarded for their actions rather than ‘leveling up.’</mark>

Yeah, hmmmm, well if you read the OP than you would see that its for achievements and commendations.

14

If specializations return, this is the only criteria I’m adamant about. Nothing should alter core gameplay. Armor, effects, skins… aesthetics all great uses for working through specializations/commendations/achievements. But don’t touch how the weapons or spartans behave… If 343 didn’t learn anything from H4 and decides bring back things which alter gameplay, then they must not be unlockable. Either make it all available from day 1 (infinity settings) or don’t have it all (traditional settings).

> <mark>> All Unlocks are aesthetic, and gained from both solely achievements and commendations</mark>
>
> …
> After all specializations are completed for a specific MP character, players are rewarded a set number of Armor Effects in which he/she has reached max Rank. There would possibly be a limit to a couple armor effect, but are really awesome. Also each MP character has a set of unique Armor Effects not found on other MP characters.

And I would absolutely love to see armor effects return. They represent so much of the silly fun Halo provided before they got all canonically serious.

15

> If specializations return, this is the only criteria I’m adamant about. Nothing should alter core gameplay. Armor, effects, skins… aesthetics all great uses for working through specializations/commendations/achievements. But don’t touch how the weapons or spartans behave…

This.

16

So for the people that don’t like Specializations, why do you not like them, specifically how they were from H4?

Please, just tell me

17

> So for the people that don’t like Specializations, why do you not like them, specifically how they were from H4?
>
> Please, just tell me

For me it was the perk aspect only - the armor, emblems, and skins were all cool by me.

Perks are too much feature, too little benefit. There are dozens of combinations but I don’t know that any of them make much of a difference in the way I play the game. The only exception would be mobility, which I abuse the heck out of in KOTH and other objective games. And I can’t exactly prove it, but I strongly suspect they drastically altered core game mechanics like shield recharge, scoped accuracy, vehicle durability, and base player movement to add all these bells and whistles. So the whole game is different, and no combination of perks will give you the full experience back.

Sorry to turn that into a rant against perks, but it’s the one thing about specializations that I don’t want to return in any form.

18

> I would prefer they disappear and never return for balancing reasons.
>
> Though if they are kept i hope that they do very little or stay in only a few select game modes.Away from any classic Halo playlists and not effect halo’s core.

[REDACTED]

19

> > I would prefer they disappear and never return for balancing reasons.
> >
> > Though if they are kept i hope that they do very little or stay in only a few select game modes.Away from any classic Halo playlists and not effect halo’s core.
>
> What? How do aesthetic unlocks cause balance issues?

Oh, just to tell you, I made the post without a back up idea, and so I basically stated I want to talk about Specializations and than posted it, and than I edited it later putting my foundational idea down, and after I posted it I realized he posted before seeing how Specializations can be fixed…

20

I’m in support of commendations being linked to specializations.

If you want to be someone who specializes in something then I want you to have the commendations to prove that you’re actually good at it.