Hello all, I’m new to the forums but a veteran of the franchise, having been an avid Halo fan since CE and a having played all online Halo multiplayers extensively. I’m not MLG pro but I’m fairly decent, having had a 43 in Lone Wolves and a 40 in Doubles in 3. Credentials established, I’d like to think you won’t see this as a crybaby rager post but rather constructive criticism on what they could do to improve Halo 4. Now, I don’t dislike Halo 4 at all, I think it’s great, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some things that could be cleaned up and improved upon. Hear me out and discuss this topic like a sir. These are all only suggestions based on my playtime over the past week.
- Loadout Balance/Promotion of Variation
The DMR is dominating the slowly forming metagame of Halo 4, as all precision weapons have. I’d like to change this to promote varied play rather than facing 4 guys with DMR’s the whole time. Some changes I would suggest; *ALL “X SHOT KILL” REFERENCES ARE ASSUMING HEADSHOTS
DMR- Its awesome, leave it the way it is.
BR- Make it a 4 burst kill ie. all 3 shots from 4 bursts must connect (this part is key, as hitting the opponent with all 3 bullets from the burst can be challenging at times), with the 4th being a headshot. In comparison to the DMR, it has set-in-stone spread and vertical recoil making it inferior at a range, which is fine. I think 343 intended for the DMR to excel at ranged combat and the BR at mid range. That’s fine with me, but as it stands the DMR is just as effective, if not more, than the BR at all ranges. I love my BR. Return it to its former glory.
Carbine- Its just bad. 8 shot kill is ridiculous even coupled with the insane fire rate its just too inconsistent and difficult for even the best of players. 6 shot kill seems more balanced, maybe give it lower ammo capacity to compensate depending on how effective it becomes at a 6 shot kill.
Light Rifle- An odd gun that I’m slowly getting used to and starting to like. It’s a 5 shot kill unscoped, and 4 shot kill if at least 1 shot is while it’s scoped. This gives it a weird niche in the meta, and I don’t think it needs changed right now besides maybe a slight firing rate increase since it doesn’t have hitscan.
- Automatic Weapons
While I don’t want a spray n’ pray game, I’d still like them to be competitive. As of now, you almost have to be within shotgun range for automatics to beat precision weapons.
Assault Rifle- The best of the 3 imo, it has a fair bloom and decent clip and damage. Maybe give it a bit tighter spread but this one is ok as is.
Storm Rifle- The way I see this weapon is the Spray + Beatdown weapon, since its energy based so it knocks out shields faster, which followed up with a melee is an instagib. However, its really not that good, I see maybe 5% of the people I play using it. I’ve tried it and had mild success a few times, but it just doesn’t have that “oomph” to finish someone off before it overheats, leading to lots of frustrating deaths and assists. Increasing the time it takes for the crosshair to full bloom would do wonders, allowing you to effectively dispatch an opponent before it overheats.
Suppressor- Most akin to the SMG, has a very high fire rate. The SMG was bad in Halo 3 and the Suppressor is only slightly better. Within 1.5 sec of fire its at full bloom spraying shots everywhere but at the enemy, meaning you’re better off double meleeing than trying to score a kill with this. Again, reducing the bloom a tiny bit and increasing the damage a tiny bit, in conjunction, could make this thing a powerhouse on dense maps.
For automatic weapons overall- Every precision weapon has the ability to score 2 kills on full shield opponents with one clip, assuming your shots are accurate, before you have to reload. Automatics, however, are lucky to get you 1 with a full clip. I’d like to see a clip increasing Support Package introduced. This would cater to automatics more and give them an edge over precision weapons in close quarters. Also, a unique suggestion is giving players wielding an automatic a slight speed boost, maybe 10-15% that does NOT stack with the Speed Boost ordnance drop, to help with the follow-up beatdown. Automatics are severely outclassed by precision weapons at all ranges except melee range.
- Secondary Weapons
Magnum- Well balanced and all around decent secondary for most loadouts. This ones fine.
Plasma Pistol- Anti-vehicle weapon of choice, its only use, but I don’t want noob combo back, leave this alone too.
Boltshot- Essentially, a shotgun. Its very powerful when used correctly, an easy balance change is to make the overcharge use up the whole clip, meaning less overcharges and a forced reload.
- Armor Abilities
I don’t think there’s much wrong here, but to improve everyone’s quality of gameplay there are some things that could be tweaked.
Thruster Pack - The lamest Armor Ability, you emit a purple fart and scoot maybe 2-3 feet in any direction. You can pretty much Sprint out of any situation you can Thruster Pack out of, making this a very lackluster choice when there are things like Promethean Vision or Jetpack to compete with. Just take it out and give us Evade back, it was awesome and useful, this is a very poor substitute.
Promethean Vision - An amazing choice that most people use, and for good reason. Getting the jump on someone in Halo makes your odds of winning a gun fight much much higher. I think the main problem here is that the Stealth Support Package hasn’t been unlocked for most players, much like Heartbeat Sensors and Turtle Beaches were insane in the first days of CoD before everyone got Dead Silence/Ninja. I’d give it a while before we nerf this until more people have the opportunity to get Stealth.
Active Camo - The #1 rage inducing Armor Ability. Nothing is fun about getting sniped by an invisible guy across the map, or getting shotgunned by an invisible guy in a corridor. Also, it allows you to get the first 1 or 2 shots on someone which nearly guarantees you a victory in any gunfight unless you drop the ball hard after the initial opener. Make it an ordnance drop like Overshield/Speed Boost/Damage Boost, and return it to it’s Halo 3 counterpart, you get the weird invisible-ish jelly effect until you shoot or are shot. This also promotes the use of Promethean Vision even more, and coupled with Stealth can make you damn near impossible to find.
Hardlight Shield - Very useful defensively when playing with a coordinated team who can get your back while you retreat with it. Only complaint is the delay of action after using it, making people just run up to you and wait to get a beatdown once it’s over. Allow players to react once it expires.
Autosentry - Meh is a compliment when talking about this thing. Not only are you incredibly vulnerable while deploying it, it is the easiest thing in the world to destroy. Maybe give it a weak shield or put in higher in the air so random grenades don’t blow it up. Its weakness couple with its long cooldown make it a contender to Thruster Pack as the most useless Armor Ability. I don’t want to see this guy soloing people by any means, but a tiny buff wouldn’t hurt
TL;DR- -Yoink-