Halo 4: Return of the Assault Rifle

Games Other Halo
#1

Hi… im pretty sure that this is my first post, so yay me i suppose?

Im making this thread because i feel it needs to be made. I have been seeing a plethora of posts about people discussing the strength of the Assault Rifle, it’s positives and negatives, strengths and weakness’s, etc.

In this thread i want to clear up a few points:

AR in terms of DPS: H1>H3>Reach
Accuracy: Reach>H3>H1
Range of Use: Reach>3=1

The h1 ar was by far the most powerful true to its name Assault Rifle in the Halo series, Reach focused on making the weapon have a slow kill time to emphasize the Golden Triangle of Halo (Grenades, Melees, Weapons) and a slightly elongated range when bursted. While 3 focused on forcing players to close distance to finish opponents with the Melee.

Hopefully that makes sense to those reading this, as it is 3 in the morning here just about and it barely made sense to me lol but i digress

The main focus of this post is that i feel that the Assault Rifle is in desperate need of attention. While i am in no way, shape or form a casual player (habitually playing MLG and customs related to competitive play) even I recognize the fact that this weapon has fallen far from grace.

I feel that in order for Halo4 to bring back that classic feel, the Assault Rifle needs to be sky rocketed back into it’s form iconic glory. The weapon has started to feel more and more useless with every reiteration in the series. It is my hope that the weapon actually will rise to the occasion and be beefed up in a way that will make it a useful and viable weapon once again.

In my opinion, to hell with the Golden Triangle here. Every form of attack has it’s own niche in the halo series, but by providing a sub-par starting weapon you not only frustrate the players forced to use them, but demolish your own ideas of relative use in terms of balancing what methods are used in firefights.

I pray that the AR will match the utterly dominating sound it makes when fired, and be an honest to goodness option again for close-medium range. As it is now in the gameplays we have seen, it looks pretty weak, then again all the kill times (save for the carbine) seem pretty sub par.

So… i just wanted to put that out there. please feel free to post any ideas you have that would bring the most iconic weapon of the Halo series back to it’s former glory.

TL;DR AR needs to be revived.

#2

The AR is fine as a utility weapon. Meaning it’s the weapon you can fall back on, not rely on to achieve kills. You pick up other weapons and use them to their fullest, and if you’re in a situation where that weapon won’t help you, you can fall back on the AR to help fill that gap. It can also make you think whether you should dump the weapon in order to pickup a power weapon or another weapon that compliments your first weapon or fills up the areas it can’t achieve better control in.

#3

But even in that post you stated something that drives me crazy about its current state, “A weapon to fall back on, not rely on to achieve Kills”.

Every weapon fills a certain purpose and has a use that compliments the weapon perfectly in order to gain the user kills. First let it be said that the primary focus of weapons is to either Kill or render an enemy useless. The Assault Rifle in its current state does neither of these.

As a game that falls comfortably between the lines of an Arena Shooter, and a Squad Shooter, every weapon should feel useful and prove effective in their respective roles.

Plasma Pistol: EMP charge for decimating enemy vehicles and shredding shields for easy clean up kills: SUPPORT
Magnum: Explosive rounds used as a soft-barrier destroyer, capable of picking up head shots and melting through unshielded opponents: ASSAULT
BR: All-around utilitarian weapon capable of both dropping shields and opponents alike. Capable of medium-long range kills and completely self-servicing. : ASSAULT
DMR: Read above
Carbine: Read Above
Assault Rifle (Current Model): Slow niche-based weapon capable, but not reliant upon, dropping enemy shields. Slow to kill even unshielded opponents: … support?

The point here is that every weapon in the sandbox can be considered a fall back weapon, but they all do so while being useful in the respective ranges. The Assault Rifle in its current state does neither in my opinion. The weapon feels as if it is just a place holder, not really to be used but to be swapped as soon as a weapon that can actually be used in a beneficial way is found. It is essentially fluff, such as the Spiker in Reach.

#4

Since we now have loadouts nobody will have to start with an AR, which is great since it no longer needs to be weak to encourage map movement for better weapons. The AR should be a great weapon and should work fine within its own range. But there are different ways to do that then just increase the damage and increase bloom accordingly.

While I do believe that it should receive a slight increase in DPS, one solution could be to cause weapons like the DMR, Carbine, or Sniper rifle to bloom involuntarily. Since the DMR and sniper are long range, it would be effective in limiting their close up power, and the Carbine which is mid range could slightly bloom.

This could balance out the AR and those weapons, while having no effect on the BR. This way the BR will still be effective in close range and if all else remains unchanged, would be more balanced at the 5sk. That however, is a slightly different topic.

I would love to see the AR more effective in Halo 4, but we don’t just have to make kill times shorter. Fast kill times are great, but I don’t want everything to kill so fast that Objective based games aren’t fun anymore. It looks like 343 is doing a great job so far, and this suggestion could. But I’m sure in the end it will be a great and balanced game.

#5

> The AR is fine as a utility weapon. Meaning it’s the weapon you can fall back on, not rely on to achieve kills. You pick up other weapons and use them to their fullest, and if you’re in a situation where that weapon won’t help you, you can fall back on the AR to help fill that gap. It can also make you think whether you should dump the weapon in order to pickup a power weapon or another weapon that compliments your first weapon or fills up the areas it can’t achieve better control in.

Ugh. I hate this mindset. If it’s a primary weapon in the loadouts, there is no reason it shouldn’t be just as effective as the other weapons.

#6

> Ugh. I hate this mindset. If it’s a primary weapon in the loadouts, there is no reason it shouldn’t be just as effective as the other weapons.

My view EXACTLY

#7

Yea they need to put more power to it especially since I think its -Yoink!- in Halo 4

#8

> The AR is fine as a utility weapon. Meaning it’s the weapon you can fall back on, not rely on to achieve kills. You pick up other weapons and use them to their fullest, and if you’re in a situation where that weapon won’t help you, you can fall back on the AR to help fill that gap. It can also make you think whether you should dump the weapon in order to pickup a power weapon or another weapon that compliments your first weapon or fills up the areas it can’t achieve better control in.

It shouldn’t be that way. Any gun is a great gun to fall back on when you are in trouble or run out of ammo and need to swap to another gun.

If the Assault Rifle is only meant for that, then its a problem. Especially if it is supposed to be treated as a PRIMARY weapon, instead of a SECONDARY weapon.

#9

> > The AR is fine as a utility weapon. Meaning it’s the weapon you can fall back on, not rely on to achieve kills. You pick up other weapons and use them to their fullest, and if you’re in a situation where that weapon won’t help you, you can fall back on the AR to help fill that gap. It can also make you think whether you should dump the weapon in order to pickup a power weapon or another weapon that compliments your first weapon or fills up the areas it can’t achieve better control in.
>
> Ugh. I hate this mindset. If it’s a primary weapon in the loadouts, there is no reason it shouldn’t be just as effective as the other weapons.

It’s for the sake of resource control. Say, if everyone spawned with a BR and a shotgun, what possible reason is there for us to go explore the rest of the map? None. So by making our default primary weapon utterly useless, it forces us to go explore, learn weapon spawns, and develop new strategies. Something as simple as making your starting weapon suck can have a huge impact on how you play with the rest of the sandbox.

And this isn’t exactly exclusive to Halo. Quake doesn’t start you off with the rail gun for a reason…

#10

> > The AR is fine as a utility weapon. Meaning it’s the weapon you can fall back on, not rely on to achieve kills. You pick up other weapons and use them to their fullest, and if you’re in a situation where that weapon won’t help you, you can fall back on the AR to help fill that gap. It can also make you think whether you should dump the weapon in order to pickup a power weapon or another weapon that compliments your first weapon or fills up the areas it can’t achieve better control in.
>
> Ugh. I hate this mindset. If it’s a primary weapon in the loadouts, there is no reason it shouldn’t be just as effective as the other weapons.

It is just as effective as other weapons, you just need to learn the other weapons weakness and exploit it with the AR that doesn’t really have as strong weakness as those other weapons. If your opponent is using a close range weapon then you can use the AR at medium or long range where that short range weapon can’t keep up. If you have the Plasma Pistol and can use it effectively at short range then your opponent can beat you by getting the Shotgun and beating you at short range. Knowing your opponent has the shotgun, obviously trying to take him out at short range with the PP will most likely result in losing, with the AR equipped you have the option of engaging him at medium range where he will be at a disadvantage.

But that’s what it currently is in Reach (if it was perfectly balanced). Since Halo 4 is now doing custom loadouts then the AR will need to have the bloom and damage changed to be more appropriate for whatever it is they want. If they want it to be a short range niche weapon then they’ll need to increase the bloom rate as well as the damage. If they want to keep it as a utility weapon then they’ll need to either buff the damage slightly or decrease the bloom rate. Probably doesn’t really matter since they’re getting rid of health.

#11

Needs to be buffed closer to CE’s kill time, and also burst fire.

#12

> > > The AR is fine as a utility weapon. Meaning it’s the weapon you can fall back on, not rely on to achieve kills. You pick up other weapons and use them to their fullest, and if you’re in a situation where that weapon won’t help you, you can fall back on the AR to help fill that gap. It can also make you think whether you should dump the weapon in order to pickup a power weapon or another weapon that compliments your first weapon or fills up the areas it can’t achieve better control in.
> >
> > Ugh. I hate this mindset. If it’s a primary weapon in the loadouts, there is no reason it shouldn’t be just as effective as the other weapons.
>
> It’s for the sake of resource control. Say, if everyone spawned with a BR and a shotgun, what possible reason is there for us to go explore the rest of the map? None. So by making our default primary weapon utterly useless, it forces us to go explore, learn weapon spawns, and develop new strategies. Something as simple as making your starting weapon suck can have a huge impact on how you play with the rest of the sandbox.
>
> And this isn’t exactly exclusive to Halo. Quake doesn’t start you off with the rail gun for a reason…

Rocket Launcher… Sniper Rifle…Grenades…more Shotguns…ammo.

Most people spawn with the BR, or DMR in Reach, already. If the problem is that the guns you start with are perfectly fine, the weapons on the ground needs to be BETTER than what you spawn with, while still maintaining a need of skill(more than power weapons at most, but less than the weapons you start). This keeps the idea of weapons on the ground being a power up by being an actual upgrade to your current weapon set.

#13

Hopefully the AR is decent come release. It will be one of my Primary Weapons since I prefer to play a Support rather than a Main Slayer.
Also the AA That Regens Shields if it’s Real, I’ve got my Medic Loadout already picked out.

Loved the AR in Reach, so good with it and decent burst mid-way crossed the map really pissed off snipers and others with DMRs.

#14

> > > > The AR is fine as a utility weapon. Meaning it’s the weapon you can fall back on, not rely on to achieve kills. You pick up other weapons and use them to their fullest, and if you’re in a situation where that weapon won’t help you, you can fall back on the AR to help fill that gap. It can also make you think whether you should dump the weapon in order to pickup a power weapon or another weapon that compliments your first weapon or fills up the areas it can’t achieve better control in.
> > >
> > > Ugh. I hate this mindset. If it’s a primary weapon in the loadouts, there is no reason it shouldn’t be just as effective as the other weapons.
> >
> > It’s for the sake of resource control. Say, if everyone spawned with a BR and a shotgun, what possible reason is there for us to go explore the rest of the map? None. So by making our default primary weapon utterly useless, it forces us to go explore, learn weapon spawns, and develop new strategies. Something as simple as making your starting weapon suck can have a huge impact on how you play with the rest of the sandbox.
> >
> > And this isn’t exactly exclusive to Halo. Quake doesn’t start you off with the rail gun for a reason…
>
> Rocket Launcher… Sniper Rifle…Grenades…more Shotguns…ammo.
>
> Most people spawn with the BR, or DMR in Reach, already. If the problem is that the guns you start with are perfectly fine, the weapons on the ground needs to be BETTER than what you spawn with, while still maintaining a need of skill(more than power weapons at most, but less than the weapons you start). This keeps the idea of weapons on the ground being a power up by being an actual upgrade to your current weapon set.

Really? When did default slayer start including DMRs in your loadout? Only in Pro Slayer you say?

I don’t get what you’re complaining about. We basically said the same thing: we need a crappy starting weapon.

#15

All I know is that the AR in Halo 4 looks and sounds -Yoink!-, and I can’t wait to use it! I don’t care if it doesn’t measure up to the other primary load out weapons. The AR has always been my favourite Halo gun!

#16

the AR is fine as is. its a weapon ment to complament other things. AR+melee. AR+grenade etc etc. the only reason why it was so prevalent in CE is because there was no precision weapon. you had a sniper and a side arm. now with more of a variety in our sandbox its role has been better suited by others. so its not that its gotten worse. its more like everythings gotten better.

#17

With the loadout system, even the automatics can’t afford to be bad this time around. If they are, then there would be no point offering choice to begin with if Halo 4 came down to Carbine/BR/DMR.

The old way was that you had bunch of meh weapons ditched for utility and left anything that wasn’t a power weapon to die slowly in the corner. This cannot work anymore, the automatics (including the AR) are going to have to be useful alongside the scoped weaponry. After all, 343 seems to be sending the message that they want players to use their own play style anyways. That doesn’t work when one style rules the others. Slippery slope that is in regards to balance.

Unless everyone enjoys having weapons with the same quality of the Reach Spiker and the extreme bloom of the Plasma Repeater.

#18

> With the loadout system, even the automatics can’t afford to be bad this time around. If they are, then there would be no point offering choice to begin with if Halo 4 came down to Carbine/BR/DMR.
>
>
> The old way was that you had bunch of meh weapons ditched for utility and left anything that wasn’t a power weapon to die slowly in the corner. This cannot work anymore, the automatics (including the AR) are going to have to be useful alongside the scoped weaponry. After all, 343 seems to be sending the message that they want players to use their own play style anyways. That doesn’t work when one style rules the others. Slippery slop that is in regards to balance.
>
> Unless everyone enjoys having weapons with the same quality of the Reach Spiker and the extreme bloom of the Plasma Repeater.

This guy gets it.

Ugh, Reach automatics. Horrible memories…

#19

> All I know is that the AR in Halo 4 looks and sounds -Yoink!-, and I can’t wait to use it! I don’t care if it doesn’t measure up to the other primary load out weapons. The AR has always been my favourite Halo gun!

Completely agree with you, same here.

I can’t wait to get my hands on it in MP!

#20

What those two above oxoxx said ^

To shut people up about how the AR is a “spawn weapon”, why don’t we just allow players to pick one of the Primaries for free to use when starting out?