Hello. This time I want to talk about the balance in Halo 5: Guardians.
I think that while all weapons were useful, accurate and powerful in the past, now they are overshadowed by one weapon: the Magnum. The weapons that were similar to it (BR, DMR, even carbine, that was balanced with each other) were nerfed until the point that the magnum has a faster rate of fire (maybe paired with the carbine), making it easier to get headshots (because as soon as you shoot once and fail, you can shoot again), has more possibilities of range (because it is designed for mid and short range, unlike the other guns that are now for only one range, for example the DMR is now only for long range) and is more accurate due to its instant shoot and its small reticle. It sounds right because you need a powerful weapon to spawn, but what’s the point of looking for another weapons in the map then? Where is the exploration? Where is the variety? Not only that, the Assault Rifle is a spawn weapon too, and is currently more difficult too use (more bloom and recoil, and it is also less accurate), but less powerful than it.
In my opinion, there are two ways of fixing this problem:
- We could make the magnum a 6 shoot weapon, reduce the ammunition or decrease its fire rate a bit. I think this is the best option because you keep the balance of the rest of the sandbox and the weapons like you are used to.
- We could also return to the previous status of the game of the weapon tuning. I don’t like this one because it is like removing all changes as if the work of 343 employees were useless, and people wanted some weapons nerfed in the past.
I think the rest of the sandbox is quite balanced, only the SMG is now worse than the Assault Rifle, which is a spawn weapon (you need to have a reason to go for the SMG). Let’s discuss.
It’s hard for me to separate the related-but-different problems of weapon balancing and over-all weapon usability. As far as balancing goes, I think you’ve hit two solid points directly on the head. Somebody at 343 (probably one of the “pros”) talked the team into making the pistol the go-to utility weapon of this game, and the result is a gun which, in the right hands, completely dominates. Sadly those hands are not my hands, but I can still respect the idea behind making a gun difficult to use even though I don’t agree with it. Which brings me to the second point. Every gun in this game is difficult to use, particularly to aim. Faster moving targets make the problem worse. I don’t know if other people perceive this problem the way I do, but I often wonder why there are so few people left playing this game. It’s one possibility. And so the question of balancing seems to me like an afterthought. Do I really care if one unusable gun seems balanced in comparison to some other unusable gun? They’re both still unusable.
At any rate, I think there’s a point where developers start over-thinking their weapon tuning, and I think that when you’re making changes to a gun based on its performance with a small percentage of your already small population, then you’ve hit that point. The question they need to ask when tuning a gun is, “Will this change make the weapon more useful to the average player,” and not, “Will this change widen the skill gap between mid- and high-Onyx players?”
> 2535420025135189;1:
> - We could also return to the previous status of the game of the weapon tuning. I don’t like this one because it is like removing all changes as if the work of 343 employees were useless, and people wanted some weapons nerfed in the past.
Or it could be seen as a learning experience.
I think most of the changes weren’t as big as most are making it. The only ones I haven’t really liked is the H5BR, which I have never really liked any ways. It’s a weapon I feel they never got quite right. Also I don’t like the fuel rod nerf, it’s splash damage is too low, basically now if it’s not a direct hit it’s essentially a total miss. As far as the pistol yeah it’s now the main utility weapon so to speak but Halo has kinda always had that. First it was the pistol, then it was the BR, and now it’s the pistol again. But other weapons are still viable weapons. I think it’s just frustrating for some to have to adapt to new changes, especially late in a games life.
I will say the H5BR was growing on me a bit the last time I was grinding some FFA but it sure didn’t feel right still.
In my opinion all the weapons are fine where they are with the exception of the BR. If it’s range was extended to a bit past the magnums range, then I would be happy with how all the weapons perform
> 2533274794684102;5:
> In my opinion all the weapons are fine where they are with the exception of the BR. If it’s range was extended to a bit past the magnums range, then I would be happy with how all the weapons perform
I think another option is to reduce the Magnum’s range and damage outside of its effective range. As it stands, the thing has INSANE bullet magnetism and has laser accuracy that landing a 5-shot kill is possible.
> 2535429593088083;6:
> > 2533274794684102;5:
> > In my opinion all the weapons are fine where they are with the exception of the BR. If it’s range was extended to a bit past the magnums range, then I would be happy with how all the weapons perform
>
> I think another option is to reduce the Magnum’s range and damage outside of its effective range. As it stands, the thing has INSANE bullet magnetism and has laser accuracy that landing a 5-shot kill is possible.
I think this one may be the best option, it is a pistol so the bullets should get a bit lost in long range, currently they go straight and have infinite range. I still think that it should have a bit slower fire rate.
> 2533274816788253;4:
> I think most of the changes weren’t as big as most are making it. The only ones I haven’t really liked is the H5BR, which I have never really liked any ways. It’s a weapon I feel they never got quite right. Also I don’t like the fuel rod nerf, it’s splash damage is too low, basically now if it’s not a direct hit it’s essentially a total miss. As far as the pistol yeah it’s now the main utility weapon so to speak but Halo has kinda always had that. First it was the pistol, then it was the BR, and now it’s the pistol again. But other weapons are still viable weapons. I think it’s just frustrating for some to have to adapt to new changes, especially late in a games life.
>
> I will say the H5BR was growing on me a bit the last time I was grinding some FFA but it sure didn’t feel right still.
I agree with the fuel rod. And talking about the utility weapon, you’re telling the truth, but before the weapon tuning it was still the main weapon while being balanced so people had a reason to look for another guns but could survive with the pistol. It only needs a bit slower fire rate or a decreased range, like a user said.
Sorry to disappoint you OP, but 343 said they’re done doing any kind of weapon changes like what you’re suggesting.
> 2727626560040591;9:
> Sorry to disappoint you OP, but 343 said they’re done doing any kind of weapon changes like what you’re suggesting.
They actually said they plan to nerf the magnum, they just delayed it due to the HWC happening at the time, so now it’s up in the air on when they plan to do that.
> 2535428854412134;10:
> They actually said they plan to nerf the magnum, they just delayed it due to the HWC happening at the time, so now it’s up in the air on when they plan to do that.
Yes, I remember that, but I believe that was also way before they announced they were done with the weapon tuning. I think if they were still gonna do it they would’ve said something with their final announcement as like an exception or something. The HCS season is next month so I think it’s too late for this season at least.
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> > 2535428854412134;10:
> > They actually said they plan to nerf the magnum, they just delayed it due to the HWC happening at the time, so now it’s up in the air on when they plan to do that.
>
> Yes, I remember that, but I believe that was also way before they announced they were done with the weapon tuning. I think if they were still gonna do it they would’ve said something with their final announcement as like an exception or something. The HCS season is next month so I think it’s too late for this season at least.
I figured they would still do it after summer HCS.
Agree that the Magnum is OP, but what really breaks my heart is what they did to the Fuel Rod Cannon last tuning. That has always been the BFG in the game and now its power doesn’t even match its visuals. I can see how some found it OP but that was the point. Current config is close to a good compromise, but as LeathalQ said it needs more splash damage. As it stands now, its a sheep in wolfs clothing.
Back to the Magnum. There is no way it should out perform a BR at range. Keep it powerful but shorten its effective range, like in RL.
> 2533274795923008;14:
> Agree that the Magnum is OP, but what really breaks my heart is what they did to the Fuel Rod Cannon last tuning. That has always been the BFG in the game and now its power doesn’t even match its visuals. I can see how some found it OP but that was the point. Current config is close to a good compromise, but as LeathalQ said it needs more splash damage. As it stands now, its a sheep in wolfs clothing.
>
> Back to the Magnum. There is no way it should out perform a BR at range. Keep it powerful but shorten its effective range, like in RL.
I agree with you. Fuel Rod Cannon needs a bigger area of damage.
I really agree with this post to the point that halo 5 needs a magnum nerf. When I first started playing halo 5 last summer, everything felt “right” with the basic automatics and basic precision weapons, excluding the magnum. Since then, the dmr, ar, br, carbine, brute plasma rifle, smg, and storm rifle have all been weakened a bit. But I felt like they didn’t really need it like the magnum did.
Before the updates, the solution was easier: ar only spawns and force people to fight over better automatics and precision weapons, leaving the magnum as it was and adding spawn points for it in a few places across the maps. That way, its power could be justified. Things have gotten more complicated since then (from my pov) because the developers seem to have nerfed nearly everything save for the magnum and maybe the light rifle.
After the most recent carbine fix, the precision were again feeling really good. The br was still good at mid range, but it also became the throw away precision weapon whenever you encountered a different type of precision weapon. That’s what the ar had been to the automatics and was a good thing imo. The smg and especially the storm rifle were powerful upgrades in terms of ttk, and the brute plasma rifle complimented any precision weapon nicely with its shield stripping abilities.
But now a big problem is that pretty much all of the automatics have more limited use. The ttk for the smg and storm rifle are up due to various accuracy penalties and a damage reduction, respectively. The brute plasma rifle got hit with needing an extra shot to kill, and now breaks shields in 5 shots instead of 4. I do believe it got an accuracy bonus, however.
So now it’s less clear what they should do to fix this situation from my standpoint. I feel like a 5 shot magnum is fine, but they could reduce the rate of fire slightly to make the ar more competitive in cqc matchups in games featuring magnum and ar starts.