Halo 5/xbox one weapons

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

This thread is responsible for the balance, redo, returns,and possible removals that may or may not happen in halo 5. In this thread I hope to bring up issues that have been sighted in prior games and how they can be fix as well as other things including bringing prior weapons back, changing existing weapons function, and The possibility of removing some weapons from the present build(removal will come with valid reasons only and this would only be suggested in the case that said weapon doesn’t really work or is under used in the present version of the game). I will give my impressions, end results and opinions on what can be dones. As well any suggestions from the community will be added into a master thread so we can give 343i a more detailed response as a whole so that the next game can work out better. With further ado, let’s get on with this(I will try to be as unbiased as I can, but I will give my opinion here and there)

Part 1: UNSC

Magnum:

The classic handgun, in halo 4 the idea was that the magnum was to be used as only a finisher weapon, overall all of its capabilities took a hit and it became very ineffective overall. This didn’t work out too well as the Magnum as well as other side arm weapons were no longer effective in a fight(In short, they took the finisher weapon role too literally). The Magnum is a .50 cal handgun(The closest real life equivalent being the Desert Eagle) so it should still be able to at least hold its own or even beat the Precision rifles(EG DMR, BR, Needle Rifle ETC) in CQC fight. The Magnum would still be balance, the edge of the range for the gun would be about to mid range with the scope. time to kill would vary depending on range: 4sK CQC, 6sK at mid range. And For Gods Sake, get rid of the stupid sound of the magnum.
Bottom line: Magnum would be more powerful the closer you get with it(With decent accuracy with patience), it would force be a dangerous weapon if anyone was foolish enough to try and duke it out in close quarters

Assault Rifle:

Major Issues came up for this weapon after the weapon update in Halo 4. It became possibly the most powerful Assault Rifle in Halo history(Unless you count the SAW) when considering all factors. This presents a major problem as the Assault weapons presented a very grave threat to Precision rifle Users. the Lowered skill gap with the Assault Rifle meant that anyone starting with this weapon could kill with extraordinary speed without having to rely on skill and proficiency. The Assault weapons were originally intended to be the mid grade weapons that weren’t so powerful that they would beat out high skill level weapons such as the DMR and BR nor were they weak enough that they would be easily stomped. With some luck and skilled usage the assault rifle was a decent starting weapon that gave everyone a decent weapon that could hold its own in a fight, but would lose when it came to a skill fight(The Precision weapons would reward higher proficiency with faster kill times). In halo 4, this was broken when the assault weapons became powerful enough that they actually killed faster than the precision weapons without a lot skill on the operators part.
Bottom Line: The Assault Rifle should have its damage toned down at least 30% from what it is now, Rate of fire reduced, and have reduced bullet magnetism. This way, it still gives anyone starting with it good chances for victory without being too drastically OP.

BR:

This one is somewhat controversial, there are many that would say that this weapon is nearly perfectly balanced the way it sits and others would say that it is OP. This however both parties are somewhat correct. The BR is at this juncture somewhat OP in some ways underpowered in others. The main way that it is OP lies with its 4sk capability, this allows for blazing fast kill times combined with good rate of fire and decent accuracy. Its a little under powered in some respects because of the low ammo capacity(Comparatively) and somewhat high recoil. In the end though, the Disadvantages weren’t enough to offset the Advantages of the BR and let to it becoming somewhat OP.
**Bottom Line:**Two Possibilities for potential BR rebalance(1)BR loses hitscan and has heavy Recoil but retains 4sk capability, (2)Reduce damage output, Reduce Recoil and reduce shot spread(increased accuracy).

DMR:

This weapon, was considered OP when halo 4 launched, this however is not the case. The Fact is that when the game launched, the DMR was balanced for halo Reach and the weapons that it was combating were comparably underpowered to fight it. Overall the gun has changed little overall since its introduction. overall its one of the few weapons that could be considered somewhat balanced. Only thing that could be done would be to reduce the RRR when not in scope.
Bottom Line: Reduce RRR, but overall leave it the way it is.

Rail Gun:

Cool Idea(Awesome idea), but in the End Vastly Over Powered. This weapon has been a problem since DAY 1, its been considered by many players to be the hand held version of the Guass cannon from the all too powerful GuassHog. The guass cannon from the Warthog is still unbalanced despite the changes, the Rail gun is no different. Its just as accurate and dangerous, but a little more limited compared to the Guass cannon. This weapon can give the Team that has it a distinct advantage due to its capabilities. Against vehicles it could kill light vehicles in one shot if aimed properly as well as medium vehicles with well placed shots.
Bottom Line: This weapon, Like the guasshog, will probably never be balanced properly without MASSIVE nerfing. Thus the weapon, unfortunately, should probably not make it into the sequel.

Rocket Launcher:

Overall, even though it was supposedly buffed from the Halo 3/Reach version, many players felt as though the rocket launcher was significantly weaker than its counterparts from prior games(Some of this is due to the greatly weakened splash damage caused by all explosives). The Rocket Launcher still functions well, but the homing system for the Rockets doesn’t work well. Overall it would be better if the tracking system was similar to Halo Reach and was a lot easier to see and use. And better sound please, rocket launcher sounds really goofy the way it is(It sounds Obscenely unrealistic, even for SciFi game)
**Bottom Line:**Increase speed of rockets and splash damage to match the movement speed of vehicles and players.

Sticky detonator:

Considered a little too situational and was extraordinarily hard to use. Wasn’t very effective in pretty much any situation when compared other weapons of similar usage(Rail Gun, Human GL, Concussion Rifle)
**Bottom Line:**Remove it, or at least make it more effective. For Replacement continue reading.

Grenade Launcher:

Its safe to say that everyone wants the UNSC Grenade Launcher to return, it was powerful and it was fairly effective in most situations if used correctly. Its loss from Reach to Halo 4 was unjustified by replacement with one near useless weapon and a weapon that was Obscenely OP. The Grenade Launcher was fairly balanced before hand because of its somewhat steep skill requirement.

Shotgun:

Range was too long compared to weapons that were used in the same class. A little too powerful the way it sits right now.
Bottom Line: Reduce range and damage or compensate other weapons.

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Part 2: Covenant

Before I talk about the covenant weapons, across all of them I would say all need different sounds, they simply didn’t sound very good in Halo 4 and not everyone was happy with them(with the exception of the Carbine and the Beam Rifle).

Plasma Pistol:

Same AS the Magnum, it was nerfed to the point where most of its capabilities where rendered near useless overall. This however is explained by the personal load out option, which feared the over use of the all too deadly Noob Combo(Which is still somewhat deadly despite the massive nerf). The plasma pistol wasn’t that effective in Halo reach, but halo 4 just made it worse. The Whole finisher Idea went a little overboard and didn’t really end well.
**Bottom Line:**Increase damage output and reduce Overcharge drain. As well increase the Lock on range for the Overcharge but decreases EMP duration for vehicles and increase overheat duration slightly.

Storm Rifle:

Assault Rifle clone, boring. It tried to replace the legendary plasma rifle, but unfortunately it forgot one important thing: You can’t replace the Plasma Rifle and hope to succeed. Overall this weapon was not received very positively(For reason stated above and for failing to really seem like an Alien weapon). pretty much the same reason that’s that the AR didn’t really work out apply here as well.
**Bottom Line:**Replace with Plasma Rifle and/or Repeater and rebalanced accordingly. Have them behave more dynamically from their UNSC counter parts.

Plasma Rifle/Repeater:

I think we all want our trusty Plasma Rifles back, we can agree on that.

Carbine:

It was a bad Idea, right from the Start. In the End, it became somewhat balanced, but still failed to compete with the BR and DMR. Overall the weapon suffered from the same issues that Plagued it in halo 3, it just couldn’t match up to the BR due to its insufficient range and very poor damage output. This became magnified in Halo 4 when It crossed paths with the DMR, which had so much better damage and Range that it wasn’t even a Joke. The intended Replacement of the Carbine, the Needle Rifle(Which did compete with the DMR with success but would most likely have ended up causing the same problems that the DMR did in Halo 4), was dropped in favor of NOSTALGIA. !WARNING! Opinion inbound!: This was a bad choice on 343i’s part and ended up failing rather miserably(I told people that this would happen, but no one listened to me).
**Bottom Line:**There are only two ways that the carbine can go now: (1) Make it more powerful as a CQC weapon and give it the Auto Fire capability from the Needle Rifle, making it more of capable counterpart to the BR.(2) Remove it from the game, unfortunately this weapon hasn’t exactly had the best track record(It stands out as one of the worse weapons in halo history, except for in halo 2 where it was OP)

Needle Rifle:

The DMR doesn’t have a counter part(Light Rifle doesn’t count, considering it fails horribly when it fights the DMR) so bringing back the Needle Rifle would not be a bad idea. Many consider there are too many precision weapons as it is, but when you think about it all the weapons fit in their own class respectively. The DMR is alone in the long range Rifle class where as the BR somewhat has the Carbine, so the Needle Rifle would make sense as an addition to the game(It is unique enough that it would work out).

Concussion Rifle:

Damage seemed a little lower than it should have been for a grenade launcher(It could stand to be a little bit more powerful than its present form). Other than that, the weapon is pretty good overall and requires only minor attention.
**Bottom Line:**increase a few of the parameters of the weapon to yeild better balance and more usage.

Fuel Rod Gun:

The FRG still became somewhat underpowered in Halo 4 against vehicles, but better against infantry it seems. The weapon worked better, but it could use a little bit more power to help balance it out against the rocket launcher and incinerator cannon. Works decently but could stand to be better though.
**Bottom Line:**Same as Concussion rifle.

Plasma Launcher:

This was removed for no reason, it was a good covenant counter part to the Spartan Laser and worked fairly well. It should make its way back in the Sequel.

Beam Rifle:

Sniper Rifle clone, pretty much. It could use some something to help differentiate it from the Human sniper. It also used too much energy and was overall less effective compared to the Sniper Rifle except for when no scoping. Although No scoping is really not how a sniper should be used because most of the time it ends up as wasted ammo.
Bottom Line: Differentiate the weapon more, make it unique.

Focus Rifle:

A very Unique Sniper Rifle, it was effective when used properly(It was extraordinarily dangerous in mid range and at long range at the cost of giving you away because of the continuous beam). It was an interesting weapon that got a somewhat undeserved bad rep by players who didn’t know how to use it. It performs a unique role and gameplay that it would be good in a sequel if implemented.

Energy sword:

Nerfed a bit too much from reach, when compared to the Shotgun and the Scattershot, it was a weapon that some players would somewhat avoid, especially when there was a better alternative available or in a DMR/BR battle where you would be dead before you would get into range to Lunge.
**Bottom Line:**Increase lunge range and/or perhaps allow for higher sprint and overall movement speeds when weilding the sword to compensate for range disadvantages.

Needler:

It ended up being a little OP overall since it became a power weapon. The projectiles moved nearly three times faster than they did in reach/3 and had insane kill times. Overall, the reach Needler was pretty OP before if used correctly, The Halo 4 Needler just went over the top and it was excessively OP. But that was done to balance out the SAW, but that wasn’t nearly as bad as the Needler was and it did have disadvantages to balance out its advantages.
Bottom Line: Balance the Needler slightly back to reach level, increase mag to 30 needles and make the super combine five and have five needles to knock out sheilds, reduce rate of fire slightly but leave tracking speed normal.

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Suggestions(UNSC):

4

Suggestions(Covenant):

5

Suggestions(Promethean):

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Wow, that’s a lot of work man. Good job. I agree with most things you listed.

I definitely want the Plasma Rifle back.

I love the idea of both the Beam and Focus Rifles.

I want to keep the Sticky Detonator for campaign purposes, but get rid of the Railgun. Just wasn’t very rewarding to use IMO.

I don’t really like the idea of the Plasma Launcher. Reach’s had no place, in my game anyways, and was touchy to use.

And most importantly, bring back the Flamethrower =)

7

> Wow, that’s a lot of work man. Good job. I agree with most things you listed.
>
> I definitely want the Plasma Rifle back.
>
> I love the idea of both the Beam and Focus Rifles.
>
> I want to keep the Sticky Detonator for campaign purposes, but get rid of the Railgun. Just wasn’t very rewarding to use IMO.
>
> I don’t really like the idea of the Plasma Launcher. Reach’s had no place, in my game anyways, and was touchy to use.
>
> And most importantly, bring back the Flamethrower =)

the Flame thrower, while cool, wasn’t very effective if you could come up with a way to balance it write it up and I will add it to the list under UNSC weapon suggestions. I dont know how it would work out though.

Th Plasma launcher did work well, but it was like the Spartan laser. It could be good against infantry but it was primarily an anti-armor weapon, which is how it would work out in the sequel.

8

How about a flame or beam vehicle perhaps promethean in nature could possess a strong beam like cannon that melts ground units and vehicles alike… Plus focus rifle (Halo: Reach) was a rip off of the sentinal beam (Halo 3) with an added zoom. Bring a more unique weaponry not reskin… fair enough to louadout weapons but make a more unique class of forerunner tech… perhaps watch the halo 4 domain terminals those are forerunner weapons! They destroy faces and such…

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one note for the Assault rifle
Reduce the speed when reticle expands so its more reliable for mid range combat so a players burst fire is more reliable.

10

Im adding on to what u said.

Needler
SMG
Flamethrower
missile pod
mauler
brute shot
Grav hammer
Spartan Laser

Dual Wielding too.

11

> Im adding on to what u said.
>
> Needler
> SMG
> Flamethrower
> missile pod
> mauler
> brute shot
> Grav hammer
> Spartan Laser
>
> Dual Wielding too.

Missed the needler sorry. However Some of the other weapons that you asked for are not on the list for other reasons. The spartan laser an gravity hammer have changed very little overall and require little to no changes in balancing. The problem with adding weapons such as the brute shot, mauler, MP, and smg is that effectively there are already weapons in the game that perform the same function and cause those weapons to be pretty pointless(in other words they would have to be heavily reworked to be unique and perform a different role) or weapons like the misile pod would end up as campaign exclusive weapons.

As for dual weilding, it will never return because of two main reasons(except for perhaps in cinematic moments). (1) it’s a novelty, it looks cool but it’s not very effective (2) it’s extraordinarily hard to balance to the point that it isn’t either entirely OP or completely useless(that’s why it was decided that halo reach and 4 wouldn’t have dual weilding because it wasn’t being used enough and it was proving to be impossible to balance properly).

12

> one note for the Assault rifle
> Reduce the speed when reticle expands so its more reliable for mid range combat so a players burst fire is more reliable.

so more like the reach assault rifle then?

13

> > one note for the Assault rifle
> > Reduce the speed when reticle expands so its more reliable for mid range combat so a players burst fire is more reliable.
>
> so more like the reach assault rifle then?

Exactly, I could even beat dmr users at mid range with my AR.

14

> Im adding on to what u said.
>
> Needler
> SMG
> Flamethrower
> missile pod
> mauler
> brute shot
> Grav hammer
> Spartan Laser
>
> Dual Wielding too.

Some weapons should be brought back as dual wield-able like the Magnum and the Plasma Pistol but some like the Needler would just be too overpowered (which was why the needler was my favorite Weapon in Halo 2).

15

Weapons I’d like to see return in Halo 5:

Assault Rifle: Halo 4
DMR: Reach (minus bloom)
BR: Halo 3
Magnum: Halo 4
Shotgun: Reach
Sniper: Reach/Halo 3
Spartan Laser: Reach
Rocket Launcher: CE
Grenade Launcher: Reach

Needler: Halo 3
Plasma Rifle: CE
Plasma Repeater: Reach
Spiker: Halo 3
Plasma Launcher: Reach
Fuel Rod Gun: Halo 3
Energy Sword: Halo 3
Gravity Hammer: Halo 3
Plasma Pistol: Halo 2
Carbine: Halo 4
Brute Shot: Halo 3

All Covie weapons from H4, just move the boltshot out of loadouts.

Things I don’t need to see again unless they improve the challenge/usability of each: Beam Rifle. Sticky Detonator. Rail gun. SAW. SMG. Mauler. Dual-wielding (I feel it makes the single weapons unusable)

16

Wow I wish I had read this prior to posting my Topic. But either way I like my suggestions.

17

I disagree quite a bit with most of your suggestions actually not to offend you. Also I added some ideas to weapons that I know some of the fanbase feels are redundant to help reduce that redundancy.

UNSC:

DMR- Stays how it is, make a map pickup.

BR- Stays how it is, make a preset loadout weapon.

SMG- Bring back as a secondary alternative to a magnum for preset classes.

Assault Rifle- Decrease auto-aim until it becomes just as hard to aim as a precision weapon, then keep it how it is.

Missile Pod- Stays how it is.

Magnum- Make 5sk with a 1.5x scope. Powerful up close and mid, but bad at long.

Shotgun- Revert to Reach mechanics and add an 8-shell magazine, rather than 6.

Rockets- They are rockets. I don’t care as long as they blow stuff up.

Sniper Rifle- Halo 2 got snipers best, revert to those sniper mechanics.

Spartan Laser- Halo 3’s charge time with Halo: Reach’s battery life.

Grenade Launcher- Reach’s uncontested.

Frag Grenade- Reach’s strength with Halo 3’s radius.

Railgun- Decrease magnetism and auto-aim by a very big margin (liek to nuthing)

SAW- Perfect the way it is.

Covenant:

Carbine- Make a 6sk while altering nothing else.

Storm Rifle- Keep as the Covenant’s primary automatic, but add the option to vent heat from Reach’s repeater plus add an overdrive mode (similar to Halo War’s locust ability) that allows it’s user to overcharge the Storm Rifle therefore increasing damage but RAPIDLY wasting battery. (Like one overcharge will kill 75%.)

Plasma Rifle- Add back as the Covenant equivalent to the SMG, and add heat venting.

Plasma Pistol- Make like the CE plasma pistol but add an EMP ability to it. Also need to be made map pickups.

Needler- Halo 4 got it right.

Beam Rifle- Give a better battery, and add a blinding effect (if you nearly miss your opponent gets a screen flash of white for 2 seconds. This would be to distinguish it better from the sniper rifle). This is to distinguish it from other autos.

Focus Rifle- Keep as was in Reach.

Needle Rifle- Add back with higher fire-rate. Boost scope from 2x to 2.5x.

Plasma Launcher- Make more powerful, with equal charge time to Spartan Laser.

Fuel Rod Cannon- Keep as is.

Plasma Turret- Revert to Reach’s mechanics with higher damage output.

Plasma Grenade- Reach’s damage with 3’s blast radius.

Promethean:

Light Rifle- Keep as is.

Boltshot- Remove entirely.

Scattershot- Reduce the inconsistency with it. Make it less powerful then shotgun but have it fire marginally faster so it keeps up.

Suppressor- Reduce bloom to match AR’s, and add a targeting system like Reach’s plasma repeater had plus make it fire faster as you hold the trigger.

Pulse Grenade- Increase damage.

Incineration Cannon- Keep as is.

Binary Rifle- Keep as is.

[Empty weapon]- With deleting the boltshot we’d need a replacement. Add a cross-over between a magnum-esque weapon that also has an EMP ability by charging. (3-second charge)

18

So I normally don’t write long post, normally just lurk and make a comment here and there. But today I’ve really been thinking about what weapons I want in Halo 5 and how I would like each weapon to function.

First I think all precision weapons should be hitscan, yes projectile may take more skill and be optimal on LAN, but seeing as how 99% of games are played online we need to stick with what is optimal for that. Flinch needs to be removed and the De-Scope Mechanism added back. I also think all precision weapons need a decrease in Aim Assist and Magnetism from what Halo 4 had. I also think the Hitboxes should be slightly smaller. I think the return of Dual Wielding would also be great.

UNSC
DMR(No Bloom, 5sk, 3x Zoom, slightly faster rate of fire than in Halo 4)
Battle Rifle(No Spread, No Recoil, 12 bullet kill)
Assualt Rifle(Same size reticle as in H3 but crosshairs expand outside the circle when trigger is held down, similar to how the pistol bloomed in Reach)
SMG(Dual Capable, functions same as in H3)
Magnum(Dual Capable, 6sk with final shot having to be a headshot, No Bloom, No Scope)
Grenade Launcher(Functions exactly like before)
Railgun(Huge decrease in Aim Assist and Magnetism from what it had in H4)
Shotgun(Functions like H4s but with a slightly smaller reticle)
Sniper Rifle(Functions like Reachs but with a smaller reticle)
Rocket Launcher(Functions like H4s)
Spartan Laser(Hitscan with the same charge time as H3)
Heavy Machine Gun Turret(Functions like H2s)
Missile Pod(Functions the same as before)
Frag Grenade(Strong like in Reach, but slightly smaller blast radius)

Covenant
Carbine(No spread, 6sk, 2x Zoom)
Plasma Repeater(Functions the same as in Reach)
Plasma Rifle(Dual Capable, functions same as H2s)
Plasma Pistol(Dual Capable, Functions the same as Reachs)
Needler(Dual Capable, when dual wielded kills in similar time as H4)
Energy Sword(Functions the same as in H3)
Beam Rifle(Functions the same as in H2)
Concussion Rifle(Functions the same as in H4)
Plasma Cannnon(Functions the same in H3)
Plasma Grenade(Function the same as in H3)

Brute
Mauler(Dual Capable, functions the same as before)
Brute Shot(Powerful like H3s, but with the ability to bounce off of walls and around corners like in H2)
Gravity Hammer(Functions the same as in Reach)
Spike Grenade(Needs to be stronger than it’s was in H3 when it is stuck on a wall as an opponent runs by, should at least make the opponent no shields if they walk right by it as it goes off)

Forerunner
Light Rifle(No Spread, 3sk Scoped, 4sk UnScoped, 3x Zoom)
Boltshot(Dual Capable, 7sk with final shot having to be a headshot, Single charged shot removes shield at close range, Dual Charged Shot is a Kill at close range)
Binary Rifle(1sk to the body, still has visible beam when looking down scope, takes 1 second to charge before shot)
Incineration Cannon(Functions same as in H4)
Pulse Grenade(Does same damage when you directly hit an opponent with them, but should remove more shields when walked through than in H4)

19

A decent balance between the DMR and the AR would be a Larger Magazine size. It should not be as large a the Halo 1 AR’s mag but it should be large enough to get the job done.

Also the accuracy of the Binary rifle should be increased by a little bit so that I would actually want to use it a little more.

20

I whole heatedly disagree with what you sad about the storm rifle, needler and especially the carbine but you know what your’e saying so please write the Promethean breakdown next.