Weapons
First things first, the headshot multiplier needs to be removed in the final release. The only weapons that should be capable of headshots should be precision weapons.
- AR: The AR is in a good place at the moment, despite others claiming that it’s overpowered. It excels at close range like it should and falters past that even when burst firing. I hope that final release, the AR remains as effective as it in the flight.
- Sidekick: In the beginning, I wasn’t too keen that you had replaced the Magnum with the Sidekick but after using it, I had warmed up to it. The weapon is pretty solid, though I feel like the weapon could be reduced in it’s fire rate as it absolutely shreds shields in close quarters. I hope you also add a Halo 2 Magnum skin in the future.
- BR: Personally, I was never a big fan of the Battle Rifle in any iteration of Halo but I would still use it as my mid-long range weapon and a fallback in lieu of the SK. Currently, the weapon feels weak, maybe it’s for balancing purposes but I believe that 4 bursts to break shields and headshot takes too long. Other than that, I hope the reload animation looks and feels more crisp in the future and the firing sounds more distinct from the AR.
- Commando: Having played on console, this weapon didn’t feel good to use. It also feels like like it’s trying to be both the AR and BR but failing at being either. Frankly, I wish for the weapon to be completely replaced with the DMR and if implemented back into the game, reworked into something more unique than a High RoF Auto-precision rifle.
- Bulldog: I’m not going to lie, I’m not a big fan of this weapon and I’d rather see the OG shotgun return and replace the bulldog, or atleast be a close-range alternative to the bulldog. The faster fire rate, reload and damage range is great but it lacks that same satisfying feeling you get from the Combat shotgun. The lack of a OHK range is part of the problem (and 343i, I swear if it’s because I should’ve gone for the head at point-blank range, we are going to have problems). I also don’t see it being a good counter to the energy sword as too far, you can pelt the poor guy before he can close in on you. If he gets to close, the lack of OHK allows him to turn you into shish-kebab.
- Rocket Launcher: I wish I had more to say about this but I hardly had the chance to use it and I’ll highlight it in another point. I am glad to see that it returned after the mistake of removing it from Halo 5.
- Pulse Carbine: For me, during the flight, I found very few reasons to use energy weapons because kinetic weapons were certainly so much more efficient. The PC does very well of stripping shields but the slow, poor tracking of the plasma, tight reticle and that it did poorly against body shots (and trying to score headshots, that again should be for precision weapons, was difficult to pull off on console) made it rather useless in a 1v1 and somewhat useful when assisting teammates. For something that’s seems like an alien counterpart to the BR, it’s like a one-sided rivalry
While I am bringing up plasma weapons, those with internal batteries like the PC and Plasma Pistol shouldn’t be able to recharge by walking over another weapon and should go back to the higher charge being able to picked up.
-Plasma pistol: Well this weapon has the same problems as the PC except that Slower firerate and the poor overcharge tracking just makes it that much worse to use. Even worse, bug or intentional, the lack of EMPing vehicles made it worthless altogether.
- Needler: Unpopular opinion but I think the needler should go back to combining on broken shields. Generally, the weapon is unfun to use and be used against in close quarters where, most likely you are guaranteed a kill unless the room is cluttered or they leave the room immediately to break line of sight. Outside of close quarters, the weapon is nigh useless because it relies on combining to get kills. I’m not quite sure how this can be rebalanced and semi-honestly, I just want to complain about the Needler.
- Gravity Hammer: Bounce. Back. Bring it back. Other than that, I wish the attacking sound had a little more weight to it and that the weapon kill radius was reduced a little. It might be from other entries but it felt like the range that which should’ve heavily damaged or broken my shields, straight up killed me here.
- Skewer: The Skewer feels like it’s a good place, being a mix of the previous railgun and spartan laser. I would like to see the reload animation to be a little more powerful, as in the Spartan cocking it further and letting the handle slam back on it’s own. Make it feel like a more powerful weapon
- Ravager: Can’t say much about this weapon either since I hardly used it and the apparent bugged alt. mode. Definitely see it’s use as a harasser and area denial weapon. Though the Alt. Fire mode does need a rework, aside from the glowing, it’s difficult to see what it’s affecting and I would like it be more clear where the shot was placed.
- Shock Rifle: Another weapon I hardly used. Didn’t help that you had to go out of your way to grab and even further to use it with it’s intended design. It’s a cool weapon but it’s very niche. The chain lighting effect is neat and should be a bit more visually clear. I don’t like that there is a possibility that these electric weapons are the only way to EMP vehicles.
Equipment
- Drop Wall: The Drop wall works fine. Some of those in the community wants a bubble shield back but I believe this a better alternative. I enjoy that it has to be used proactively which works better in Objective based maps and that’s weak since isn’t made to be a tide turner, just something to give a little edge. It could use a little more tweaking but right now, I like where it’s at right now.
- Repulser: It’s a neat gadget and maybe it’s just me but it feels like the placement of ability was for Mind the Gap medals. Which frankly, I dislike. Have been on both sides of the ability, it’s not very fun and the lack of a counter against it is disappointing.
- Grappleshot: Not going to lie, I had fun with this ability but at the same time I despise it and wish for it’s complete removal. I feel like this game has a mobility issue and I think the grappleshot is part of the reason why. Another thing is that it has too much utility, making it easier to get places, grapplejacking, grabbing without exposure and grapplemeleeing/assassinating. I hope that in the campaign I won’t ever be at a disadvantage if I refuse to use the grappleshot.
- Overshield/Active Camo: Now with these, personally I feel like they should go back to being battlefield pickups instead of abilities but I doubt you are going to change that. So I wish for the Overshield to get a slower recharge that can be disrupted against enemy fire, in my experience other players would use it recharge their shields after they have taken fire to get back to 200% strength. I would also like to see it add 100% to your shields instead of charging it to 200%, so basically if your shields broke, you go back to full, at 50% itll go to 150%. Now with the Active Camo, I believe that it might be too effective. Generally you are practically invisible when running around, making it hard to determine if someone is there. Doesn’t help that the outline system fumbles with the target acquisition. I think the camo should be little less transparent. Make it easier to distinguish if they are moving without completely negating the effect of the camo.