Playtime: Between 9 and 10 hours total across Friday and Today.
Total Progress: BP Level 9.
Headset: Ear Force 420X Stealth Wireless Headset by Turtle Beach (Discontinued)
Platform: Xbox One S
Controller: Standard Wireless Controller
MA40 AR: The spread and damage on the assault rifle are good. Magazine capacity is the same as previous Halos and reload time appears to be about the same so I don’t have any issues with this weapon.
BR75: The damage, recoil, mag capacity, and reload on this weapon are all really nice and on top of that I like the sound so hopefully this gun won’t change at launch because currently it’s my go-to whenever I can’t find a Commando.
Commando: Hands down the most balanced version of the DMR I’ve used. This one honestly handles like a charm and I love the match-trigger.
Sidekick: This gun’s spread and fairly high capacity mag allow foes to be dispatched at mid to close range with ease and I’m impressed with how the handling and recoil have been balanced. Reload on this gun is very reliable. Hope this gun stays the same!
Plasma Pistol: I noticed that if you hit an un-shielded adversary with a fully charged shot it no longer does zero damage like it did back during the days of Halo: Reach and instead, kills the adversary.
The Rocket Launcher now known as the M41 SPNKR: I mean…it’s the rocket launcher. Hope this gun stays the same. Love it when I have it. Hate it when someone else has it. Enough said for this gun because it never really changes that much. I’ve been playing since Combat Evolved on the original Xbox, so believe me when I say, this weapon isn’t rocket science, at least not in a metaphorical context.
Did not get a chance to use the UNSC Sniper much so I left that weapon out. Commenting on stuff I have not experienced does not make much sense.
Subsection 1.1: Weapons that need overall to be changed or weapons that need specific things changed. Time to talk about all the companions (weapons) that did not help me on my journey through the flight.
Pulse Carbine: The carbine, traditionally, in the context of Halo, is a lightish red Covie (and yes I know we are fighting the banished in Halo Infinite and the weapons are based off of what the Banished have in their arsenal, but still) counterpart of the UNSC’s DMR. Traditionally, this weapon fires concentrated rounds which are very accurate at mid to long range and leave behind a trace of green plasma after every shot. The pulse carbine does not fit this description in anyway. In Halo Infinite, what was intended to replace the carbine actually just functions as a burst-fire Storm Rifle from Halo 4. The rounds don’t do nearly enough damage and don’t effectively seek their target like the Storm Rifle would. Here’s my proposed solution: (1) post-launch, 343, you should try to develop a Halo Infinite version of the Covenant Carbine and release that as a free content update to the game. (2) What is currently known as the Pulse Carbine should be changed to the Storm Repeater, Storm Carbine, Storm Rifle, or some other name that suits the weapon better and on top of that you should give this weapon the two fire modes of either burst or auto which players can switch between using down on the directional pad or a specific key bind. (3) Up the damage on this weapon a tad bit so that killing with it is actually feasible without constantly overheating the weapon.
Shock Rifle: This weapon is alright, but I feel like it could do more damage to vehicles. While attempting to destroy a Ghost with this weapon, I found myself leaving no dents in the enemy vehicle and getting killed off quite easily. I understand this is a sniper weapon, but I feel like it could pack more of a punch against vehicles considering it’s basically a super-accurate laser beam. Having the option to charge this mad dog up and fire a super-concentrated round that costs and entire magazine, but also has incredible destructive power—would be awesome so that we, the community, could use the normal shock round on Spartans and the charged up one on vehicles.
Plasma Pistol: The charged round does not affect vehicles. This is a problem. The EMP grenades are not the only source of bringing vehicles to a stop. I tested the charged shot on multiple vehicles during the Social Arena playlist and the charged shot did nothing to their vehicle. Didn’t stop them or damage them or bring their shields down. Bring back Plasma Pistol vehicle EMP. I love your new game, 343, but if you want to stick to Halo’s roots, you have to prove you can do it.
Bulldog: The Bulldog takes multiple shots to kill when an adversary is directly in front (say 2 to 5 meters away). This is an issue. In every Halo prior to Infinite, the shotgun has always been reliable enough to kill instantly at point-blank and to be a two-shot kill when the opponent is about 5-7 meters away, the first shot downing shields and the second one finishing the job. But this Bulldog functions more like a Striker from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. And I make the COD reference because in my opinion this weapon is currently functioning at such a low capacity. This weapon needs a damage buff for close range. Reload and magazine are fine, this thing just needs to function like an actual shotgun when I’m directly in front of my adversary.
Heatwave: The heatwave reload should be an energy-core replacement rather than a vent in my opinion, but I suppose that’s neither here nor there. The big thing about this gun is when I’m using vertical mode on enemies at close or mid range and their shields are down, this thing still takes almost two full shots to kill even if you land a majority of the rounds with the vertical mode. The damage on this gun needs a miniscule uptick so that when a persons shields are up, it might take one or two full shots, but if they are not shielded the vertical mode shot should kill as long as 75% of the crosshair is aligned with the opponent. The damage on this gun is so low for 1v1 encounters that I never even bothered to try horizontal mode.
Needler: Sound has been fixed and I love that, but using an entire magazine to kill one opponent at a time has gotten me killed on multiple occasions. There is a skill factor here and truthfully I did get a triple kill with the needler by compensating (killing each person, taking cover, and reloading the Needler). But let’s be honest, the function of the Needler is to combine shots at a specific part of the body so that the explosion is triggered. In Halo 3, a full needler could kill at best 2 people and that’s all we are really asking for. You should not have to land 80% or 100% of the needles to get the explosion. You should only need about 10-12 of the 26 to land successfully and after that the supercombine should trigger and there should be a noticeable explosion which propels your opponent backward. 26 rounds to take down one spartan leaves players scavenging for ammo, struggling in confrontations against opponents with simple spawn weapons, and having no choice but to use 1 mag for 1 kill.
Skewer: This weapon is perfect for vehicle kills, but considering the length of the reload, this weapon should be able to actively hold two spikes (fired one at a time) before requiring reload. Damage on it is great, but 1 more in the chamber along with a melee attack that uses the blade underneath would make this weapon golden.
Ravager: Lingering effect of charged shot needs buff. A higher fire rate for burst fire. Maybe auto instead of burst?