How abilities/equipment can work in Halo 5

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I have long been against Armour abilities in halo, however never had a problem with equipment. The problem wasn’t that they gave you certain abilities like flight, invisibility or even the ability of invulnerability (although it was executed badly). My problem was that they were implemented as part of loadouts, which means players to not start on equal footing. This went against original halo multiplayer, and I’m glad to see that for the Halo 5 Guardians Beta, that equal starts will return.

One of the key features of halo is about map control, and knowledge of the map and it’s spawns. In halo 3, equipment was a spawn, which players could utilise. This is where armour abilities lacked.

I have 3 suggestions I think would improve armour abilities and equipment in Halo 5 Guardians - changing the game and sandbox for the better.

Suggestion 1: All items will spawn on the map - no loadouts. Therefore they will be something that you will need to control and contribute to the map design

Suggestion 2: All items will have a limited charge, or supply/capacity (like ammo). This will mean that an item will need to be used sparingly or tactically rather than spamming an item

Suggestion 3 (biggest change and most controversial). I’ve used items in the above suggestions when referring to abilities/equipment. That’s because I believe that armour abilities and equipment should be combined. What this means is that an ‘item’ has two forms: One for an individual player (ability) and one, activated when you drop the item (possibly by double or triple tapping the respective button), which applies to all players/the team.

In the post below I will post a few examples of these. Obviously the names are much to be desired, and so may disagree with certain examples, or may have ideas of their only.

Comments and constructive criticism are welcome. Who likes this idea? What abilities/equipment combos would people like to see?

2

Below are a few examples of this:

Shields - For an individual player, it is the Armour lock ability. This means that you freeze on the spot, and are invulnerable. Now, the charge would drain based on damage.

What it will do:
Destroy vehicles (but the damage the vehicle would cause you will be drained from the charge)
Remove stuck grenades (but the damage of the grenade when it explodes will still drain your charge)
What would need consideration:

  • The effect on the enemy if they melee a person in armour lock (does it drain their shields?)
  • The effect on the enemy when the charge runs out and the ability ends (currently releases a pulse)
  • Length of armour lock (obviously shortened if taking damage, but how much charge, or how long would it last ie how many times could you use it before it runs out)

For the team/all players when dropped or activated, it will be a bubble shield. The length it will last will depend on how much charge was left when it was activated.

Thrusters - For an individual player, this is essentially a jetpack. The charge decreases as you boost.
What it will do:

  • Allow you to break your fall by slowing you down
  • Allow you to achieve ‘double jumps’ by single tapping the item button upon jumping
  • Allow you to fly by holding the item button down
    What would need consideration
  • The length or amount of boosting available to players
  • Possibility to allow you to thrust to the left or right (strafe) or forward by single tapping the item button when on the ground. This would allow you to boost your speed in a similar way to sprint, without requiring that feature (think thruster/evade abilities).

For the team/all players when dropped or activated, this would become a grav lift, which all players could use to jump up vertically. The grav lift would have a length based on the amount of charge left upon deployment.
What would need consideration:

  • Is there a way to make this so you could form a mancannon?

Scrambler - For an individual player, this would be the decoy/hologram ability. The charge decreases as you create decoys
What it will do:

  • Launch a decoy in the direction you are facing.
  • If you are moving, it will move in the direction you were moving. If you were standing still, it will stay still
    -If you are crouching, it will stay crouching
  • The last 2 points mean it could look like the decoy is strafing or crouching, making them slightly more effective or harder to detect
    What needs consideration:
    -Can you could send out more than one decoy at once
    -How many you could send in total on a charge.

For the team/all players it would work as a radar jammer. This would add to the radar a range of fake markers to make it more difficult for people in the vicinity of the jammer to spot actual players. The length of the device would be dependent on the amount of charge left when activated.

Blinder - For an individual player, this would be invisibility. The charge decreases as you use the ability
What it would do:

  • Make you invisible when standing still or moving slowly.
  • Work like classic invisibility. There will not be any radar jammer
  • Unlike normal invisibility, you can turn it on and off as and when you choose to
    What needs consideration:
  • The length of invisibility on a given charge
  • What happens when you are moving too quick or shooting. Does it continue to make you partially invisible? If so does it drain the charge at the same or a slower speed? If you are moving and/or are completely visible, does the charge stop draining, even if you are holding the ability?

For the team/all players it would work as the flare in halo 3. This blinds the screens of any players who are in it’s range. The close you are to the flare, or more you look in it’s direction, the bigger the effect. The length (and/or strength/intensity?)of this item would be determined by the amount of charge left.

Healer - For an individual, this would work like an over-shield, but with a slight difference
What it would do:

  • Holding the item button would boost your shields. The longer you hold the button, the more of your shields are recharged.
  • If your shields are full, it would then start to fill up your overshield bar
  • This gives you a choice: Do you use it to help boost your shields whenever they are low, or do you use all the charge at once to create an overshield.
    What needs consideration:
  • What one charge gives you, in terms of the amount of shield points it provides. My prediction would be that it would be another to recover your shields and provide a full overshield (ie 3 shields worth)
  • Currently an over shield decreases as time goes on. You would need to consider whether the charge would decrease or not, and if so, if the overshield would decrease over time irrelevant of whether there is charge left, or whether the overshield would use up remaining charge to maintain the shield levels

For the team/all players, this would be a regen. Anyone inside the radius would have their shields recovered. The length of the regen would be determined by the charge left

Drainer: For an inidividual player, this would be similar to the auto sentry or auto turret abilities/equipment.
What i will do:

  • Activating the ability would deploy a turret which would support a player
  • The turret will be able to target one player, and would assist the player in combat
    Things to consider:
  • The range of the turret, the turret damage
  • Can the turret be undeployed/redeployed
  • How long will the turret last/how many turrets can you deploy on a charge
  • Can damaging the turret reduce or drain the charge?

For the team/all players this would work like a power drain. It would drain the shields of all players in it’s radius. The length of the power drain (or it’s strength/intensity (possibly radius)) would be determined by the charge left on activation

3

So kinda like what we could do in Halo: Reach and Halo 4?

4

Well the idea is that you can use abilities, but can also use the items as equipment for all player/team like in halo 3

The key difference is that you don’t have loadouts (ie don’t spawn with them) so they become an item on the map which you may want to control or use to your advantage

and that that they have a limited charge, so unlike abilities in halo 4 and reach you can’t keep using them over and over, They run out, just like the ammo in a power weapon

5

The only difference is that the AAs in Halo: Reach and Halo 4 could recharge. Everything else you’re talking about could be done.

6

Well the other difference is that they can also be used as equipment, and deployed on the ground to affect everyone, meaning they can be used in a different way. That is why they would become more tactical and potentially beneficial.

The idea was to combine what was done before and slightly change how they were implemented to make them more effective, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel completely.

My issue with abilities (i liked equipment) was not the concept, it was just the implementation. This removes those problems (limited charge, placed on map (not loadouts, so more limited) and also introduces the opportunity to combine abilities and equipment as one device.

And I’m hoping it can be done. My post was to assess whether people thought this would be a good or better implementation, and possibly get people thinking of their own possible combinations that they’d like to see or think would be good

7

I agree. I am okay with sprint or jet packs but only put one on the map and make the person earn it. Equipment like the bubble shield and regen we’re not good ideas for H3 but because of the way it was placed on the map and not part of a loadouts it worked out nice. In conclusion, I hate loadouts. If someone is going to beat me, make them earn it, not select it.

8

I prefer the way Halo 5 is doing it.

You shouldn’t have to fight over the ability to jump, and everyone being able to jump adds more depth than one person grabbing the ability to jump off the map.

Replace the word jump with whatever.

9

Is that how halo 5 is working? I haven’t seen anything confirmed yet. The only thing I’ve heard is everyone starts level - no loadouts.

But obviously in my solution people would have to equip an ability/equipment combo from a map spawn, and there would be a limited number on the map. Even in halo 1 or 2 things like camo and overshield were map specific spawns, and the same for equipment in halo 3. These should be able to enhance you, like power weapons, rather than being a base feature.

If everyone has abilities it changes the whole dynamic of the game (which is why halo reach and 4 were so different from previous titles) this solution keeps them in the game, as the concept is good. but makes it more about enhancing a player and the game than changing the core gameplay.

10

The abilities I left out where promethean vision or the hardlight shield. I also missed out the trip mine equipment. But I don’t think promethean vision should be a thing, and the hardlight shield should just be a jackal shield. The trip mine was a good piece of equipment, but could be replaced by a weapon equivalent, or as a secondary firing mode of a grenade launcher for example

11

> I prefer the way Halo 5 is doing it.
>
> You shouldn’t have to fight over the ability to jump, and everyone being able to jump adds more depth than one person grabbing the ability to jump off the map.
>
> Replace the word jump with whatever.

Ding ding ding!!! Winner winner chicken dinner. I replaced the word shoot, and then with respawn.

The issue with unequal starts isn’t that they’re different. Its what is different.

We already have had unequal starts in EVERY halo to date. Spawns. Any asymmetric map puts players on unequal grounds. Why wasn’t this the ruin of halo? Because those spawns are controlled and can be balanced.

Go back to reach and halo 4, create gametypes where everyone has the same load out or choices of loadouts and see if they still have issues. If you don’t find equal starts then creates that arena experience its probably because the equal starting choices are not balanced enough in the context of the whole game (example: jet pack in reach).

You cannot tell me that taking halo 4 and making everything else equal except choice if starting weapon isn’t an arena experience… OK, you can say it, but you’d be wrong.

12

> …The trip mine was a good piece of equipment, but could be replaced by a weapon equivalent, or as a secondary firing mode of a grenade launcher for example

Maybe as a new type of grenade enabled for some game types. It could stick to walls and explode if shot.

13

I really want the bubble shield if it is brought back to be like the one in halo 3 starry nights

14

Christ, no.

15

> 2533274884341095;13:
> I really want the bubble shield if it is brought back to be like the one in halo 3 starry nights

this thread was already for exactly one year, just let it rest in piece.