Theyre some balance tweaks I noticed with Warzone that can easily be addressed and make it more fun and fast paced.
First, the whole we can destroy the core option for a loosing team. This never happens. If it does, I would like to see proof against a competent team. Anyway, this is how to fix it. Base shields reflect bullets and vehicles. Players can still enter, or require a special boost to enter. (1 req point) Marines are doubled, with a squad in the core room and multiple ones outside. Turrets? Possibly? (Marines can be taken out with a headshot in halo quickly, so you need a lot of them to stop a few Spartans.) Bases should have an active radar like in the beginning, pinging all enemy players. Palmer should call out enemy presence in the base.
For example how this would work. Players are getting stomped at their base. Somehow, they get a mongoose or a warthog out. They get to the enemy base, and it has no Spartan guards because they are all attacking the core. If players play it right, they can do damage to the core and make other Spartans fall back. To counter a fluke, base core defenses should only be able to be taken down with explosives. (Fuel rod, Plasma caster, Hydra, Rockets, plasma pistol EMP, EMP would cause the core defenses to go back up.) Now this should be able to happen at any point in the game. Once defenses are down, you can damage the core as usual. If the defenses are destroyed, they do not build back up. If a tank can take 4 rockets before exploding, same with core defenses.
I do not know if this final suggestion is possible and would probably be a coding nightmare, but adding a base defense req. This would allow you to strengthen the core once its been depleted. Rebuild the defenses, turrets if they were added, or SPAWNING MARINES FOR 1 PT EACH, which is obviously capped and only used to replace fallen marines.
Now fixing vehicles. 343 seemed to go the Reach route with vehicle health modifiers. This works well in BTB and other modes, and at the time, invasion. However, it only affected banshees. This is why it worked. Tanks had the same health as always, however other tanks could shoot their cannon off. Balance. Mongooses, Warthogs, ghosts, corps hogs, and banshees/phaetons all have working health modifiers. However, scorpions, wraiths, and mantises are really unbalanced. No one covers them to shoot of hijackers, which is balanced, but it shouldn’t take 4 rockets to take one out while 3 players can take them out with the DMR. Its a tank. In halo, TANK BEATS EVERYTHING. In reach, the only way to do damage to heavily armed vehicles was ARMOR PIERCING BULLETS. NOT BR fukcery. This makes the plasma caster, hydra, rockets, incinerator cannon COMPLETELY obsolete.
You SHOULD NOT be able to hijack a mantis from the front at the range you currently can. It makes the stomp completely useless. Someone 5 feet out shouldn’t be able to plant a grenade on the back and be able to do it in the time frame it takes for the stomp to get half way down. Poor balance.
With these current health modifiers, vehicles shouldn’t be classes as ultra rare. The whole RARE ULTRA RARE LEGENDARY system to class weapons and vehicles is NOT GOOD. Reqs are GOOD. Rareness is just stupid. Because of their current health modifiers, vehicles are worthless compared to a good player with a DMR. BUT THE POINT OF PLAYING WARZONE IS BEING ABLE TO USE WEAPONS AND VEHICLES AT A FREQUENCY YOU WOULDNT BE ABLE TO IN BTB. THIS IS WHAT PAY TO WIN MEANS 343.
Allow players to buy points or packs. Points to buy specific cards cost a lot, but you are guaranteed the vehicle.
Now on to boosts. Speed boost is basically useless. Something to make it actually viable would make it so autotracking weapons like the needler, plasma pistol, suppressor, all have a 50 percent lower chance of following their target. Boosts should also be able to be saved like a grenade because they are timed. This is especially important with overshield. (cycle through grenades, select boost armor mod, “throw” command, apply to chest)