I Hate Highpower And S2 Makes It Worse

Games Halo Infinite
1

I always hated Highpower. Even if I enjoy playing Infinite, I always hate that map and every time I see it pop up in matchmaking I immediately cancel it.

The map still feels totally imbalanced, favoring the team that spawns high up on the cliff where they have a vantage point of nearly the entire middle of the map while the team that spawns down below has that arch in the way that they have to go around. It makes Stockpile in particular a miserable experience because of the advantage the high team has when the Seeds spawn anywhere near the middle.

But what makes it really bad are the Wasps. I understand Infinite had a real weak vehicle scene, especially in the beginning, so I understand some who like having some kind of strong vehicle in play, but the Wasps are just too much. Its too easy for them to hover behind the cliffs and take advantage of their other hidey-holes to utterly dominate. And then there’s when an enemy team steals yours or just launches missiles at the Wasp your team was too slow to get in, destroying it and keeping their domination of the skies.

There’s counters, sure, but given that teams can still have the Ravager instead of Hydras spawn on their side, you can’t count on it and it can be tricky to get the Hydra in range to properly lock on and take out the Wasp. There’s the Skewer but given how Wasp pilots stay high up or at very long ranges, its tricky to shoot them down. Same with the Shock Rifle, where you may get lucky and shock them enough where they fall down to the killzone of the cliff and die. Sniper Rifle is pretty much the best you can count on, and that shares a spawn location with the Skewer on that platform and Energy Sword/Hammer spawn down below. You can run around and just try to shoot at Wasps, sure, but then there’s the whole other 11 players on the enemy team that are gonna gun for you while you’re trying.

And given that S2 has seemed to have bumped up the aircraft drops, last couple games I dared to try in Highpower regularly involved 3 Wasps in the air - controlled by one team.

I’m no stranger to team dominations, but its only on Highpower where if one team dominates, they’re really dominating with the Wasps. In Breaker, Deadlock, and Fragmentation I don’t feel anywhere near the one-sidedness I do in Highpower, even with the more frequent Wasp spawns on the latter two maps. At least on Deadlock and Fragmentation the former is more open with the Wasp having very few places to hide, making shooting at it easier while Fragmentation’s cliffs can be hazardous to the Wasp with just how many opportunities people have to get in close on top of the loot caves providing more opportunities for weapons to take it out.

But Highpower…I just don’t play it. When I see it in the Matchmaking, I immediately quit out of it.

3 Likes
2

i hate this map for the same reasons, every time i see Highpower come up in BTB i internally sigh because i know its gonna be a one sided sniper trap or waspcamping session. the way the map is designed, its way too easy for wasps to just hide behind the cliffs and pop up for more kills, it turns the worst players into pros.

3

I hear what you are saying, but for some reason, Highpower is my favorite BTB map. Today’s update is supposed to increase tank drops, not Wasps. Also, a two minute respawn timer starts for the Wasp, only after it has been destroyed. These changes were to reduce their frequency, not sure if it worked.

4

If you enjoy it, good for you. I just don’t. I’ve resigned myself to always cancel matchmaking when I see it, now that we have a new map that I do like (Breaker).

The increase in respawn time and any other fixes to decrease their frequency is certainly the right steps, but depending on the tank spawns it could lead to a better experience or worse if it becomes a case where a team will dominate with tanks and Wasps.

Either way, I think there’s still fundamental things about the map (particularly its design) that will keep me from ever wanting to play it again unless I get like a Play [This Game Mode] Challenge or something similar where, if I get Highpower and that mode in matchmaking, I may just suck it up and do it :expressionless:

5

I love the map because of the wasp.

If you are having problems with them, both bases always have a hidra which blows it up in 3 or 4 shots.

1 Like
6

As I said a couple of times both hydra and laser range is not so big.

7

Neither is the wasp, at long range it is nearly useless it needs to be in about the same range as a hydra to be effective.

Also the rocket hog when it spawns is a good counter.

Hell the easiest way to deal with the wasps on the map from a gameplay balance view is to start each match with both sides having a rocket hog spawn.

8

Yeah but Wasp pilots can easily negate that by just having careful flying. Keep close to the cliffs, see a scope glint, instantly put cliffs between you and him, and just stay on the side of the map away from it and annihilate anyone in the area.

Wasp doesn’t need to go to the Hydra guy to kill him. Hydra guy needs to go to him. Hydra guy can’t dominate an entire area by himself.

9

Congrats the One with the scope just preformed map control blocking the Wasp from doing damage in that area. I fail to see the problem.

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10

The problem that the Wasp is still active and easily demolishes wherever it goes. Just because you can scare it off from one area doesn’t mean its not gonna get its 45+ kills somewhere else as Wasp pilots often did in my game. Hell, I’ve done it. Hydra man is slow and will have 11 other guys gunning for him, especially with that scope glint on the weapon attracting all kinds of attention.

11

There is no problem with the Wasp. Yes, it can kill fast, up close, but it is also very weak. A competent team will take it down fast.

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12

All I’ll say is that your experiences do not match mine - particularly with the competent team part, given that this is BTB, after all. Can’t expect the 11 other randoms on your team to form a cohesive unit and vice versa. Even with a competent team, a good pilot can still prove to be a dominating force.

As I mentioned in the opening post, while I’m no stranger to team domination whether giving or receiving, Highpower is the only map where I see it to the degree and the consistency that I often do in contrast to the other maps and it just makes me dislike it. The addition of Breaker has just incentivized me to never play it again.

13

your experience sounds more like you have have teams that don’t know how to deal with an easy threat.

The wasp is destroyed with 3 shots from a sniper or a single skewer, there is always 3 grapples on the map that can easily jack the wasp.

One hiding behind the cliff isn’t going to get a 45 kill streak unless the other team sucks.

then you have the big counter to the wasp the other teams wasp.

14

As I mentioned in the opening post, many of the counter weapons all share their own drawbacks and battlefield conditions that can make them difficult to employ, especially when it comes to the very nature of BTB and its 24-player games and just the quality of the pilot. Pilots that just rush forward overhead in the middle of the map will quickly die to those counters while those who will use the map to the fullest such as going behind/beneath the cliffs and attacking at the most opportune can become a significant factor in tipping the scales for their team.

Often my games would go a Wasp pilot winning their duel with another Wasp or the other Wasp just dying to some other circumstances, and then just having it stick to the cliffs or with its team with the occasional trip to the opposing base and making sure the respawning Wasp is either destroyed with its missiles or they steal it for themselves. That’s usually plenty enough for their team to take significant control of the map and gather up Ordnance/Weapon/Pelican Drops - which includes any Tanks and additional Wasps that may be dropped by the center Pelican, depending on what the spawns are.

Even when Fragmentation and Deadlock started getting Wasp spawns, I have not found them anywhere near as bad as Highpower.

But, again, I believe another problem is the design of the map itself where the team that has the high base and have commanding views of the center of the map are at a distinct advantage compared to the low team that has the big cliff arch that they have to navigate through or around. Playing Stockpile or Total Control games where the high team can snipe with Stalkers or Shock Rifles from the top of their base while the low team obviously can’t makes it feel like the map is skewed towards the high team.

Summing all that up, I have come to hate Highpower with friends and family members also coming to hate it. With Breaker providing more map variety and less of a chance for Highpower to get picked, I’ve lost all reservations in canceling matchmaking when I see Highpower and strictly playing other maps instead. I just don’t find Highpower fun at all and while the latest tweaks may make it bearable and maybe even enjoyable, I do not really care to try it myself.

15

Not even reading past your first line, As your argument against it is pointless. All things have drawbacks in the sandbox.

16

They’ve changed the High power Wasp spawns to be back to Pre-S2 so we should be good to go now.

17

Then do not be offended if I take it as an excuse on your part to not bother to address my other concerns that I mention in the rest of my post, thus leading me to the opinion that you care little for a more committed discussion on the various other aspects to why I and others would dislike this map.

It’s certainly a step in the right direction but I just don’t think the map is for me.

18

I am not offended, just pointing out things can be countered quite easily by skilled players. In the matches I play a wasp rarely gets more then 3 or 4 kills before it is destroyed.

20

Did you just bump a dead topic, a month later to call me out for your own internet points? What.

1 Like
21

One side literally has fast access to rockets, sniper and has 3 SPAWNS for shock rifle/stalker. The other side has 1 spawn. If that 1 spawn is Stalker, you’re basically going to camped all game because the other side is gaurenteed 1 or 2 shock rifle spawns. It’s so broken. Yea the other side has more br/commando spawns but it just isnt the same