I may sound like a noob for asking this but:
I get that Armor Abilities aren’t returning and Spartan Abilities are going to be the new thing now. But is equipment like in Halo 3 returning or is that gone too?
We don’t know yet. But I’m pretty sure equipment is returning. It wasn’t game-breaking like armor abilities were.
Ok thanks I was just thinking about it and wasn’t sure if I missed something.
> We don’t know yet. But I’m pretty sure equipment is returning. It wasn’t game-breaking like armor abilities were.
Equipment was very game breaking. people just liked them more because they were on the map. Everything wrong with armor abilities passives over to equipment IMO.
1
“oh no you have a Spartan Laser.” {BUBBLE SHIELD}
2
“They have a scorpion tank. Whatever shall we do.”
“I got a plasma pistol and a power drainer all they have is a rolling explosion.”
1.2
Takes a sniper round to the chest. {BUBBLE SHIELD} (Teabags until teammates kills sniper.)
Fires rocket
Places deployed Cover…dies
1.3
Drops bubble shield with flag inside and pulls out Shotgun. “Make my day.”
everyone thought it was an Assault Rifle. Why does everyone think they try to hold off the entire team with an Assault Rifle.
1.4 Throws bubble shield at enemy with Rocket Launcher, watches player commit suicide and get betrayal booted.
5
Deploys trip mine. Enemy shoots i right away taking out shields.
1.5
Throws Bubble shield in man cannon and leaps after it with the flag.
Regen Field-Nothing else really needs to be said 
Camo, radar jammer,shotgun “COME AT ME BRO!”
Just saying equipment was game breaking the only difference was that you couldn’t tell at all if someone had one.
People would rather say that Equipment took skill but they really didn’t. These were all things that i saw on a normal basis while playing Halo 3. The list goes on about things that people would rather praise then damn like armor abilities which really didn’t have an issues but people being able to spawn with them.
I can agree on that point for any Arena shooter. Imagine if everyone got to choose what equipment they started out with. IMO that would of been far worse.
@Delko Elite 15
Those are all examples of players using equipment in smart and clever ways, or at the very least just using them for their intended purpose.
I ask because I get the sense that if equipment doesn’t come back then there won’t be enough things that players can fight over in a match. I guess that could be wrong, Halo 2 is considered by many to have the best multiplayer and they didn’t have it.
> @Delko Elite 15
> Those are all examples of players using equipment in smart and clever ways, or at the very least just using them for their intended purpose.
And yet when AA’s were in the field people say they are game breaking for doing the same thing that equipment does.
All the AA’s did what they were designed to do and so did the equipment but only the AA’s are game breaking.
It isn’t really a matter of which one is good or evil but which players choose to like.
> > @Delko Elite 15
> > Those are all examples of players using equipment in smart and clever ways, or at the very least just using them for their intended purpose.
>
> And yet when AA’s were in the field people say they are game breaking for doing the same thing that equipment does.
>
> All the AA’s did what they were designed to do and so did the equipment but only the AA’s are game breaking.
>
> It isn’t really a matter of which one is good or evil but which players choose to like.
Armor Abilities are game breaking because you can spawn with them. If AAs were pickups and you had to fight over them too, they would be better suited for Arena Multiplayer. Equipment is much better than AAs because you get only one use.
> Equipment was very game breaking. people just liked them more because they were on the map. Everything wrong with armor abilities passes over to equipment IMO
Agreed. I wouldn’t mind seeing equipment make a return but it has to be rebalanced.
> > > @Delko Elite 15
> > > Those are all examples of players using equipment in smart and clever ways, or at the very least just using them for their intended purpose.
> >
> > And yet when AA’s were in the field people say they are game breaking for doing the same thing that equipment does.
> >
> > All the AA’s did what they were designed to do and so did the equipment but only the AA’s are game breaking.
> >
> > It isn’t really a matter of which one is good or evil but which players choose to like.
>
> Armor Abilities are game breaking because you can spawn with them. If AAs were pickups and you had to fight over them too, they would be better suited for Arena Multiplayer. Equipment is much better than AAs because you get only one use.
If it were Vise Versa wouldn’t equipment be OP? Just he general idea of spawning with something powerful goes against basic arena style unless it is specific to that gamemode.
We both agree that spawning with AA’s is a bad idea but putting them on map would of been even better than having equipment.
> If it were Vise Versa wouldn’t equipment be OP? Just he general idea of spawning with something powerful goes against basic arena style unless it is specific to that gamemode.
>
> We both agree that spawning with AA’s is a bad idea but putting them on map would of been even better than having equipment.
If it were Vise Versa, equipment would be AAs.
And no because equipment remains single use, I can cling on an entire match to AL but after throwing that Bubble Shield I better make sure I attempt to pick up the next one when it spawns.
That was pretty much the second problem with AAs, infinite use.
> If it were Vise Versa wouldn’t equipment be OP?
Yes. But it’s not.
> We both agree that spawning with AA’s is a bad idea but putting them on map would of been even better than having equipment.
I don’t see a problem with both single-use equipment and equipment that runs on a battery.
Maybe we can have equipment that is exclusive to Custom Games only. Equipment like the bubble shield are fan favorites but could ruin match pacing. Also the flare was a great way to troll someone but obviously isn’t useful in a competitive sense. So bubble shield and flare are in customs only, and are not allowed in matchmaking.
> Maybe we can have equipment that is exclusive to Custom Games only. Equipment like the bubble shield are fan favorites but could ruin match pacing. Also the flare was a great way to troll someone but obviously isn’t useful in a competitive sense. So bubble shield and flare are in customs only, and are not allowed in matchmaking.
Dude, they actually work in competitive.
As long as the Bubble shield remains somewhere neutral on the map for both teams and has a balanced spawn time, it works perfectly fine as it is one use only (like Rockets tend to be 4 use).
> > Maybe we can have equipment that is exclusive to Custom Games only. Equipment like the bubble shield are fan favorites but could ruin match pacing. Also the flare was a great way to troll someone but obviously isn’t useful in a competitive sense. So bubble shield and flare are in customs only, and are not allowed in matchmaking.
>
> Dude, they actually work in competitive.
> As long as the Bubble shield remains somewhere neutral on the map for both teams and has a balanced spawn time, it works perfectly fine as it is one use only (like Rockets tend to be 4 use).
You’re right about the bubble shield. I probably should’ve mentioned how it is the least offensive of the two. I agree that if it is going to be used in competitive play it needs to be in a neutral on the map. It still could use some tweaking though. As for the flare, I just don’t see it. To me it causes the same problems as sprint did. Why? Because how can you fight when you can’t see? So what do you do? Run away from it so you can actually see again. By then the person that used it is gone.
> You’re right about the bubble shield. I probably should’ve mentioned how it is the least offensive of the two. I agree that if it is going to be used in competitive play it needs to be in a neutral on the map. It still could use some tweaking though. As for the flare, I just don’t see it. To me it causes the same problems as sprint did. Why? Because how can you fight when you can’t see? So what do you do? Run away from it so you can actually see again. By then the person that used it is gone.
Again unlike sprint the equipment was one use only and the guy needs to acquire it again (which can be prevented), also Flare was not that useful, it never really worked unless close by and by the time it activated properly the guy using it was mostly dead anyway, not to mention radar and reticule turning red still worked, overall not that good.
The reason they removed it from MM was due to the equipment jumping, only Elite models can use the Power Draining for jumping but Radar Jammer and Flare worked for the spartan models as well.
> > You’re right about the bubble shield. I probably should’ve mentioned how it is the least offensive of the two. I agree that if it is going to be used in competitive play it needs to be in a neutral on the map. It still could use some tweaking though. As for the flare, I just don’t see it. To me it causes the same problems as sprint did. Why? Because how can you fight when you can’t see? So what do you do? Run away from it so you can actually see again. By then the person that used it is gone.
>
> Again unlike sprint the equipment was one use only and the guy needs to acquire it again (which can be prevented), also Flare was not that useful, it never really worked unless close by and by the time it activated properly the guy using it was mostly dead anyway, not to mention radar and reticule turning red still worked, overall not that good.
> The reason they removed it from MM was due to the equipment jumping, only Elite models can use the Power Draining for jumping but Radar Jammer and Flare worked for the spartan models as well.
Again true. Since it wasn’t particularly useful I just don’t see it being used competitively. Maybe if it behaved more like a flashbang it could be useful but I don’t know if people would like it very much. I just found it’s only good purpose is for trolling, which is why I think it should just stay in customs and not matchmaking.
> We both agree that spawning with AA’s is a bad idea but putting them on map would of been even better than having equipment.
Unlike Equipment, AAs can be used an infinite number of times. This additional benefit must be balanced by a nerf. The Regen Field AA does not charge shields while taking damage, but the Equipment did. Jet Pack can only be used by one player, but multiple players can take advantage of the Gravity Lift. And you’d never see an AA that can do what Power Drain did.
Halo: Reach had AAs on maps in some of the competitive gametypes, and no one used them because they often died before they were able use the AA in an impacting, beneficial way. Since AAs were less powerful than Equipment, there isn’t as much of a reason to pick them up. And not only do the AAs require a player to make a special trip for them, there are fewer AAs in play during a match since players aren’t spawning with them (an AA-loadout 4v4 match that ends 50-45 will have had over 100 AAs spawned).
You can’t fix AAs by simply copy-pasting them onto maps because they would be underpowered. You can’t fix on-map AAs by making them more powerful because that in conjunction with their infinite-use attribute would make them overpowered. The best thing for 343i to do would be to completely eliminate AAs (which they have done) and evolve the gameplay in new and different ways.
There’s no reason AA’s couldn’t be on the maps like equipment was only they would need to spawn with some too. For example, Jetpack, Cloak, Regen, and Decoy are pretty basic. If they put amped AA’s on the field that are more useful, Drop shield, or Bubble Shield . A Regen that fixes vehicles too, Auto turrets, Teleport, Cloak field that cloaks friendlies in range. Maybe even a turbo sprint Idk just examples you be creative. You would still be trying to control the maps and maintain the Amped AA’s as well as the Power weapons.
Spartan Abilities makes sense. Armor Abilities never made much sense, especially the ones that should have been base player traits like Sprint or picking up grenades.
In my mind, equipment is something you can pick up, carry and deploy, like a grav-lift or dropshield. Jet Pack is not an ability. It’s a vehicle and should be treated as such. It should be there to use like a Mongoose or a Banshee, and be just as susceptible to damage or being taken out by your opponents.
The thing about equipment that you can acquire at a spawn point or a dead player is that it keeps things lively. Just running around with rifles and grenades is just too CoD-y for me.