> In the title, I refrained from saying ‘The AI should be more helpful’ because, well, this is MY opinion, and I vouch for none other than myself.
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> In Halo, I’ve always liked to fight with others. I love that battlefield/ in-the-heat sensation a little more then ‘I’m a half-tonne tank with one-liners and an unwillingness to die, so I can own everything I fight.’
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> If I’m in a stick of trouble, instead of having a Pelican dropping off targets, and me thinking ‘Oh good, they’re distracted’ I want some bad*ss marines and ODST to land on the ground and give the enemies a tough time. Not carrying me by any means, but (Using the older halo’s as an example) every Marine should be able to kill at least a Brute Captain and an Ultra Elite, or that equivalent, before dying.
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> I by no means want friendlies to carry me throughout the campaign, I just want them to feel useful. I think it’s just pathetic to see a Marine die at the feet of a Grunt (Happens way too much) I think it would make for a more diverse battlefield, where the enemies have to realise that I’m not their only problem, and that the Marines aren’t piss-poor enough to be ignored.
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> Like I said, this is simply MY opinion. Feel free to agree/ disagree.
You should see AotCR. That’s where the marine support can really become top notch. Halo and Silent Cartographer had their moments but AotCR is where you get to lead marines against armies of Covies and live to tell/film the tale.
Don’t forget to add ‘and instead of a Pelican killing everyone for me’. This is a big problem in Halo, since Halo 3. Sierra 117. That level could have been the best if it hadn’t been for that inconsiderate Hocus with her magical missiles. The ones in Reach featured destructible armaments but they still had that op nature, as well as extreme accuracy, even over long ranges. Tldr: the Pelican support is too effective.
I agree, now (in Reach) that an Ultra Elite has been finally established as regular infantry rather than rarely seen, special units (H3 level Floodgate, H2), a team of marines should be able to deliver -Yoink- kicking to 4 Elite minors or a pair of Elite Majors and at least lower the shield of an Ultra Elite.
If it weren’t for Grunts and their grenade throwing, the marines would live longer. If it weren’t for Jackals taking all the gun fire and attention, the marines would live longer. It is odd how 2 minor Covenant species can destroy a whole team of marines.
> I prefer them not to be too strong because some people then might just sit back and let them take care of most of the enemies then go in for the clean up. I always go Rambo/Master Chief guns a blazin’ on the enemy and destroy everyone while not a single one of my marines are dead.
Low health will diminish their effectiveness.
Look at how my Arbiter kicks -Yoink- thanks to his invisibility and huge amount of health.
Marines need a good amount of health but not too much that they can stand there and take a lot of shots like in H2 and H3. Reach friendly AI didn’t have enough health.
CE friendly AI had decent amount of health. Just doubling that health would make them much better. Or better yet, giving the friendly AI longer range and longer burst firing would have made them more effective than a simple health increase.
> Halo: Reach had the best A.I, they were actually capable of hitting the targets. The problem was the damage they did was too weak. I witnessed Jun hit an elite with two sniper rounds and it didn’t do much. I also saw Carter do some decent DMRing, but it didn’t do much. I think that the damage A.I.s impose are weak so that the player themselves are the ones who do the final shot on the enemy A.I.
The Reach troopers don’t even put any effort into their firing. Their output is like 1 or 2 bullets.
Sure they hit their targets. Occasionally. But so did H3 marines. Accuracy is not the problem.
Firing rate, the length of time they fire, firing range, and as you mentioned, damage are the problems.
The troopers don’t use the DMR at it’s proper range compared to the Needle Rifle and plasma rifle.
The troopers don’t put enough juice when they’re firing their guns.
The troopers don’t fire long enough.
And the troopers don’t do enough damage.
I did notice that giving them plasma rifles does make them extremely effective against Elites… but because it’s so weak against flesh, that’s the only thing they’re good for and I have to be there to get the headshots on Grunts and Jackals.