Of course it’ll never happen, BUT! What a fun idea to think about though.
Right now the weapons in Halo Infinite that could support dual wielding if it was in the game are the Sidekick, Disruptor, Mangler, Plasma Pistol, and Needler.
Of those weapons, the Needler and Sidekick are the only ones currently so powerful it would destroy the game to implement it, while for the others it would feel like a much needed buff that would make them viable if you can get dual wield going.
If a Dual Wield update came, I think leaving the Needler out would be the best choice, but I could see a Sidekick rework coming alongside it. Weakened damage in exchange for a blistering fast swap speed, and noticeably faster reload. Giving it the single-wield niche of cleaner upper/backup weapon, and letting the Bandit and Commando occupy it’s former role of competent close-mid range dueling weapon (which they already crowd-share with it).
Dual Wielding could be pretty healthy in this game with very little effort put into its implementation. I’d love to see dual disruptors making up for it’s general ineffectiveness, plasma/sidekick noob combos, and dual Maulers nailing a satisfying two-tap. Plus it would pair really well with the return of the SMG or Plasma Rifle, or the introduction of a Sentinel sidearm, like the missing Armament Blaster.
I also love seeing comments that Dual Wielding was cut for being OP. It wasn’t. Dual Wielding was cut because it was always bad. In both H2 and 3, a BR was more reliable than any dual wield combo. But it was only bad because it, and the weapons that supported it were always over-nerfed. Infinite’s potentially dual wielded weapons are mostly ignored battlefield weapons as it stands. Dual Wield would actually give a lot of them a purpose.
The Mangler would also destroy people if you doubled the rate of fire and ammo capacity. Seriously, it is a 3 shot kill already with a low rate of fire. Also think about how many people you can kill without a reload.
The Disruptor is also pretty good since the increase in ammo capacity. Doubling the already full auto rate of fire and triggering the damage over time even faster would be extremely powerful.
The Plasma Pistol might be the only one that wouldn’t be super powerful.