Though many argue otherwise, in it’s current state the pulse grenade is simply not a meaningful addition to the halo sandbox. Despite it’s general ineffectiveness (excepting certain ridiculously specific scenarios), the pulse grenade however, could serve a purpose in future halo games if it received a considerable buff.
The following proposed changes are in the assumption that the plague of loadouts will be absent or severely limited in halo 5, and that the pulse grenade will be a map pickup.
Obviously the shield/health drain is far too weak–walking into the field of the pulse grenade should lower shields in a minimum of two seconds; this has already been established by the community.
In order to differentiate the pulse grenade from other grenades, it should feature a weak, needler-esque homing capability based on proximity (I.e. Lob it into a camper’s tower and it finds its target if he is generally close).
Any direct impact, in addition to being in it’s blast radius should completely lower shields.
> How about actually making it work like how it looks?
> When it explodes, it pulls enemies toward it, and then explode further.
I had considered that, and while it may work for campaign I could see that becoming extremely annoying, as it’d probably be pretty jarring to suddenly find yourself moving in a direction that you didn’t want.
But come to think of it, that could make a pretty sweet piece of equipment, i…e a “gravity well” that draws players towards it. That could have some pretty sweet implications for competitive play.
This grenade should be the bomb, but it is not. It needs many improvements. And as long as it can only be found as a map pickup, then it could be as powerful than the H3 Tripmine and also have an EMP affect.
The shield drain ability of the pulse does feel very low, it would be more useful if that was a bit stronger. But I think that the main use of it was supposed to be taking out shield when it lands or killing people instantly when exploding if the enemy has no shield (two purposes that I know that work well). But if you don’t hit with it when throwing or the after explosion, it seems to be pretty useless then. Unless the enemy is stupid enough to just stand in it
The main problem with the way the Pulse Grenade is in Halo 4 is that it’s just too easy to run away from. So, easy fix: shorter fuse, less noticeable, everything else the same. It’d probably need some minor adjustments from there, but I think that’s a good starting point.
It’s a finisher when used against infantry. Instead of tossing the grenade at the beginning of the fight, you throw it at the enemy’s feet at the end when their shield pops. The initial blast will make them look like they trip over a rock and fall flat on their face most of the time, knocking them unconscious(even though they wear helmets).
Personally, I believe it is fine the way it is. It disables vehicles and shields. It hurts vehicles if they are caught, and it is an instant kill if the initial blast hits an unshielded player.
I can agree the shield drain ability is a tad weak. Other than that, this thing is a beast if you can wrap your head around the idea that you toss them at the END, instead of the beginning unless you want to slow down their progress for a bit.
The shorter fuse and more shield drain when standing in it is all it needs, IMO. The fuse needs to be just short enough to require a player actually adjust his movement if one lands at his feet. But definitely no homing.
The Pulse Grenade doesn’t need a nerf, you just need to be able to spawn with as many as you can other grenades (preferably by reducing nade spawns across the board to 1x) As well, Frags and Sticks should have their basic blast radii, while Pulses should have their Explosives-mod blast radii, for some consistencies’ sake.
@ Pain Relief: it DOESN’T create an EMP effect. When it goes off it only damages roughly 85-90% of shields, and it has zero vehicle disabling capability.
> The Pulse Grenade doesn’t need a nerf, you just need to be able to spawn with as many as you can other grenades (preferably by reducing nade spawns across the board to 1x) As well, Frags and Sticks should have their basic blast radii, while Pulses should have their Explosives-mod blast radii, for some consistencies’ sake.
>
> @ Pain Relief: it DOESN’T create an EMP effect. When it goes off it only damages roughly 85-90% of shields, and it has zero vehicle disabling capability.
I thought it did at one point pre-release. I guess something else hit me at the same time when I got hit by one on a mongoose.
Still, my opinion stands. No need for a buff. Just learn to toss them as a finisher if you plan to kill people with it.
> @ Pain Relief: it DOESN’T create an EMP effect. When it goes off it only damages roughly 85-90% of shields, and it has zero vehicle disabling capability.
Currently the Pulse grenade does not have an EMP effect. If there were one thing I would change it would be this. Add an EMP to the inital blast only, and give the ionization sphere a slight damage boost. At that point if it’s too powerful for loadouts then place it on maps and in ordnance (if applicable).
> Though many argue otherwise, in it’s current state the pulse grenade is simply not a meaningful addition to the halo sandbox. Despite it’s general ineffectiveness (excepting certain ridiculously specific scenarios), the pulse grenade however, could serve a purpose in future halo games if it received a considerable buff.
It needs a buff?
I think that you’re trying to use the weapon in a role that it’s not meant for.
Every time i see one of these Pulse Grenade buff threads is makes me a little upset that people still haven’t figured out how to use it. I love the pulse grenade but people confuse it for what its not. It has many roles, A poke, a finisher, a magical third mode that allows it to hold an area and a nice way to start a camp fire.
What I mean by a poke is that its not meant to just destroy people with a single throw. It’s meant to zap away a bit of health giving the player and edge. I use it to start alot of fights because it can hit the targets shields then i can go in for the finish. Unlike frags where you might have this delay before it goes off or it will bounce way, the pulse grenade sticks itself to its terrain. Locking itself in with a golden light of doom.
It is the best finisher ever in Halo. You see doing the plasma grenade before you die thing (which without a doubt is the most annoying thing to come out of Halo.) but it is just people being an -Yoink-. HAHA you thought you got a kill over me lol NOPE! The pulse grenade gives you a finisher because if you have no shields and near a pulse grenade, you don’t have long to live. Even worse you are where it just so happened to flop to then you will be gone before you even knew what happened.
It’s third magical use it purely utility wise for the long lasting AEO of the grenade prevents people from doing something crazy like charging into your base and if they do take the risk they won’t be living for long. Part of the reason why you only get 1 Pulse grenade is because the little -Yoink- is so useful and we are given one so players just can’t rule over a game with an Iron Fist. Not to mention being in the full blast of a pulse grenade is very disorienting. Imagine playing a capture the flag game but you enemy team doesn’t leave their base and 2 people have 3 Pulse grenades. Rarely do I leave games because i feel i can’t win( so rare that i should have Halo diamonds by now) but if an entire enemy team is using pulse grenades on CTF or if they allowed players to have more than two it would be a nightmare.
The only buff the Pulse Grenade needs is the ability to stick to vehicles. I don’t see why that doesn’t happen. The only reason i say this is because the concept of the pulse grenade sticking to walls is already in question in my mind and it not sticking to players and vehicles brings up even more of a question mark, but i’ll leave that thinking to 343i because if people can’t figure out how to use the pulse grenade than maybe they were right to remove all the other utility weapons that they were going to bring into Halo.
> Every time i see one of these Pulse Grenade buff threads is makes me a little upset that people still haven’t figured out how to use it. I love the pulse grenade but people confuse it for what its not. It has many roles, A poke, a finisher, a magical third mode that allows it to hold an area and a nice way to start a camp fire…
While all of this is true, I believe the main reason people tend to avoid it is that you get one less pulse than either of its alternatives. Another reason people tend to avoid it is because it works extremely well with automatic weapons. While this is not a bad thing, the fact that so few players use autos, makes this grenade suffer.
> The only buff the Pulse Grenade needs is the ability to stick to vehicles. I don’t see why that doesn’t happen. The only reason i say this is because the concept of the pulse grenade sticking to walls is already in question in my mind and it not sticking to players and vehicles brings up even more of a question mark, but i’ll leave that thinking to 343i because if people can’t figure out how to use the pulse grenade than maybe they were right to remove all the other utility weapons that they were going to bring into Halo.
I don’t believe the Pulse Grenade should stick to players and vehicles; rather it should pop up and remain stationary. If it stuck to players it would essentially be buffed Plasma Grenade.
Here’s a video from TheHaloCouncil that outlines a possible Pulse Grenade buff.
Its a little too late for 2 Pulse Grenade to be allowed into loadouts in Halo 4, so I think there should be more of them placed on maps. This is especially important in gametypes w/o custom loadouts (Legendary, PG BR’s etc).
