Let's talk about weapons.

Games Halo Infinite
1

When I saw the Infinite demo, I found a lot of cool varieties of previous weapons that looked fun to shoot. And even though this is why I like the Banished, since their lore of modifying Covenant stuff opens up a lot of doors for innovation, I didn’t see any classic weapons in the demo and I don’t like that. It seems the new Stalker Rifle will replace the Covenant Carbine, there is no Spiker in sight (the main Brute sidearm role is now filled in by the Mangler revolver), and I didn’t see a plasma rifle at all.

The stalker rifle looks like a modified focus rifle, maybe the Banished’s snipers will use focus rifles instead of carbines.

Speaking of carbines, they have also been replaced by burst-fire plasma weapons called pulse carbines, which is a new variant, I suppose. Where’s the original?

The Spiker had a new Banished variant seen in Halo Wars 2, but none of the Brutes on Zeta Halo have one. Why? There are no Brute Shots seen either. The new brute weapons are cool, but they are nothing without the originals.

And there are no plasma rifles or brute plasma rifles seen. The elites seem to be holding pulse carbines or some kind of storm rifle. I was hoping for a modified brute plasma rifle to be seen, but no. Not even that. What the heck, 343?

The original weapons were balanced and made to be fun. Even though this new sandbox will be VERY fun, it is nothing without the original guns. I don’t care about the carbine. You can change the artstyle all you want with it. I actually liked the Halo 4 carbine. Just make it act like a carbine should, not like a battle rifle. The battle rifle one looks really cool, it should be there, but it shouldn’t replace the original. And the Spiker is the first thing you think of when you think of brutes. How is it not in a game where brutes are the main enemies? And storm rifles are fine for the elites, just change the look to make it less boring and slow the fire rate to make it not be an AR. Add a stun effect. The one that the CE plasma rifle had. If you do all of that, the Storm Rifle will be interesting again. It just needs some tweaks. The Storm Rifle is like the Infinite sandbox, it needs a few tweaks and additions, and it will be complete. What is a Halo sandbox without a carbine or a spiker? More alien to the players than the Banished themselves.

2

The neddler was there. As for the rest, wait and see. Somewhere on the ground in the game demo/trailer.

3

> 2535465220374093;1:
> When I saw the Infinite demo, I found a lot of cool varieties of previous weapons that looked fun to shoot. And even though this is why I like the Banished, since their lore of modifying Covenant stuff opens up a lot of doors for innovation, I didn’t see any classic weapons in the demo and I don’t like that. It seems the new Stalker Rifle will replace the Covenant Carbine, there is no Spiker in sight (the main Brute sidearm role is now filled in by the Mangler revolver), and I didn’t see a plasma rifle at all.
>
> The stalker rifle looks like a modified focus rifle, maybe the Banished’s snipers will use focus rifles instead of carbines.
>
> Speaking of carbines, they have also been replaced by burst-fire plasma weapons called pulse carbines, which is a new variant, I suppose. Where’s the original?
>
> The Spiker had a new Banished variant seen in Halo Wars 2, but none of the Brutes on Zeta Halo have one. Why? There are no Brute Shots seen either. The new brute weapons are cool, but they are nothing without the originals.
>
> And there are no plasma rifles or brute plasma rifles seen. The elites seem to be holding pulse carbines or some kind of storm rifle. I was hoping for a modified brute plasma rifle to be seen, but no. Not even that. What the heck, 343?
>
> The original weapons were balanced and made to be fun. Even though this new sandbox will be VERY fun, it is nothing without the original guns. I don’t care about the carbine. You can change the artstyle all you want with it. I actually liked the Halo 4 carbine. Just make it act like a carbine should, not like a battle rifle. The battle rifle one looks really cool, it should be there, but it shouldn’t replace the original. And the Spiker is the first thing you think of when you think of brutes. How is it not in a game where brutes are the main enemies? And storm rifles are fine for the elites, just change the look to make it less boring and slow the fire rate to make it not be an AR. Add a stun effect. The one that the CE plasma rifle had. If you do all of that, the Storm Rifle will be interesting again. It just needs some tweaks. The Storm Rifle is like the Infinite sandbox, it needs a few tweaks and additions, and it will be complete. What is a Halo sandbox without a carbine or a spiker? More alien to the players than the Banished themselves.

I think 343 has a tendency to replace a lot more things than is necessary. They are shifting the roles a lot of weapons fill in the sandbox to make them better fit the standards for modern shooters, forgetting that having a variety of cool guns in the campaign is more important than a precisely balanced multiplayer sandbox. You’ll never catch me saying “woah hey this shotgun is way too effective at close range and maybe not quite enough people are using it in multiplayer.” You’ll certainly catch me saying "uh… this shotgun seems okay but where is the shotgun I came to a Halo game for?

4

I honestly don’t think the Spiker is needed. It always seemed very dainty in the hands of a Brute. The entire point of the Brute Weapon set is that they slap guns together out of what is available, and I think that fits with the idea that Brutes in different parts of the galaxy don’t all have identical Maulers/Spikers/Brute Shots. I care more that every aspect of the sandbox is covered more than the fact that a specific gun is the one filling that niche.

I also keep in mind that we haven’t seen the full sandbox, and how it interacts with itself.

5

> 2535465220374093;1:
> When I saw the Infinite demo, I found a lot of cool varieties of previous weapons that looked fun to shoot. And even though this is why I like the Banished, since their lore of modifying Covenant stuff opens up a lot of doors for innovation, I didn’t see any classic weapons in the demo and I don’t like that. It seems the new Stalker Rifle will replace the Covenant Carbine, there is no Spiker in sight (the main Brute sidearm role is now filled in by the Mangler revolver), and I didn’t see a plasma rifle at all.
>
> The stalker rifle looks like a modified focus rifle, maybe the Banished’s snipers will use focus rifles instead of carbines.
>
> Speaking of carbines, they have also been replaced by burst-fire plasma weapons called pulse carbines, which is a new variant, I suppose. Where’s the original?
>
> The Spiker had a new Banished variant seen in Halo Wars 2, but none of the Brutes on Zeta Halo have one. Why? There are no Brute Shots seen either. The new brute weapons are cool, but they are nothing without the originals.
>
> And there are no plasma rifles or brute plasma rifles seen. The elites seem to be holding pulse carbines or some kind of storm rifle. I was hoping for a modified brute plasma rifle to be seen, but no. Not even that. What the heck, 343?
>
> The original weapons were balanced and made to be fun. Even though this new sandbox will be VERY fun, it is nothing without the original guns. I don’t care about the carbine. You can change the artstyle all you want with it. I actually liked the Halo 4 carbine. Just make it act like a carbine should, not like a battle rifle. The battle rifle one looks really cool, it should be there, but it shouldn’t replace the original. And the Spiker is the first thing you think of when you think of brutes. How is it not in a game where brutes are the main enemies? And storm rifles are fine for the elites, just change the look to make it less boring and slow the fire rate to make it not be an AR. Add a stun effect. The one that the CE plasma rifle had. If you do all of that, the Storm Rifle will be interesting again. It just needs some tweaks. The Storm Rifle is like the Infinite sandbox, it needs a few tweaks and additions, and it will be complete. What is a Halo sandbox without a carbine or a spiker? More alien to the players than the Banished themselves.

but thats info from the demo tho
we arent basing EVERYTHING that we have on those what, like 7 weapons that we actually see in the trailer?
its probably going to have an even more expanded sandbox than halo 5, just be patient and not make too much assumptions that it is replacing classic weapons.

The storm rifle absolutely sucked in halo 5, it was literally a close range weapon because its insufferable at medium to long ranges. It was only good because of the variants

6

343 is taking a new weapon balance approach to ensure that there are no two weapons in the game that are so similar they become redundant.

Unfortunately that means a lot of past weapons just won’t fit into the franchise too well. The Carbine and the BR have always played the exact same role, with a very similar playstyle, and the Plasma Rifle/Spiker/Storm Rifle are not only very similar to one another, but are also just Covenant SMGs/ARs in every game they’ve been in since CE.

The Pulse Carbine on the other hand, is going to be a combination of mid-range support. And a utility weapon that shifts the playstyle from headshots, to leading shots. Which is very, very unique in the Halo sandbox. Where having one player with a BR, and another with a Carbine on the same team didn’t really accomplish anything in previous games that two players with a BR could; in Infinite one player with a BR, and another with a Pulse Carbine will be extra deadly working together, considering how fast the Pulse Carbine will strip shields, and how fast the BR will finish them off once the shield is down. One plays the slayer, the other plays support.

It’s similar with the idea of replacing the Beam Rifle with the Stalker (Or Ravager Rifle, not really sure which is the Sniper and what the other will be). The Beam Rifle was never anything more than the Covenant’s easier-to-use Sniper. The Stalker Rifle will likely function in a very unique way compared to the Sniper, having a different playstyle than just popping heads at mid-long range.

That’s why the weapons that are returning, the Plasma Pistol, Needler, and Sword, were chosen to return. They are all far more unique than the weapons that are being cut. Especially now that the Bulldog is replacing the Shotgun, in order to further distinguish it’s playstyle from the Sword by offering a non-power weapon CQC playstyle. It’s also why I don’t think we will be seeing the DMR, and the Magnum was changed to the Sidekick. The BR is already in the game and those weapons utilized the exact same playstyle to succeed with, the only non-cosmetic difference between them being their effective ranges.

7

> 2533274810177460;6:
> 343 is taking a new weapon balance approach to ensure that there are no two weapons in the game that are so similar they become redundant.
>
> Unfortunately that means a lot of past weapons just won’t fit into the franchise too well. The Carbine and the BR have always played the exact same role, with a very similar playstyle, and the Plasma Rifle/Spiker/Storm Rifle are not only very similar to one another, but are also just Covenant SMGs/ARs in every game they’ve been in since CE.
>
> The Pulse Carbine on the other hand, is going to be a combination of mid-range support. And a utility weapon that shifts the playstyle from headshots, to leading shots. Which is very, very unique in the Halo sandbox. Where having one player with a BR, and another with a Carbine on the same team didn’t really accomplish anything in previous games that two players with a BR could; in Infinite one player with a BR, and another with a Pulse Carbine will be extra deadly working together, considering how fast the Pulse Carbine will strip shields, and how fast the BR will finish them off once the shield is down. One plays the slayer, the other plays support.
>
> It’s similar with the idea of replacing the Beam Rifle with the Stalker (Or Ravager Rifle, not really sure which is the Sniper and what the other will be). The Beam Rifle was never anything more than the Covenant’s easier-to-use Sniper. The Stalker Rifle will likely function in a very unique way compared to the Sniper, having a different playstyle than just popping heads at mid-long range.
>
> That’s why the weapons that are returning, the Plasma Pistol, Needler, and Sword, were chosen to return. They are all far more unique than the weapons that are being cut. Especially now that the Bulldog is replacing the Shotgun, in order to further distinguish it’s playstyle from the Sword by offering a non-power weapon CQC playstyle. It’s also why I don’t think we will be seeing the DMR, and the Magnum was changed to the Sidekick. The BR is already in the game and those weapons utilized the exact same playstyle to succeed with, the only non-cosmetic difference between them being their effective ranges.

Personally I really really dislike them going in this direction. I get the desire for unique weapons, but I’ve always felt that the variations between the weapons were sufficient to warrant their inclusion. Ultimately I think that a Halo game should prioritize having a variety of very cool weapons that are fun to use, making them perfectly balanced and distinct should be secondary to that. Are spikers, plasma rifles, and SMGs functionally similar? Sure. Does that mean I don’t personally appreciate all of them? Not at all. Does the classic shotgun get utilized as often as it could in multiplayer? I don’t know, and don’t care. I just want to blast flood with it. Disappointed that they would be prioritizing balance for e-sports over including fun and iconic weapons.

8

> 2533274812002202;7:
> > 2533274810177460;6:
> > 343 is taking a new weapon balance approach to ensure that there are no two weapons in the game that are so similar they become redundant.
> >
> > Unfortunately that means a lot of past weapons just won’t fit into the franchise too well. The Carbine and the BR have always played the exact same role, with a very similar playstyle, and the Plasma Rifle/Spiker/Storm Rifle are not only very similar to one another, but are also just Covenant SMGs/ARs in every game they’ve been in since CE.
> >
> > The Pulse Carbine on the other hand, is going to be a combination of mid-range support. And a utility weapon that shifts the playstyle from headshots, to leading shots. Which is very, very unique in the Halo sandbox. Where having one player with a BR, and another with a Carbine on the same team didn’t really accomplish anything in previous games that two players with a BR could; in Infinite one player with a BR, and another with a Pulse Carbine will be extra deadly working together, considering how fast the Pulse Carbine will strip shields, and how fast the BR will finish them off once the shield is down. One plays the slayer, the other plays support.
> >
> > It’s similar with the idea of replacing the Beam Rifle with the Stalker (Or Ravager Rifle, not really sure which is the Sniper and what the other will be). The Beam Rifle was never anything more than the Covenant’s easier-to-use Sniper. The Stalker Rifle will likely function in a very unique way compared to the Sniper, having a different playstyle than just popping heads at mid-long range.
> >
> > That’s why the weapons that are returning, the Plasma Pistol, Needler, and Sword, were chosen to return. They are all far more unique than the weapons that are being cut. Especially now that the Bulldog is replacing the Shotgun, in order to further distinguish it’s playstyle from the Sword by offering a non-power weapon CQC playstyle. It’s also why I don’t think we will be seeing the DMR, and the Magnum was changed to the Sidekick. The BR is already in the game and those weapons utilized the exact same playstyle to succeed with, the only non-cosmetic difference between them being their effective ranges.
>
> Personally I really really dislike them going in this direction. I get the desire for unique weapons, but I’ve always felt that the variations between the weapons were sufficient to warrant their inclusion. Ultimately I think that a Halo game should prioritize having a variety of very cool weapons that are fun to use, making them perfectly balanced and distinct should be secondary to that. Are spikers, plasma rifles, and SMGs functionally similar? Sure. Does that mean I don’t personally appreciate all of them? Not at all. Does the classic shotgun get utilized as often as it could in multiplayer? I don’t know, and don’t care. I just want to blast flood with it. Disappointed that they would be prioritizing balance for e-sports over including fun and iconic weapons.

It’s not about a focus on balance, it’s about a focus on variety. The goal isn’t to have less weapons, it’s to have just as many weapons but to make those weapons all have a unique role, playstyle, and skillset to other weapons in the sandbox. I praise the idea because that was one of Halo CE’s most celebrated aspects, a sandbox of completely diverse and unique weapons to use. If this concept was kept going forward, we still would have had room for a lot of weapons from later Halo games, the Sword, the Sentinel Beam, the machinegun turret, the Spartan Laser, Brute Shot, Grenade Launcher, Sticky Detonator, Hydra, Plasma Caster etc. Tons of very unique weapons exist in this franchise, I’d rather sacrifice the multitude of blatant AR and BR clones to have even more completely unique options available to me.

The Pulse Carbine is really similar to an idea I came up with when I was pondering what the Storm Rifle really should have been over half a decade ago, when I was disappointed at yet another Plasma Rifle/BPR/Spiker/Repeater clone being added to the series. And it’s also very similar to the Ruby’s Remastered Reach Campaign version of the Plasma Repeater that released a couple of years ago. I’m excited for it because of how unique it is.

9

The weapons for the most part look great to me, no complaints here. Although I do feel some weapon sounds should be a tad more “beefier.” The gameplay reveal trailer showed off some tidbits of Infinite we didn’t see in the premiere, I was wondering why that was. Like the electric grenade that freezes enemies in place would’ve been nice to see in the premiere. I’m fine with seeing replacements to certain weapons, all I’m concerned about is whether or not they’re good and if they fit into the sandbox well.

The plasma rifle, honestly, I was never a big fan of. I totally prefer the Pulse Carbine by light years. To me, the plasma rifle only worked well when you were dual wielding it with another weapon in a CQC scenario. Other than that, I never willingly used it as my choice of firepower because quite frankly I found it kinda… idk, ineffective and unsatisfying to use. It was one of my last resort weapons. The Pulse Carbine is a lot more DIRECT. I like it, no complaints if they replace the plasma rifle with it.

10

> 2533274810177460;8:
> > 2533274812002202;7:
> > > 2533274810177460;6:
> > > 343 is taking a new weapon balance approach to ensure that there are no two weapons in the game that are so similar they become redundant.
> > >
> > > Unfortunately that means a lot of past weapons just won’t fit into the franchise too well. The Carbine and the BR have always played the exact same role, with a very similar playstyle, and the Plasma Rifle/Spiker/Storm Rifle are not only very similar to one another, but are also just Covenant SMGs/ARs in every game they’ve been in since CE.
> > >
> > > The Pulse Carbine on the other hand, is going to be a combination of mid-range support. And a utility weapon that shifts the playstyle from headshots, to leading shots. Which is very, very unique in the Halo sandbox. Where having one player with a BR, and another with a Carbine on the same team didn’t really accomplish anything in previous games that two players with a BR could; in Infinite one player with a BR, and another with a Pulse Carbine will be extra deadly working together, considering how fast the Pulse Carbine will strip shields, and how fast the BR will finish them off once the shield is down. One plays the slayer, the other plays support.
> > >
> > > It’s similar with the idea of replacing the Beam Rifle with the Stalker (Or Ravager Rifle, not really sure which is the Sniper and what the other will be). The Beam Rifle was never anything more than the Covenant’s easier-to-use Sniper. The Stalker Rifle will likely function in a very unique way compared to the Sniper, having a different playstyle than just popping heads at mid-long range.
> > >
> > > That’s why the weapons that are returning, the Plasma Pistol, Needler, and Sword, were chosen to return. They are all far more unique than the weapons that are being cut. Especially now that the Bulldog is replacing the Shotgun, in order to further distinguish it’s playstyle from the Sword by offering a non-power weapon CQC playstyle. It’s also why I don’t think we will be seeing the DMR, and the Magnum was changed to the Sidekick. The BR is already in the game and those weapons utilized the exact same playstyle to succeed with, the only non-cosmetic difference between them being their effective ranges.
> >
> > Personally I really really dislike them going in this direction. I get the desire for unique weapons, but I’ve always felt that the variations between the weapons were sufficient to warrant their inclusion. Ultimately I think that a Halo game should prioritize having a variety of very cool weapons that are fun to use, making them perfectly balanced and distinct should be secondary to that. Are spikers, plasma rifles, and SMGs functionally similar? Sure. Does that mean I don’t personally appreciate all of them? Not at all. Does the classic shotgun get utilized as often as it could in multiplayer? I don’t know, and don’t care. I just want to blast flood with it. Disappointed that they would be prioritizing balance for e-sports over including fun and iconic weapons.
>
> It’s not about a focus on balance, it’s about a focus on variety. The goal isn’t to have less weapons, it’s to have just as many weapons but to make those weapons all have a unique role, playstyle, and skillset to other weapons in the sandbox. I praise the idea because that was one of Halo CE’s most celebrated aspects, a sandbox of completely diverse and unique weapons to use. If this concept was kept going forward, we still would have had room for a lot of weapons from later Halo games, the Sword, the Sentinel Beam, the machinegun turret, the Spartan Laser, Brute Shot, Grenade Launcher, Sticky Detonator, Hydra, Plasma Caster etc. Tons of very unique weapons exist in this franchise, I’d rather sacrifice the multitude of blatant AR and BR clones to have even more completely unique options available to me.
>
> The Pulse Carbine is really similar to an idea I came up with when I was pondering what the Storm Rifle really should have been over half a decade ago, when I was disappointed at yet another Plasma Rifle/BPR/Spiker/Repeater clone being added to the series. And it’s also very similar to the Ruby’s Remastered Reach Campaign version of the Plasma Repeater that released a couple of years ago. I’m excited for it because of how unique it is.

I see what you mean about CE, but other than removing the AR I felt Halo 2 added a lot of good stuff. Take the fuel rod cannon for example. It is essentially the same function as the SPNKR, but has a totally different feeling and place in the sandbox.

I imagine a big part of this is due to the decision not to include duel-wielding. Once again, a decision made based on “balance” issues at the cost of a fun feature. I know that dual wielding meant nerfing one handed weapons… but they’re one handed weapons… the idea that a handgun is not as powerful as a BR is pretty reasonable. Just my two cents!

11

> 2535465220374093;1:
> When I saw the Infinite demo, I found a lot of cool varieties of previous weapons that looked fun to shoot. And even though this is why I like the Banished, since their lore of modifying Covenant stuff opens up a lot of doors for innovation, I didn’t see any classic weapons in the demo and I don’t like that. It seems the new Stalker Rifle will replace the Covenant Carbine, there is no Spiker in sight (the main Brute sidearm role is now filled in by the Mangler revolver), and I didn’t see a plasma rifle at all.
>
> The stalker rifle looks like a modified focus rifle, maybe the Banished’s snipers will use focus rifles instead of carbines.
>
> Speaking of carbines, they have also been replaced by burst-fire plasma weapons called pulse carbines, which is a new variant, I suppose. Where’s the original?
>
> The Spiker had a new Banished variant seen in Halo Wars 2, but none of the Brutes on Zeta Halo have one. Why? There are no Brute Shots seen either. The new brute weapons are cool, but they are nothing without the originals.
>
> And there are no plasma rifles or brute plasma rifles seen. The elites seem to be holding pulse carbines or some kind of storm rifle. I was hoping for a modified brute plasma rifle to be seen, but no. Not even that. What the heck, 343?
>
> The original weapons were balanced and made to be fun. Even though this new sandbox will be VERY fun, it is nothing without the original guns. I don’t care about the carbine. You can change the artstyle all you want with it. I actually liked the Halo 4 carbine. Just make it act like a carbine should, not like a battle rifle. The battle rifle one looks really cool, it should be there, but it shouldn’t replace the original. And the Spiker is the first thing you think of when you think of brutes. How is it not in a game where brutes are the main enemies? And storm rifles are fine for the elites, just change the look to make it less boring and slow the fire rate to make it not be an AR. Add a stun effect. The one that the CE plasma rifle had. If you do all of that, the Storm Rifle will be interesting again. It just needs some tweaks. The Storm Rifle is like the Infinite sandbox, it needs a few tweaks and additions, and it will be complete. What is a Halo sandbox without a carbine or a spiker? More alien to the players than the Banished themselves.

Yeah, I agree.

But will there be any UNSC weapon on the way, I mean I LOVE the AR and the Infinite AR looks and feels powerful, but will there be other ARs scattered around the map for ammo? I get the point that 343 want us to try new/reincarnated weapons, but just don’t make the original weapons we love scarce.

The best carbine was actually the Halo 5 carbine as its reticle was just perfect and it genuinely felt and played like the Carbine should.

The BR is beautiful and the fact that the new “commando rifle” is here gives it competition for mid-long ranged weapon.

But what about the gravity hammer???

12

I liked the carbine in Halo 2/3 and Halo 5, they were both good. Not sure what to think about the pulse carbine, I would have to personally use it first. But I disagree about the storm rifle “just needing a few fixes”. The plasma rifle is just better in every way in my opinion.

I don’t intend to say that because “new bad, old good”, I just dislike the design of the Plasma Repeater and the Storm Rifle. the Plasma Rifle is good, and as much as I’d say we didn’t need it to become second banana to the plasma repeater in reach, I would say the same thing for being outright replaced in Halo 4.

With dual wielding out of the question in Halo Infinite (and presumably no invasion in the game’s life cycle) , the plasma rifle can be balanced differently to the point where it doesn’t have to be the little brother.

13

> 2533274812002202;10:
> > 2533274810177460;8:
> > > 2533274812002202;7:
> > > > 2533274810177460;6:
> > > > 343 is taking a new weapon balance approach to ensure that there are no two weapons in the game that are so similar they become redundant.
> > > >
> > > > Unfortunately that means a lot of past weapons just won’t fit into the franchise too well. The Carbine and the BR have always played the exact same role, with a very similar playstyle, and the Plasma Rifle/Spiker/Storm Rifle are not only very similar to one another, but are also just Covenant SMGs/ARs in every game they’ve been in since CE.
> > > >
> > > > The Pulse Carbine on the other hand, is going to be a combination of mid-range support. And a utility weapon that shifts the playstyle from headshots, to leading shots. Which is very, very unique in the Halo sandbox. Where having one player with a BR, and another with a Carbine on the same team didn’t really accomplish anything in previous games that two players with a BR could; in Infinite one player with a BR, and another with a Pulse Carbine will be extra deadly working together, considering how fast the Pulse Carbine will strip shields, and how fast the BR will finish them off once the shield is down. One plays the slayer, the other plays support.
> > > >
> > > > It’s similar with the idea of replacing the Beam Rifle with the Stalker (Or Ravager Rifle, not really sure which is the Sniper and what the other will be). The Beam Rifle was never anything more than the Covenant’s easier-to-use Sniper. The Stalker Rifle will likely function in a very unique way compared to the Sniper, having a different playstyle than just popping heads at mid-long range.
> > > >
> > > > That’s why the weapons that are returning, the Plasma Pistol, Needler, and Sword, were chosen to return. They are all far more unique than the weapons that are being cut. Especially now that the Bulldog is replacing the Shotgun, in order to further distinguish it’s playstyle from the Sword by offering a non-power weapon CQC playstyle. It’s also why I don’t think we will be seeing the DMR, and the Magnum was changed to the Sidekick. The BR is already in the game and those weapons utilized the exact same playstyle to succeed with, the only non-cosmetic difference between them being their effective ranges.
> > >
> > > Personally I really really dislike them going in this direction. I get the desire for unique weapons, but I’ve always felt that the variations between the weapons were sufficient to warrant their inclusion. Ultimately I think that a Halo game should prioritize having a variety of very cool weapons that are fun to use, making them perfectly balanced and distinct should be secondary to that. Are spikers, plasma rifles, and SMGs functionally similar? Sure. Does that mean I don’t personally appreciate all of them? Not at all. Does the classic shotgun get utilized as often as it could in multiplayer? I don’t know, and don’t care. I just want to blast flood with it. Disappointed that they would be prioritizing balance for e-sports over including fun and iconic weapons.
> >
> > It’s not about a focus on balance, it’s about a focus on variety. The goal isn’t to have less weapons, it’s to have just as many weapons but to make those weapons all have a unique role, playstyle, and skillset to other weapons in the sandbox. I praise the idea because that was one of Halo CE’s most celebrated aspects, a sandbox of completely diverse and unique weapons to use. If this concept was kept going forward, we still would have had room for a lot of weapons from later Halo games, the Sword, the Sentinel Beam, the machinegun turret, the Spartan Laser, Brute Shot, Grenade Launcher, Sticky Detonator, Hydra, Plasma Caster etc. Tons of very unique weapons exist in this franchise, I’d rather sacrifice the multitude of blatant AR and BR clones to have even more completely unique options available to me.
> >
> > The Pulse Carbine is really similar to an idea I came up with when I was pondering what the Storm Rifle really should have been over half a decade ago, when I was disappointed at yet another Plasma Rifle/BPR/Spiker/Repeater clone being added to the series. And it’s also very similar to the Ruby’s Remastered Reach Campaign version of the Plasma Repeater that released a couple of years ago. I’m excited for it because of how unique it is.
>
> I see what you mean about CE, but other than removing the AR I felt Halo 2 added a lot of good stuff. Take the fuel rod cannon for example. It is essentially the same function as the SPNKR, but has a totally different feeling and place in the sandbox.
>
> I imagine a big part of this is due to the decision not to include duel-wielding. Once again, a decision made based on “balance” issues at the cost of a fun feature. I know that dual wielding meant nerfing one handed weapons… but they’re one handed weapons… the idea that a handgun is not as powerful as a BR is pretty reasonable. Just my two cents!

The CE version of the FRG is the best version, because it acted more like a mortar cannon than a rocket launcher and had a completely unique playstyle that focused on using your radar aim your shots over map obstructions while staying completely obstructed from an enemy’s view. Since it’s spread and low damage/blast radius made winning 1v1s unlikely if the enemy could see you.

There has literally never been another weapon like it in the rest of the franchise, and that’s a huge shame. The closest has been the grenade launcher, since you can bounce it around corners but it’s a very different playstyle overall. I think having more guns like this, and less guns that are just “the Covenant _______” makes for better gameplay.