Disclaimer: I believe Warzone Firefight is a fun mode and pretty much all I play in Halo 5 anymore. This thread comes from a place of love and wish for WZFF to improve. While I cannot tell who can and can’t post in response to this thread I would state that any replies of the “WZFF is easy git gud” or “Don’t be a hater” variety think before they post.
Now, onto the meat and potatoes of this thread. I doubt I’ll be saying anything any different than what has been said thus far, but I feel it still needs to be said in a way only I can. As I said, I like WZFF, but I think one of the areas the mode is weighed down comes from 343 not seeming to understand the difference between what I’ll call “real” and “-Yoink-” challenge. For the most part, WZFF is fair. Waves such as Kill X enemy usually occur at appropriate times during the match that players can handle them at any REQ level and those that were not were at the very least improved with the recent Hot Fix. That is real challenge. However, three concepts can make future waves a nightmare of -Yoink- challenge and they are Location, Respawning and Boss Mob Density.
Location: This problem arises when Objectives like “Defend the Generator” and “Defend the Forerunner Core(s)” spawn far away from where players are. Now, this can be somewhat alleviated a bit by players moving early enough to locations where these Objectives might be, but since it is random you may go there for nothing. Further contributing to the problem is that enemies tend to spawn right on top of or nearby those Objectives and already get damage in before players can reach them. This is exceptionally hard with Prometheans enemies and their absurd tracking weapons and swarming tactics. Equally problematic is the spawning situation for players. One major example I know is Escape from A.R.C’s Defend the Garage Objective with Prometheans. Soldiers (especially with Splinter Turrets) are bad enough, but throwing in bullet sponge Knights and Phaetons in the sky that will pepper your -Yoink- before you can even leave the tunnel you spawn from is ridiculous. Also, why spawn Mythic Bosses and Legendary Bosses in the Home Base?
So I ask, how is having Objectives we need to defend being placed far off and being spawn points for the enemies who are capturing it an example of a fair challenge?
Respawning: I think everybody is familiar with this point, so I won’t waste too much time here. I understand WHY 343 made the respawn timer increase with each round given the lives system from past Firefight modes is now gone. You need some way to make death count for players. But 30 seconds in respawn at its highest is ridiculous and not fun. I think most people know how difficult Deacon Pipap is on Apex 7 by himself with a super attack that can instantly kill most vehicles and you still have Hunters to kill after him. Imagine spawning a powerful vehicle or weapon from the far off Home Base, getting their, getting super’d, and then having to wait 30 seconds. And repeat. Also, why do you force players to wait longer when spawning a vehicle on respawn? Time is crucial enough and not even waiting until you’d respawn normally by pressing X seems to affect whether or not you’ll have to wait for a vehicle.
The respawn system makes sense from a certain point of view, but it needs to be scaled down when you know you have enemies that can just steamroll players especially on higher waves. And that spawn timer for vehicles only adding to how long you have to wait? Salt in the wound.
Boss Mob Density: This one is overcome often by people, but some scenarios are fairer than others. Deacon Pipap is not one of them. He is bad enough on his own, but does he really need a horde of Promethean Knights around him? Similarly, the Hunter Particulars are another pain on Apex 7 given they too have Knights as well as Banshees overhead defending them that have a tendency to spam fuel rods. I understand the last wave needs to be difficult and by then players should have a solid amount of REQs to use. But what good are those REQs when from the moment players try to get to the action they are swarmed by heavy hitter mobs before they can even get to the main bosses? I just finished a game on Urban where I had spawned a Phaeton and helped clear the Knight Champions and then the two Wardens show up. Alright, decent enough, but then Banshees and Wraiths are added to the mix. Those Banshees swarm me and nothing I’m doing seems to phase them resulting in my death. Alright, I spawn with a Ultra Ghost since that’s the highest I had at that point. Destroyed by a Wraith that was uncannily accurate. That is 1 minute of time spent respawning because Mythic Wardens and their infantry were deemed too easy.
The amount of super tough mobs needs to be reduced somewhat. I get not wanting players to just steamroll bosses, but WZFF has some really tough ones that the added protection only makes for an unbalanced mess. And when you add in Location and Respawning to that, it gets frustrating.
Again, I’ve probably said things already that have been said, but I hope I’ve at least articulated why these three issues in particular can make for a frustrating, and not enjoyable, Warzone experience.