M392 Bandit Discussion

Games Halo Infinite
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This is a thread to discuss the concept of the M392 Bandit, which is now confirmed to be added in Season 3. What are your thoughts on the weapon? How would you like it to be implemented and how do you see it fitting in the weapon sandbox?

Here is what Joseph Staten had to say about the Bandit Rifle:
This rifle feels like the Reach DMR, but the goal here was really to make it much more effective at close range so we removed the scope. You can still zoom in using smart link in the same way you can zoom in using the pistol, but you canā€™t be descoped.

So going off what we know, the Bandit Rifle doesnā€™t just feel like the DMR, itā€™s exactly like the DMR except there is no zoom (even taking the M392 name).

  • 5 shot kill.
  • Slower Semi-Auto Fire.
  • 15 round magazine.

From the above I can derive that it will likely have a faster TTK than the BR75 and it will have the exaxt same killing capacity (3 possible kills before a reload). It will not be a victim to descope like the other precision ranged weapons so it has an advantage there, although the recoil appears to be moderately significant.

It seems to me what they are going for is a short to medium ranged precision weapon, one that could perhaps be a better default for BTB or an alterantive start for ranked or social. I do think there is a need for this type of weapon, so with respect to itā€™s role the Bandit should be a welcomed addition.

That said, I have to question why 343 decided to go with a DMR style of weapon for this. To me, the identity of the DMR is a long ranged weapon, so removing the scope already makes this rifle not the DMR (even though they are exactly alike in every other way). I have a feeling fans of the DMR will prefer the original. Additionally, it appears to me that it is going to be quite similar to the BR75 and I have to question why they chose this type of weapon to be another UNSC rifle?

If you took the concept of the M392 Bandit and applied it to an M6 Magnum, I canā€™t help but think it would make for a better sandbox addition.

  • It makes more sense spawning with a sidearm as a default secondary.
  • The M6 Magnum would have a smaller magazine which makes it more balanced in comparison to the BR75 (it will likely have a faster TTK than the BR75 if it has the same RPM as the Halo 5 DMR).
  • The M6 Magnum obviously doesnā€™t need a scope so no one would question this implementation.

At the end of the day it isnā€™t a huge difference but I feel the concept of what 343 was going for (a shorter ranged precision weapon) would have been better applied to the M6 Magnum than the DMR. So what do you think, assuming this is an ideal world and itā€™s not too late for 343 to pivot on this, would you prefer this concept for an M6 Magnum or a DMR?

  • Yes, I like this concept for the M6 Magnum.
  • No, I like the concept of M392 Bandit.
  • I donā€™t really care.
  • Other.

0 voters

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Honestly? Name and visual recognition for long-time fans. I think a Carbine-style weapon that wasā€¦ Well, the Carbine from Halo 2-4 without the scope would have solved this problem and then given the sandbox an increased amount of species-based diversity of weapons. They very likely did not do this because they havenā€™t configured skins for non-UNSC weapons yet.

I am very strongly of the opinion that the DMR with the Scope attached borderline ruined Haloā€™s balance until Infinite came out, so no scope is probably a good thing, but I can bet you anything people are going to be cross-mapping with this thing. Do we really need another hyper-accurate long-range death machine? Personally, I donā€™t think so.

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No kidding, I swear if the Brutes start using the Bandit in campaign.

It sounds like they are putting more of an emphasis on short ranged combat with the Bandit, the recoil might make it challenging to use at longer ranges. That said, the decrease magazine capacity of the M6 Magnum would reduce the margin of error making the weapon require more precision, this would help limit its function as a ā€œlong-range death machineā€.

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I personally just wish the Bandit would just replace the commando because I hate that weapon. I also wish the Bandit had a different reticle, itā€™s current one is too small and cluttered - much like the commandoā€™s.

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I like the idea of the Bandit and believe that itā€™ll play a positive role in the weapon sandbox of Infinite, but removing the scope and still calling it a rifle is sort of strange to me.
With 12v12 for BTB I could see this weapon potentially being a default weapon and not the BR because this will have a closer range compared to the BR. I still love the idea of 12v12 BTB with BR starts, but I just for some reason donā€™t see that happening.

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I think the BR is just too consistent at long range for a BTB start right now, if it had more bullet lag like Halo 3 (maybe not quite as much as Halo 3) then it would be fine I think.

Iā€™m hoping the Bandit addresses this issue.

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I think the Commando is a cool concept, just poor execution.

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Iā€™m happy to have it back but find it to be a weird choice to emphasize closer ranges. I wouldā€™ve preferred it they retooled the commando to be a close-range precision weapon and kept the DMR as its original self.

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This makes so much more sense, the Commando would be a more typical weapon to use without a scope in comparison to the DMR, itā€™s backwards. No wonder humanity is in shambles during Halo Infinite. Just sabotaging themselves with weapon design.

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I think itā€™s gonna be a gun with a very small footprint. In terms of what it does, itā€™ll be like the ninth UNSC gun in the game, and like the sixth multi-headshot precision gun. Just another SWAT variant. Why couldnā€™t they at least make it a Covenant or Forerunner gun?

We have a direct fire, headshot capable weapon that kills in:

  • 3 shots (Stalker rifle, Mangler)
  • 4 shots (Battle Rifle)
  • 5 shots (Bandit Rifle)
  • 7 shots (Sidekick)
  • 8 shots (Commando)

Iā€™m more interested to see how the Commando survives all of this. The Bandit seems to be in the same niche (precision, shorter range than BR). The Commando is really gonna have its toes stepped on.

My only question is why? Why is this the gun that weā€™re getting?

My only conclusion is because it was easy to make since other similar guns are already in the game.

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Yeah I dont get why they donā€™t just make this a Commando revamp, other than its less flashy than ā€œbrand new gun!ā€.

I think itā€™d have been cool as a ā€˜brute precision weaponā€™. They arenā€™t into scopes, so something you can just run up and precisely kil someone with feels their style.

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Same. People already donā€™t use it. Even though itā€™s better than the BR.

The commando can be used descoped but itā€™s kinda hard. I guess the bandit is supposed to make that easier.

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Iā€™d like that. Maybe give it spike rounds and a bayonet to emphasis the close range focusā€¦ Oops! did I just describe the Mangler???

Real talk. The Bandit shouldā€™ve been an alien design just for the sake of variety.

You and I are having very different experiences then :sweat_smile: Yeah, the Commando is better on paper, but I just find it to perform so poorly in practice (mostly my fault obviously). I actually prefer hipfiring since getting de-scoped with the commando is absolutely horrid.

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Same. If you get proficient with it, you can just shred shields. The hard part is getting the headshot. I think it was the last drop pod update that mostly fixed the headshot registration for commando.

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The VK78 Commando is a 65 year old rifle in lore. I guess with the UNSC stretched thin, they had to bust out old weapon depot caches. Which, would be fine, since in design itā€™s a quite rugged and meaty sounding rifle. The problem is how weak it is alongside recoil deviation.

Its chambered in 6.5mm, which is only slightly lower than 7.62mm, but not by much. Theoretically, the Bandit and Commando should have the same relative area of damage, but 8 shot TTK on a 20 round mag is ridiculous. Thats two kills at best with optimal shot registry. The BR and DMR outclass it in every way.

Since Iā€™m sure the HCS pros would cry foul at the BR ever receiving a nerf, buffing the commando alongside the Bandit would be best. Make it 6 shot TTK, or 7 if you up the box mag to 30 rounds.

I hope the Bandit feels good to use.

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They should rework it into a Space Garand.

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m392 bandit that sounds cool

and covenNT carbine

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To be entirely honestā€¦ Theyā€™re probably not considering Lore and actual, real-life weapon mechanics when balancing the game. If this game were anywhere close to realistic or at least true to the Lore, itā€™d be basically unplayable.

I do agree that the Commando would be made worse by the inclusion of the Bandit as is. The Commandoā€™s only ā€œadvantageā€ is fully automatic fire, which is quickly mitigated by the fact it blooms out to the size of the sun after a few seconds of sustained fire. You canā€™t nerf the BR because the pro players would have a melt down and Halo was always Competitive after allā€¦

So the only thing to do is to either buff the Commando to be as good as the proposed Bandit, or nerf the Bandit to be as bad as the proposed Commando. Or remove the Commando because itā€™s overall useless.

Ainā€™t it grand being in 343ā€™s sandbox?

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For me, it defeats the purpose of it being a DMR. In previous games it felt like a nice alt to the br for long range. If its supposed to feel and look like the reach DMR then have it be that. If anything the commando should be the close range precision while the bandit should be the next Range rifle. But thats just me

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Iā€™ve always just found the mangler just weird, the bullet drop thing feels terrible. I know it was supposedly OP in competiive for a bit, but just my experience with it.

But yeah, I guess my vision of the bandit rifle is the big brother of the Mangler, similar to how the Commando is the sidekicks big bro.