If there is one thing everyone will be familiar with, it’s the Motion Tracker(or Radar) found on the bottom left corner of our screens whenever present. It tells where the enemy is at according to distance, height and if they are in a vehicle. However, I believe there could be a way to make this better and help teach newer players (and possibly some vets when it comes to new weaponry) combat without it being in our faces.
In my opinion, I currently see 3 types of guns in our loadouts: Close range, Medium Range, and Long range, though throughout Halo’s series weapon balance can be a problem and not entirely work in reality. To help get the idea across, I’m only referencing to the Assault Rifle for Close Range, Battle Rifle for Medium Range, and DMR for Long Range to keep this simple.
By making the weapons correspond to the motion tracker, and a possible slight visual redesign, I think players would have a better way of understanding what to do with certain weapons. I’d say 3 circles should be in place for each range: A small circle for telling the player that anyone in this range:
1- A Close Range circle:
This circle will appear closest to the player and cover up to a certain distance. This circle will indicate close range weapons are more effective than medium and long range weapons. Assault Rifles will have the easiest time taking out enemy players that enter this range with medium and longer range weapons.
Medium and Long range players will need to be cautious about having players approach that range as they would need to do more skillful tactics to survive, or pull out a close range gun.
Battle Rifles will have an advantage against DMRs in this range.
2- A Medium Range Circle:
This circle will highlight that Battle Rifles are effective, and that you should keep players within this circle to stay ahead of the damage curve. Battle Rifles will have the easiest time taking out enemy players within this circle.
Assault Rifles will need to find a way to move in closer without taking hits, burst fire, use grenades to assist in damage, or pullout a medium range gun. In short, more work is needed to be successful for close range combatants. Assault Rifles can take on DMRs if they keep the DMRs closer to the Close Range circle.
DMRs will need to back away and get out of this circle to keep their damage output higher than the medium range guns, or use grenades to assist in damage. They can have an advantage if the DMR keeps Assault Rifles closer to their Long range circle.
3- A Long Range Circle
This circle will highlight that DMRs are effective, and will have the easiest time taking out enemies that are within this circle.
Battle Rifles will need to take cover, and move in to get them into the Medium Range circle, use grenades to assist in damage, or pull out a DMR to fight effectively.
Assault Rifles will have the most difficult time due to their weapon limitations, and will need to get the DMR closer to their circle as soon as possible to survive, or pull out a BR when close enough, or pull out a DMR and fight them on equal grounds.
In my opinion, this will help make the game better overall without actually changing the game. Without any real highlight, flashing indicators or nothing of that sort, the Motion Tracker can be a useful tool to help new players learn how combat works in this game, reduce the amount of frustration players can have, and improve the overall enjoyment of the game.
Of course, this would also need a weapon rebalance across the board in terms of range effectiveness, but I think this would make the game better.
Recap:
> New and Improved Motion Tracker/Radar
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> 3 circles, each indicating Close, Medium and Long range.
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> Helps players learn which weapon is effective at what range, and help with strategy, without a tutorial or a person telling you what it all means.
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> Weapon Rebalance, in terms of range, can help make the game understandable without dumbing down the game, and avoid confusion.
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> DOES NOT:
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> Make certain weapons stronger when in a circle. It just makes it understandable that you should or shouldn’t have this type of weapon out.
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> Make the Motion Tracker/Radar flash in an annoying way whenever you need to do something.
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> Remove anything that we know about the Motion Tracker/Radar today. All rules still apply to it in standard Slayer games.
Though what weapon ranges should be available as loadouts(if it even exists in Halo 5) and how big of a range each circle should be is up to debate for another topic, What do you guys think? Do you think this can be a useful addition to the game? Let me know if you think more could be added on to it, or why you don’t think this is needed.