Making the RAILGUN more fun to use!

Games Other Halo
1

Hello everyone. This thread is about a small annoyance in Halo matchmaking.

The railgun is one of my favorite weapons in the game.

Note: skip this section if you are not interested in science
A prototype exists in real life. The difference between a railgun and other firearms is that the bullet is accelerated by elektromagnets, which means that you no longer have the limits of how much gunpowder you can use. The bullet velocity is limited only by the strength of the electric current you use. Because of this, the gun can make the bullet travel so fast that its strong friction with air molecules causes the air molecules to ionise. In other words: the bullet is followed by a cloud of plasma.

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In Halo 4, it is a power weapon that takes skill to use and is an instant kill, yet not overpowered: if you miss, you are at a serious disadvantage. The impact also generates a small blast wave that takes out the shields of those nearby.

However, there are some things that bother me about it: First of all, it is not a hit scan weapon. The bullet takes a certain amount of time to reach its target. Even up close, the blast wave only appears a very short time after you release the trigger. This means that you actually have to lead your shots at long range, rendering it pretty ineffective for that range. I’ve seen people not die from seemingly direct impacts because of lag. Very misleading. You can also easily shoot people that are backing up behind the walls, because the bullet magnetism will curve it right around into them.

Almost all other weapons in Halo 4 are hitscan, but not the railgun. This doesn’t make sense at all. It is an unneeded nerf to the weapon. Also, if you read the scientific part, you’d know that the bullet would actually fly much faster than a sniper rifle round if it existed irl.

The second thing that bothers me about it is how it is less effective against vehicles than you would expect it to be. When they first spoke of the railgun, 343i said the railgun wouldn’t deal that much damage to vehicles, but instead deliver a mighty acceleration due to all of that kinetic energy being absorbed.
I’m not seeing any of this in the actual gameplay. Sure, I made a mongoose do a triple barrel roll before, but stopping a warthog? nope. I haven’t even seen a warthog tipping over due to the force delivered. Most vehicles except the light ones don’t even flinch on impact. Please at least double the acceleration caused by it, much like the cowbell skull does for grenades in campaign.

I’m merely asking for two tweaks: make it hitscan and increase its kinetic impact on vehicles. Both are a slight buff to it, but it wouldn’t change anything about the niche the railgun is supposed to take. The weapon would behave more or less identically, except that it will be a lot more fun to use.

Warthogs would still survive the railgun easily (unless they get knocked off the map, that is), and crossmapping people with it would still be impossible (due to the reticle size and the limited red reticle range). It would also add consistency (hitscan suffers less from lag) and reliability (you aren’t defenseless vs. most vehicles with it)

It would be the perfect thing to include in the sandbox TU 343i is talking about.

EDIT: to clarify, I never mentioned giving it a damage buff to vehicles.
Who agrees and who doesn’t? Please post why.

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I can’t say much about it because I haven’t used regularly, but I would definitely agree to more “kinetic energy”. I was playing earlier today and nailed a warthog in the side. I would have preferred that it rolled over or something but it just kept driving, taking only a little damage (it was damaged of course, but not as much as I would prefer for the limited amount of ammunition you get with it).

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Should have had a 2x scope. With the limited ammo and blast radius, it’s under powered for a close-mid range weapon. Only excels in surprise attacks, which can be rare after using the first shot.

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I also agree on that it should deal more kinetic energy to vehicles.

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> Should have had a 2x scope. With the limited ammo and blast radius, it’s under powered for a close-mid range weapon. Only excels in surprise attacks, which can be rare after using the first shot.

A little known fact is that it technically does have a scope.

You can use your default suit zoom if you charge the rail gun up then scope in while it is charging.

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> Should have had a 2x scope. With the limited ammo and blast radius, it’s under powered for a close-mid range weapon. Only excels in surprise attacks, which can be rare after using the first shot.

They chose not to add a scope because of how your aim would be all messed up if you got hit just before firing. I guess they also didn’t want the railgun to become just another sniper.

And indeed, anticipation is key. But I don’t mind that mechanic. I think it should be risky to use and not too rewarding for those with poor aim.

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The only thing I saw as a problem is that it doesn’t have recoil, or atleast the name implies it.

Nothing that accelerates an object does so without a force in the opposite direction.

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I am also a fan of this weapon. I don’t use it very often but when I do, its always special. I think the power output is fine but, I agree that it should at least send a warthog of its course. On the other hand vehicles are easy enough to destroy in this game and any tweaks to the railgun would flirt with that fine line that makes a weapon OP. I’m not a big fan of developers constantly nurfing/buffing weapons because it seems that they either render a weapon useless or make it a killing machine. I like where the weapon is at and do not believe it requires any changes. In my most humble opinion, of course!

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> > Should have had a 2x scope. With the limited ammo and blast radius, it’s under powered for a close-mid range weapon. Only excels in surprise attacks, which can be rare after using the first shot.
>
> A little known fact is that it technically does have a scope.
>
> You can use your default suit zoom if you charge the rail gun up then scope in while it is charging.

This ^

I shot a guy out of a ghost using the normal zoom.

10

I would like to see some more splash damage added. Last night I remember shooting a guy in the foot with it (he was jumping) and it only took his shields down. This was frustrating as now I was stuck with a long reload and him continuing his DMR assault on me. Needless to say, I died. I’m thinking that the Railgun should have more damage to counter its longer load time in a firefight.

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I agree with the kinetic energy to vehicules but other than that… that gun is a beast! I don’t agree with making it hitscan, that would become very OP, think about it… it would become a copy of the spartan laser but without a scope and much faster charge time. Its a one shot kill after all! Since you can use the visor scope to target your enemy with the railgun, it would make it extremly easy to make kills at long range too.

It’s probably my favorite powerweapon, I love the look of the gun, the feel, the sound, the satisfaction to kill with it, the blue bullet traveling fast (make me think of a covie weapon), the weapon feel very futuristic for human technology, but gameplay wise don’t touch anything! only the kenetic energy to vehicules need a buff.

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I think the railgun is awesome.
It could use some more kinetic energy but no more damage.

Needless to say it is a sweet gun and i really enjoy using it.

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> I would like to see some more splash damage added. Last night I remember shooting a guy in the foot with it (he was jumping) and it only took his shields down. This was frustrating as now I was stuck with a long reload and him continuing his DMR assault on me. Needless to say, I died. I’m thinking that the Railgun should have more damage to counter its longer load time in a firefight.

Actually, I’m quite surprised the railgun even has splash damage. The entire point of the power weapon is its risk-reward issue: if you miss, you will probably die (much like with the boltshot).

If making the gun hitscan would be OP, a nerf to its blast radius to compensate would be fine by me.

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Does anyone else agree?

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This weapon is one of my favorite power weapons. I do agree with you on your points. But this gun given in a good map is a beast. Shame I don’t get it as much in my ordinance drop like I used too

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It should defiantly be a vehicle killer. Since it is sending away a projectile at atleast one tenth of c. (Speed of light). It should blast straight through a vehicle, making a large hole in it. That would have some issues on matchmaking i guess…
However, it should make things spin up a little by giving it more splash damage (like the concussion rifle).
I do think that the damage is all right though.

17

Hit scan might be a bit much but I would like it to have a slightly faster projectile speed replacing the silly amount of magnetism it has.

I definitely agree with adding more kinetic energy. I also think it should be able to destroy a Warthog in 3 shots.

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I guess OP never played a doubles match on Haven yet. The railgun is a very powerful weapon as is, against infantry. In the right hands it dominates a doubles slayer game. Its still relatively easy to use even without hit scan. And the fact I think your missing here is that it has a slight learning curve which makes it fun because you have to practice a bit to get better. Weapons that are easy to use aren’t all that fun to use (DMR)

And as for the vehicles I think the damage it does is fine how it is. There are already many weapons in the sandbox that can easily take out vehicles. We dont need another. Besides did you ever blast the driver out of a warthog as it was barreling towards you with a railgun. So satisfying.

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I just wish the weapon was hitscan. It’s just BS when you land a direct hit in close range, even makes the enemy flinch, but deals no damage. All because of the lag. I’d be fine with any other change to it, as long as it was given hitscan.

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> I guess OP never played a doubles match on Haven yet. The railgun is a very powerful weapon as is, against infantry. In the right hands it dominates a doubles slayer game. Its still relatively easy to use even without hit scan. And the fact I think your missing here is that it has a slight learning curve which makes it fun because you have to practice a bit to get better. Weapons that are easy to use aren’t all that fun to use (DMR)
>
> And as for the vehicles I think the damage it does is fine how it is. There are already many weapons in the sandbox that can easily take out vehicles. We dont need another. Besides did you ever blast the driver out of a warthog as it was barreling towards you with a railgun. So satisfying.

The railgun is my personal ordnance of choice. I’ve used it enough on Haven to know that it does indeed dominate. But that’s entirely besides the point.

The railgun, even with the absurd bullet travel time, already is very easy to use. The bullet magnetism is quite enormous. I didn’t notice this learning curve you speak of, but i guess the way a weapon feels can vary from person to person.

The thing that bothers me is how the bullet is supposed to fly faster than any other in the game, yet i have to lead my shot tremendously at medium range and beyond. In laggy games, it is impossible to use at any range further than close to medium range. I’ve also lost count of how I wanted to snipe someone foolish enough to stand still for a full five seconds, only for him to move a bit as the bullet is slowly travelling towards him.

Like I said, I think the weapon functions greatly, but I do get annoyed by the lack of hitscan.

I would rather have the red reticle range reduced as a nerf to range, instead of a long bullet travel time. It would reward aim more and would be less artificial. AND be more lag-friendly…

I also never suggested to increase the DAMAGE on vehicles. My suggestion is to increase the kinetic impact and accelleration on vehicles. A railgun should at least be able to tip a warthog over, or completely stop it in its tracks. Right now, you’re better off with the plasma pistol you spawned with vs vehicles than with the railgun.
And sniping a gunner or driver out of his warthog will be less impossible with hitscan. Just sayin’.