The Reach Pistol was alright, especially up close. The Halo 4 pistol also would have been solid in AR starts, but custom loadouts kind of killed it on delivery. It was overshadowed by any precision rifle, and they paired better with PP/Boltshot any day.
I hear you on a lot of levels, OP, but at the end of the day Iāve really come to like the Sidekick. I believe it is really powerful and reliable, absolutely, but that it basically needs to be because of how buffed the AR is in this game. While I prefer swapping to my Sidekick when I spawn with the ānormalā loadout of AR/Pistol, many others have a lot of success with the AR- I do, too, when I use it.
Halo got its start with an overpowered but beloved pistol in the CE Magnum, which itself complimented a pretty powerful version of the AR. Like in CE, Iāve found that āskilledā practitioners are often served better by swapping to the pistol and plugging their shots in a practiced and rapid cadence. Less experienced players are usually better off with the spray and pray approach with the AR. Neither the AR or the Sidekick are as unbalanced as their counterparts in CE were, but I think the same general dynamic exists here.
Itās okay to lament that regular AR/Sidearm starts are so viable in this game- thatās a matter of personal opinion, and when the game launched I was really frustrated about it myself (Iāve come to appreciate it in the time since). But I donāt think the Sidekick is disproportionately powerful- I still upgrade for a Mangler/Commando/BR/Stalker Rifle at almost any opportunity for a better marksman weapon, so it doesnāt break that niche for me. Itās just the buff that was needed for the sidearm to coexist with the buffed AR, IMO.
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Yes but the Mangler has projectile drop / lag. Even with the sidkicks bloom, you can miss up to 2 shots and still have a faster TTK than the Mangler, which requires a headshot to be a 3 shot kill so Iām not sure how you can make the claim that its a 3 shot kill āevery timeā.
Respect, however this means nothing. There is not a direct correlation between you winning and the Mangler, the Mangler is the first weapon you level up to and I highly doubt you are using it throughout the entire game.
SK imo should be on the same level of Reachās Magnum. Shoots slower, deals more damage per shot, lesser bullets per mag. You can still āfanā it at closer ranges, but the 8 ammo will prevent people from getting a cheap spam kill out of it, making them need to reload if they want to seal the deal with JUST the pistol.
SK in all purposes is supposed to be a āPocket Precisionā anyway, a sidekick to the main weapon the AR.
The commandoās 13 body shots for one kill is too much, especially with its bullet drop/recoil/bloom/awful AA (its AA functions as a precision weapon which doesnāt work right because its full auto, coupled with how difficult it us to get back on target when adjusting in this game)
Also, the issues you describe in op have absolutely become more prevalent due to the mangler/melee nerf. The mangler and even BR functioned as a defensive weapon against people recklessly challenging others with the sidekick/ar. Its interesting because Iād never agreed with people who would argue that the AR and sidekick were op before, until they nerffed the most reliable tool to counter such players. Nerfing the mangler and increasing the prevalence of melee trades effectively rewarded playing with a lack of strategy and making reckless challenges (what would be considered reckless pre-nerf) -often times this is anyone who can fire the sidekick really fast.
Pistol strength in Halo isnāt so much the issue, its currently the fire rate which is most noticeable at the moment. However, I believe this is only a prevalent issue -or even noticeable - due to the changes they made effecting, bleed-through melees on all weapons, the loss of the manglers ability to reliably be used as a defensive counter to the sidekick, and the increased prevalence in trades.
Overall, by reducing the manglers viability they unintentionally created and highlighted ton of balancing flaws across the rest of the sandbox.
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Its not a 50 cal. Its a 10mm.
And the sidekick honestly isnt that great simply because of the spray pattern. My crosshair is center mass on target and it doesnt do any damage. It needs work, i think.
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It does have a bloom build up from consecutive firing but it doesnāt happen until around 8 shots in and the strong bullet magnetism allows you to nail a headshot despite the bloom or even if youāre not truly aiming at the target. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_7Jy_r9WOs&ab_channel=perfectxzero
So in essence youāre correct because it may as well be that thereās no punishment for spamming shots.
I believe descope needs to be added to the weapon. Iāve mentioned this on other threads and it can very easily solve the unbalanced nature of the weapon. Maybe bloom build up occurring sooner can reduce players spamming. (Halo Reach pistol for example has great bloom dynamics of players needing to pulse shots at longer ranges to maintain precision)
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Are yāall playing a Halo boxing game that Iām not aware of? You do know you HAVE bullets right?
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It does not need to be nerfed it is the closest thing to the Halo CE Magnum that I have seen at least when it comes to human weapons and I miss the Halo CE Magnum
What really? In our guns? Oh look there they are.
Yeah itās wild. I heard they let you engage people beyond fist range, but thatās just a rumor according to Waypointers.
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Iāve been holding my gun backwards and throwing it at my enemies.
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I canāt use the Sidekick or Commando, just like Iāve never been able to use the sniper, my clumsy troll thumbs have never been good at aiming control sticks.
At least Iāve always been good at Haloās style of driving with the camera I guessā¦
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You know, I can firmly say, youāre one of the few people on this forum I genuinely like.
Boy howdy if I didnāt feel this. But hey, I can use it better than the -Yoink!- SKEWER at leastā¦
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the sidekick is a glock. an glock doesnāt belong in halo. its stats couldāve just been given the the HALO PISTOLā¦ but instead we get an glock.
isnāt that the thing with infinite though? we get what we wantā¦ halo gameplay. but instead itās in an different- f2p form, an form that doesnāt suit haloā¦ we traded one villian for anotherā¦ how sad
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Your just mad because your bread and butter, your meta, your go to, your only strategy is in question. Please make it more obvious
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Then lets ask for the Magnum, because the MK50 sidekick is not it and shouldnt be treated like itā¦
Totally agree here. The Sidekick is too effective and shows too big a behaviour difference between controller and M&K at present
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I think a big part of this is that if I remember correctly between the Tech Test and release, they noticeably increased the zoom level of the lowest Sniper Rifle zoom. If I remember, they said they wanted it to be āharder to useā, but it made it so tricky that I just drop it for a teammate and use something else whereas I loved the Sniper in every other Halo.
Have you ever seen a glock in your life