TL;DR:
- 4 full days have passed since I played Infinite on Friday night, and still I have an RSI-like feeling in my triceps from trying to tap the max fire rate of the MK50 Sidekick. In my opinion it has an unhealthy high fire rate (probably higher than 350 rpm) in regard of RSI, because every bullet fired needs an individual trigger pull. - The MK50 Sidekick is a weapon that is going to create unequal starts between controller and M&K users. A mouse click is approximately 1 mm and a trigger pull on a regular controller without trigger stops is around 11 mm. Try tapping 350 rpm with 11 mm to cover for every single bullet you want to fire. - The two starting weapons (AR and Sidekick) have pretty much the same roll when it comes to range. Both work in the short to medium range. - I hope this all will get fixed by 343i. There are many possible solutions in my opinion: AR+BR starts, AR+DMR starts, AR+magnum starts. In those scenario’s the DMR and/or Magnum need to make a return. Other options are to lower the rate of fire on the Sidekick and up the damage of the bullets, making it function more like a Magnum. Or to make the Sidekick fire full auto or to make the weapon two or three burst. That way the rate of fire can stay the same, but less trigger pulls are needed.
Full essay
The MK50 Sidekick has a time to kill of 1.17 seconds (coincidence?) and you need 6 body shots followed by 1 headshot for a kill. The fire rate is insanely high. I feel it is at least 350 rpm, but maybe even 400 rpm or higher.
At such a high fire rate, it is pretty much impossible to reach the max fire rate on a regular controller. To press the trigger fully is approximately 11 mm. A mouse click is approximately 1 mm.
Now imagine this: a person using a regular controller with no trigger stops is facing an M&K user in a match. Both have the MK50 Sidekick equipped. The mouse needs 7 clicks of 1 mm. The controller needs 7 trigger pulls of 11 mm. Who is going to win pretty much every single time? You guessed it.
343i, if you don’t believe me, go check the 200 best scores from the MK50 Sidekick academy. I bet at least 80% of the best scores are from M&K users. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUSM4hTtc0Y&lc=UgycuZg9IaTRyArB7_x4AaABAg.9QVRRoz8ZBs9QVxXQTIxPZ)
But do I envy the person using the mouse? Nope. Because it is pretty friggin’ unhealthy to click a mouse at such an insane rate. A LOT is known about repetitive strain injuries and I just cannot believe 343 industries is making one of the two starting weapons…… well…. such an UNHEALTHY choice.
I personally play on an Xbox elite controller (version 1). The right trigger stop broke, but I fixed it myself (sort of). I think a full trigger pull for my controller is around 5 mm. I played Halo Infinite Friday night for two or three hours and tried to reach the max fire rate on the MK50 Sidekick. I couldn’t. I woke up the next day with a painfully “pully” feeling in my right triceps, I only knew from when I had RSI (more than 10 years ago). I didn’t play on Saturday night, because it was still painful and I didn’t want to force it. I played again on Sunday night. Still it wasn’t feeling right, so I avoided using the MK50 Sidekick. Which wasn’t fun at all. Just spamming an AR, trying to find a BR. Which was pretty hard to do, because they don’t spawn often, and there is only a 1 in 4 chance I’ll be there first. Unless I’m just camping the BR, which also isn’t fun.
Besides this all, the sidekick and the assault rifle fill pretty much the same role when it comes to range. Both work in the short to medium range. Maybe the sidekick can do work in the medium to long range, but I personally feel there is hardly any aim assist in the game, which makes it hard to aim long ranges and at the same time work such a spammy and jittery weapon.
To the people who feel the MK50 Sidekick is fine and doesn’t need adjustments I ask you this: Do you like this weapon more than the BR, DMR or Halo 5 Magnum? If so, don’t you think your judgment is a bit clouded right now? I feel most people are just now super happy they finally could play Halo Infinite and don’t really picture these weapons being potentially starting weapons for the next 10 years…
I also don’t get why the precision starting weapon needs to be replaced every single edition. BR in H3, DMR in Reach, whatever the f*ck you want in H4, Magnum in H5. And now we have the (in my opinion) worst precision starting weapon of all Halo games ever. But the AR never gets replaced as the starting full auto weapon. I just don’t get it. The H5 Magnum was perfect as a starting weapon. Great rate of fire, TTK, range, et cetera. Yet, getting outclassed by both BR and DMR, making it so you would still search for a BR or DMR on the map. Never change a winning team is an old saying. So why replace something that works so well? It would’ve made more sense to make the MK50 Sidekick a pickup weapon that works the way it works now, only with more damage per bullet.
In my personal opinion, there are A LOT of ways to fix the problems with the sidekick in its current state:
- BR + AR starting weapons - DMR + AR starting weapons (in this scenario, the DMR needs to be put in the game) - Magnum + AR starting weapons (in this scenario, the Magnum needs to be put in the game)In the above three scenarios the Sidekick can be turned into a special/pickup weapon. Just up the damage of the weapon, so this weapon will be worthwhile to pick up and use over the AR for example.
Other options are:
- Redesign the sidekick to make it feel more like the Halo 5 Magnum. Lower the firerate to whatever the Magnum had. I thought somewhere around 150 rpm. Up the damage per bullet, so the time to kill doesn’t change that much compared to how it is now. - Keep the firerate of the Sidekick the same, but make it a two-burst or three-burst weapon. That way the unhealthy spammy-clicky-triggerpully nature of the weapon will get fixed. - Make the Sidekick fire full-auto. I personally like this option the least. This way we have two full-auto starting weapons. But at least it will be healthier than they way it is now.
I’m happy the game is still in a test phase and 343 industries can fix this (if they want). Anyway, for me personally, if the Sidekick remains the way it is now, and it stays a starting weapon in Halo Infinite, I’m not going to buy the game. That maybe sounds a bit harsh. I don’t know. I love and value Halo. But I love and value my physical health more. I work a desk job, so I just cannot afford to mess up my arm. Also, I appreciate equal starts in Halo games.
Cheers!