While multiple playable species is cool and all, we have to take into account what they’ll do, and not just how they’d look like. I will be taking into account actual lore here, since 343 usually uses that to explain gameplay. You can disregard those points if you wish.
First off, the Unggoy would be incapable of using larger guns. I’m talking about medium-sized rifles such as the Assault Rifle, and especially sniper rifles. The Grunts (usually) lack energy shielding and don’t last very long themselves. They also wouldn’t fit in some vehicles, namely the Mongoose, Warthog, Scorpion, every Human flying vehicle, Wraith, Banshee, Spectre, Brute vehicles and the Phaeton (the Phaeton is deadly to people who lack a full suit of armor).
They’d be the worst species to play as, only fitting for machinimas or gamemodes in which they are the focus. Part of their problem with vehicles is their methane tank. Unless it’s made much smaller, Grunts wouldn’t fit the vehicles listed and probably more which I failed to list.
The Kig-Yar wouldn’t have as many disadvantages as the Grunts. Actually, they’d be much closer to the Spartans. First off, they can use every gun and pilot every vehicle, but we still need to see them use heavy weaponry and, well, pilot vehicles. They’re known to be a fragile species, but I’m sure they could handle the weight of the heavier guns (Rocket launcher, etc.), but it’d be an issue when faced with the turrets. Those things are REALLY heavy, and they’d likely break their arms trying to lift one.
Another thing is that they also usually lack energy shielding (not talking about the gauntlet shield). A nade spam would kill you every day, any day of the week. However, if I could give them an advantage in gameplay, is to have a stronger magnetism and aim assist, as well as having a “snap” feature which would allow you to “snap” to the target. They’re known to be deadly marksman, and a “snap” feature would fit their deadly accuracy.
The Sangheili are equal to Spartans, though the only obstacle they’re facing right now is the Phaeton. Given that most don’t use full “combat skin”, the Phaeton would be deadly to most of them.
The Jiralhanae would be incapable of using small weapons, such as the Magnum. It’s just too small for them. They’d also be unable to pilot most Human vehicles, mainly the Scorpion, Mantis and every Human flying vehicle, as the cockpit is, again, too small. They would also lack energy shielding.
However, in my vision, they would be an interesting alternative. Instead of energy shielding, they’d have power armor which doesn’t recharge. When that power armor is completely worn out, the Brute will begin taking health damage. They’d handle heavier weapons much easily, maybe with the ability of using turrets as regular weaponry. Now, being natural of the species, they’d have a much stronger melee attack, but I don’t think they should one-shoot people with them. At best, they’d have their shield remove and health critical.
Next, the Mgalekgolo, or the Hunters. Right off the bat, they’d be completely unable to use any vehicle. As for weapons, I think they’d be either limited to heavier weapons or just Mgalekgolo weapons in general.
As for positives, the Mgalekgolo would have a large health pool. When spawning, they’d have no weak spots exposed. Contrary to the regular Hunters, these would be interesting, in the form that they can have more weak spots than just their back. After a certain amount of damage, their back weak spot is exposed, usually tanking just a nade or 2. After a heavier amount of damage, the front armor would jump off, leaving the chest exposed. I’d leave it like this, with no further armor jumping off, as those two critical spots would just need a couple of well-placed shots to kill the Hunter.
As for weaponry, the Hunter would have access to at least 4 types of weaponry, each readily available to the Hunter with unlimited ammo. They’d be limited by a “recharge” mechanic, each setting requiring more time then the other.
The weapons available would be: the regular Assault Cannon, the Beam Cannon, the Shade Cannon and the Burst Cannon.
-
The Assault Cannon would act like a Fuel Rod, dealing massive damage, but the shot required to be charged, which would be quite slow. 1 hit kill on a direct shot, but splash damage will usually just critically wound the target if he’s not wounded yet. Takes a long time to recharge. - Next, his Beam Cannon would act much like in Halo 3. After a small amount of time charging it, it’d unleash a beam. One would need to land most of the beam to successfully kill a target, potentially killing a second target in the same charge or at least critically wounding him. Think of the Binary Rifle from Halo 5. Takes a small-medium amount of time to recharge. - His Shade Cannon would be, as the name implies, just a Cannon that shoots Shade shots. I took this idea from SPV3, perfect for this Mgalekgolo play-style I’m envisioning. It serves as the automatic weapon to the Hunter, firing Shade shots repeatedly. It’s the Hunter’s main weapon. Each shot takes an extremely small amount of time to recharge. One could say it can recharge at least 10 shots per second, maybe less if it recharges too fast. - Finally, we have the Burst Cannon, which acts much like it’s Halo 5. It tracks targets and deals good damage, but each burst requires quite a hefty amount of time to recharge, as I envision it being quite powerful. The Burst Cannon also has insane range, although the tracking capability gets weaker as range increases.The Hunter can cycle through each weapon as they wish, with the cannon itself playing a small animation, changing the colors of the projectile, etc.
-
Assault Cannon: Green; Beam Cannon: Orange; Shade Cannon: Purple; Burst Cannon: Blue.Their melee would be slow and predictable, but powerful. Unlike the AI Hunter, however, the Hunter Player can adjust their melee’s trajectory, as to minimize the chances of failing. Successfully hitting a target would critically wound them, but the Hunter user would be recovering from the melee attack.
Tell me what do you think. Personally, I got quite excited for my Hunter idea.
to me they would fit in a reverse Horde as playable, and as enemies in Campaign, in Firefight, and if Forge has forgeable AIs also there (imagine being able to forge firefight