This is my opinion, but I feel utility rifle starts are more appropriate for the scale of halo (relative to map size and power weapons in the sandbox). Utility rifles allow for a chance at all time. You have the ability to fight weapons like the sniper rifle with br/ carbine at a fair distance, but it is not the case with Ar/SMG.
Which do you prefer? and why?
i prefer utility rifle starts, and on maps that you could argue for auto starts, make it BR+AR starts
Utility weapon starts are preferable but having an auto weapon in the back pocket is not a problem.
Auto weapons have been always been unsuitable for spawning. Something like an ODST SMG might be able to function as a spawning weapon, but unfortunately pretty much all auto weapons post CE have be niche, close range only bullet hoses.
Bullet hoses are fine as niche pickups or as an additional spawning weapons ala CE Pistol/AR, BR/SMG, BR/AR, DMR/AR, etc, but they just don’t make for good spawning weapon.
Their limited nature forces you into a specific playstyle that limits your movement options that can be easily exploited. Teamplay options are limited by their close range nature.
Utility weapon spawns are necessary to give respawning players a proper fighting chance at most ranges so that they can potentially mount a comeback.
Pistol/AR and BR/AR starts are good.
Utility a hundred times. I feel very defenseless with auto weapons.
In fact I would immediately pull out my pistol ,when auto starts in reach.
Definitely utility. Utility weapons can fight against both close range and long range weapons. They provide fair counterplay inside the arena pickup metagame.
I actually prefer utility only starts. No AR or SMG secondary. The reason for this is encouraging the arena pick up meta game without depending too much on weapon imbalance. If you spawn with just a BR, picking up any secondary is an advantage, it gives you more options, it gives you greater combat effectiveness. But if you already have a secondary it’s not worth picking up a weapon that is not stronger that the ones you already have. And this poses a problem because it encourages spawning with weak throw away weapons. I would prefer none power weapon pick ups to be on the same tier as the Spawn weapon, weapons that are powerful in their niches but will typically loose out side of it. I would have the AR be a fairly powerful pick up, maybe have 2-4 on a typical 4v4 map.
That said I would quite like to look into ways to avoid the ‘One gun game’ issues. Where between 60 to 80% of all combat encounters involve just one weapon. The spawning utility weapon. And avoiding redundant utility weapon pick ups like the Carbine. One thing I was considering was spawning with a pistol. Not a week sidearm pistol, but a proper utility hand cannon. 12 bullet mag, 6 shot kill, no bloom, 1.33 sec kill time. It would only be able to kill a maximum of 2 people per clip. That would encourage you to want to pick up a secondary and weapons with larger mag sizes. It would encourage you to trade it in for weapons like the Carbine or BR.
Another thing I was considering was giving a few more weapons headshot capabilities and headshot multipliers. This means other weapons, not just utility weapons, can be used for clean up kills. Meaning you don’t have to always keep a utility weapon by your side.
Another approach could be to make the BR take 3 bullets to headshot kill. Give it a headshot multiplier instead of critical headshots. 9 bullets/ 3 bursts break shields, one burst to the head to finish. That way the pistol hand cannon would have superior headshot damage and it could have other advantages like faster draw times and faster reloads. Making it a worth while pick up.
I prefer it be map-based, honestly.
Small-some medium maps = AR + Pistol
Medium- some large maps = BR + AR starts
Large - XL maps = DMR + BR
Utility weapon starts always. It is neither fun nor competitive to go up against a Rocket Launcher, Shotgun, or Sniper Rifle with only an SMG. A utility weapon allows you to be able to do something against players with better weapons.
Also, teamwork via team-shooting with map control is almost impossible with SMGs.
> This is my opinion, but I feel utility rifle starts are more appropriate for the scale of halo (relative to map size and power weapons in the sandbox). Utility rifles allow for a chance at all time. You have the ability to fight weapons like the sniper rifle with br/ carbine at a fair distance, but it is not the case with Ar/SMG.
>
> Which do you prefer? and why?
Both. Give me a BR and SMG to start with. Awesome combination.
Personally I also think that the AR should be rebalanced into a gun that’s in the middle of the BR and the SMG in terms of effective range, and given a kill time in between those two weapons. It would work well as a pickup.
Utility 90% of the time, but I like AR starts for certain gametypes. For King of the Hill, having AR starts allows players to actually get close to the hill without there just being ranged stand-offs, yet the AR allows that hill to be heavily defended up close. That’s where burst fire, grenade, and melee skills come in handy the most.
Really depends on the map. Obviously, maps like Valhalla and Coagulation would not be maps that prefer the autos.
However, I still believe each range actually needs to be defined, such as medium range starting at X range and long range starting at Y range, and the maps be built around those numbers.
Doing so would encourage better maps altogether and allow for a great deal of variety of weapon types that will work due to places on the map actually allowing the weapons to function in its preferred range.
My two cents.
> Utility 90% of the time, but I like AR starts for certain gametypes. For King of the Hill, having AR starts allows players to actually get close to the hill without there just being ranged stand-offs, yet the AR allows that hill to be heavily defended up close. That’s where burst fire, grenade, and melee skills come in handy the most.
This. bursting the AR in H4 made it possible to kill even BR users at mid-range. And I agree with the bit about KotH. You have to be able to get close.