And it’s not just because they are slightly underpowered but because they seemingly don’t function the way they should. When 343 first announced Pulse Grenades it was described as a health drainer, a Power drainer-esk grenade without the emp effect, capable of killing and indeed disintegrating enemies not just draining their shields. Useful for stripping an enemies shields in aggressive close range combat and area of denial. Area of denial…
The thing is though, this is not how Pulse Grenades operate. To all extensive purposes the Pulse Grenade is just a grenade that explodes twice. The field drainer aspect of the grenade is pretty much non-existent. Which is a shame because that is the only real aspect of this new grenade that adds any gameplay value. You can run straight through a pulse grenade only to lose maybe 10% of your shield, if that. Not so good for area of denial then? Each explosion/Pulse only does about 3/4 shield damage and has an effective radius of about half that of frags. The only benefit I can see of even using it over a frag is its fast deployment speed.
Now I don’t want to start a ‘Are Pulse Grenades underpowered debate’, clearly you should be able to spawn with 2 of them, that’s a given, I just think the ‘Area of Denial’ aspect of the grenade should be a prominent feature and not just a buzz word phrase some people occasionally say. I think the pulse grenade’s field damage should legitimately be multiplied by about x5 and it should have a sprint stopping power effect. I also think the Explosives Perk should also actually slightly increase the grenades radius by 10%.
[To keep it balanced, if anything, the explosions/ pulses at the beginning and end should be weakened. They should still be able to instant kill an unshielded opponent but maybe only do 50% shield damage. But even that might not be necessary, they’re pretty unused at the moment.]
Yeah the EMP part of it seems to be missing. Although I must admit, I still think twice before running through them. Most times I don’t mess with it and just wait/run around them. Those delays can be costly if you’re on the receiving end. Right now they’re in all my loadouts because it’s the only grenade commendation remaining. Agreed though, they had more potential on paper. Maybe in H5 they’ll get it right.
> Yeah the EMP part of it seems to be missing. Although I must admit, I still think twice before running through them. Most times I don’t mess with it and just wait/run around them. Those delays can be costly if you’re on the receiving end. Right now they’re in all my loadouts because it’s the only grenade commendation remaining. Agreed though, they had more potential on paper. Maybe in H5 they’ll get it right.
I don’t typically walk over a live plasma grenade either despite it’s tiny blast radius and long detonation delay but I feel any ‘Area of Denial’ element that the Pulse grenade has is purely psychological. If you’re not going to get hit by the second pulse feel free to walk through.
On paper the Pulse grenade sounded like a great addition to the sandbox that will add to the meta-game and create a new interesting tactical option. The Pulse grenades fast deployment can be useful but that is all it is good for at the moment, adding little to no gameplay value.
I mainly use them if I don’t have any other grenades or if I need to shut down a part of the map or a choke point for a second, usually people don’t run through them and if they do you get a slight advantage.
I think they were a good idea. they just need a little more oomph.
The second weapon I have mastered is the pulse grenade. They are precision grenades that should be thrown at the right moment and at the right place as they can bounce of people before landing. Oneoulnlike to receive two of them.
> The second weapon I have mastered is the pulse grenade. They are precision grenades that should be thrown at the right moment and at the right place as they can bounce of people before landing. Oneoulnlike to receive two of them.
This, they require precision and timing, I recently got a double kill by destroying a warthog because I used a Pulse grenade.
The only loadouts i use P.Grenades in are the F. Tactical and Forerunner itself. I used to use it for the L1 Speedster(because the thing puts down ppl in less than a second with a well placed fist)but i bought the plasma nade and replaced it. But the promethean nade is instant death if you know how to use it
> The second weapon I have mastered is the pulse grenade. They are precision grenades that should be thrown at the right moment and at the right place as they can bounce of people before landing. Oneoulnlike to receive two of them.
I like that it has a small radius and that it takes skill to use, one thing this game needs, that it is lacking at the moment, is an increased skill gap, but there is little to no reward for getting good with them other than commendation progression.
> > The second weapon I have mastered is the pulse grenade. They are precision grenades that should be thrown at the right moment and at the right place as they can bounce of people before landing. Oneoulnlike to receive two of them.
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> This, they require precision and timing, I recently got a double kill by destroying a warthog because I used a Pulse grenade.
urrg. You are confusing this thread with a buff this/ nerf that thread. No, this is a change that thread. Subtle difference. A spike grenade adds no gameplay value to Halo because it can only do what another grenade can already do, since it is basically just a re-skinned plasma grenade. What I am saying is that if pulse grenades don’t deny areas they may as well not be in the game.
Pulse grenades are fine in terms of area denial. I almost never see anyone walk through them when they block a path, even with the lower DPS of the bubble itself. Every bit of damage counts and pulse grenades a only add to your damage output with your primary and they have great synergy with burst weapons and the LR in particular. Despite the little damage you take in the grand scheme of things it can mean the difference between a 4 shot and a 5 shot. Its never good to give free damage to your opponent.
I would much rather keep their lethal primary + secondary detonation and sacrifice the bubble damage. The secondary detonation also adds to the area denial as it essentially prevents retreat if the player bites off more than he can chew.
I thoroughly enjoy using them with grenadier and explosives, as well as in conjunction with the storm rifle, but without the perks, they’re essentially useless (especially when you can only spawn with one).
Yeah I was kinda hoping for them to be mini power drains. It is true that the area of denial aspect of the weapon is unnoticeable. I use the grenade often and I know for a fact that I have never had any problems running through my own pulse grenade to get to the next enemy. The only time I have found this to be an actual area of denial weapon is if the enemy has already got zero shields.
However, I do like its current use and function, It really suits my play style.