Wondering what returning weapons you would all like to see in Halo Infinite? Plenty of beloved weapons in the old Halo sandbox that I’m sure 343 are considering adding into Halo Infinite eventually.
Couple of things first:
Please keep in mind the current weapon sandbox and the unique role that all the weapons have to play. Think critically about the weapons you would like to see return because many of those older weapons have a counterpart in the current sandbox that play the exact same role (looking at you DMR).
If you do have a weapon that you would like to see return but feel it already has a comparable counterpart, what changes would you like to see made to it so that it feels unique in the current sandbox?
Please limit this to previous weapons found in the Halo sandbox. No unreleased/prototype weapons or new weapon ideas.
Please keep this positive and I can’t wait to hear what you all think!
Since I believe the old power weapon shotgun will probably be returning soon, I’ll go with my second choice. I would really like to see the Plasma Rifle return. I think it could slot in perfectly into the AR category after a few changes:
First, I would like the see the damage to shields be slightly reduced from the other plasma weapons, and the damage to health slightly increased. This gun should not be used to quickly strip shields and change to pistol for the headshot.
Second, I would like for the fire rate to be increased from its old Halo version, but the time to overheat also be increased. Think a medium between the Brute Plasma Rifle and the Plasma Repeater.
Third, like the repeater, I would like the see a small wind-up time to the fire-rate. The fire-rate increases as the weapon gets closer to overheating. This will make it so that if a majority of the shots land in the time it takes to overheat, then it will just barely beat out an Assault Rifle in a close-range fight. Due to the overheating mechanic though, this will leave the user vulnerable in any fight that contains more than one person, requiring them to vent or to switch weapons.
The Plasma Rifle can toe the line between longer range SMG and shorter-range AR. Doing a decent amount of shield damage, but not slouching on the health damage like the Plasma Pistol and Pulse Carbine. What separates this Plasma Rifle from the Repeater is the accuracy. The lowering of the time it take to overheat means that the projectile accuracy does not need to be compromised significantly.
No excessive recoil/bloom penalties make it a reliable weapon at close range, and in a 1 on 1 fight. But the reduced overheat time means that it does not become too overpowered in fights with more than one enemy, or where your aim is less than stellar. Once the weapon leaves the close range, the overheating, slightly reduced damage against shields, reduced accuracy at mid to long range, and reduced projectile tracking means it can’t stand up to the Pulse Carbine.
This is a weapon that excels in the gap between short and medium ranges, but falls short of being effective outside that range.
Reach’s grenade launcher or sticky detonator. I think it would be nice to have the grenade launcher because it would be yet another antivehicle weapon, while also being more “straight forward” than the cindershot.
Sticky detonator because you could do some fun stuff with it.
You can stick a power weapon spawn and detonate it when someone tries to take the weapon or you could stick an enemy who tries to grapple away from you. It would be pretty unique to the Infinite sandbox.
HCE plasma rifle because I think the Infinite sandbox lacks covenant rifles. For me, the pulse carbine is like a hybrid of BR and Carbine. So only counteepart to HCE plasma rifle would be the assault rifle.
What HCE plasma rifle could do better than AR is to take out shields quicker, but reload slower.
Needler rifle so you can long range attack a group of enemies and have damage impact on the whole group with the needler explosion.
HCE shotgun as a power weapon and because I feel the bulldog is too weak to be considered a shotgun. And we definitively should have a strong shotgun when Infection comes.
Many other weapons in the Infinite sandbox is better to use in short range than what the bulldog is. Like gravity hammer and energy sword.
HCE magnum as a power weapon because I really like a strong one shot magnum.
It was really nice when 343I hid the HCE magnum on the infection maps in H5. Hope they would do the same thing when Infection launches in Infinite.
The Sticky Det. was just stupid fun and H:I desperately needs more of that.
How the Reach Grenade Launcher isn’t a day 1 sandbox element is beyond me. It’s fun to use, has a high skill gap to get the most out of it’s many traits and is honestly the most unique gun in the franchise in terms of what it can do.
I’d say the plasma rifle would be a good addition to the pulse carbine. Being similar to that of the AR and BR. PR for full auto stuff, PC for semi auto. I’d also want to see the needle rifle return.
Now we’re talking. I think bumping the BRP up to a Tier-2 pad and treating it like the SMGs (Sentinel Beam and Needler) would be good. It’s ability to strip shields make it a better gun to melee combo with. But the low overheat threshold kept it from becoming too powerful as well as the slow-ish projectiles.