Ok so I checkes the scores in the academy and found something interesting:
Heatwave = 33,355
Sentinel Beam = 31,985
This is the 30 second stationary drill purely comparing damage output and the sentinel beam actually has the advantage since targets are always spawned in lines of 2-3 at a time where as the Heatwave single targets or sometimes 2 targets in a line. Despite this advantage the Heatwave outperforms the Sentinel Beam.
I already knew the Heatwave had a faster optimal TTK, but what I did not know is the Heatwave shots actually travel through enemies as well so this ability is not unique to eh Sentinel Beam. Add the fact that they can riccochet and hit enemies around corners and it is clear that the Heatwave is currently superior to the Sentinel Beamā¦ which reinforces my suggestion that the Sentinel Beam should be a dropable Sentry.
I carry and run the Sentinel Beam as a DPS weapon to support teammates when Iām around my squad. It knocks shields quickly and then Iām able to switch to my Battle Rifle with a full clip.
Thats a good use for it (or it can shred on its own if within range). As previously stated there is no issue with the Sentinel Beam in the current sandbox, it is effective and honestly the best its ever been in Halo IMO.
The only thing I have to say about your comment is the Plasma Pistol can already serve this purpose at short range, and the Pulse Carbine is a more effective mid range support weapon (so with ragards to the sandbox it isnāt exactly unique). I also believe the iconic Plasma Rifle should return as a Brute variant and be a tier 1 SMG (the game needs more auto weapons) and this gun would also be dedicated to that purpose (which is fine because it is a tier 1 weapon - its purpose would just be a close range auto weapon effective vs shields, nothing more). Given all of the aboveā¦ and the fact now that the Heatwave is a more effective close range Hardlight weapon than the Sentinel Beam, the Sentinel Beam could use a feature to make it a more distinct tier 2 weapon. This is basically my entire case for this change, the sandbox should (and will) expand, the Sentinel Beam is already outclassed by the Heatwave and when another SMG is added it will have to compete with it as well. This change would ensure the weapon will forever have a unique role within the sandbox.
On more thing I wanted to add here, and itās more of a map design thing, but I wish there were more ālooseā objects on map. Stuff like crates, fork lifts, and other objects with real physics that players could push around and barricade. Crates were kind of like dynamic cover that player could slight change the layout of a room. And I think Hardlightās ability to disintegrate objects would work well in destroying the enemyās forts. It would be a good custom game idea if anything.
I have a theory that a major reason physics props donāt exist is because the Physics system itself is completely busted.
I recall somewhere that the reason they use stationary weapon deployments is because physics objects in the world consume an UNREAL amount of resources, and that weapons have a absurdly fast despawn time when dropped from kills.
Its also likely a huge reason why vehicals donāt function or āpopā like the did previously.
They just instantly turn into simple Wreck models because the devs donāt want loose physics objects sitting in the world.
The game is just extremely poorly optimized,
and The physics sandbox was lost because of that.
A little random yes haha but it is certainly tied to the function of Hardlight so Iām glas you brought it up. There are actually mods out there for the Sentinel Beam in Halo Infinite that give it a push / pull effect which is potentially an interesting concept for a Utility weapon, even if it is just for Custom Games.
Since this thread is active again I wanted to bring up an idea for a Sentinel Beam variant called the Focused Sentinel Beam. It would basically just be the Focus Rifle from Halo Reach, which was kindāve a failed attempt at merging the Sentinel Beam and Beam Rifle together. That said, I think the Focus Rifle was interesting enough to warrant a spot in Halo Infinite as a variant at least. In fact I think pretty much every single Halo weapon that has existed throughout the series should be included in at least some way shape or form.
The Focused Sentinel Beam would be interesting to fight against in campaign as well I think, almost like 343 Guilty Sparkās high powered beam from Halo 3.
Idk if you watch Ascend Hyperion on YT, but he made an argument that the Binary Rifle was 343ās attempt and fixing the Focus Rifle and creating a sniper where you had to hold a beam over a target for a ālong-ishā period of time.
Also what do you think of a āRefractor Sentinel Beamā? Basically it fires a single beam normally, but zoomed in it fires 3 beams angled at 0Ė, -15Ė and 15Ė along the x-axis at the same time. It would use up more ammo as well.
I do watch some of his videoās, I actually recently watched his video on the Focus Rifle which made me bring it up. He makes some excellent points in all his videoās really gets you thinking about gameplay elements.
Thatās a cool idea for a Sentinel Beam variant, it makes a lot of sense, almost like the Binary Rifle variant that fires twin beams from Halo 5.
I had another idea for a Hardlight sidearm that was basically the Light Rifle from Halo 4 (default fire is a 3-burst but zoomed in would be one strong shot). I was going to call it the āRefractorā which is why Iām mentioning it, it would be a counterpart to in the Sandbox to the MK50 Sidekick and brought in with the M6 Magnum we discussed earlier.
On that note, I started making an Expanded / Reimagined Halo Infinite Weapon Sandbox post but I am somewhat reluctant to post becauseā¦ its sort of big. 36 core weapons, plus 36 variants, and a bonus 6 detachable turrets. It could just be chaos with so much to talk about. On the other hand I think it helps seeing an entire sandbox to help understand changes to existing weapons.
For example I think the VK78 Commando could be buffed and made Tier 2 alongside the Stalker Rifle to make room for the Carbine to be brought back, this also means the Shock Rifle could be bumped to Tier 3 with a Sniper, bumping the Skewer to a Spartan Laser counterpart while also making a spot for another Tier 2 Shock weapon like the Reach grenade launcherā¦ which then can also have a counterpart and I think you get the idea. A post about a full sandbox helps illustrate why these changes / suggestions are being made.
Anyways I wanted to get your take on this thread ideaā¦ would a post like that be valuable or would it be easier to make individual threads to discuss each idea. If I was going to do it I would keep descriptions really short and to the point to try keep it actually readable.
In fact, Iād like this better than the Arcane SB which is just a regular SB with like 4x damage and a tiny magazine. A split shot allows the SB to it multiple targets, something it is infamously bad at (beside penetration damage which is new to Infinite).
In general Iām all for Forerunner weapons being very strong. It fits with the lore and just makes sense. So Iām probably one of the few people who actually liked the H4 Boltshot.
Obviously thatās up to you, but if you think youāve got good ideas that could spark some good conversations then, I say you should give it a shot. But 78 weapons does sound like quite the effort. Maybe you could divide it into groups like Pistols, Snipers, Launchers, etc. Generally you should try to be āto-the-pointā anyways, but sacrificing clarity for conciseness probably wonāt help you in this case.
Personally I wouldnāt mind reading through it, but Iāve found that I have a higher threshold of patience than others, generally speakingā¦
Agreed, I sort of really hate when a variant isnāt really different other than damage and thatās all the Arcane Sentinel Beam is. It just feels lazy to me.