Good afternoon everyone,
I would like to start by saying that I believe the sandbox in Infinite is a healthy one. 343 has taken the niche/role approach with weapons, and it shows. I.E. The Pulse Carbine being extremely potent at a specific range, but not much else. This is, in my opinion, the best approach for an arena shooter like Halo. Not every weapon needs to be viable at every range and every circumstance.
However, there is room for improvement. I am approaching this through the lens of a competitive player who wants to see each weapon be useful. The goal is to walk over a weapon and have to consider its uses, rather than outright dismissing anything. Also keeping in mind I am not privy to the same data 343 is. I do not know how the population at large is handling these weapons and the success they are or are not having with them. I am also aware that some of my opinions may be unpopular (Sidekick).
Note: I am also discussing multiplayer balance, not campaign/PvE.
I will break down the sandbox on a weapon-by-weapon basis:
M40 AR: The balance of this weapon is more or less fine but is outperformed by its companion, the Sidekick.
Pulse Carbine: I’d like to see it’s RRR (red reticle range) expanded a bit. It is useful and strong at a particular range, but that range is a bit too niche for regular use.
BR75: Perfect
VK78 Commando: Alright, so. This is the weapon that inspired me to even bother making a thread. It needs love. Not necessarily in the damage compartment, but the fact that it forces the user to fight the gun is unfortunate. It’s a cool weapon, but is also outshined by the Sidekick. It requires a decent amount of RNG and a frustrating amount of recoil. My suggestion would be to reduce the recoil and bloom. For a precision weapon, it is terribly inaccurate and inconsistent. It is, in every conceivable metric, a worse BR.
Shock Rifle: Perfect
MK50 Sidekick: Perhaps unpopular, but it needs a nerf. It was designed to be a secondary weapon, but in most circles (certainly high level play) it is the primary weapon. I see what 343 was going for here, perhaps a compromise for the folk who want BR starts. A precision-based starting weapon that doesn’t have the range of a BR. But it’s rate of fire makes it superior to the AR. My suggestion would be to reduce the rate of fire and the bloom. More accurate at a longer range, but will lose to the AR at the AR’s intended range.
Mangler: Perfect
Plasma Pistol: Make the charged bolt track more. A lot more. Like, Halo 2 levels of tracking. Give me a reason to pick this thing up and also a reason to be worthy of sharing a weapon rack spawn with the Mangler.
Disruptor: For all the complaints of this thing being useless, it’s not. It EMPS vehicles with ease and has a decent range. The issue is that it shares a spawn with the Mangler and in that regard will always fall short of its sibling. I wouldn’t be opposed to removing this from arena maps that don’t have vehicles.
CQS48 Bulldog: Perfect
Heatwave: I like its damage. I like its range. But it’s harder to aim/use than the Bulldog, which often results in me wishing it was just a Bulldog instead. All in all, I’d say it’s fine but perhaps change how its horizontal firing mode works. There’s little reason to use that instead of the vertical. Change: Make vertical the default firing mod, change the horizontal to be one of special use, like a utility use. Slight tracking around corners, perhaps. Like the Didact’s Signet from Halo 5.
Sentinel Beam: Perfect
Needler: Perfect
Stalker Rifle: Perfect
S7 Sniper: Perfect
Skewer: Perfect (though I’d like to see Spartans get pinned to terrain when hit)
Cindershot: A bit more AoE. Where it’s at now isn’t bad. It’s a strong weapon, but this thing shares a spawn with the rocket launcher. Which would you rather have?
Ravager: The second reason I wanted to make this thread. I love this gun. I think it’s cool looking, sounds cool, and is a nice spiritual successor to the Brute Shot. BUT… it sucks. Badly. Its damage is low, it’s rate of fire is low, and the projectiles arc which makes it difficult to land direct hits. So, my proposed changes come in options:
-
Have the projectiles fire in a straight line (or significantly reduced arc, like the Mangler) and increase damage. 2 shot kill with direct hits.
-
Increase AoE dramatically and damage, but keep the arc. This allows it to keep its grenade launcher identity while also being a feasible choice. A rocket launcher-lite, almost.
The secondary firing mode is creative and fine.
Hydra: Increase lock on and projectile speed.
M41 SPKNR: Perfect, although desync can create some frustrating experiences.
VEHICLES:
I won’t break down each vehicle specifically like I did the weapons, because I have the same complaint for all of them except the Ghost and Wasp. That complaint is that they are all too fragile. There is A LOT of anti-vehicle ordnance in this game, from EMPS, to heavy weapons, to concentrated fire, there’s simply a lot of things that can kill a vehicle. While I believe most vehicles (except the Banshee) do a reasonable and fair amount of damage, I would like to see them become more of a threat on the battlefield.
The Warthog is a classic example. It takes 2 people from your team to use effectively. If I’m going to allocate 2 people to anything in Halo, I want there to be a decent return for that investment. The Warthog’s damage is fine. The issue is that the thing simply won’t survive for long. The reason for this is that instead of using a player health-based model, each vehicle in Infinite (like all games since 3) has a finite amount of health. If you get stuck with one plasma grenade in a Warthog you’ve been doomed to die, even if it doesn’t outright kill you. You can no longer afford one more pass through enemy territory.
Compared to Halo 3 where you can take 2 plasma nades, but if you got out and got your shields back from the first one, you could keep rolling without fear of instantly dying.
I know vehicles can be frustrating for the more casual players to handle. But I am confident there are enough things in the game that can take them down to justify a bump in their health.
As I said, damage is fine. Except the Banshee. That thing needs a buff across the board.
I will not be going into equipment in this thread as I feel I am still forming opinions on the various pieces and, honestly, I think they are all quite good and have their uses.
That is all for now. Thank you for reading this far if you’ve done so, I really appreciate it. Have a nice day.
