With the introduction of custom loadouts in Halo4 the humble Assault rifle has been pitched head to head against fraging goliaths such as the BR & DMR. So without a doubt by necessity the Assault rifle needs to be buffed in some way in order to be a viable weapon alternative. However is simply increasing the weapon damage the best way to go?
The Assault rifle is an icon, it appears to be Master chiefs weapon of choice, but in the gameplay department I have always felt it to be lacking. AR v AR battles, in previous Halo titles, are typically not as fun/ interesting as utility weapon battles and are won by whoever fires first regardless of how much you strafe and in my experience all burst firing ever did was slightly extend effective range whilst being detrimental at any other range. Now when pitch up against BRs/DRs traditionally the Assault rifle was all but completely useless accept at very close range and as a result for it to be most effectively utilised it was best used in a similar manner to the shot gun (which I believe is also a starting weapon option in H4). However when a successful AR rush was pulled frankly the BR/DMR guy doesn’t stand a chance and is forced to endure an inevitable drawn out death. This wasn’t a big problem in previous Halo games because it was such a week weapon but if the AR becomes more powerful I could see this becoming quickly frustrating and good players may learn to exploit it.
So the way I see It there are two other viable options.
- Keep the AR practically the same, a bit stronger, but nerfed just enough that it is typically not as good as a BR/DMR in the hands of a seasoned Halo player but is still a viable close range killer ideal for players who might struggle with precision shooting making the game more accessible to new players but risk seeing the weapon disappear in higher ranked games.
or
- Try and integrate the weapon at all levels and introduce a greater skill factor.
-I would like to see the benefits of burst firing be more prominent. When holding down the trigger it should typically take practically a full clip to kill someone accept at very close range but when burst firing it should be possible to kill two players at the same range with a few bullets over.
-Auto aim reduction when firing.
-Hit multiplier for head shots when shields are down.
Now I have no idea what the AR is actually like in H4, 343 may be thinking down similar lines to me, I am however exited at the prospect of actually seeing a balance AR in a halo game and will definitely be looking out to see how the AR plays in the E3 coverage.
So my question is# How do you think 343’s Assault rifle should be balanced in order to cope in its new weight division?
It’s fine the way it is and doesn’t need to be changed. It is meant for close quarters and for certain people that can’t aim (like a good friend of mine that I play split-screen with). My weapon of choice will be the BR unless the DMR is for some reason overpowered. I just hope for the weapons to act similar to other Halo’s. Assault Rifle for close range, BR for mid-range, and DMR for mid to long range.
I agree that there should be some skillgap in using the AR.
I’m liking the headshot bonus if it’s a small bonus and if the max killtime won’t be changed from the current one. By that I mean, I wouldn’t mind toning down killtime when shooting at the crotch, for instance, and I’m fine with the AR’s current killtime.
What I deeply fear is that, with the buff, the AR will sometimes overpower the BR in the BR’s intended range… So I’m liking the headshot bonus, but if autoaim would be low for the game in general, I’d love that too.
At least strafing is back!
I hate how the AR has been treated (excluding H4 since I don’t know much about it). In CE, I could take down 2 Elites. In Reach, I can only take down 1 before having to reload.
If it’s going to be accurate, it might as well have a headshot bonus.
The mad irony is that despite being the preferred weapon of a hyper-lethal vector (you even see him take down a bunch of Elites with it), an ODST sergeant, and the UNSC’s most legendary Spartan II, it becomes the first weapon players will throw away as soon as they gain control. Even worse is the fact that it always replaces the player’s weapons in every cutscene. H2 was the only one that dared to break this curse, by not including it.
In mp, it should be treated like a starting weapon with a few buffs, but in campaign, it should be a monster. How many of you loved using the silenced SMG in ODST? And let’s not forget the CE AR. That’s how I want the AR to feel like. Reliable and good at stopping enemies. In Reach, I’m just wasting bullets on an impossibly durable unshielded charging Elite. In CE, the bullets must feel like knives! 
And of course, the autoaim should be toned down.
if anyone thinks it needs to be any better than it is in reach…well just no. I think they got that down in terms of not underpowering it. Its not supposed to be the best weapon, thats why you start with it.
that would be nice,considering that for the casual halo fans you can just hold the triggerinstead of precision…really i think that is should be a bybrid:
Revert to HAlo CE weakling ar/smg hybrid…bu t bullets are way stronger now…
have the option to switch ammo type form SMG ar bullets to armor piercing bulltes,which make the ar fire riduculsy slow but packs a punch…
The Assault rifle is no longer the default starting weapon and such is now performing a new role in multiplayer different to what it was in previous Halo titles. It now has to be a viable alternative to the BR, DMR ect so needs to be balanced as such but I fear a simple power buff will hurt gameplay.
I think the AR definitely needs a slight power boost. I want to feel like I can kill people with the weapon, not just spray then run in and punch them to death.
If burst firing made it more effective then that would be fine but giving it a power boost so noobs can just spray it all over the place and get kills is not a viable option.
> I think the AR definitely needs a slight power boost. I want to feel like I can kill people with the weapon, not just spray then run in and punch them to death.
But in order to maintain balance it can not be equal in power to weapons requiring more skill.
> The Assault rifle is no longer the default starting weapon and such is now performing a new role in multiplayer different to what it was in previous Halo titles. It now has to be a viable alternative to the BR, DMR ect so needs to be balanced as such but I fear a simple power buff will hurt gameplay.
Power buff, accuracy nerf? And/or recoil, perhaps? Works for the Retro Lancer in Gears, I reckon
> The Assault rifle is no longer the default starting weapon and such is now performing a new role in multiplayer different to what it was in previous Halo titles. It now has to be a viable alternative to the BR, DMR ect so needs to be balanced as such but I fear a simple power buff will hurt gameplay.
You don’t fear the buff of the AR’s DPH, you fear the idea of the AR being part of a balanced sandbox.
It’s ok, that’s what gameplay testing is for as it’s true, a raise in DPH may be too little or too much to balance it as a CQB up to short-mid range engagement weapon.
Ammo count, RoF, reload time, dynamic spread, DPH and bullet magnetism influence range are all considerations in balancing ANY weapon.
A good start with a weapon that takes 18 or so bullets within about 1.4 seconds in an expanding spread pattern is probably the DPH.
Ranged targets “simply elongate kill times” as you dislike AND we all don’t like how the AR is just shield softener for a melee in most scenarios, or how it has such little ammo for the killing that it can do in the right scenarios.
Increasing the DPH does not necessitate the need to increase the magazine count, it increases short ranged kill times by reducing the number of hits required to kill, maintaining a dynamic spread allows for perhaps 1 spray and pray kill but leaves one vulnerable on the reload and at mid range, short ranged controlled sprays would reward multiple kills on shielded and wounded more consistently as bursts would be shorter and fewer and maintaining the RoF would keep the AR familiar in feel/use.
Of course RoF, ammo count and bloom should all be considered with the DPH changes and not simply blindly applied.
It’s just a good start with the DPH.