Hey guys! After having done quite a bit of energy sword dueling in Halo 5, mostly in Castle Wars and Custom Games, I’m actually quite impressed with how well the movement mechanics and Smart Scope work with enhancing the skill gap in energy sword fights (with the exception of Spartan Charge, which is horrible for the skill gap as it is in nearly every aspect of Halo 5 imho). There are so many options one can do that a duel becomes almost fighting game-esque. I’m actually fairly confident in saying that energy sword dueling in Halo 5 likely has the highest skill gap of any of the Halo games.
So, I’m wondering two things. A. Is this well-known? I expect not, since besides the Castle Wars playlist I’m not sure how important sword dueling is to Halo as a franchise. B. Will this skill gap be preserved in Infinite? Of course since sword dueling is such a small part of Halo, I wouldn’t expect 343i to make design decisions based on what makes energy sword fights better, but it’s an interesting thought. If all of the Halo 5 movement mechanics are gone, it’d mean that fights would go back to the way they were in Halo 3, essentially.
Thoughts?
Well the skill gap isn’t too high in halo 5 for sword dueling, mainly because of the smart zoom, but it definitely has a skill gap for mastering it. While I’ve seen many lower level players in castle wars get a ton of kills, and they clearly weren’t smurf accounts that mainly because its not hard to get kills with the sword, the only way to become better at sword dueling is really just changing your look sensitivity to a high number and becoming used to that, once your good at aiming like that you can use your thrust or slide momentum to dodge quick enough to beat almost any average player.
I think halo infinite will preserve this type of dueling, but since nothing is known about halo infinite’s movement system or if it will have smart link only time will tell.
Skill gap and energy sword are not words I ever thought I’d see together LOL.
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> Well the skill gap isn’t too high in halo 5 for sword dueling, mainly because of the smart zoom, but it definitely has a skill gap for mastering it. While I’ve seen many lower level players in castle wars get a ton of kills, and they clearly weren’t smurf accounts that mainly because its not hard to get kills with the sword, the only way to become better at sword dueling is really just changing your look sensitivity to a high number and becoming used to that, once your good at aiming like that you can use your thrust or slide momentum to dodge quick enough to beat almost any average player.
>
> I think halo infinite will preserve this type of dueling, but since nothing is known about halo infinite’s movement system or if it will have smart link only time will tell.
How does smart zoom diminish the skill gap, keeping in mind Halo 5’s movement mechanics? Additionally I actually don’t agree that higher sens = better w/ swords; playing on too high a sensitivity makes you way more prone to missing your swings on the other person. In theory you’re right but I’m not sure it’s humanly possible to react fast enough to land every swing as accurately at 10 sens as it is on, say, 6 sens.
Otherwise I essentially agree, you see a lotta people in CW who are really good w/ swords but don’t seem particularly good at gunplay or mainline Halo skills in general. It’s like a completely different skill set.
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> Skill gap and energy sword are not words I ever thought I’d see together LOL.
In a sense, that’s exactly my point! Though the “skill” involved isn’t particularly useful in 95% of Halo gametypes.
Could someone throw out the definition of “skill gap” for me then please slap me in the face for being a noob? Thank you.
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> Could someone throw out the definition of “skill gap” for me then please slap me in the face for being a noob? Thank you.
It’s like the difference in skill between players
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> Could someone throw out the definition of “skill gap” for me then please slap me in the face for being a noob? Thank you.
As I understand it, a skill gap refers to how much better an extremely good player in a particular game can be compared to a bad player. A game with a low skill gap means the best you can possibly be is only about ~30% better than a bad player (30% as an example), and a good player can often lose an encounter to a bad player. A game with an extremely high skill gap means that a bad player essentially will never beat a good player (unless the good player messes up), and in multiplayer games with a very high skill gap a sufficiently good player can even win 2v1s, 3v1s, etc.
For two well known examples, standard tic-tac-toe has a low skill gap, you can only be so good at tic-tac-toe. Chess has a pretty high skill gap: the best Chess player in the world will never lose to a bad player barring some horrible error.
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> > Could someone throw out the definition of “skill gap” for me then please slap me in the face for being a noob? Thank you.
>
> As I understand it, a skill gap refers to how much better an extremely good player in a particular game can be compared to a bad player. A game with a low skill gap means the best you can possibly be is only about ~30% better than a bad player (30% as an example), and a good player can often lose an encounter to a bad player. A game with an extremely high skill gap means that a bad player essentially will never beat a good player (unless the good player messes up), and in multiplayer games with a very high skill gap a sufficiently good player can even win 2v1s, 3v1s, etc.
>
> For two well known examples, standard tic-tac-toe has a low skill gap, you can only be so good at tic-tac-toe. Chess has a pretty high skill gap: the best Chess player in the world will never lose to a bad player barring some horrible error.
10/10 response. You’re the man!
Idk about that OP. I have found that in Halo 5 I trade more often in sword duels than I would have in previous titles. In the past you could jump before you swing which would often cause your opponent to miss and it is an easy win. In Halo 5, you can jump but smart-link makes it near impossible for your opponent to miss because of how strong it is. If no one misses a swing(which they can only miss by not swinging at all) that is the only time I have won a sword duel without both players killing each other.
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> Idk about that OP. I have found that in Halo 5 I trade more often in sword duels than I would have in previous titles. In the past you could jump before you swing which would often cause your opponent to miss and it is an easy win. In Halo 5, you can jump but smart-link makes it near impossible for your opponent to miss because of how strong it is. If no one misses a swing(which they can only miss by not swinging at all) that is the only time I have won a sword duel without both players killing each other.
Would I prefer if there were more clashes possible in Halo 5 before a trade occurs? Yes. However, I disagree that it’s difficult to make your opponent miss a swing. Creative use of one’s thrusters along with a good, erratic strafe right at the edge of the Smart Scope lunge distance make it very difficult for the other person to not miss. Some movements with thrusters can put you cleanly behind your opponent’s back after a clash, and if they’re not ready for it and experienced with this sort of thing it’s a guaranteed kill.
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> > Idk about that OP. I have found that in Halo 5 I trade more often in sword duels than I would have in previous titles. In the past you could jump before you swing which would often cause your opponent to miss and it is an easy win. In Halo 5, you can jump but smart-link makes it near impossible for your opponent to miss because of how strong it is. If no one misses a swing(which they can only miss by not swinging at all) that is the only time I have won a sword duel without both players killing each other.
>
> Would I prefer if there were more clashes possible in Halo 5 before a trade occurs? Yes. However, I disagree that it’s difficult to make your opponent miss a swing. Creative use of one’s thrusters along with a good, erratic strafe right at the edge of the Smart Scope lunge distance make it very difficult for the other person to not miss. Some movements with thrusters can put you cleanly behind your opponent’s back after a clash, and if they’re not ready for it and experienced with this sort of thing it’s a guaranteed kill.
Well, when you play against players in Onyx, making them miss rarely happens.
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> > > Idk about that OP. I have found that in Halo 5 I trade more often in sword duels than I would have in previous titles. In the past you could jump before you swing which would often cause your opponent to miss and it is an easy win. In Halo 5, you can jump but smart-link makes it near impossible for your opponent to miss because of how strong it is. If no one misses a swing(which they can only miss by not swinging at all) that is the only time I have won a sword duel without both players killing each other.
> >
> > Would I prefer if there were more clashes possible in Halo 5 before a trade occurs? Yes. However, I disagree that it’s difficult to make your opponent miss a swing. Creative use of one’s thrusters along with a good, erratic strafe right at the edge of the Smart Scope lunge distance make it very difficult for the other person to not miss. Some movements with thrusters can put you cleanly behind your opponent’s back after a clash, and if they’re not ready for it and experienced with this sort of thing it’s a guaranteed kill.
>
> Well, when you play against players in Onyx, making them miss rarely happens.
Out of curiosity what playlist are you referring to? I don’t mean this as a boast but I’ve played against some extremely good Energy Sword users in Customs and the Castle Wars playlist, so I’m fairly confident that it’s possible to make even the best players miss if you play your cards right. That’s the whole skill component of it (especially since most things you do to make the other person miss also make it harder for you to correctly lunge).
I’m all for balancing energy sword and grav. hammer duels, whats the point of a sword if a hammer wins every time
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> > > > Idk about that OP. I have found that in Halo 5 I trade more often in sword duels than I would have in previous titles. In the past you could jump before you swing which would often cause your opponent to miss and it is an easy win. In Halo 5, you can jump but smart-link makes it near impossible for your opponent to miss because of how strong it is. If no one misses a swing(which they can only miss by not swinging at all) that is the only time I have won a sword duel without both players killing each other.
> > >
> > > Would I prefer if there were more clashes possible in Halo 5 before a trade occurs? Yes. However, I disagree that it’s difficult to make your opponent miss a swing. Creative use of one’s thrusters along with a good, erratic strafe right at the edge of the Smart Scope lunge distance make it very difficult for the other person to not miss. Some movements with thrusters can put you cleanly behind your opponent’s back after a clash, and if they’re not ready for it and experienced with this sort of thing it’s a guaranteed kill.
> >
> > Well, when you play against players in Onyx, making them miss rarely happens.
>
> Out of curiosity what playlist are you referring to? I don’t mean this as a boast but I’ve played against some extremely good Energy Sword users in Customs and the Castle Wars playlist, so I’m fairly confident that it’s possible to make even the best players miss if you play your cards right. That’s the whole skill component of it (especially since most things you do to make the other person miss also make it harder for you to correctly lunge).
I don’t play social often. Seeing as how I said Onyx ranked players, I mean arena, Slayer mostly. I have played castle wars but I don’t get into huge sword fights. I’m the guy sitting back then attacking when a player doesn’t look, not jumping out at them so that we can trade. The only time I win a sword fight without a trade is when I use nades in that playlist.
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> > > > > Idk about that OP. I have found that in Halo 5 I trade more often in sword duels than I would have in previous titles. In the past you could jump before you swing which would often cause your opponent to miss and it is an easy win. In Halo 5, you can jump but smart-link makes it near impossible for your opponent to miss because of how strong it is. If no one misses a swing(which they can only miss by not swinging at all) that is the only time I have won a sword duel without both players killing each other.
> > > >
> > > > Would I prefer if there were more clashes possible in Halo 5 before a trade occurs? Yes. However, I disagree that it’s difficult to make your opponent miss a swing. Creative use of one’s thrusters along with a good, erratic strafe right at the edge of the Smart Scope lunge distance make it very difficult for the other person to not miss. Some movements with thrusters can put you cleanly behind your opponent’s back after a clash, and if they’re not ready for it and experienced with this sort of thing it’s a guaranteed kill.
> > >
> > > Well, when you play against players in Onyx, making them miss rarely happens.
> >
> > Out of curiosity what playlist are you referring to? I don’t mean this as a boast but I’ve played against some extremely good Energy Sword users in Customs and the Castle Wars playlist, so I’m fairly confident that it’s possible to make even the best players miss if you play your cards right. That’s the whole skill component of it (especially since most things you do to make the other person miss also make it harder for you to correctly lunge).
>
> I don’t play social often. Seeing as how I said Onyx ranked players, I mean arena, Slayer mostly. I have played castle wars but I don’t get into huge sword fights. I’m the guy sitting back then attacking when a player doesn’t look, not jumping out at them so that we can trade. The only time I win a sword fight without a trade is when I use nades in that playlist.
then you are not good in swords fights at Halo 5
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> > > > > > Idk about that OP. I have found that in Halo 5 I trade more often in sword duels than I would have in previous titles. In the past you could jump before you swing which would often cause your opponent to miss and it is an easy win. In Halo 5, you can jump but smart-link makes it near impossible for your opponent to miss because of how strong it is. If no one misses a swing(which they can only miss by not swinging at all) that is the only time I have won a sword duel without both players killing each other.
> > > > >
> > > > > Would I prefer if there were more clashes possible in Halo 5 before a trade occurs? Yes. However, I disagree that it’s difficult to make your opponent miss a swing. Creative use of one’s thrusters along with a good, erratic strafe right at the edge of the Smart Scope lunge distance make it very difficult for the other person to not miss. Some movements with thrusters can put you cleanly behind your opponent’s back after a clash, and if they’re not ready for it and experienced with this sort of thing it’s a guaranteed kill.
> > > >
> > > > Well, when you play against players in Onyx, making them miss rarely happens.
> > >
> > > Out of curiosity what playlist are you referring to? I don’t mean this as a boast but I’ve played against some extremely good Energy Sword users in Customs and the Castle Wars playlist, so I’m fairly confident that it’s possible to make even the best players miss if you play your cards right. That’s the whole skill component of it (especially since most things you do to make the other person miss also make it harder for you to correctly lunge).
> >
> > I don’t play social often. Seeing as how I said Onyx ranked players, I mean arena, Slayer mostly. I have played castle wars but I don’t get into huge sword fights. I’m the guy sitting back then attacking when a player doesn’t look, not jumping out at them so that we can trade. The only time I win a sword fight without a trade is when I use nades in that playlist.
>
> then you are not good in swords fights at Halo 5
No, maybe not. I prefer to use weapons that take a lot of skill and aren’t one hit melees.