Hear me out on this one. I know that the Sniper has been powerful against vehicles probably since Halo CE, however the damage really should be toned down a little.
The Sniper is incredibly accurate and the bullet can travel across the map almost instantly, and I understand it should be this way. Hitting a headshot on an enemy player is incredibly rewarding, especially when that player is riding in a vehicle and you’re able to snag the kill.
However, this accuracy and bullet speed ultimately makes the weapon incredibly powerful against weaker vehicles. The Wasp is destroyed in 3 hits, and if it isn’t close to cover then it’s as good as dead. It feels like taking on the Spartan Laser, however you don’t get the warning of a small red beam beforehand to help you get to cover, and the Sniper rifles shots often aren’t as distinguishable as the sound of a Splaser.
I also believe the Ghost can be taken out in 3 shots, which basically prevents you from using it if a Sniper is active, and I think the Warthog is taken out in 4 hits. This only makes vehicles feel weaker and it’s way too easy to use.
The Sniper can even shoot the hatch off the Scorpion and snipe out the driver with about 2 or 3 shots. Then if another enemy gets in, it’s just a free kill from there until your team gets in.
Here’s what I propose. Sniper damage vs vehicles is toned down to encourage the Sniper to try and get headshots rather than shoot the vehicles. The Sniper only deals decent damage against vehicles when they hit the weak points. This rewards the players accuracy and helps keep vehicles alive for longer.
These are my takes, open to hear suggestions below.
It should do more headshot like damage to specific spots like wings, tread, and wheels, because while it does make sense it’s firing large anti-materiel rounds, it really isn’t fun to even try and pass with a ghost or wasp.
I’d’ve said mongoose too but it’s easy to get killed on that always.
Man, remember when Snipers used to ricochet off of armor unless it was a DIRECT POINT shot? Maybe that is the problem we have with the sniper these days. No shots ricochet really. They just dig-in to the armor.
Now that I think about it . . . . . . . . I don’t think I have seen any Sniper Ricochet Shots anywhere in Halo Infinite.
Like with every other Halo game, you would see the shot ricochet off of a stone/metal surface if it landed at a sharp enough angle.
But I have yet to see anything like that in Infinite.
Like the sniper shots just seem to dig into the surfaces rather than land a glancing shot and redirect to be a potential hazard to someone else.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . can anyone test this?
EDIT -
SCRATCH THAT, I found a few videos on YouTube detailing it !
I’d be ok with base damage against being reduced in favor of weak points being tuned slightly higher.
The sniper rifle is a precision weapon, and precision should absolutely be rewarded, even against vehicles.
Picking off the hatch of the Scorpion sounds OP until you have to find a line of sight that allows it, and be within near full view of the spicy 90mm main cannon.
That makes me sad now, I mean how am I going to accidentaly kill my teamate now? Oh wait there isn’t playler collision. Seriously though has anyone ever gotten a richochet head shot? Satisfying as -Yoink!-
Sorry but having any expectations at this point is laughable. Many other mechanics, visual and sound effects are totally lame. You can make an entire list of them. This game didn’t receive love.
I can’t wait until the update when they add frag grenades that produce smoke and scorch the ground… actually no, I’m not expecting anything.
** The SRS99C-S2 AM is a semi-automatic rifle that fires 14.5mm x 114mm APFSDS (Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot) rounds from a 4 round magazine. It is designed in the conventional layout, so the mag and operating system are located in front of the trigger.**
But what are the alternatives to take out a vehicle?
In halo 5 you had, Rocket launcher with target locking ability, plasma gun with emp, Laser with different charge speed, railgun, hydra with fast locking and emp.
What do we have in halo infinite? The skewer? Slow and not reliable at distance? The hydra? Slow firing and aim locking only on short distance?
The Skewer, Hydra, Heatwave, Ravager, Cindershot, Sentinel Beam, DIsruptor, Shock RIfle, Rockets, Gravity Hammer, Plasma/Spike/Dynamo Grenades and Grapple. Did I miss any? Many of these aren’t particularly useful against air vehicles and probably won’t work against good pilots. Some are for the disable or highjack instead of destruction. Pew pewing gunners/drivers out of Hogs/Ghosts goes without saying.
As a last resort concentrated fire from weak anti-vehicle weapons can take them down deceptively quickly. Alas, in something like BTB it appears to rarely happen with uncoordinated teams. In many cases several of the options mentioned don’t see a ton of use for some reason too. People can connect those dots as they wish.
I don’t see an issue with the S7 being an option against vehicles. Simply because it consumes a good number of sniper rounds. Each of those could be a dead/weakened lone Spartan otherwise. If people don’t want their vehicles getting sniped they should protect them better. Although, increasing the importance of weak points to reward players for well placed shots isn’t a bad idea.
I’d note, good drivers/pilots are in fact a real thing (not me, I’m bad). Even when a lot of players are actively gunning for vehicles a good driver/pilot can make them work for it.
If the sniper(s) weren’t so effective against vehicles, I would be able to get 20-25 kills most times I get in a wasp instead if 10-15. Be careful what you ask for.