WARNING: This is a long post. It discusses how heavy aim assist on stickies and other aspects are very detrimental to close range combat users. It also goes over why you should care about this as a precision weapon user. If you are a close range weapon user, you may likely hold similar views already from previous experience.
Stickies and their effect on close range combat.
I’m sure others have noticed, but the sticky grenade aim assist is much higher compared to previous Halo games. Users barely need to aim them any longer. If they think they are going to die, they can spam them and get a kill the majority of the time. What’s worse is that since the explosion range is so small, even if the stuck person runs into them, they will not die unless they have no shield.
This has made stickies a close range weapon, which makes no sense, and is completely abusive. Many people already use the DMR and Boltshot, giving them one of, if not the best long range and close range weapon simultaneously, and now everyone seems to be running stickies as well because of how easy it is to stick people. Before I go on, let me be clear that this is not about the DMR or Boltshot, only stickies and how they heavily counter close range weapon users already, which with excessive aim assist makes them extra useful.
Factual reasons why stickies directly and only counter close range combat.
Stickies have always taken great skill to effectively use in previous Halo games, because it WAS difficult to stick people in previous games, AND because if you stuck someone in CQC you would die because of the explosive range, making them unusable at close range except as a last resort. Now that these two difficulties in using the grenade are gone, there is no negative to using them as anti-CQC tools.
In previous Halos, there was a slight risk of being stuck when engaging in CQC, but now the chance is exponentially higher due to everyone starting with them, and the previously mentioned aspects of the grenade. At medium range, getting stuck is very unlikely because you can see it coming, but at close range, even if you see the animation start, you have little time to strafe or get to cover before its launched.
Why Close Range/Automatic weapons take skill too.
Close range players have gotten the short end of the stick in Halo 4. Each time you engage a DMR/BR user with a close range weapon, you have to contend with the fact that first they are going to try to Boltshot you, and if they miss, they are then going to spam their stickies at you to get a last ditch kill.
This is completely unfair. A DR/LR/BR user never gets into a fight with a close range weapon user at long range, and then has to avoid 3 potentially OHK attacks. They simply stomp on the close range user. In close range though, the DMR/LR/BR are all functional, and at least have the ability to win given enough skill. This does not apply to close range weapons in long range combat. In fact, close range weapons have no ability to negate a long range user except by running Firepower and using another long range weapon.
The AR/SR/Supp are not viable in long range combat because they cant deal consistent damage. They can somewhat get hits at medium range with proper burst fire, but this GREATLY slows their kill time, and since they don’t knock people out of scope, they unlikely to win. Whether or not the long range users like the idea, close range players NEED help to remain equals overall.
Precision weapon are not harder to use like many people say, because if that was the case then more of the top Halo players would be using them due to this natural advantage, but that’s not the case. If precision weapons are truly “hard” to use, then a good player would clearly always do better with a non-precision weapon.
That’s obviously not the case, and close range weapon users need some help from 343 if they want to make close range primary weapons viable. Smart players understand how critical close range users are in controlling maps, protecting power weapon users, and supporting the team through suppressive fire. I do not mean suppressive fire as other games use it, because shields change how suppressive fire works. Suppressive fire in Halo is about using an automatic weapon to ping an enemy’s shields along side a precision weapon using ally at medium-long range. This hastens the ally’s ability to headshot the opponent, which forces the opponent into cover to avoid the headshot, or die. By forcing them into cover, a the close range user can advance, supported by the precision weapon user.
The above seems to be something many precision users don’t understand, and it greatly enhances a team’s performance than running all long-medium range. Close range users are valuable allies if you help each other out. They will soften up shields so you can get headshot kills quickly, and they will advance on a pinned enemy to flush them out, but they need your assistance. Not only that, but whenever a shotgun or sword user sneaks up on you; you will be glad that an AR/SR user can take them down fast to save you.
It’s difficult to justify using a close range weapon as a primary, because you have a limited effective range, can be countered by a secondary, and are more likely to be stuck with a sticky.
Conclusion and closing thoughts.
If you read all of this, you are indeed a champ, and I commend you. I hope I have presented a somewhat factual view of why the aim assist on stickies should be reduced to help out close quarter weapon users, who already face very difficult odds.
If you check my stats, you can see that I am indeed a close range fighter myself, with the AR and my Fists as my top 2 most used weapons. However, if you look at my stats you will also see that I am a team player, who goes for the objective, and focuses on going positive in team slayer, rather than just getting the most kills. Lastly for reference, I have played Halo heavily since CE under various gamertags.
Thank you for reading this, and please post your thoughts on this. Even if you are yourself a sticky grenade user who does not want their auto aim reduced, please post your opinion in regards to the many points I raised.
Cheers!