Kudos to Aokiji ICE TIME for unknowingly giving me the idea for this.
In the last two main Halo titles, the devs have attempted twice to create a weapon suited to laying traps for the enemy… and have both times failed miserably.
I refer to the M319 Individual Grenade Launcher, and the M363 Remote Projectile Detonator. For all of you who can’t be bothered to visit a wiki to find out which weapons those are, they are the Grenade Launcher from Reach, and the Sticky Detonator from 4.
Both times, the weapons were clearly intended for setting traps or ambushes, and both times they were used for assault. People never left an EMP-mode grenade lying around waiting for a victim because it was too weak, and no one ever left a sticky projectile lying around because it acted on a timer and would explode too soon. Instead, they went for trick-shots or the stick on enemies. It required less patience.
So, neither of them were used for their intended purposes, except maybe their added intentional usefulness against vehicles. Are the devs going to try again? Maybe, maybe not. But if they do, I think they have a choice to make.
They can either bring back one of the two weapons (both would be overkill), or hybridise them both into some kind of landmine launcher. Think Bioshock’s Proximity Mines, only not as stupidly and glaringly obvious and Sci-fi rather than cobbled-together steampunk.
I think I know which one is going to get the most poll votes, as you lot almost always prefer the older things, no matter what it be, but there it is. Have fun. Discuss. Try not to hate.
Actually the Grenade Launcher wasn’t meant for setting traps. You could but they were not effective. The Grenade Launcher is anti-infantry and anti-vehicle that’s pretty obvious though. The Grenade Launcher actually took skill to use and if in the right hands you could easily take out enemy aircraft or ground targets. The EMP is what made that gun useful IMO because it was very useful for anti-air.
The Sticky Det was actually usable for setting traps. It was super obvious though and could easily be avoided.
> Kudos to Aokiji ICE TIME for unknowingly giving me the idea for this.
>
> In the last two main Halo titles, the devs have attempted twice to create a weapon suited to <mark>laying traps for the enemy</mark>… and have both times failed miserably.
>
> I refer to the M319 Individual <mark>Grenade Launcher</mark>, and the M363 Remote Projectile Detonator. For all of you who can’t be bothered to visit a wiki to find out which weapons those are, they are the Grenade Launcher from Reach, and the Sticky Detonator from 4.
>
> Both times, the weapons were clearly intended for setting traps or ambushes, and both times they were used for assault. People never left an EMP-mode grenade lying around waiting for a victim because it was too weak, and no one ever left a sticky projectile lying around because it acted on a timer and would explode too soon. Instead, they went for trick-shots or the stick on enemies. It required less patience.
>
> So, neither of them were used for their intended purposes, except maybe their added intentional usefulness against vehicles. Are the devs going to try again? Maybe, maybe not. But if they do, I think they have a choice to make.
>
> They can either bring back one of the two weapons (both would be overkill), or hybridise them both into some kind of landmine launcher. Think Bioshock’s Proximity Mines, only not as stupidly and glaringly obvious and Sci-fi rather than cobbled-together steampunk.
>
> I think I know which one is going to get the most poll votes, as you lot almost always prefer the older things, no matter what it be, but there it is. Have fun. Discuss. Try not to hate.
I don’t believe the Grenade Launcher was ever intended to be “layed” as a trap. Unlike the Sticky Detonator, the Grenade Launcher can’t be left intact without holding onto the trigger button. So it was never intended to be a trap like weapon at all. It is very effective at disabling vehicles, both flying and ground types. It can be a consistent one hit kill, if it explodes directly next to the enemy.
The Sticky Detonator is the one that should be improved for ambushing capabilities. As a weapon itself, it is effective, but it is obnoxiously loud and has a very noticeable flash. I don’t remember if you can switch weapons while still having the Sticky Det intact, but that would be nice. Really, majority of Sticky det kills are launched at a person and then triggered.
They may as well give the grenade launcher some type of Sticky Det camera, and toggle ability that allows it to stick if you ever wanted it too lol. The GL is just far more superior than the Sticky Det.
I don’t particularly want a proximity activated explosive in the game. I’ve hated it in every game that ever included cheap lay and forget traps. I would vote for a sort of hybrid though. A grenade launcher of sorts with the trigger mechanism of the Sticky det and the radar mechanism. The grenades can have significantly more friction than in Reach kind of like CE frags but they wouldn’t stick, that’s what plasmas are for, I’d prefer to be able to bounce them around a corner. It would have the ability to detonate mid air like the Reach Pro Pipe giving it a useful functionality beyond just trap setting that would differentiate it from a rocket type weapon in the assault role. Give it an EMP as well, cause why not?
I like the red light on the sticky det, I would keep that, so people have a chance to spot it and shoot it. I don’t think it needs a sound though when it’s stationary on the ground.
Trip Mines and Grenade Launchers are good enough for me. 
The sticky launcher had a timer,made a loud noise when you went near it and of top of that the projectile had a big massive red light telling me “merry christmas guys,I’m here to blow you up!”
Still I managed to get a lot of kills with it so clearly not everyone pays attention…
The Reach grenade launcher I used for traps,short term ones,for when i knew an enemy was coming round the corner being a one shot weapon if used right,I got plenty of kills using it.
I used it as a trick shot or something to EMP vehicles,particular banshees and tanks.Sometimes the odd falcon too.Rarely used it on warthogs unless they were heavy damaged.
I would like to see it return if not then a mine launcher of some sort,except maybe make the projectiles less obvious.
The sticky launcher shouldn’t return.
I’m not a big fan of traps, and especially not proximity-activated ones. Halo gameplay (at least in my opinion) is supposed to be one of movement. Traps promote staying still.
There’s plenty of ways to take down vehicles without needing to resort to traps. In my opinion, all traps will do is slow down play.
And I hope the sticky det is gone in H5.