This is the problem. Other guns in the exact same situation killed faster. Plus you always had a BR as a backup so you could easily out range the AR by a mile. If you were any good no one was letting someone else get that close to them unless the person had been crouching or camping.
Guns in Infinite are designed to each have a specific use case where they are the ideal gun for the job. The ARs is mid range right above the SK and below the commando. Outside of that range there are weapons that are either more effect, kill faster, or both.
People keep saying the AR is OP because its not weak like in H3 or Reach. The whole game is just not designed around 1 precision weapon anymore. It is designed for each gun to have at least 1 instance where it is the best. The AR fits this design philosophy pretty well. If anything the BR needs a nerf because it is the easiest to use ranged weapon by miles and in ranked you are able to rely on it over most of the map weapons if you play the map right and don’t let people get close to you.
The AR invites more weapon variety as it is harder to outrange the close range weapons it loses to and can’t compete past mid range with any of the ranged weapons.
People complaining the AR is OP are not really saying the AR is OP. They are saying the whole design philosophy of Infinite is bad because its not centered around 1 precision weapon (the BR or DMR) anymore and they don’t like that.
Except that easily my LEAST FAVORITE thing in Halo 3 was how worthless the Assault Rifle and Magnum were. You basically had to pick up a BR or power weapon to stand any chance against moderatley decent players. Now nearly every weapon in the sandbox has competitive viability. Infinite has problems, weapon balance is NOT one of them.
And this was the RIGHT move for Halo going forward. Halo is about sandbox gameplay, not ONE weapon dominating all else. Even in Halo CE with the God tier pistol, it was a sandbox game where every combination had viability!
The sword is the best weapon for single targe close range combat. It performs well in its roll. What is wrong with it?
If you say its too strong you probably just want a shotgun that counters it. That defeats the purpose of having a sword. Why have a weapon that is always outclassed in its roll?
Its easy to kill sword users with a nade + BR to the head, team shooting, mulitple nades, outranging them etc.
Do you play much ranked? The sword has no actual counter besides desync making the person with it miss swings.
You can’t parry or melee trade, and very few weapons kill fast enough to outpace it, especially with the lunge distance and abilities like grapple.
The maps where it’s featured don’t have a close range tier two weapon, making sword the strongest thing on the map outside of long range.
The only chance you have is to keep a Repulsor on hand at all times, and even that only works in specific situations where they’re charging you on open ground.
The sword shouldn’t be in ranked at all, and as far as weapon balance is concerned it’s overpowered.
I mainly play ranked (although i don’t get to play games much now so its not often). I never have too much of a problem against it. (My team usually goes for sword and we usually get it, i am the designated sword user and i will say i do use it effectively so i get it is strong)
I think the biggest problem is people playing ranked without being in a party. I would suggest solo queueing ranked be blocked. Only full teams allowed because thats how its meant to be played. If you can communicate with you team then team shooting a sword user isn’t too bad. Also where the sword is on maps is kind of risky to get to so you should be able to stop them if you keep map control.
I get the sword is strong but any weaker and it is just worthless. i already hardly use map weapons in ranked due to the BR being so dang wasy to use so i think this is more of a strategy issue than weapon power issue that stems from lack of team communications/cohesion.
Infinite’s sandbox is based entirely around effective range. I’m not saying the AR should be a peashooter. I’m saying easier guns should be less effective than harder to use guns.
The AR in its current state is the most consistent weapon in the sandbox.
The AR isn’t supposed to be a mid-range dominating powerhouse. Beating out other guns on consistency alone. Missing a few shots with the AR won’t hurt your TTK too much, but with the Mangler, Bulldog, BR, Commando, and Sidekick?
What specific use does the AR have? That it’s the most effective generalist weapon in the game? Of course the BR beats it at range, because it was hamfisted into a ranged role. Up close, the AR will beat the BR, in fact, it beats damn near every gun in the game aside from rockets. It can even beat a cracked out sniper because of the reticle spread and bloom on the S7.
The sandbox actually breathes in Ranked. It’s a completely different game because there arent ARs at everyones disposal 100% of the time. Dont mistake my criticism for “waaaah the BR isnt the best thing in the game!” The entire sandbox is tuned around effective range, making every gun exceptionally good at a range, not a role. Literally. Sniper? Tuned so that its inconsistent as hell up close, and has rotational aim assist and magnetism when scoped. Pulse Carbine? Unusable outside of a very specific range where it can two tap players.
A player with perfect aim using the precision weapon shouldn’t lose to an AR because the AR user was closer to them. The AR is already easier to use given its low penalty for missing shots. Having the BR have a higher TTK only results in players with BRs sticking to long range areas of maps and never moving up close because you are already at a disadvantage against an AR. That’s not healthy sandbox. That’s not even a good way of assigning roles to guns. There’s nothing to work toward, to increase player skill toward. A good player in Halo 3 will beat an Average BR user if they play around the strengths the AR provides. Running directly at someone with a BR in an open lane with an AR is probably going to get you killed. You’re not using it right. An AR that overpowers a BR in a situation where the AR user is playing like an idiot is not a good balance.
Just watch the killfeed in a social game sometime. It’s 90% ARs because why pick up a wall weapon that either has a LONGER TTK, or is more punishing for missing a single shot
If the AR is supposed to be better at close range battles, why shouldn’t it be more forgiving at that range than the BR?
The BR is explicitly stated to shine at mid-range engagements. That’s how it’s supposed to go. You’re not supposed to get close to an AR. You’re supposed to branch back a bit and punish those who try to challenge you without the proper weaponry.
You can win against an AR if you know how to utilize the sandbox to your advantage.
That kind of thinking is precisely why BR users don’t move around the map. It makes the gameplay passive and less mobile. The AR is already forgiving up close, missing shots is less punishing than on the BR, it’s easier to aim. You don’t need it to also kill faster. Once again, BR aside, it hurts the rest of the sandbox. It kills faster than a 3 shot bulldog, 4 Shot mangler, and on top of it its easier to aim, has more range, and you arent punished for missing a few shots with it
So the BR needs to be nerfed because it is by far the easiest ranged weapon to use?
Regarding the rest of your statement:
I have said this other places; Halo’s 2 weapon system was designed to make you choose weapons based on the circumstances you predicted yourself to be in/force you to use a certain play style with that weapon to get max effectiveness. Using the weapon outside of its intended use should make you weaker. This is why we have no weapon wheel.
I know the Halo CE magnum ended up being the “utility weapon” but that was not on purpose. A lone dev buffed the magnum in secret right before launch. Halo as a series was not originally meant to have a precision utility weapon and it only carried over into H2 because there was no Assault rifle and the SMG by itself was terrible so dual wielding was basically necessary. This breaks the design triangle of weapon-melee-grenade that was Halo’s foundation. Thats really the one reason the BR became the starter weapon. Ever since then the Halo Utility Weapon has been around and it goes counter to the 2 weapon system.
Infinite finally returned to CEs original design philosophy so yes the BR should lose to the AR at close range. Its not meant to be a close range gun and you shouldn’t be using it close range unless you got surprised by an enemy. Every weapon has its use case where it is the best and now its rock paper scissors in any given scenario.
You now have to know how to properly use your weapon. Thats the idea. People trying to use weapons in situations they shouldn’t be used in, then saying “But I’m the better player, how did i lose?!?!”. Learning how to use each weapon effectively is the key and the BR is not a close range gun so it should not be used close range and out kill other guns just because it is slightly harder to use.
How are you going to beat the BR in close range if the AR cannot kill faster than it? Pray that the BR user misses a shot?
The main reason why the AR isn’t OP is because it’s more accurate at closer ranges than longer ranges like the BR. Missing shots steadily increases the TTK and hitting the AR’s perfect ttk is very rare.
The AR’s optimal ttk may say 1.25, but it typically takes a bit longer than that to get a kill. It’s not a precision weapon like the BR and if you do not control your fire, you’ll find the ttk matching the BR’s optimal real soon.
Just count how many bullets you have left in the mag after each kill. To get a full perfect with an AR, you must kill your target in 15 bullets; 12 to the body and 3 to the head. You should have 21 bullets left in the mag after that.
If you don’t, you didn’t get a perfect and therefore didn’t hit that 1.25s optimal ttk. It’s very hard to hit that consistently. Trust me, I’ve spend hours trying to hit it consistently and always end up sith 15-18 left in the mag. It is not as forgiving as it appears.
To further put this perspective, you can’t even hit the perfect up close, so you can forget trying to hit the perfect outside the ranges it excels at. This leaves plenty of room for the BR to come in and lay pipe on AR spammers.
The BR does need a nerf. The entire sandbox is balanced around effective range. The BR is super easy to use. I’ve literally already said this. Vertical Recoil makes 4 shots pathetically easy to use. You don’t even need to aim for the head.
Every single weapon should be balanced around ease of use, not what range it’s best at. That’s how every single halo was balanced (power weapons being the exception because, well, they’re power weapons) up to Halo infinite. The Sniper could be used up close if you were good because it’s hard to use. The AR is forgiving but trades that for less damage, but with good use of melee, grenades, and cover, you can overpower a BR user. The BR is usable at long range if you can aim well enough. Balancing around range just encourages players to stick with what range their weapon is best at. It hamfists weapons into roles and forces drawbacks that hamper skillgap at the cost of “what X gun’s range should be”.
Halo has always worked around utility in the form of unique mechanics or playstyles. Not be X meters from target when you use it, or it’s not going to work. There’s no learning curve to any of Infinites weapons. There’s no learning how to lead, what mechanics to combo with, or trading lethality for movement or a unique function.
Every time you mention other weapons being “better” than the AR you completely forget about the degree of difficulty it is to use these other weapons over the AR. Every weapon in this game besides a couple power weapons are significantly more difficult to use than the AR, the AR takes very little skill to use and yet it’s super powerful. It blows my mind that people still don’t understand why the AR in Halo 3 wasn’t as useful as the BR when it was done intentionally because the BR requires skill where as the AR does not because if they were both on par with each other power wise why would anyone use the more skillful weapon,
You keep presenting this as if the AR is the end all be all when it’s really not.
Use a BR when you want a high accuracy headshot weapon to use at a range. The AR isn’t accurate or a headshot weapon. It takes 3 bullets to the head to kill an unshielded opponent for crying out loud.
I mean, it’s accuracy vs dps. Do you want accuracy at a range or a fast kill time up close?
The AR used to be a close range weapon only weapon in Halo 3 but now 343 has given the AR this insane amount of range in Halo Infinite. I’m totally fine with the AR winning against the BR in close range because that’s it’s intended role but now it is capable of winning at medium range due to its incredible ease of use and it’s TTK. At the very least why can’t we make the AR more difficult to use, why is it the only weapon in the game that gets a pass?
343 intended for the AR to be capable, not guaranteed, but capable of winning midrange engagements. You can’t just pull the trigger and laser someone from across the map like some claim.
To even get close to the BR’s range, it has to be aimed and the trigger needs to be fanned to remain accurate; which isn’t an issue for the BR. Unlike the AR, it doesn’t need to use its scope to outrange the AR in its entirety. The BR’s minimum range(unscoped) is greater than the AR’s maximum(scoped) range.
It’s not getting a pass? There’s literally nothing wrong with the AR. It’s just a good gun.
