I only play with the storm on Simplex or Abandon… no use using it on the other maps or else Ill die…
But I always see the Light Rifle in Skirmish if that matters 
> And OP, I’m not sure what days you’re remembering. Back in Halo 2 and 3, the BR was king. In Reach it was the DMR.
>
> One weapon being over-used is nothing new to Halo.
This - I look back over my online MM career and it is generally dominated by one weapon.
I do have to say that Reach offered a viable alternative to the DMR with the Needle Rifle in Short to Mid range combat. Completely under-estimated weapon. In ‘Competitive’ playlists in Reach I had a ratio of 3.35 for the DMR and 8.01 for the Needle Rifle.
https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/robobeast76/haloreach/stats#!/?section=Competitive
> > And OP, I’m not sure what days you’re remembering. Back in Halo 2 and 3, the BR was king. In Reach it was the DMR.
> >
> > One weapon being over-used is nothing new to Halo.
>
> This - I look back over my online MM career and it is generally dominated by one weapon.
>
> I do have to say that Reach offered a viable alternative to the DMR with the Needle Rifle in Short to Mid range combat. Completely under-estimated weapon. In ‘Competitive’ playlists in Reach I had a ratio of 3.35 for the DMR and 8.01 for the Needle Rifle.
>
> https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/robobeast76/haloreach/stats#!/?section=Competitive
This is true, but Halo4 has a class-based system that should work otherwise
> This is true, but Halo4 has a class-based system that should work otherwise
And it does, somewhat. Try using a BR in BTB.
The BR might need a slight RoF nerf, but otherwise the weapons are pretty balanced.
And just because people over-use a weapon does not necessarily make it OP. It just makes it popular. Personally, I suspect the influence of Halo 2/3 nostalgia.
When has halo ever been different? I don’t ever remember a time when players were able to EFFECTIVELY use a variety of weapons against reasonable competition.
Since the BR was introduced, its always been the go to gun because it has always been the most versatile. At first in h4 it was the dmr, and now it is the BR again after the TU.
Halo has a history of having one utility weapon, that’s what it should be, but with the TU, every weapon is as effective as it should be.
BR is great in 4v4 settings, DMR and LR are good in bigger maps. It’s all fine in my books.
> Halo has a history of having one utility weapon, that’s what it should be, but with the TU, every weapon is as effective as it should be.
>
> BR is great in 4v4 settings, DMR and LR are good in bigger maps. It’s all fine in my books.
I feel like the weapon sand box is becoming a little overcrowded. The storm rifle/suppressor and battle rifle/carbine are overlapping niches enough while still having fairly narrow roles that some weapons are feeling redundant but creating too much of a rock, paper, scissors dynamic with utility weapons.
I mean, the assault rifle has always been outclassed at range by the BR which is in turn mowed down by the shotgun in close range. But when the BR, DMR, and LR start dominating each other depending on the range, it becomes a problem for me in that the point of the utility weapon used to be versatility, which is undermined by having too many utility weapons that outclass each other depending on range.
> I feel like the weapon sand box is becoming a little overcrowded.
When you compare it to modern online games, where you have 4 or 5 different shotguns or as many sniper rifles, Halo just looks poor. Sure each niche is crowded in games like CoD or Battlefield, but this way people are not only able to choose weapons that suit some particular niche; they’re able to choose weapon that suits the niche AND their preferences inside that niche. For these personal preferences I prefer e.g. Suppressor over AR or LR over DMR.
This kind of variety isn’t needed to play the game, but this is something that separates AAA shooter from XBL Arcade shooter nowadays.
> > I feel like the weapon sand box is becoming a little overcrowded.
>
> When you compare it to modern online games, where you have 4 or 5 different shotguns or as many sniper rifles, Halo just looks poor. Sure each niche is crowded in games like CoD or Battlefield, but this way people are not only able to choose weapons that suit some particular niche; they’re able to choose weapon that suits the niche AND their preferences inside that niche. For these personal preferences I prefer e.g. Suppressor over AR or LR over DMR.
>
> This kind of variety isn’t needed to play the game, but this is something that separates AAA shooter from XBL Arcade shooter nowadays.
I agree with RavensHal0; the weapon sandbox is becoming a little crowded.
Having a bunch of weapons that are all the same except for aesthetics does not make a game good.
> I agree with RavensHal0; the weapon sandbox is becoming a little crowded.
>
> Having a bunch of weapons that are all the same except for aesthetics does not make a game good.
I’m still waiting for mid-long range automatic weapon. Something like Needle Rifle from Reach or SMG from ODST. It probably won’t happend as the most conservative Halo fans are also the most influetial, and BR/DMR will always be exemplar of how mid-long precission rifle should work (why ancient-alien weapon shots in 3-shot burst?). After TU 343i made AR/SR/Suppressor basically the same (except for projectile speed), with low spread and very similar kill time. No wonder Suppressor sucks right now, as it just doesn’t work as it was designed to.
343i should really learn from competition of how to make variety of similar-but-different weapons. Indeed making BR/DMR hybrid that shoots orange light will get us nowhere from competitive point of view. At least from more casual point of view I can choose weapon that at least looks different. After 9 years of shooting with BR this is some reason to play more. However no wonder more and more people goes to games where they can choose between e.g. automatic shotgun or 4-shot burst AR.
> When you compare it to modern online games, where you have 4 or 5 different shotguns or as many sniper rifles, Halo just looks poor.
To me the well defined roles of each weapon makes Halo look streamlined, not poor. A big part of the reason that I gravitated to Halo in the first place is that it didn’t suffer from the problem of many military shooters where the weapons feel similar and lack definition.
> > When you compare it to modern online games, where you have 4 or 5 different shotguns or as many sniper rifles, Halo just looks poor.
>
> To me the well defined roles of each weapon makes Halo look streamlined, not poor. A big part of the reason that I gravitated to Halo in the first place is that it didn’t suffer from the problem of many military shooters where the weapons feel similar and lack definition.
Yep, part of what makes Halo great is that each weapon is defined. You can recognise the gun from a distance or from the audio alone and you can use that knowledge to counter it properly. Other games play differently so 5 shotguns can work for them but in a game like Halo if we have 5 shotguns then making them unique is going to be a lot harder and don’t want to be running into a situation where multiple weapons look and sound similar but their stats make it a situation I should take head on or avoid outright.
Just back to Teusz suggestion though, I would love the Needle Rifle to come back. It was my favourite weapon in Reach. Fairly useful and people freak out when you use it on them because they’re not sure how to counter it.
> Just back to Teusz suggestion though, I would love the Needle Rifle to come back. It was my favourite weapon in Reach. Fairly useful and people freak out when you use it on them because they’re not sure how to counter it.
YES!
I love the gun balance and variety of H4. Easily best in the series.
All other Halos have a ‘main’ gun that is just grossly spammed / better than other non-power guns.
Do you people that say it’s crowded just want everyone to use a BR (H2-H3) or DMR (Reach)???
I think that choice and variety make it fun. And I love how a lot of the guns are relatively balanced (LR, Carbine, BR, DMR) overall.
well, its a topic of red or blue, not right or wrong. I play any small sized map and there is VERY seldom dmr, light rifle or carbine. sure it depends on the gametype too. I guess I miss the good ole duel wielding days. SMG and plasma rifle got used very very often. pistols. duel pistols were insane. spikers.
now I pretty much see battle rifle, boltshot and frag grenades. our new “visible” rank seems to be our KD spreads, something others can see. to make sure we maintain a “good” one, we might as well use the best weapons, right?! I just don’t agree,ha. I like Blue, not red, ya see.
> I love the gun balance and variety of H4. Easily best in the series.
>
> All other Halos have a ‘main’ gun that is just grossly spammed / better than other non-power guns.
>
> Do you people that say it’s crowded just want everyone to use a BR (H2-H3) or DMR (Reach)???
>
> I think that choice and variety make it fun. And I love how a lot of the guns are relatively balanced (LR, Carbine, BR, DMR) overall.
I prefer everyone using the same precision/automatic weapon because I prefer battles to be won by who had the better aim or strategy, not who had the most appropriate weapon. Due to the number of weapons whose only differences are effective ranges, I may lose on 1v1 because my opponent had a more appropriate weapon, not because he was a better shot or outplayed me somehow.
“So don’t engage enemies who have a more appropriate weapon than you for the range,” proponents say. This is true, and I don’t like that. I don’t like having to limit myself to only specific ranges. I don’t like that if I have a BR or Carbine, I have to hide from long range DMR or LR users. I don’t like that if I have a DMR or LR, I have to run from close and medium range BR and Carbine users.
I enjoy Halo CE’s pistol and Halo 2 and 3’s BR because they are the most effective at the most ranges. If I’m playing long range and see that I need to move closer to be more useful to my team, I can do so with the same weapon I’ve been using and be no less of a threat. Contrast that to Halo 4, where if I’m using an LR at long range and see that I should move closer, I can’t without being ripped apart by BRs and Carbines. Same thing with the reverse: if I’m using a BR close to the enemy and see that I need to pull back in order to be more useful to my team, my BR will get destroyed by DMRs and LRs.
In this way, the gameplay elements of player movement and map control are severely weakened. The most effective position a player can be in changes during a match, and limiting his weapon’s effective range also limits the positions he can play.
> > I love the gun balance and variety of H4. Easily best in the series.
> >
> > All other Halos have a ‘main’ gun that is just grossly spammed / better than other non-power guns.
> >
> > Do you people that say it’s crowded just want everyone to use a BR (H2-H3) or DMR (Reach)???
> >
> > I think that choice and variety make it fun. And I love how a lot of the guns are relatively balanced (LR, Carbine, BR, DMR) overall.
>
> I prefer everyone using the same precision/automatic weapon because I prefer battles to be won by who had the better aim or strategy, not who had the most appropriate weapon. Due to the number of weapons whose only differences are effective ranges, I may lose on 1v1 because my opponent had a more appropriate weapon, not because he was a better shot or outplayed me somehow.
>
> “So don’t engage enemies who have a more appropriate weapon than you for the range,” proponents say. This is true, and I don’t like that. I don’t like having to limit myself to only specific ranges. I don’t like that if I have a BR or Carbine, I have to hide from long range DMR or LR users. I don’t like that if I have a DMR or LR, I have to run from close and medium range BR and Carbine users.
>
> I enjoy Halo CE’s pistol and Halo 2 and 3’s BR because they are the most effective at the most ranges. If I’m playing long range and see that I need to move closer to be more useful to my team, I can do so with the same weapon I’ve been using and be no less of a threat. Contrast that to Halo 4, where if I’m using an LR at long range and see that I should move closer, I can’t without being ripped apart by BRs and Carbines. Same thing with the reverse: if I’m using a BR close to the enemy and see that I need to pull back in order to be more useful to my team, my BR will get destroyed by DMRs and LRs.
>
> Skilled players don’t miss shots, so a 0.1 second difference in kill time makes a lot of difference.
This is just my opinion here, but I feel like a one-gun game makes for some pretty boring gameplay. I enjoy a little variety, and I feel that encouraging a player to change weapons when changing ranges is a fantastic way to bring that to a game.
Now, I don’t want the opposite, either. Having five or six weapons that fulfill the same niche (with a few minor differences) floods the sandbox and generally increases confusion for newer players. Having two or three weapons in each niche is sufficient enough to encourage variety while not seeming redundant.
Since the changes, I see primarily the BR, but the others weapons have received a LOT more love. I’m seeing a LOT more carbine, light rifle, and automatics than before the update.
Same with reach… everyone uses the DMR and assault rifle, and when they do use the magnum they spray it and think, “dis must be a piece of trash, it’s so innaccurrate if i spray it”
If I had to make a loadout right now, it’d be storm rifle and carbine probably.
> Same with reach… everyone uses the DMR and assault rifle, and when they do use the magnum they spray it and think, “dis must be a piece of trash, it’s so innaccurrate if i spray it”
> If I had to make a loadout right now, it’d be storm rifle and carbine probably.
Close range magnum spray is ridonkulous, especially in Reach where you had more close range firefights that end in a melee.
On countdown, my roommate and I would answer sword and shotgun camping on Countdown with two person magnum spray. Pretty much instant death since the limiting factor is clip size, not firing speed.