Im not talking about a nerf, Im not talking about a buff to other weapons (which would be more unessesary work), Im talking out. Like, out of classes.
Ever since halo 2, the BR and carbine have been the yin and yang of precision weapons. There was nearly perfect balance between the two in range, and power. Even today in halo 4, they still complement each other quite well. But now we have the DMR, a weapon that was late to the halo series, only just arriving after reach. In reach, this weapon had an awkward balance with its counterpart the needle rifle. But in reach it served well as a pre-halo 2 filler for the future BR.
So why is it back?
343i’s simple answer would be, “because canon says so.” Yeah, sure, your canon, 343i. If this were bungie they would have said the dmr was an older weapon that was replaced by the br and that would have been the end of the discussion. But the real reason I think 343i put in the dmr was to cater to the most recently joined fans who hopped on board with reach. Basically, it was put in to target the younger generation of halo fans who would be buying halo games longer than say, someone who was 15 when they played halo 3 back in 2007 who is now 20, in college, and has no time for video games anymore.
The dmr deals with ranges that are already occupied by existing weapons. The long range aspect of the dmr is dominated by the sniper rifle, and the mid range aspect is dominated by the BR and carbine. This has been the status quo since halo 2, and worked very well for map movement. Now there is hardly any movement when everyone is using the dmr, since its long range aspect can dominate all large and mid sized maps, and even small maps if the user is skilled enough (or has aim assist/bullet magnetism).
The dmr also does something that hasnt been seen (not counting reach) since halo ce. Vehicle shredding. But halo ce was a time when rockets didnt lock on, and we didnt have the one-shot-kill-anything spartan laser. In other words, other than the rocket launcher, there was no other way to kill vehicles. This is why bungie had to make the ar and pistol more effective against vehicles. Bringing it back in reach was a mistake, since we had the anti-air lock on rocket launcher, the fuel rod gun, the spartan laser, the plasma launcher, the concussion rifle, and the grenade launcher, as well as frag and plasma grenades and turrets and other vehicles to deal with enemy vehicles. Weapons like the dmr and ar damaging vehicles were unessesary, and now that we have a new array of power weapons in halo 4, it is as unessesary as ever. Anyone with true skill at halo will be able to shoot the driver out of the vehicle, instead of the vehicle itself.
One last point I would like to bring up is the light rifle. This gun basically mixes the aspects of the br and dmr into one gun, to appeal to both users. This is a very good idea, but when people can just use the dmr with or without the zoom, the whole idea becomes obsolete. Now, if the dmr were to be removed, then as many people here have predicted, yes, the light rifle will become the next dmr when scoped. To balance this with the br and carbine, all 343i needs to do is bring back descoping. Even if the br and carbine users are out of range to a light rifle user, as long as they can land at least one shot at the light rifle user, it will throw of their aim which balances all the weapons.
The dmr was great for the role it filled in reach. But those times are over. It is the odd gun out, and it needs to be removed completely if we are to have a total balance of the precision weapons.
Edit: As a side note, I am very curious as to how people who say they like long range combat in halo 4 dealt with halo’s ce, 2, and 3 with the mid-range of the pistol and br, respectively. Assuming they have played halo’s ce-3.