So in each halo game there’s been significant changes to the Hunters so as a community what new changes, of any, do you want made to the hunter in halo 4
(for those who participated in the black beta how did the hunter play and feel)
Discuss 
Most important thing would be AI improvements and more weaknesses.
Camping, nearly fully armored, damage sponges that simply rely on a ridiculously large blast radius and lethal 1 hit kill attacks is not at all impressive. Especially when they can be stopped simply by jumping on top of them, by spamming rounds into them or knocking them off cliffs, or just ramming them repeatedly with a heavy vehicle. It’s towering height is the only genuine intimidating factor.
343 needs to bring back aggression and recklessness (CE Hunters), a sudden burst of speed (CE Hunters), and give them a better approach because it’s extremely easy to just run/drive past them.
Look at the Darknuts in Legend of Zelda. You take off their armor, they get faster then they behave completely different than before. You take off a Hunter’s back piece, there’s little noticeable difference in behavior or movement.
Other things Hunters could use:
-actually try to stop an incoming vehicle or at least dodge it. Halo 2 and Reach Hunters just stood there, taking damage and taking a considerable amount of time to retaliate
-no more turning melees. Why not have the Hunters hop back if we charge at them? Or even better, give them a turning melee that has a bigger angle because it’s terribly easy to just go around them and shotgun
-flanking. The thing with Reach Hunters is that they just wait for you to come out. They don’t try to close the distance or change position. It really slows down combat
-like what ODST did, 2 Hunters with different guns
-intelligently switching firing modes
-more freeroaming capability. I was disappointed with how Halo 2/3/Reach Hunters easily gave up pursuit
As for weaknesses, I think it’s pretty pointless for a Hunter to raise it’s shield to cover it’s neck when it’s already nearly impregnable in that area. I also think there should be a reference to the original Hunter, being able to shoot them in the stomach. Why does it have to be only back armor? Why not the front stomach plating as well?
Lastly, I’d like it if my melees actually caused blood to appear. In Reach, it seems like you can melee a Hunter in it’s back and there’s barely any blood. With Reach Hunters, you get this impression that nothing you attempt even works on them. Most people just skip them as a result.
Hunters used to be really engaging (particularly in CE and Halo 3/ODST). That’s because they were smarter and felt just right.
<mark>TLDR: Fighting Hunters in Reach is just slow, lame, and unbearable because 1) they barely move, 2) are almost impregnable, 3) rarely present a threat. Hunters need to be on the move, think smart, and work independently and cooperatively. That’s what made CE Elites fun as well, they were always moving. When the AI aren’t moving and are just standing in place firing and taking shots, they are clearly damage sponges. Halo 2 Elites, Reach elites, etc.</mark>
Bring back the badass golden Hunters from ODST.
hunters need to be more effective against vehicles
and need to be smarter
for ROFL’s sake, its a COLONY OF OVER A MILLION WORMS, there should be SOME intelligence behind that…
I never really got the feeling of them being a “walking tank” till Reach and even then they were pretty boring. If they could combine the hieght in halo 2 and 3… Different firing modes from odst (preferably the fuel rod blobs)… Intelligence… aggressiveness (meaning they will actually chance your -Yoink- down)… And a couple new moves ( so were not side stepping easily or riding them) and it would be the most intimidating hunter yet
Edit: I would also like to see improved Reaction to the death of a bond brother
> I never really got the feeling of them being a “walking tank” till Reach and even then they were pretty boring. If they could combine the hieght in halo 2 and 3… Different firing modes from odst (preferably the fuel rod blobs)… Intelligence… aggressiveness (meaning they will actually chance your -Yoink!- down)… And a couple new moves ( so were not side stepping easily or riding them) and it would be the most intimidating hunter yet
>
> Edit: I would also like to see improved Reaction to the death of a bond brother
That was the best thing I ever read!! Summarized what I had in mind perfectly.
And yeah, there needs to be a better reaction than just naively abandoning the use of their gun and charging slowly at the backpedaling player. Maybe they should have a 3rd firing mode: rapid fire fuel rod. 
It’d be devastating. Not outside the realm of good balancing either.
There were only 2 instances where rapid fire fuel rods occur:
-Halo PC, when bump possessing a Hunter, hold down the grenade button then fire the cannon
-Reach, when an overcharging Grunt gets in the fuel rod Shade
Yea I was thinking along the lines of when their bond bro gets kill… They go into overdrive… Moving 2x as fast literally “hunting” down the player and ramp up their attack speed…
> Most important thing would be AI improvements and more weaknesses.
>
> Camping, nearly fully armored, damage sponges that simply rely on a ridiculously large blast radius and lethal 1 hit kill attacks is not at all impressive. Especially when they can be stopped simply by jumping on top of them, by spamming rounds into them or knocking them off cliffs, or just ramming them repeatedly with a heavy vehicle. It’s towering height is the only genuine intimidating factor.
>
> 343 needs to bring back aggression and recklessness (CE Hunters), a sudden burst of speed (CE Hunters), and give them a better approach because it’s extremely easy to just run/drive past them.
>
> Look at the Darknuts in Legend of Zelda. You take off their armor, they get faster then they behave completely different than before. You take off a Hunter’s back piece, there’s little noticeable difference in behavior or movement.
>
> Other things Hunters could use:
>
> -actually try to stop an incoming vehicle or at least dodge it. Halo 2 and Reach Hunters just stood there, taking damage and taking a considerable amount of time to retaliate
> -no more turning melees. Why not have the Hunters hop back if we charge at them? Or even better, give them a turning melee that has a bigger angle because it’s terribly easy to just go around them and shotgun
> -flanking. The thing with Reach Hunters is that they just wait for you to come out. They don’t try to close the distance or change position. It really slows down combat
> -like what ODST did, 2 Hunters with different guns
> -intelligently switching firing modes
> -more freeroaming capability. I was disappointed with how Halo 2/3/Reach Hunters easily gave up pursuit
>
> As for weaknesses, I think it’s pretty pointless for a Hunter to raise it’s shield to cover it’s neck when it’s already nearly impregnable in that area. I also think there should be a reference to the original Hunter, being able to shoot them in the stomach. Why does it have to be only back armor? Why not the front stomach plating as well?
>
> Lastly, I’d like it if my melees actually caused blood to appear. In Reach, it seems like you can melee a Hunter in it’s back and there’s barely any blood. With Reach Hunters, you get this impression that nothing you attempt even works on them. Most people just skip them as a result.
>
> Hunters used to be really engaging (particularly in CE and Halo 3/ODST). That’s because they were smarter and felt just right.
>
> <mark>TLDR: Fighting Hunters in Reach is just slow, lame, and unbearable because 1) they barely move, 2) are almost impregnable, 3) rarely present a threat. Hunters need to be on the move, think smart, and work independently and cooperatively. That’s what made CE Elites fun as well, they were always moving. When the AI aren’t moving and are just standing in place firing and taking shots, they are clearly damage sponges. Halo 2 Elites, Reach elites, etc.</mark>
Sorry but i don’t want to fight invincible walking tanks even on easy. Let alone Legendary…
The hunters are fine.
Did anyone watch Halo Legends? That Hunter was massive. They could be any size. Maybe 5 feet taller.
Or my other idea would be larger packs. 3-4 maybe on the higher difficulty.
I didn’t think Reach’s Hunters were that bad. I know the shy-lady peak-a-boo face cover thing they got going on is lame, but approaching them was a little more difficult since they shot at your feet.
I loved the idea about returning Halo CE’s burst run. It’s almost a berserk from a Halo 2 Brute
I always loved how epic the Hunters entrance to the battlefield was in Halo 1-3.
However in Reach their heroic entrance did not happen.
I just hope that changes.
I want smaller and faster brutal Special Op Hunters. Sorta like a Generals class.
I definetly would like to see them change as well. We evolved with AAs and new guns, they kinda stayed the same.
Evolve the hunters. We need moar worms!
I want to see them interact with vehicles more. Like if you’re coming at them with a Warthog they will use their shield to flip the hog or something. And right now astheticly I’m not liking that they only have 2 sets of spines, and there is too much flesh showing in every joint in the armor.
More of what made them awesome in Reach, they were so freaking cool in that game.
I would like Hunters in many ways to resemble Bane from Batman. Deadly, strong, but above all else, smart. They should strike fear into the player, make them react to what is happening on the screen and elicit a response. I want to see hunters strategically working together to try and overcome MC and the Spartan IVs. I want to see more of their brute force and there ability to suppress opposition. There is definitely more that can be done and I hope 343i delivers on this in some regard.
I want:
- The two Hunter variants from ODST
- Be more like Halo 2’s. Huge, tough, and when their “mate” dies, they get enraged and sprint towards you and trying to beat the Yoink! out of you; Add some melee animations from Reach
I just had a thought; keep the CE behavior, Halo 2 berserk mode, and make em a bit bigger and have ODST variations, but I want more dynamic encounters, so this is what I had in mind…
-Hunters generally rely on their cannons at range, melee close range (that’s a give)
-if bond brother dies, they go BERSERK, and I mean absolutely INFURIATED; they change their fire-mode to a reckless rapid fire and shoot in your general direction, they charge at you and throw everything out of the way; they absolutely LOSE it
-make their cannons destructible, but not too vulnerable. By that, I mean make only a certain spot on the cannon able to be destroyed. Picture this, a Hunter has a bead on you, but you have a sniper. He is charging his shot, but you pull the trigger and the bullet pierces right through the barrel of it’s cannon, blowing off their arm. They are bleeding everywhere, and they know they are going to die. So, what do they do? In their last breaths, tehy enter berserk mode and charge you. If you evade them after a while, they will bleed out and die
Just some ideas I came up with 
> I just had a thought; keep the CE behavior, Halo 2 berserk mode, and make em a bit bigger and have ODST variations, but I want more dynamic encounters, so this is what I had in mind…
>
> -Hunters generally rely on their cannons at range, melee close range (that’s a give)
>
> -if bond brother dies, they go BERSERK, and I mean absolutely INFURIATED; they change their fire-mode to a reckless rapid fire and shoot in your general direction, they charge at you and throw everything out of the way; they absolutely LOSE it
>
> -make their cannons destructible, but not too vulnerable. By that, I mean make only a certain spot on the cannon able to be destroyed. Picture this, a Hunter has a bead on you, but you have a sniper. He is charging his shot, but you pull the trigger and the bullet pierces right through the barrel of it’s cannon, blowing off their arm. They are bleeding everywhere, and they know they are going to die. So, what do they do? In their last breaths, tehy enter berserk mode and charge you. If you evade them after a while, they will bleed out and die
>
> Just some ideas I came up with
Destroying the cannon is kinda iffy (still cool tho) I loved it in halo 2 when they would knock barrels or whatever was in their way to get at you
They should just take away all the stupid, camping, damage-sponge Hunters we have now and give us the Hunters from “The Duel” (Halo Legends).
> >
>
> Sorry but i don’t want to fight invincible walking tanks even on easy. Let alone Legendary…
>
> The hunters are fine.
I guess I shouldn’t have included the tldr.
I didn’t say anything about invincible, walking, or tank. I said 1) more removable armor/vulnerable spots 2) smarter 3) running 4) more mobile. Also, FYI, I’ve been considering Easy as well as Legendary. I’m not one of those masochists.
The Hunters are most certainly not fine.
> Or my other idea would be larger packs. 3-4 maybe on the higher difficulty.
>
> I didn’t think Reach’s Hunters were that bad. I know the shy-lady peak-a-boo face cover thing they got going on is lame, but approaching them was a little more difficult since they shot at your feet.
>
> I loved the idea about returning Halo CE’s burst run. It’s almost a berserk from a Halo 2 Brute
I used to be under the impression that Reach had implemented that but it turns out it was just Firefight. 
That’s one thing they did right.
CE Hunters could catch up to you but they dragged right behind you if you were running forward. Halo 2 Brutes and Reach Elites can catch up to you very quickly no matter which way you’re moving. If either of these extremes are too much, then right in the middle should work: can catch up to you regardless of your direction but takes a while to gain speed, giving the player a head start.
> I definetly would like to see them change as well. We evolved with AAs and new guns, they kinda stayed the same.
>
> Evolve the hunters. We need moar worms!
That reminds me, it would be interesting to see extra Hunter worms detach from the Hunter and remotely operate vehicles (like they do with the Scarab), if that is possible.
> -make their cannons destructible, but not too vulnerable. By that, I mean make only a certain spot on the cannon able to be destroyed. Picture this, a Hunter has a bead on you, but you have a sniper. He is charging his shot, but you pull the trigger and the bullet pierces right through the barrel of it’s cannon, blowing off their arm. They are bleeding everywhere, and they know they are going to die. So, what do they do? In their last breaths, tehy enter berserk mode and charge you. If you evade them after a while, they will bleed out and die
>
> Just some ideas I came up with
It does make sense. It should be noted that the Promethean wall turrets can only be damaged when firing as well.
It’d be pretty neat, but only the sniper should be able to penetrate in less than 2 clips.