So, Team Slayer Pro isn’t popular, there are a few reasons for that (probably the most important being no-radar), but I think there are alot of tweaks that should be made to it if you want to make a decent Classic feeling gametype.
After experimenting I came across some settings that seem widely enjoyed in playtesting. I’ll list the changes from “Infinity Slayer” here. Now note: This isn’t an exact remake of Halo CE/2/3’s settings. It is still designed to take advantage of some of Halo 4’s new features. But it is meant to bring what values we had the most in a classic Halo experience to the plate. So here are the settings I’ve come up with (Only posting changed settings):
Main Options:
- Score To Win: 50
Infinity Slayer Options:
- Kill Points: 1 Point
- Betrayal Points: -1 Point
- Suicide Points: -1 Point
General Settings:
- Friendly Fire: Enabled
- Map Loadouts: Disabled
- Loadout Usage: Game Loadouts
Game Loadouts:
- Loadout Alpha:
– Primary Weapon: Battle Rifle
– Secondary Weapon: Assault Rifle
– Grenades: 1x Frag (2x acceptable)
– Armor Ability: Thruster Pack
– Tactical Package: Resupply
– Hide Loadout: Not Hidden - Loadout Beta:
– Primary Weapon: Covenant Carbine
– Secondary Weapon: Storm Rifle
– Grenades: 1x Frag
– Armor Ability: Thruster Pack
– Tactical Package: Resupply
– Hide Loadout: Not Hidden - Loadout Gamma:
– Primary Weapon: Light Rifle
– Secondary Weapon: Suppressor
– Grenades: 1x Frag
– Armor Ability: Thruster Pack
– Tactical Package: Resupply
– Hide Loadout: Not Hidden
Respawn Settings:
- Respawn Time: 5 Seconds
- Suicide Penalty: 10 Seconds
- Betrayal Penalty: 10 Seconds
Ordinance:
- Initial Ordinance: Disabled*
- Random Ordinance: Disabled
(*Note: at the bottom)
Personal Ordinance Options:
- Customize Personal Ordinance: Enabled
- Left:
– First Possiblity: Magnum
– First Possibility Weight: 10 - Middle:
– First Possibility: Plasma Pistol
– First Possibility Weight: 10 - Right:
– First Possibility: Boltshot
– First Possibility Weight: 10 - Point Requirement: 150
- Point Increase Multiplier: 0%
Base Player Traits:
- Shield/Health:
– Shield Recharge Wait: 4 Seconds - Weapons/Damage:
– Melee Damage Modifier: 90% - Equipment:
– Sensor Range: 25
Movement:
– Fall Damage: 0%
- Note: Maps should be forged with the weapons spawning directly on-map, with updated weapons on each map (replace some Scattershots with Shotguns, some swords with hammers, some Incineration Cannons with Rockets/Fuel Rods, some Snipers with Beam Rifles/Binary Rifles, some Needlers/Sticky Detonators with Railguns just for variety’s sake. It would also be nice to see a Plasma Cannon in place of some Human Turrets, and maybe a Shade or two on some maps), I am pretty sure Grenades in ordinance are separate from Initial Ordinance, but if they aren’t, leave it on and simply delete all weapon Ordinances, Ordinance timer at 45 seconds for Nades.
Working Armor Abilities, and Powerups in as regular map drops is also probably a good idea.
This setup is meant to capture the love and gameplay of classic Halo games, while still taking advantage of Halo 4’s new systems and features as I mentioned before. The inclusion of Loadouts to select a Primary/Secondary weapon is a good idea. But if you are going to use Custom Loadouts, they need to change to suit better balance (Precision/Automatic is the only way that’s going to work).
This presents an issue of how to handle sidearms, the oh so powerful Boltshot and Plasma Pistol make them just too overpowering in CQC and against vehicles to actually consider spawning a player with, so I thought I’d take one of Halo 4’s other features, Ordinance Drops, and combine it with Sidearms to make them more easily accessible than power weapons, but not instantly-spawnable. 150 point requirement guarantees a sidearm drop approximately every 10 kills give or take medal points.
Betrayal/Suicide penalties are 10 seconds as they were in previous Halo games, to give players time to sit and consider what they’ve done. Friendly Fire is ON to promote additional skill in gameplay. Killcams remain in, as they are a good feature in my opinion. I desperately wish I could turn off instant respawns, but have X mean “Cancel Killcam”, that way you could skip it if you wanted, but couldn’t respawn right away.
Melee Damage is reduced simply to help balance CQC fights, and promote more gunplay. It is still a 2 Melee kill, but it takes more shots before a Melee to kill in one hit.
Controversial Point: The DMR.
The DMR is an imbalanced weapon. This is an actual fact, and cannot be considered an opinion, because if it was just an opinion, the DMR wouldn’t be the tool of destruction of an overwhelming percentage of players, and it wouldn’t be pretty much the only weapon you can use if you want to survive against the entire enemy team, who is also using DMRs. This has nothing to do with long range dominance, it has entirely to do with Rate of Fire and Ease of Use.
It shoots too fast, therefore killing too fast, and it’s VERY easy to use, and does not promote skill. The Carbine needing 8 whole shots to kill produces a skill gap, the BR having recoil, bullet spread, and a low RoF produces a skill gap, and the LR having slim to no aim assist whatsoever produces a skill gap, the DMR has none of these, and is the only weapon of the 3 that is dominant at ANY range (Where the Carbine is dominant in CQC, the BR is dominant mid-range, and LR is dominant long).
Until the DMR sees an actual nerf of some point, I cannot see it as a starting weapon in any serious gametype. A nerf to 6 shot kill would be great. Or a rate of fire nerf. Just something to make it fit the mid-long range it’s supposed to, without overpowering the BR and Carbine at mid-close range. They don’t even stand a chance against it past mid-range, so how is it fair for it to compete with them up close? It isn’t, that is why it is overpowered, and I don’t recommend it. End of story. (If it is nerfed, it should take the Loadout 2 spot, with an AR secondary).
Anyway, tell me what you think of the gametype, and if you believe it will curb most players’ need for an actual Halo experience in their game. If you have any changes you would make, feel free to post them. I expect to see a few purists saying to remove all the loadouts except 1, remove Thrust, etc. But I don’t think stripping the whole game down is the way to go. Halo SHOULD evolve, it just should evolve intelligently, not explode into pure randomness a-la Reach/Vanilla Halo 4.