The tracking actively makes the Pulse Carbine bad

The Pulse Carbine should really just be about properly leading your shots. If the projectiles moved faster, and tracking was removed from them it would immediately perform better for players that take the time to practice with it. As it stands now, it’s just super inconsistent and player skill has no bearing on its performance. It’ll either destroy a player that isn’t moving, or runs in straight lines at you for free, or it’ll fail completely to hit a moving/strafing target because the tracking throws all the projectiles off course, and they move too slow to be consistently effective for mid range engagements.

Turn up the projectile speed, remove the tracking. Let it’s effectiveness be the result of both the shooter’s ability to lead shots, and the defender’s ability to trick them up with strafing. Not where it’s at now, where it’s basically CE’s Needler and only does anything at all when the enemy doesn’t move much.

1 Like

> 2533274810177460;1:
> The Pulse Carbine should really just be about properly leading your shots. If the projectiles moved faster, and tracking was removed from them it would immediately perform better for players that take the time to practice with it. As it stands now, it’s just super inconsistent and player skill has no bearing on its performance. It’ll either destroy a player that isn’t moving, or runs in straight lines at you for free, or it’ll fail completely to hit a moving/strafing target because the tracking throws all the projectiles off course, and they move too slow to be consistently effective for mid range engagements.
>
> Turn up the projectile speed, remove the tracking. Let it’s effectiveness be the result of both the shooter’s ability to lead shots, and the defender’s ability to trick them up with strafing. Not where it’s at now, where it’s basically CE’s Needler and only does anything at all when the enemy doesn’t move much.

This. Only the bots are god with this weapon, I’ve yet to see a player be good with it.

God those bots man… They are ridiculously good with this thing. Tracking feels very hit or miss whenever I or an actual human player uses it. Found that leading your shots, trying to predict which way an enemy is going helps with the tracking somewhat. But in the heat of the moment, sometimes your not thinking about that. Don’t know why they couldn’t have kept my boy the Covvie Carbine in the game.

looks like this halo (as well as every other game going back to UT99 and the Quake 3) seems to have the bots be perfect at predicting projectiles, while having a margin of error on the hitscan.

Crazy to see the same “AI” used 20+ years later.

> 2533274978996934;3:
> God those bots man… They are ridiculously good with this thing. Tracking feels very hit or miss whenever I or an actual human player uses it. Found that leading your shots, trying to predict which way an enemy is going helps with the tracking somewhat. But in the heat of the moment, sometimes your not thinking about that. Don’t know why they couldn’t have kept my boy the Covvie Carbine in the game.

I’m glad they tried to do something different. Just having a plasma based mid-range utility weapon in general is so cool, and has a lot of potential. And they gave it the power a weapon like that deserves. But it really needs to drop the tracking and let nothing but good aim, and strafe predictions be what lands you shots.

Yeah I couldn’t agree more. I think the test data will show this weapon was one of the least used of any.

It just did not feel nice to use because of how it works. I’d much prefer zero tracking and just lead my shots was so confused trying to us it in the shooting gallery first time round, didn’t behave as I expected or intuitively at all!

> 2533274801036271;6:
> Yeah I couldn’t agree more. I think the test data will show this weapon was one of the least used of any.
>
> It just did not feel nice to use because of how it works. I’d much prefer zero tracking and just lead my shots was so confused trying to us it in the shooting gallery first time round, didn’t behave as I expected or intuitively at all!

The shooting gallery makes it pretty apparent too. It’s super easy to land 2 shot kills on tier 1, but then you go to tier 2 and it become so inconsistent you can aim perfectly the same on a target several times and you’ll see everything from 2 to 5+ shot kills just because of the wonky tracking.

Its an asboulte beats within its intended range, if you’re using this as a close quarter weapon or a sniper prepare to have a bad time
mid range however, it tracks nicely and is a 2 tap if you land all six rounds

> 2533274832130936;8:
> Its an asboulte beats within its intended range, if you’re using this as a close quarter weapon or a sniper prepare to have a bad time
> mid range however, it tracks nicely and is a 2 tap if you land all six rounds

That’s how I felt when we were playing against Marine bots on day 1. Though I’d argue at close range it also felt plenty effective, as all Plasma Weapons should because you don’t have to worry about shot leading nearly as much. But against players, and the higher level bots that reactively strafe to you, even at mid range the tracking will just fail.

I’m not saying I really like the weapon but what you’re describing would just be a covenant BR, wouldn’t it? Sounds boring and has no reason to exist in the sandbox if that’s the case. I hadn’t tried it myself, but from streams I saw some people were using it as more of a shield -Yoink!-. They’d shoot one burst to strip shields and immediately switch to their secondary to finish the kill. It doesn’t seem very good if you’re only using the pulse carbine.

I tried doing weapon drills with it and the weapon is just incredibly difficult to use when an enemy is strafing or in motion. It needs faster projectiles or stronger tracking

I guess it is unpopular opinion but I actually like it the way it is. I think it has a fun feel to it, it’s unique in its own way. I would definitely like to have a regular carbine back along side it as well, but I like how this gun behaves. It’s just a new mechanic to get used to, and if it isn’t for you then don’t use it? There are always going to be weapons you like more or less than others. I didn’t have much trouble killing with it and the bots were just stupid accurate with everything so I am trying not to consider them too much in my opinions.

Edit: To the post above, I wouldn’t mind faster projectiles but I definitely wouldn’t get rid of tracking like some are saying. It would become Covenant BR which would be pointless.

> 2535428765863087;12:
> I guess it is unpopular opinion but I actually like it the way it is. I think it has a fun feel to it, it’s unique in its own way. I would definitely like to have a regular carbine back along side it as well, but I like how this gun behaves. It’s just a new mechanic to get used to, and if it isn’t for you then don’t use it? There are always going to be weapons you like more or less than others. I didn’t have much trouble killing with it and the bots were just stupid accurate with everything so I am trying not to consider them too much in my opinions.
>
> Edit: To the post above, I wouldn’t mind faster projectiles but I definitely wouldn’t get rid of tracking like some are saying. It would become Covenant BR which would be pointless.

Just being a Plasma based weapon requires a completely different skillset from the player to use than the BR though. The BR you need to consistently snap your aim on-target to land your shots, Pulse you need to anticipate their movements and place your reticle ahead of them. With the tracking? It’s basically just aim in their general direction and hope for the best. If you aim on-point sometimes it will follow them and hit, sometimes it will miss. If you lead your shots? Same thing, sometimes the tracking will tug the shots so they move out of the way, despite whether the shots would have hit if they went straight, and sometimes it actually tracks properly and hits. If your reticle lags behind them? Same thing, sometimes it tracks strongly enough to catch up and hit them, others the shots don’t curve enough and whiff. It’s equally inconsistent no matter how you aim it unless the target isn’t moving. That’s not a good gameplay mechanic. If it just shot straight, you’d consistently miss when aiming on-target, but you’d consistently hit if you lead your shot properly, and predicted their strafing pattern.

If one gun being about making sure your reticle is on-point when your burst fires, and another gun being about keeping your reticle tracked to your target 100% of the time is enough of a difference to warrant the BR and Commando both existing, so is a third gun being about predicting your enemy movement, and firing your gun where they are going to be, instead of where they are.

Considering the Carbine, and NR have been the Covenant utility options in games past, having them instead be a weapon that has a different playstyle, being projectile based, instantly makes it the most unique equivalent the the BR the Covenant has ever had, whether it fires in bursts or not. The tracking only serves to neuter the potential the weapon has to be an effective choice, unless it gets buffed in which case the Pulse Carbine will become a dominant no-skill threat. So long as it has tracking, the Pulse Carbine can never actually be a good weapon, because it would break the whole sandbox.

> 2533274810177460;13:
> > 2535428765863087;12:
> > I guess it is unpopular opinion but I actually like it the way it is. I think it has a fun feel to it, it’s unique in its own way. I would definitely like to have a regular carbine back along side it as well, but I like how this gun behaves. It’s just a new mechanic to get used to, and if it isn’t for you then don’t use it? There are always going to be weapons you like more or less than others. I didn’t have much trouble killing with it and the bots were just stupid accurate with everything so I am trying not to consider them too much in my opinions.
> >
> > Edit: To the post above, I wouldn’t mind faster projectiles but I definitely wouldn’t get rid of tracking like some are saying. It would become Covenant BR which would be pointless.
>
> Just being a Plasma based weapon requires a completely different skillset from the player to use than the BR though. The BR you need to consistently snap your aim on-target to land your shots, Pulse you need to anticipate their movements and place your reticle ahead of them. With the tracking? It’s basically just aim in their general direction and hope for the best. If you aim on-point sometimes it will follow them and hit, sometimes it will miss. If you lead your shots? Same thing, sometimes the tracking will tug the shots so they move out of the way, despite whether the shots would have hit if they went straight, and sometimes it actually tracks properly and hits. If your reticle lags behind them? Same thing, sometimes it tracks strongly enough to catch up and hit them, others the shots don’t curve enough and whiff. It’s equally inconsistent no matter how you aim it unless the target isn’t moving. That’s not a good gameplay mechanic. If it just shot straight, you’d consistently miss when aiming on-target, but you’d consistently hit if you lead your shot properly, and predicted their strafing pattern.
>
> If one gun being about making sure your reticle is on-point when your burst fires, and another gun being about keeping your reticle tracked to your target 100% of the time is enough of a difference to warrant the BR and Commando both existing, so is a third gun being about predicting your enemy movement, and firing your gun where they are going to be, instead of where they are.

Then perhaps a fine-tune of how the tracking works could be in order as well. Maybe it was supposed to behave more consistently that it did in-flight, I am not sure. I don’t disagree with what you are saying about plasma and leading a target(I hadn’t though about that), I’m just saying I like the mechanic of this gun, or at least the idea of the mechanic, and yes if it was more consistent it would be better. I am sure weapons will be tweaked as more flights and a beta happen.

> 2535428765863087;14:
> > 2533274810177460;13:
> > > 2535428765863087;12:
> > > I guess it is unpopular opinion but I actually like it the way it is. I think it has a fun feel to it, it’s unique in its own way. I would definitely like to have a regular carbine back along side it as well, but I like how this gun behaves. It’s just a new mechanic to get used to, and if it isn’t for you then don’t use it? There are always going to be weapons you like more or less than others. I didn’t have much trouble killing with it and the bots were just stupid accurate with everything so I am trying not to consider them too much in my opinions.
> > >
> > > Edit: To the post above, I wouldn’t mind faster projectiles but I definitely wouldn’t get rid of tracking like some are saying. It would become Covenant BR which would be pointless.
> >
> > Just being a Plasma based weapon requires a completely different skillset from the player to use than the BR though. The BR you need to consistently snap your aim on-target to land your shots, Pulse you need to anticipate their movements and place your reticle ahead of them. With the tracking? It’s basically just aim in their general direction and hope for the best. If you aim on-point sometimes it will follow them and hit, sometimes it will miss. If you lead your shots? Same thing, sometimes the tracking will tug the shots so they move out of the way, despite whether the shots would have hit if they went straight, and sometimes it actually tracks properly and hits. If your reticle lags behind them? Same thing, sometimes it tracks strongly enough to catch up and hit them, others the shots don’t curve enough and whiff. It’s equally inconsistent no matter how you aim it unless the target isn’t moving. That’s not a good gameplay mechanic. If it just shot straight, you’d consistently miss when aiming on-target, but you’d consistently hit if you lead your shot properly, and predicted their strafing pattern.
> >
> > If one gun being about making sure your reticle is on-point when your burst fires, and another gun being about keeping your reticle tracked to your target 100% of the time is enough of a difference to warrant the BR and Commando both existing, so is a third gun being about predicting your enemy movement, and firing your gun where they are going to be, instead of where they are.
>
> Then perhaps a fine-tune of how the tracking works could be in order as well. Maybe it was supposed to behave more consistently that it did in-flight, I am not sure. I don’t disagree with what you are saying about plasma and leading a target(I hadn’t though about that), I’m just saying I like the mechanic of this gun, or at least the idea of the mechanic, and yes if it was more consistent it would be better. I am sure weapons will be tweaked as more flights and a beta happen.

Idk, there’s nothing unique about Tracking. Tracking has existed on the Needler and Plasma Pistol since the start of the franchise, and has been on the Rocket Launcher, Plasma Launcher, Suppressor, Boltshot, Hydra, and Plasma Caster since. And the Boltshot in particular can be argued to have been the first tracking utility weapon with the way it could 4 burst people down at decent ranges in H5 (legit the thing was a homing br, which is what a Pulse with strong tracking would become, except with 2 shot kills). We’ve never had a utility weapon that used Plasma mechanics for it’s damage values before, or even a non-grenade launcher style plasma weapon designed for mid range gunplay before. It’d be a real shame to have an unnecessary feature like tracking be the thing that gets in the way of the first all-purpose Plasma weapon added to the franchise.

Plus, honestly, if they buff the tracking to consistently hit the gun will be far too OP. It kills in two bursts if all your unshielded shots hit the head. That would shred everything else in the sandbox like there’s no tomorrow. It’s much better to just let the shots shoot straight, so that the effectiveness of the gun falls squarely on your ability to land hits with your own skill.

> 2533274801036271;6:
> Yeah I couldn’t agree more. I think the test data will show this weapon was one of the least used of any.
>
> It just did not feel nice to use because of how it works. I’d much prefer zero tracking and just lead my shots was so confused trying to us it in the shooting gallery first time round, didn’t behave as I expected or intuitively at all!

Yeah I found this and the bulldog useless compared to the ar

From my probably not so useful observations, the weapon seems to perform best at a certain mid-range…range, while zoomed in/smart-linked or whatever it is, as that’s when the tracking seemed to work at its best. For example, on Live Fire, it was quite effective when used from that little bridge while targeting enemies near the large building the player team spawns in, where there is a Drop Wall pickup. At that distance, the enemies went down pretty fast. It was much harder for me to use at close range, where the tracking appeared to be inefficient.

> 2535406260637191;17:
> From my probably not so useful observations, the weapon seems to perform best at a certain mid-range…range, while zoomed in/smart-linked or whatever it is, as that’s when the tracking seemed to work at its best. For example, on Live Fire, it was quite effective when used from that little bridge while targeting enemies near the large building the player team spawns in, where there is a Drop Wall pickup. At that distance, the enemies went down pretty fast. It was much harder for me to use at close range, where the tracking appeared to be inefficient.

On Day 1 that’s how I felt about it as well, but as they added more difficult bots and eventually players, it proved to be pretty useless from that range too.

The Pulse Rifle was my go-to, very effective for me anyway. Mid range I thought was excellent and I scored some long range cross-map kills. If I scored a Pulse Rifle and a Needler I was happy. To each his/her own.