the truth behind halo reach grenades

Games Other Halo
1

since the beta I have hated how powerful the grenades are in reach. it seems like some people get most of their kills by throwing two grenades at an enemy.

the grenades were perfect in halo 3. they took more skill to throw well because they are MUCH bouncier.

I did some testing in reach and halo 3 and what I found surprised me. the test I performed was simply throwing grenades at a player who was standing still. I landed them at different distances and took note of how much shield the player lost. I used to think that the halo reach grenades had a larger blast radius and a shorter fuse but my results told me otherwise:

the blast radius and fuse time of halo reach grenades is exactly the same as halo 3 grenades. crazy, I know, but it’s what I observed.

so why do they seem to be so much more lethal? here’s my theory:

there are two main reasons grenades are so much more lethal.

the first one is how stupidly slow your shields recharge in halo reach. it’s insane. I’m not sure what the exact times are but when I did the test is felt like the shields in halo 3 recharged took half the time to fully recharge. I’m not exaggerating. since the recharge time is so long, players can’t keep playing and be sure that, most of the time, their shields will be recharged before their next encounter. in halo reach you literally have to run somewhere and hide for a full 10 seconds instead of taking cover for a short while. fixing the recharge time cannot be done in the game options because there is no option that changes the delay between receiving damage and when your shields begin to recharge. final version of the TU please?

the second reason is the slow walking speed and low jump height. the grenades SEEM to have a larger blast radius because they are impossible to dodge. in halo 3 you could avoid getting your shields taken down completely by a grenade if you saw it coming by strafing away from the nade and jumping. This there is no tactic in reach to help you counter someone who throws grenades. I don’t want some lame ‘grenade kicking’ gimmick. I would just like the movement speeds increased to at least halo 3 speed.

TLDR: just read it.

side note: the movement speed was slowed down to make sprint worth using. stupid AAs ruin more than meets the eye.

2

The only thing I agree with that you said was the halo 3 nades (your main point)

H3 nades were perfect, or as close as ive seen. They were slightly difficult to use, yet very predictable. In reach they are very easy to use, but can be unpredicable. Eiether way, reach nades arent as bad as people make them out to be and are hardly a problem in MM. All the problems with reach nades could be much more easily fixed by changing reach nade starts to 1 frag.

3

I agree with you all the way.

4

Reach’s grenades don’t have to bounce as high to get the same effect. The blast radius is larger but the damage is 1 health point less than Halo3’s frags.

Halo2 had the worst arc and toss speed. I so miss CE’s arc and speed. Reach is good, Halo3 is kind of ok.

5

It’s a combination of slow movement and acceleration speeds and short fuse times on the grenades. This is what i noticed with Reach and they are hard to dodge, if not impossible if the thrower is a freak with the grenades.

Now it’s stupid to punish the grenade thrower for getting a good throw but if the movement speeds were increased or fuse times were made longer, then they may be more bearable.

It’s one of Urza’s copyrighed words but i am have to use it. These “Grenukes” as they are now are too OP. Limit frag on spawn to 1 as well, this will cut down on spam.

6

Reach Grenades should be either a pick up weapon or only start with 1 frag.

7

> It’s a combination of slow movement and acceleration speeds and short fuse times on the grenades. This is what i noticed with Reach and they are hard to dodge, if not impossible if the thrower is a freak with the grenades.
>
> Now it’s stupid to punish the grenade thrower for getting a good throw but if the movement speeds were increased or fuse times were made longer, then they may be more bearable.
>
>
> It’s one of Urza’s copyrighed words but i am have to use it. These “Grenukes” as they are now are too OP. Limit frag on spawn to 1 as well, this will cut down on spam.

hehe mininukes.

increased jump height and movementspeed on every playlist please :smiley:

8

> increased jump height and movementspeed on every playlist please :smiley:

this^ and changing the shield recharge time would fix the basic game mechanics completely. reach just doesn’t play like halo. halo 3 was kinda slow compared to halo 2 and reach is just too slow.

9

I can throw one grenade and get a double kill =)

10

One thing about Grenades in Reach: If you do not have full shields (even 90% shields) and a grenade lands near you, you will die.

11

Can this be the official fix nukes thread?

12

I think the way grenades work in Reach is just fine. Bungie even said that one of their main goals with Reach was to make you feel a lot more vulnerable than you were in Halo 3, hence longer shield recharge times, slower running speed, and smaller jump height.

13

> I think the way grenades work in Reach is just fine. Bungie even said that one of their main goals with Reach was to make you feel a lot more vulnerable than you were in Halo 3, hence longer shield recharge times, slower running speed, and smaller jump height.

yeah it works in campaign but in competitive multiplayer it slows things down far too much.

14

OP, you make several good points. I believe the blast radius and damage done is increased a small amount in Reach, however you’re right, the smaller jump heights and movement speed is what causes them to be so powerful. Didn’t think of it that way. Regardless, they’re still grenukes, and they’re always my most caused deaths.

Halo 4 can’t come soon enough.

15

> > I think the way grenades work in Reach is just fine. Bungie even said that one of their main goals with Reach was to make you feel a lot more vulnerable than you were in Halo 3, hence longer shield recharge times, slower running speed, and smaller jump height.
>
> yeah it works in campaign but in competitive multiplayer it slows things down far too much.

It was meant to be like that as well in multiplayer. Halo 3 and Halo Reach are two different games, with two different recommended playstyles. Some people just and will never get the fact that they are two different games, and should be approached with different attitudes.

3 was meant to be played as an all around badass and you could do whatever you want lone wolf style as long as you were good at it, and were awarded for it.

Reach is meant to be played more cooperatively with a team then individually. Which is why usually no matter how good you are individually, in Reach in almost all 1v2 situations you will lose (without power weapons involved).

Yes, Reach was catered to a more noob-friendly audience, and opened up another way to play Halo that didn’t involve being actually good at it, while enjoying it. So there is no point complaining that Reach is noob friendly and more catered to casuals, because it is. So if you don’t like the OP grenades (believe me, I don’t as well), go and play the Halo you like more, rather than complaining about something that was in the design intention for the game.

Basically what I’m saying is Reach grenades are meant to be overpowered, and will stay that way. Because it is Reach, and in Reach, grenades are meant to be overpowered. Not happy? Go play Halo 3. Or wait for Halo 4, which by right will have the equivalent feel to Halo 3 (can’t wait!).

I simply do not understand why people do not get the fact that the games are different, and should not be compared directly.

16

grenade spam was the original reason i first tried out armor lock. I’d shoot someone and suddenly i’d explode even though there was NO animation of the person throwing a grenade. It was like martydom in cod or something. So it’s not shocker that armor lock is sooo detested among the community.

17

> grenade spam was the original reason i first tried out armor lock. I’d shoot someone and suddenly i’d explode even though there was NO animation of the person throwing a grenade. It was like martydom in cod or something. So it’s not shocker that armor lock is sooo detested among the community.

That’s not the only reason why it’s lolArmorLock is hated. It just slows kill times further in a game that is already slow to begin with. It’s kind of sad really, players have to use it to block nuke spam due to after mentioned default speeds and jump height not being adequate enough.

18

> I think the way grenades work in Reach is just fine. Bungie even said that one of their main goals with Reach was to make you feel a lot more vulnerable than you were in Halo 3, hence longer shield recharge times, slower running speed, and smaller jump height.

The irony of this is that I feel WAAAAAAAAAAYYY more nervous when playing halo 3. In reach, even when i’m under fire from two people, i’m like "eh…lets see if i can make something happen. Oh snap the aim assist just got me a head shot, the last guy’s commin in for a moronic melee in a gun fight? lock up, emp, melee. It’s a shooter, not a fighter, if you have bullets, stop making a b-line for punching me in the face. When i’m playing halo 3, I go nuts sometimes laughing or just freaking out. I’m always nervous playing halo 3, the aim assist and the lack of hit scan makes me way less confident. I love that.

19

> > grenade spam was the original reason i first tried out armor lock. I’d shoot someone and suddenly i’d explode even though there was NO animation of the person throwing a grenade. It was like martydom in cod or something. So it’s not shocker that armor lock is sooo detested among the community.
>
> That’s not the only reason why it’s lolArmorLock is hated. It just slows kill times further in a game that is already slow to begin with. It’s kind of sad really, players have to use it to block nuke spam due to after mentioned default speeds and jump height not being adequate enough.

agreed. In btm I rack up kills left and right with stone walls. I dislike pretty much all the AA, so it’s always irritating when people want armor lock nerfed to uselessness, but wanna keep jet pack (which ruins the game way more than lock imo.).

20

> > > grenade spam was the original reason i first tried out armor lock. I’d shoot someone and suddenly i’d explode even though there was NO animation of the person throwing a grenade. It was like martydom in cod or something. So it’s not shocker that armor lock is sooo detested among the community.
> >
> > That’s not the only reason why it’s lolArmorLock is hated. It just slows kill times further in a game that is already slow to begin with. It’s kind of sad really, players have to use it to block nuke spam due to after mentioned default speeds and jump height not being adequate enough.
>
> agreed. In btm I rack up kills left and right with stone walls. I dislike pretty much all the AA, so it’s always irritating when people want armor lock nerfed to uselessness, but wanna keep jet pack (which ruins the game way more than lock imo.).

oh god, loljetpacks. Reflection for Red team with jetpack set up is impossible to break when you go up against good team who utilizes the pillars on the outside ring. Then crouching warriors who use nothing but jetpack in higher Arena play is ridiculous to the point of absurdity though those players are usually really skilled to begin with even without jetpacks. Pretty much a good example of what is wrong with Reach, no one can defend Jetpacks and see it’s not broken as it ignores the whole concept of map control.

It’s still useful (if armor lock is still your thing) in TU settings but one thing i liked is that they can’t shed off stickies anymore. Not everyone likes the changes however.