So let me preference this by noting that I have been playing Halo for almost 20 years, with that said I’ve also played many other shooters as well but Halo has also been something special to me. I understand stand that weapon balance can be tricky. With that said I also have weapon design experience with other games.
All this to say that some of the guns in Infinite are in need of a boost. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played or watched someone playing getting in multiple hits and the other person doesn’t go down. It feels like the characters are bullet sponges. Maybe it’s just that the armor setting is too high.
Unlike other FPS that have a larger variety of weapons. Halo does not nor has it ever which is fine and not a knock against the game. However with that being said, since Halo doesn’t have a lot of guns in it each weapon has to have that much more of an impact for it to make a difference and mean something to the game. When you have a game like call of duty which has over 85 guns it’s not a big deal for 20 of them to suck because you have so many other options but in the case of Halo you only have so many weapons to choose from. I’m not sure if 343 plans on introducing any new weapons to Halo which I think could only help to benefit the game, but if they don’t then each of the weapons needs to have a big impact on gameplay.
For instance, the new Hydra is way too weak and not as good as it was in previous games. It should be a two to three shot kill weapon it doesn’t make sense that it takes as many hits as a BR. And for that matter the BR should be a three-burst kill.
The ravager is another weapon that feels like it should be way more powerful than it is. It’s very misleading especially when you stack it up against something like the rocket launcher.
The vk78 is also in need of a boost. It seems like it was put in place of the DMR in Halo 5 but that weapon also suffered from being extremely weak.
The pulse carbine is also another weapon that does not feel very balanced when compared to the BR. It should be the covenant equivalent and yet it just falls short. Either faster projectiles or a shorter TTK.
as a said before I have been playing Halo for almost 20 years so I’m always in favor of the pistol getting a boost in power. It would be good to have a weapon that’s just well rounded for both clothes and medium range
I believe its 7 shots no? As an automatic weapon I think this is fine, I think the gun would have been better with two firing modes. DMR mode in scoped in with DMR power and exactly as it is in hipfire. A nice balance of the two*
Only thing I agree on here is the Ravager. I can hardly kill anything with that though the area denial effect is neat.
The Hydra I have no problems getting kills with. I don’t know why people keep saying it’s weak. You are aware of it’s lock on alt fire right? Plus it wrecks vehicles.
Pulse Carbine is very misunderstood. It’s projectiles home in more the longer they are in air. It actually gets more deadly at medium/long range.
If you go back and play Halo 5 guardians try the Hydra. You will see a difference in how powerful it was. Also the the pulse carbine is not underrated it’s underpowered. It’s one thing for a weapon to have a learning curve, it’s another thing for it to feel like it’s ineffective when compared to the human counterpart. Which is one thing that doesn’t make a lot of sense, how is it that the human weapons are more effective towards Spartans then covenant or brute weapons?
Another thing I’ve noticed with the VK is that it doesn’t appear to be as effective as the BR when it comes to range/distance which doesn’t make a lot of sense. You can use the weapon as an automatic however it is more effective when pulling the trigger for each shot, which is fine. However I’ve notice I’ve been able to hit more shots at a greater distance with the pistol then with the VK.
The commando is in a bad spot. Its needs to have similar aim assist values over range to the BR, otherwise it will largely get outclassed by the pistol up close and BR at medium. Right now its just a harder gun to use than the pistol or BR. You have to account for recoil, bloom, more consistent enemy tracking, and awkward feeling aim assist to make it competitive. Thats just too much going on. The BR makes all of these things way easier, and the pistol is more consistent killer in close range.
The Ravager is also hurting. Return it to test flight values, I know it was a bit strong, but who cares? It not that common in arena and BTB is chaotic with plenty of other powerful options.
The Pulse Carbine is a tough one… It may turn out that the design of it is fundamentally undesirable. Its ok at lowering shields at medium range on opponents that aren’t aware of you, but literally almost anything can do that. And let’s be honest, its VERY awkward getting used to what ranges you should use its homing projectiles vs when to lead targets. You might be right about the projectile speed, even in closer ranges I find that I have to lead shots by a longer margin than I’d even expect at that range. Very unusual.
The new Hydra IS a 2-3 shot kill, if you land direct hits without lockon, if you have lock enabled then it’s a 4 shot kill, and it’s fine this way as it gives it more of an anti air utility and a strong skilled direct hit weapon or suppression weapon against infantry…
The Ravager I agree is a bit rough to use because the rounds look bigger than they are so they sometimes just phase through targets, but it is also a utility weapon meant for Area of Denial rather than outright DPS, if it needed a buff I believe it should be the lethality of the burning ground attack…
RoF and TTK wise, the Commando is actually superior to the BR because, despite the nerf to 8SK, a perfect medal is achieved literally as the 3rd burst of the BR fires. The issue the Commando has is High Recoil and bloom, regardless of control scheme, which makes it incredibly hard and inconsistent to use up close over the AR or even Sidekick…
I agree that the Pulse Carbine needs work… It’s tracking is FAR too inconsistent compared to the Needler (which is also inconsistent as hell, but at least kills without relying heavily on melee…), and while hitting one burst is enough to pop shields, it’s just WAY too hard to hit with, even IF you’re within optimal auto tracking range, it’s absurd actually. The Plasma just needs to track targets better even if it means it would need a damage nerf, because this thing just couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn, all someone has to do to avoid getting hit by it is move or sprint forward in a left and right motion and you’ll barely take a hit…
Overall, I feel the weapon balance is in an alright place, tho some weapons do feel kind of weird (like the plasma pistol charge tracking, tho it seems like tracking weapons in general outside of the Hydra kind of don’t track very good anymore…), and with how prevalent Hammer and Sword sprees were during Fiesta I am very strongly feeling the effects of not having a one shot point blank shotgun, especially with the melee being broken and not registering hits 1/2 the time which just makes the bulldog feel -Yoink!-…