TU FEEDBACK: Armor Lock

Games Other Halo
1

I’m making this thread, with bs angel’s permission, to replace our missing TU FEEDBACK thread for Armor Lock that was lost during the Beta to Live transition.

So.

Discuss.

My opinon? The changes to Armor Lock don’t do enough.

If Default AL is like hitting a three foot high wall at 45 mph then the TU AL is like hitting a speed bump at 45 mph. Yes, you can break people out of AL but it still takes a significant amount of time and ammo to do it. It’s a small consolation that you can dump a few rounds into them and break them out before their shields start recharging and they abuse the frosting effect to escape or get a kill shot when you’re still waiting up to five seconds anyway.

And the biggest unsung problem of AL is still unfixed. The EMP can and is being abused in MP to let players provide near instant OSK counters against anyone in melee range. If a Sword comes rounding around a corner, or even a player going in for the melee, I can AL during the lunge, immediately pop out, have the EMP strip their shields and immediatley punch them in the face for a OSK. It’s abusing the original design of AAs as non-offensive -Yoink!- and makes for cheap gameplay. The worst part is that because they hit me while I was in AL, they are stunned and can’t even backpedal to escape if they could react fast enough.

AL should have been limited to a 1~2 second max duration per usage, max two per charge, with a brief CD between uses, a fixed third person camera, no EMP, no stun, and no immediate attacking for a brief period after coming out of AL.

2

Sword should pierce AL and cut into half of the target’s health. EMP should stay as long as the user engages a full lock, and only stun should come into play when bashing an armor lock user.

3

Not really sure about Armor Lock right now. If a sweet spot cannot be found, then this one suggests remove it entirely and forget it ever existed.

Even with the current nerf, it still slows things down. Sure you can pop them out with grenades or rockets, but DMR doesn’t really do that much to drain the bar. Team shotting is viable though you have to deal with the other players who more often than not save the one who’s locked up and thus draw your fire away.

This one also suggest that the Sword kills the armor locker the moment it is activated though this would make the Sword OP.

This one likes the fixed 3rd person camera. Super lunges from lock up are annoying and cheap.

4

I want it removed no-matter what.

Sure, you can nerf it, but it’s still an annoying, get-out-of-jail-free card.

5

To be honest, I’m not sure what the changes to AL are. When people’ve gone into AL before, I’ve thrown a few nades at 'em but it doesn’t seem to force them out any faster… and it still pisses me off as much as ever.

6

Because these settings are rockin 125% Damage they actually do a little more damage to Armor locks energy, I think one well placed rocket will knock a guy out of armor lock for good.

7

The basic problem of armor lock is that it does more annoying things within the game than fun things. It’s basically the trollololol AA. Do we really need that?

8

i don’t think AL needs to change much at all. one reason i think, is that once you’re in it, you’re a sitting duck, so to speak. someone can easily time it right and throw nades or a rocket or even a sword lung and kill you, happened to me plenty of times. also if you ever get close to someone in AL and get hit with the EMP and then beat-down, what were you thinking? but that’s just me

9

> To be honest, I’m not sure what the changes to AL are. When people’ve gone into AL before, I’ve thrown a few nades at 'em but it doesn’t seem to force them out any faster… and it still pisses me off as much as ever.

The main difference is that if you stick them before they AL they are dead no matter what. I kind of like the AL changes. Seems more like a normal AA now, like the bubble shield, except super condensed around a single person.

10

I just mentioned something similar in the Jet pack thread:

No Armor Ability is overpowered…
The reason people complain is because it goes against their personal playstyles. Every AA provides a benefit while sacraficing something in return.

For AL, you are invincible, but you are immobilized. Fair trade, and VERY easy to beat! When I go into MM, I can own w AL just because I know how to use it, and nobody thinks about how to counter it. But any of my friends could beat me everytime, just because they have played enough customs to know how to beat AL.

Take the user’s disadvantage and use it to YOUR own advantage!

11

> Sword should pierce AL and cut into half of the target’s health. EMP should stay as long as the user engages a full lock, and only stun should come into play when bashing an armor lock user.

that is a perfect idea

12

> i don’t think AL needs to change much at all. one reason i think, is that once you’re in it, you’re a sitting duck, so to speak. someone can easily time it right and throw nades or a rocket or even a sword lung and kill you, happened to me plenty of times. also if you ever get close to someone in AL and get hit with the EMP and then beat-down, what were you thinking? but that’s just me

Not exactly true. When my enemies go into AL during games, even if they were one-shot before going into AL, they come out with EXTRA invincibility even after they are up and moving around for .5-1.5 seconds. It seems like you have to wait to attack them for an extra .5-1.5 seconds for your shots to actually do damage, regardless of what weapon you have. I have shot a rocket at an AL’er before and they blocked it, so I waited for them to pop out of AL and shot another rocket directly under their feet as they started to approach me for a beat down only to somehow kill myself with my own rocket from like 15 feet away and them take no damage whatsoever. This happens with any weapon that you try to kill an AL’er with; they DO have an extra .5-1.5 seconds of invincibility even after they come out of AL. Another thing that happens is that an AL’er seems to be able to instantly move around and melee attack even before they have fully come out of the AL animation. If you are far away from someone in AL, then yes, they are a sitting duck in a sense. However, if you are within like 15 feet of an AL’er, you’re probably going to get double-pummeled from 15 feet away by the AL bad kid who still has an extra .5-1.5 seconds of homosexual aura. Don’t know if these things are glitches or just Bungie neglecting blatant problems with AA’s.

The TU nerf to AL doesn’t address the problems in my previous paragraph, and it doesn’t change much anyways. Plasma grenade sticks killing an AL’er is cool, but that is not nearly enough to nerf AL. The only weapons that do any damage whatsoever to the person’s AL power meter are rockets, sniper, sword, and point-blank shotgun. The last two weapons in that list are still ineffective because you have to get close to the AL’er and whoops, he bursted out of AL and double-pummeled you before his AL animation was even over. And whatever happened to heavy damage supposed to be able to bleed through a person’s AL and chip at their health? I thought that was supposed to be included in the nerf as well, but I’ve tested it in a custom game and nope, it simply doesn’t happen. AL needs to be nerfed more or taken out of the game altogether because it is a game-breaking get-out-jail-free card that grants the user and his team (if the whole enemy team isn’t already using AL) a free win every time.

I would actually like to see the removal of EVERY AA in Reach, even sprint, and have the return of custom power-ups. Custom power-ups simply worked well and couldn’t be abused like AA’s can. The the cloak and over-shield were powerful, but could only be used by ONE player in a game and only once every few minutes. They were perfect. I think that for the new playlists coming in November (and ONLY in the new playlists so as to stop the Reach kids from crying and quiting the game entirely) it is MANDATORY to remove all AA’s and replace them with power-ups. Who’s with me on this one?

Thanks 343i for letting us provide feedback. I can only hope that you take into consideration people’s feedback who actually provide evidence and explanations for their arguments, rather than scrubs that don’t know what they’re talking about and want flaws to remain in the game so they can continue to abuse them.

13

It will never be fixed, it will never be fit for any kind of serious play. Same goes for the camo nerf. Lipstick on a pig. Febreeze on a turd. Whatever.

14

I think that the current AL is actually a positive addition but 343 shouldn’t take it a step further, I think they nailed it in the TU. And its funny how you use that speed bump analogy because anyone who’s ever driven in Halo knows how easy it is to get knocked off course even without any kind of bumps in your way. And isn’t that kind of the point of AA’s? To give you an edge over your opponent within specific scenarios?

15

I like armorlock, in the TU. It seems more realistic in a way.

16

There’s nothing wrong with AL never has been. I come against it plenty of times. When they AL I step back count to 5 seconds then throw a grenade. They die, I have been on both ends when it comes to the EMP, if your quick enough to pull it off well done. We could sit here & nit pick every AA in the game they both have advantages & disadvantages.

I do agree with the Grenade stick though, it was pretty silly to stick someone then they go into AL and it falls off. Other than that they are all good & lets face it we are never going to please everyone!

17

I feel it should be removed from all playlists with the possible exception of BTB.

On a bad latency game AL can be unbearable.

18

Another case where I’m going to have to disagree; with a similar preface as well. Look at that!

In any case, the objective of a shooter is to SHOOT. The ability to melee is an addition to the game play to expand the depth of close range battles where the weapon becomes more challenging to use.

In over 75% of CQB encounters, both players have a higher likelihood of trading kills than if they were squared in a gunbattle. My guess is the faulty system in place pertaining to CQB encounters, however my other sincere belief is that the game puts more rewards in the hands of the shooter and more punishments in the hands of the brawler.

There is a reason why there are only four options to melee attack and many, many more options in the weapon category.

So I read that You’re frustrated that a person using armor lock can use his EMP to remove your shields and melee you for a kill.

Lets do some role playing shall we?
So you came around the corner and noticed me shooting at an enemy on the belowdecks (envision us on Countdown). Now you could shoot me and have the element of surprise as a guarantor to your victory. Instead you chose the path of stealth and decided to pull out your sword.

If I notice you trying to get the flank on me and I have enough ingenuity to time the variables of lunge and relapse time in that instance, I should be the victor in that scenario more than 60% of the time should I choose to armor lock.

Why should they give -Yoink!- to the armor user? He immobile and has no offense as a tool for defense. A reasonable tradeoff.

If the armor ability only functions to block a single attack (melee, vehicle, explosive, etc) and all a person has to do is rush next to the AL user for a kill, isn’t there an imbalance?

Think about it-
You throw a grenade: GOOD
I Negate your grenade: GOOD
You sprint towards me in the time it takes to negate your grenade: GOOD?

Why should your AA put you at an advantage over mine? Both can’t shoot while being used, one can take damage while the other can’t. One does absolutely nothing in terms of offensive advancement while the other has the potential to put the user in melee range or out of shot range.

Lets go back to the AL scenario I introduced earlier, this time lets imagine that the EMP burst has been omitted.

Like I said, I factored in your lunge time, considering the relapse time as a variable. I should be able to use that relapse variable of your sword as an advantage to my strategy in any case correct? But wait, I can’t effectively “backpedal” to square off because the sword auto targets me, same lunge distance (Even after the relapse!). Now I have to work even harder to formulate yet ANOTHER strategy to survive.

So although I won in one sense, it is inevitable that I will lose because extra -Yoink!- built into the game give one player the advantage over the other.

Is that fair?
I’m going to say no because all you’re doing is looking to do is discuss ways that the game will suit your needs without considering the needs of others.

Although I did the work to time and effectively counter your strategy, you win.

Overall, the objective of the game is to shoot. But you’re not shooting and you win, I’m not shooting and I lose. How does that make sense?

19

ZNFX, are you talking to me? If you are, then I’ll reply with my opinions of your post. If you’re not, then I won’t reply.

20

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Because anyone who picks AL can potentially have a psuedo Power Weapon immediately off spawn. One that you can’t even see coming until it’s too late and one that trumps Power Weapons. Not just in blocking the attack but in killing you for trying to use the Sword/Shotgun/Hammer.