I love nades.
> > I don’t know if any other players have noticed this; me and my buddy just recently did, but no matter what playlist, and no matter who you’re playing against, grenade spam is always there. And I’m tired of it. I’m tired of having my health taken out by grenades that stop right under my feet, and blow up without any delay at all (which is stupid, there needs to be a delay).
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> > One of the major things I notice about Call of Duty that separates the gameplay from halo, is that people don’t rely on grenades to kill people.
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> > Please, 343, fix this somehow. Make players not spawn with grenades, I don’t know. But I can’t take anymore of the constant damn explosions from stupid noobs running around hardly ever having to shoot, yet still getting a lot of kills from grenades.
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> Next time you die by a grenade and feel tempted to throw the words “grenade spammer!” down the microphone, through the internet, and out other people’s speakers at a blazing volume, stop, and think. You might realise you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. What I mean by this is that grenades aren’t unavoidable. That’s right, I just said Reach’s grenades can be dodged. I know, it’s a rather contrary statement to popular belief, but let me reassure you, it’s true! You just need to be in the right place at the right time!
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> At the start of a match, on most maps, you’ll encounter what is known as prediction nades. Players often lob their grenades at important positions, such as power weapon or powerup spawns, because they think that other players will go there, because they’re important, and everyone wants important things. They’re often correct too. To an unsuspecting player these predication nades may seem like lucky “spam” kills, and infuriate them so much that they feel compelled to right angry rants on www.forums.halo.xbox.com about “nade spam”. Unfortunately, this happens a lot. However, it’s not warranted because it can be avoided, and I’ll tell you how in a minute, but also because the term “nade spam” is derogatory, and implies grenades are being mindlessly thrown around every corner. They’re not.
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> So, how do you avoid prediction nades? First you must know how one predicts something, and that is done by analysing relevant data from the past, and finding a pattern. My memory is fuzzy on Reach, so I’ll use Halo 3 as an example, and Halo 3 offers an excellent example. When playing The Pit in a Team Slayer variant players have observed that other players instantly push for the Rocket Launcher and Active Camo powerup at the start of the match, so in future games they predict a similar behaviour and throw a nade in those directions. It’s smart playing, you must admit.
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> Now since we know the principle behind the action, we can avoid it. At least, we can try. Go ahead and guess a solution to avoiding prediction nades. No, it’s not “nerfing” them to kingdom-come. No, it’s not removing grenades from the game. No-ah, yes, it is playing contrary to the prediction! It’s remarkable easy to do, and can often be accomplished by just delaying your push, or finding an alternative, less used route to your objective. Surprise your opponent! Be unpredictable!
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> The other offensive use of grenades is when a player throws a grenade at your feet during a firefight. These are a bit harder to avoid, and sometimes impossible, just as it is sometimes impossible to avoid being killed by a rocket launcher. There are things you can do to minimise your chances of being killed though. Backing away from your intended destination when you see him taking the pin out of a nade is a good one, as he’ll be throwing it where he thinks you want to go, not where you are! Placing yourself in bad places is an excellent idea too. Well, bad for the nades, but good for you! An example of such a place is on the thin walkway on Countdown. It’s extremely tricky to deal any damage on a player with nades whilst he’s there, because such places leave you with many movement options to run from the nade, and because it’s hard to place a nade in that area in the first place.
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> A place you don’t want to be in when your opponent is nade-happy are places that restrict your movement, such as sections of the map that forces CQC engagements, like the lift tubes on the formerly mentioned map.
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> There are times when being aware of your opponents location and mentality greatly increases your chances of avoiding nades too. If you know someone’s around the corner, and you know they think you’re around the corner too (from their perspective of course), you can be quite certain they’ll throw a nade at the corner, or try and bounce it around the corner. Back up, and don’t push till you think he’s run out. Whilst you’re waiting feel free to throw some of your nades too!
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> Play smart, and being killed by nades won’t be so infuriating, because it won’t happen too often, and when it does you’ll know you deserved it. That’s part of the reason I like the grenade, it forces a more strategic, smart playstyle, but also because it’s fun blowing things up.