Warzone Changes (Balancing Gameplay) Poll

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Good Morning HALO Fans,
I have been playing Warzone nonstop since the games release. I deeply enjoy the open spaces and tactical gameplay that incorporates AI involvement and team play. However I am noticing that alot of the games are very, very lop sided. I finally determined why this is the case and how to fix it.
LEGENDARY BOSS KILLS:
Most Warzone matches become quickly lopsided when one team kills the first Legendary Boss (takedown) and quickly gains the advantage over the other team. In some cases, the Legendary Boss blocks the central zone capture. So the team that kills the Boss more times than not gets the central base. This is good and all, but no one likes to see the sore 150 to 0 right off the bat and then fight a loosing battle to reacquire the middle control point. Here is how I would change the Legendary Takedowns:

  • Every 10% of damage a team deals is worth 10 VP. - The Killing Blow is worth 60 VP (10 points for 10% damage plus 50 for kill) - This equals 150 point total if a team works together to take down the Boss without damage from opposing team. - The opposing team can still acquire points by working simultaneously with the other team to damage the boss. - The game mode does not become one sides as both teams are slowing acquiring points rather than a giant one sided jump. - This prevents a team from taking down a Boss to 99.9% and then someone getting the last lucky shot for the kill and points. This becomes very aggravating and frustrating for players on the team that did most damage. - Any player that does at least 20% damage to the target is awarded the Legendary Takedown personal points and medal. This prevents one player from 4x the amount of personal points for working along side with other teammates doing the same objective.ZONE CAPTURES:
    We all know how frustratingly hard or hilariously easy it is to block the opposing team from capturing or defending a base. If the entire team is sitting on a capture point waiting to control it, it can easily be stopped by one AFK or hiding player until more players spawn to defend. Warzone Assault is the mode that suffers the most and likely a 90% chance of a loss if Attacking. Here is how I would change the Zone Captures:

  • For each Spartan on the Capture Point; the capture rate increases. 1 Spartan or 10 still have the same capture rate. (Or not enough to show a difference) - In a contested Capture Point, if the Attacking Team (or uncontrolled team) outnumbers the Defending (or controlling team), the base will begin to change control. One Spartan hiding can no longer stop a base from being captured by 12 attacking Spartans. - Base Captures will now award 10 VP points. At this point, Capture Zones are just spawn points. And with the randomized Legendary and Boss spawns, the Capture Points are not a huge incentive (unless going for a Core Kill).REQ LEVELS AND UNLIMITED USE WEAPONS:
    We all know how frustrating it is to not be able to use a weapon we got for free at any point in HALO 4 (BR and DMR). Now we’re limited to using less powerful weapons for most of the match just to be able to use a weapon like the DMR in the closing minutes of the game. Req Levels are a great way to limit the use of Power Weapons and Vehicles and I think they are perfect. You use what you earn. However unlimited use weapons should not have to be earned in the same way. A DMR should not be the same req level as a tank. Here is how I could change Unlimited Use Weapons:

  • No Unlimited Use Weapon should ever need more than 4 Req Levels to use. By the time you are high enough to use a Req Level 5 or 6 Unlimited Use Weapon (Long Range BR or DMR), you’re more inclined to bust out vehicles or continue to use what you have been using to get you to this point. Unlimited Use Weapons should never cost more than Power Weapons. This will allow for more variation in “non power weapon” firefights instead of Magnum and BR spamming until a Req Level is reached for a vehicle use.Thank you for taking the time to read these suggestions. I am looking forward to hearing feedback from other Spartans and Developers.
    Take care,
    -Ryan (GT: I DarthOnaga I)

**FEEDBACK FROM REPLIES - For now, I will not add any feedback into my original post. This is simply because I feel it’s not fair for me to pick and choose which feedback I personally like and don’t like. It gives an unfair biased perspective for everyone else who is provided feedback I may not agree with. Continue to post all feedback though!!

2

The score system is the only thing that is bug me in Warzone. They need to rework the scoring system to reflect the effort in game. They must split the points awarded to every players who participate to a boss kill or a base capture with a bonus for the team who get the kill or the final capture.

3

I agree. The Warzone is more or less flawless except for scoring and base capture. Req Levels I can live with, but it’s just a suggestion.

Hopefully this topic can get a lot of feedback so the developers till take notice.

4

So being a shameless sycophant, I’d first like to say thanks for constructive positive criticism that’s coupled with explanations as well as your train of thought.

I too feel like Warezone matches are won in the first 5 minutes or so. At this point the “suffering” begins. To co-op this piece I’ll throw out my brainstorming on how to make the matches more even and\or more fun for losing side.

Pre-Match and Match Making

  • Match large parties against large parties. If they’re talking to each other they’ll have advantage over the 12 randos that got assigned together. - When possible, match players with roughly equivalent permanent unlocks - Include a CSRDuring the match

  • While waiting to respawn allow a player to declare their intent. (Kill bosses) (Hunt PCs) (Take West\East Armor) (Take Garage) (Defend Spire) When you die you’ll get a count of the Spartans attempting to do each activity and see where the team is or where more help is needed.Losing. Backed up to home base

  • Either expose that Core to more Vehicle fire. (Let’s get the suffering over with) - OR Beef up the defensibility of the home base. Have height advantage platforms. Turret emplacements (these can spawn when the shields go down) Let the defenders get on top of their home base. Have more tunnels and flank positions out of the home base.Nothing is less fun that spawning and dying immediately to a scorpion shell. Which is a frequent occurrence when you’re pushed up against a wall.

Look I know it’s playground for players with high level req cards (earned or bought). I know that choosing to earn cards slowly puts me at a disadvantage and makes me a plaything to the players with more (earned or bought). I know the gaming industry exists to make money. HOWEVER, you need to make it fun for me to play because if regular players keep getting slaughtered in lopsided matches the whole warzone is going to collapse. Please bring more balance to Warzone. OR give us the numbers and show us that most games are close.

5

I think they should remove vehicles from REQs. I think vehicles should pawn once at the beginning of the game and maybe a second time when the first score crosses 500 points. You have to rank up so high that by the time you get there your team is either winning by a lot of losing by a lot and there is really no need at all for them either way. Although somebody will occasionally spawn a tank to utterly crush the other team. If my team is getting crushed by mid way even though I’m doing well, there is no way I’m wasting a REQ win the team is going to lose anyway regardless of how well I do.

6

ooo One more thing. Does the live feed tell you if you were killed by a modified loadout weapon? I have the sinking suspicion I’m outgunned in certain BR\AR duels. I mean I trade or win a lot precision one v one duels in arena.

Maybe I’m crazy or don’t realize I’ve walked into a 1 vs Many encounter. Regardless, after I’m dead briefly show me my killer and his exact weapon. I need to learn eventually.

7

Spawns is another thing they need to fix. For some odd reason my team still held a point on Escape From A.R.C and i littrally got spawned outside the map. Video was recorded if you want to see it. And there have been other times where I’ve spawned and gotten splattered without being able to move. Nothing that is game ruiningruining atleast lol

8

> 2533274808976556;4:
> So being a shameless sycophant, I’d first like to say thanks for constructive positive criticism that’s coupled with explanations as well as your train of thought.

No problem. Developers are human too. No one likes to be yelled at! Plus positive feedback is usually received much better. :slight_smile:

9

> 2533274964440545;7:
> Spawns is another thing they need to fix. For some odd reason my team still held a point on Escape From A.R.C and i littrally got spawned outside the map. Video was recorded if you want to see it. And there have been other times where I’ve spawned and gotten splattered without being able to move. Nothing that is game ruiningruining atleast lol

I have seen this on a few maps. Some players were spawned outside the map on the side of a hill multiple times. They committed suicide and then were kicked for “Survival of the Fittest” starts with Survival. Player committed suicide to many times.

Either way, I’d like to stick with the balancing game-play suggestions. I don’t want these issues getting lost in this post. They’re issues that need fixing, so another topic may help instead of burying it in an off-topic. :slight_smile:

10

I think grenades should be reduced to one per life. There are just too many flying mini nukes. 2 per player x 24 players + 1 average grenade thrown per second for 18 minutes = 1128 grenades per match. I think we can keep the grenades manufacturers in business even with 1 per player.

11

> 2533274797303698;10:
> I think grenades should be reduced to one per life. There are just too many flying mini nukes. 2 per player x 24 players + 1 average grenade thrown per second for 18 minutes = 1128 grenades per match. I think we can keep the grenades manufacturers in business even with 1 per player.

I don’t think this is necessary. However maybe instead of grenades being able to be picked up by everyone, they can only be picked up when you have Grenadier perk active?

12

I agree. Warzone is a cool Mode, which i enjoy to play sometimes(because i still prefer arena/breakout over Warzone) and it needs some tweaking. Good Points, keep it up =)

13

The poll is kind of useless. “Do you agree with this long list of changes or not”. I guess I’ll go with no, even though I agree with a majority of the points.

I don’t like the 10 vp points per 10% damage and 50 for the final kill. I would prefer the entire 150 points be divided by the percent of damage done.

14

> 2533274895728722;13:
> The poll is kind of useless. “Do you agree with this long list of changes or not”. I guess I’ll go with no, even though I agree with a majority of the points.
>
> I don’t like the 10 vp points per 10% damage and 50 for the final kill. I would prefer the entire 150 points be divided by the percent of damage done.

I figured it would help if some people and the devs had a visualization of the mindset of the player base. But maybe I just like bars. Or both?

> 2533274829152119;12:
> I agree. Warzone is a cool Mode, which i enjoy to play sometimes(because i still prefer arena/breakout over Warzone) and it needs some tweaking. Good Points, keep it up =)

I have actually yet to play anything but Slayer or CTF in Arena. I don’t even know what Breakout is. I would google it, but it’s way more fun to be thrown into something for the first time and figure out what to do. Except for -Yoink!-. I highly recommend some research before -Yoink!-.

15

I Like a lot of these suggestions. If you don’t mind, perhaps add a few more to the list there:

Overall Adjustments

  • Make the middle base a “point of weakness” versus a “point of strength”. On all three maps, typically the team that grabs the middle wins because the base is a point of strength. Players can just camp it with BRs and dominate the whole game. This should be removed. The middle base should be an “important capture objective” to net you those extra points, but it shouldn’t be one of those capture this one thing to win the game type of things. The easy way to address this on the current maps is to remove the cover for the middle base, and on future maps, make the middle base in a lower elevation compared to the armories. - OP mentioned this, bosses are flawed. I disagree with his solution however. I think bosses should work like a capture point. For example if a team does 50.1% damage, then they “control the boss” in terms of points. If the controlling team is in the area of the boss (Call it the arena) and the boss dies, they get the points. The only way then the opposing team can win here is by removing the controlling team from the arena and killing the boss. It’s perfectly fair as it keeps long range kills out, and it ensures that participation is needed to kill. - Also, for all bosses, any player that engages in 20%+ of the boss damage should be awarded with the kill medal so long as they are in the arena when the boss dies. - Bases under attack should lock out the defending team from a “closeby” respawn, this should go hand in hand with OPs balancing scale idea to ensure bases cannot be camped out.Early Game Adjustments

  • Remove early game assault vehicles. Ghosts and Gunner Warthogs should not be active in the early game, players shouldn’t be getting dominated in the early game because someone draws an ONI Warthog out of a RV REQ. This will also bring about more vehicle variety. I almost instantly sell my “Scout” vehicles because they’re useless. - Move Battle Rifles / DMR to T5+. One of the most frustrating things about Warzone right now is when you get a horrible team that refuses to capture bases, and all it takes is the enemy team to get one base and a boss or two to start mowing you down from afar. Long range loadout guns should be restricted to further in game. - Pistol Damage Falloff: I’m not sure if you can balance weapons based on game mode, but Pistols are a bit too overpowered in the early game right now, they need a damage falloff to block cross mapping.Mid Game Adjustments

  • “Tank Spam” needs to stop. I had a match last night where the opposing team had 4 Scorpions up at once. That’s a bit too harsh. Fixing this problem is tough because of the way the REQ levels currently work where one team can be at 7-8, while the other can be down at 3-4. I personally believe that if one team is falling behind (>250VP+ difference), the whole team should get a REQ buff to help them make a push (+1-2 levels, spawn vehicles and power weapons near their home base). - Each base should offer “two capture phases”. The initial capture grants a respawn point, and then if players remain inside for an additional capture time of 2:30, then defenses should be activated for that base. This could be turret emplacements, force fields, or even replacing Marines with tougher variants like ODST. This will allow players to branch out from their base and participate more in the alternate objectives. - Speaking of alternate objectives, there should be some tertiary objectives in the mid-game such as salvage drops that need to be grabbed and returned to one of your bases for VP. A successful capture can net the entire team half a REQ level, or a supply drop of power weapons at the base where the capture took place.Late Game (Core Defense) Adjustments

  • The home base should be more of a stronghold versus a wimpy little outpost. There should be turret emplacements to ward off attackers, and the team that is defending their base should have access to protective measures. - My thoughts are as follows, if a team is forced back to their core, an emergency armory opens up inside containing power weapons like Rockets, Snipers, Etc that can be grabbed to repel the attackers and make a push for one of the bases. All vehicle REQs are reduced two levels for a team that is defending a core and upped one level for a team attacking the core. Also, Pelicans will drop off Marines at the front of the base that will lead a charge to the closest capturable base. This should be a terrifying sight to many as we all know how “evil” those marines are. - The base should be equipped with a signal jammer that is activated when the core defenses go offline, this disables the radar of the attacking team making the defenders more capable of mounting an effective defense. A new Armor Mod can be added to the game that negates the signal jammer.
    Other Ideas for Warzone

  • Warzone should offer a second mode for “long game” matches that go to 2000VP instead of 1000VP. This will allow for some serious power action in the late game when most players get to T9. - I love Warzone from a concept standpoint, but I think as it stands now there is too little PvE involved in it. Future maps should offer “Enemy Invasion” type attacks where a wave of Covenant or Forerunners attack a base that is controlled (Any of the three) and the defending team must protect it from the attack. They can net 50VP for a successful defense, and if they fail they lose control of the base and it becomes neutral again. - Base REQs: There is a massive amount of possibility this game has when it comes to the REQ system and the bases. I think there should be some REQ cards (And Certification of Course) for Base Defenses and Upgrades that Spartans can purchase. IE: Chaingun Turrets at REQ6, Gauss at REQ7, Rockets at REQ8. Forcefields, Etc.Warzone has massive potential and I can’t wait to see how 343i handles it moving forward. I just hope they fix some of the problems with it to make it a more enjoyable experience, but that just some of my thoughts on the manner.

16

> 2602303177545576;15:
> I Like a lot of these suggestions. If you don’t mind, perhaps add a few more to the list there:
>
> Overall Adjustments
>
> - Make the middle base a “point of weakness” versus a “point of strength”. On all three maps, typically the team that grabs the middle wins because the base is a point of strength. Players can just camp it with BRs and dominate the whole game. This should be removed. The middle base should be an “important capture objective” to net you those extra points, but it shouldn’t be one of those capture this one thing to win the game type of things. The easy way to address this on the current maps is to remove the cover for the middle base, and on future maps, make the middle base in a lower elevation compared to the armories.
> - OP mentioned this, bosses are flawed. I disagree with his solution however. I think bosses should work like a capture point. For example if a team does 50.1% damage, then they “control the boss” in terms of points. If the controlling team is in the area of the boss (Call it the arena) and the boss dies, they get the points. The only way then the opposing team can win here is by removing the controlling team from the arena and killing the boss. It’s perfectly fair as it keeps long range kills out, and it ensures that participation is needed to kill.
> - Also, for all bosses, any player that engages in 20%+ of the boss damage should be awarded with the kill medal so long as they are in the arena when the boss dies.
> - Bases under attack should lock out the defending team from a “closeby” respawn, this should go hand in hand with OPs balancing scale idea to ensure bases cannot be camped out.
> Early Game Adjustments
>
> - Remove early game assault vehicles. Ghosts and Gunner Warthogs should not be active in the early game, players shouldn’t be getting dominated in the early game because someone draws an ONI Warthog out of a RV REQ. This will also bring about more vehicle variety. I almost instantly sell my “Scout” vehicles because they’re useless.
> - Move Battle Rifles / DMR to T5+. One of the most frustrating things about Warzone right now is when you get a horrible team that refuses to capture bases, and all it takes is the enemy team to get one base and a boss or two to start mowing you down from afar. Long range loadout guns should be restricted to further in game.
> - Pistol Damage Falloff: I’m not sure if you can balance weapons based on game mode, but Pistols are a bit too overpowered in the early game right now, they need a damage falloff to block cross mapping.
> Mid Game Adjustments
>
>
>
> - “Tank Spam” needs to stop. I had a match last night where the opposing team had 4 Scorpions up at once. That’s a bit too harsh. Fixing this problem is tough because of the way the REQ levels currently work where one team can be at 7-8, while the other can be down at 3-4. I personally believe that if one team is falling behind (>250VP+ difference), the whole team should get a REQ buff to help them make a push (+1-2 levels, spawn vehicles and power weapons near their home base).
> - Each base should offer “two capture phases”. The initial capture grants a respawn point, and then if players remain inside for an additional capture time of 2:30, then defenses should be activated for that base. This could be turret emplacements, force fields, or even replacing Marines with tougher variants like ODST. This will allow players to branch out from their base and participate more in the alternate objectives.
> - Speaking of alternate objectives, there should be some tertiary objectives in the mid-game such as salvage drops that need to be grabbed and returned to one of your bases for VP. A successful capture can net the entire team half a REQ level, or a supply drop of power weapons at the base where the capture took place.
> Late Game (Core Defense) Adjustments
>
> - The home base should be more of a stronghold versus a wimpy little outpost. There should be turret emplacements to ward off attackers, and the team that is defending their base should have access to protective measures.
> - My thoughts are as follows, if a team is forced back to their core, an emergency armory opens up inside containing power weapons like Rockets, Snipers, Etc that can be grabbed to repel the attackers and make a push for one of the bases. All vehicle REQs are reduced two levels for a team that is defending a core and upped one level for a team attacking the core. Also, Pelicans will drop off Marines at the front of the base that will lead a charge to the closest capturable base. This should be a terrifying sight to many as we all know how “evil” those marines are.
> - The base should be equipped with a signal jammer that is activated when the core defenses go offline, this disables the radar of the attacking team making the defenders more capable of mounting an effective defense. A new Armor Mod can be added to the game that negates the signal jammer.
> Other Ideas for Warzone
>
> - Warzone should offer a second mode for “long game” matches that go to 2000VP instead of 1000VP. This will allow for some serious power action in the late game when most players get to T9.
> - I love Warzone from a concept standpoint, but I think as it stands now there is too little PvE involved in it. Future maps should offer “Enemy Invasion” type attacks where a wave of Covenant or Forerunners attack a base that is controlled (Any of the three) and the defending team must protect it from the attack. They can net 50VP for a successful defense, and if they fail they lose control of the base and it becomes neutral again.
> - Base REQs: There is a massive amount of possibility this game has when it comes to the REQ system and the bases. I think there should be some REQ cards (And Certification of Course) for Base Defenses and Upgrades that Spartans can purchase. IE: Chaingun Turrets at REQ6, Gauss at REQ7, Rockets at REQ8. Forcefields, Etc.
> Warzone has massive potential and I can’t wait to see how 343i handles it moving forward. I just hope they fix some of the problems with it to make it a more enjoyable experience, but that just some of my thoughts on the manner.

I agree with some of these. I really like the Other Ideas for Warzone. Adding some control point defense perks would be interested and would give the enemy control point campers a run for their money. No more Scorpion spawn camping would be welcomed. I also like the defense waves. This would add a more defensive strategy to the game. However I feel that these would have to be done at the same time. All bases are attacked by a faction at the same time. If one base is attacked at a time, it will give the defending team very easy points. Plus it makes the team with two control points prioritize their forces on one of the other, granting the one controlling team an opportunity to snag a control point by forcing out the faction and enemy Spartans.

17

I agree with all of this but 1 more thing is to add random vehicle/power weapons in home base so that people without req cards can experience weapons they may not own and to help teams being pummeled by people with 4 tanks and 3 banshees in the air.

18

I’d like to have vehicles that shoot or have mounted weapons, at req 3. Things like the mongoose is fine as is. Kinda sucks when were at req 2 and a guy has a ghost. Not many people have weapons to deal with it at req 2. And, most importantly, not everyone is as accurate…

19

I"d like to see a ranking system in warzone…like CSR…at least to have something to play for

20

I like your points. I did (key term) not like the req cool down until you explained it the way you did. I get frustrated at spawning and getting killed within seconds which I just wasted a card.

In addition:

  • Fix spawns: Defending team spawns outside a mile away they cant reach to defend in time. Perfect fix to this and the wasted req is add a invulnerable timer to players - Contest bases: if you have 30 seconds left the attacking team should have the chance to contest the base and have time extended until theyre all dead and not game over. - More ai involvement: Spawn ai at either core (assault or regular mode) and engage.I do not agree with the early assault vic’s. Look at big team battle or blood gulch you started with vics the only difference is that one team has it and the other does not.
    Also agree with the req point system some of those points for an unlimited use weapon are crazy high. I have yet to make it to level 8 so my mantis is just gonna sit there. I would like to see unlimited weapons at req 2 and power at 3.

Also what about adding a dual-wielding req? make it a legendary card. if possible.

I wouldn’t mind seeing some sort of auto turret in future maps