Below are my thoughts on weapon/equipment balance in Infinite as of 3 Oct 21. I played several matches across all game modes and spent a fair bit in Training against bots trying out all the weapons
- AR/BR/Commando/Sidekick: These weapons feel spot on in balance to me. The AR feels good to use, can poke out to mid range, and shred up close. Reload Speed felt right, sounds/audio feedback was good. I liked the reticle bloom/bounce when zoomed in. The BR feels at home in mid range engagements where you’re not zoomed in but can if you’ve got time. At first I thought the fire rate within the burst was a little slow but I got used to it after a few matches. You’ll likely loose in CQB to an AR and the shock rifle at longer range, as you should. The commando took a bit of getting used to. I think slowing the fire rate on this one may be of benefit? It feels a touch to fast in cqb resulting in a fast TTK but you have to manage the bloom at anything getting close to the end of AR range. 2 tapping with it at distance felt right at home and it feels slightly shorter ranged than the BR. The sidekick felt spot on perfect to me. Quick to switch to and potent but not a replacement for a primary. - Pulse Carbine: This one felt odd, it’s a mid range semi-precision weapon ideal for stripping shields. I don’t think I’d change anything on this weapon, it feels like a good middle ground between the BR and Shock rifle with more of the venn diagram covering the BR. - Plasma Pistol: This poor little guy needs some love. The charge up time to deliver a charged shot feels too long, I quite often found myself spooling it up 80% of the way and going to shoot only for it to dissipate. I think decreasing charge time by 10-20% would help. In addition to this, the lack of EMP ability makes this weapon near worthless. It can’t strip over shields, disable vehicles, and takes longer to drain shields than using just about any other weapon. - Bulldog: Feels well balanced like the BR/Commando as what I’d term low tier/common pick ups. A little longer range/tighter spread than previous shotguns with a faster rate of fire and quick reloads at the cost of lower damage. This isn’t a power weapon but it’ll beat an AR in extreme CQB and be ok for a few shots to drop shields and pull a pistol at the longer end of it’s range. I hope a more traditional shotgun compliments it as a power weapon. - Sniper: The sound is a little off, it misses that high pitched twinging sound of the muzzle brake ringing with each shot. It’s there in the reverb a moment later but please add a higher pitched version of that reverb in the initial shot. It felt ok to use otherwise-I haven’t really played FPS on console much and was sucking hard with it but others were utter kings with it. Seems about right to me. - Needler: Felt great other than the sound being off. It lacks that distinctive high pitched brittle crystalline sound of the pink mist going down range. Everything else on it felt superb. range, damage, supercombine, melee (I LOVE that og melee that plays sometimes), and reloads felt good to use. - Skewer: Feels like a brute Splaser. I’m undecided on it. It feels great against vehicles but I couldn’t get a good kill against infantry. Seems good to go as an effective anti-armor tool. - Shock Rifle: This took some getting used to. I think it’s in a good spot if a bit hard to use. Currently filling a DMR role it definitely out-ranges anything short of the sniper. I was able to get kills with it when I did my part and aimed well. Hard to use when taking return fire. I’m curious to see more elemental weapons like this factor into the sandbox. - Grav Hammer: Felt ok… I think it swings a touch slow and the animation to me felt off. feels like an alernative to an energy sword now rather than a reskin. - Heatwave: Great weapon. It felt perfectly balanced. Great for pushing/moving folks and once you get a good grasp on the different spreads it is devestating. Makes perfect sense as a forerunner anti-flood gun. - Ravager: I’m not sure to make of this one. It feels like a concussion launcher from Reach or Brute Shot from earlier games. I like the common design scheme with other brute weapons and the plasma nature/overheat mechanics. I did find it hard to get kills with though.
Other:
This little taste of Infinite has me hopeful for Halo. It feels like the Halo games I remember playing and loved while modern and fresh. The armors looked good, everything felt good, and it didn’t take itself too seriously.