Throughout Halo 4’s lifespan, the DMR has easily received some of, if not most of, the criticism and hate threads. Granted, a lot of the hate stems from players’ nostalgia and disbelief of the terrible state of the BR, but much of the criticism is warranted. I will be addressing the majority of the complaints towards the BR in 3 sections: 1) Kill Time 2) Bullet Magnetism and 3) Aim Assist. I organized the sections into little spoilers so as to not clutter your screen. Most of the following information comes from the highly informative The Halo Utility Weapon Thread by Duji and K2Five on THC that I suggest you all take a look at.
- Kill Time
There is a common misconception that the issues with the DMR lie in its kill time. This is not the case. Unfortunately, 343 blessed us with two of the slowest precision weapons in the history of the game (three if you count the unscoped Light Rifle). As you can see by this excellent chart produced by K2Five on THC, the H4 Light Rifle, BR, and Carbine have the slowest kill times out of any Halo precision weapons. Clearly it is not the DMR’s problem that the other precision weapons perform so poorly. The DMR doesn’t even have a faster kill time than the H2 BR, much less the CE Magnum.
TL;DR: The kill-time issue is a result of inept competitor weapons. The DMR’s kill-time is not a problem; The Carbine, BR, and Unscoped Light Rifle’s are. They need a buff immediately.
- Bullet Magnetism
There is another common misconception that the DMR has a significantly higher amount of bullet magnetism when compared to the other precision rifles. This too is false. In order to fully address the issue, it is important you know what bullet magnetism is.
Bullet magnetism is where the angle of which the bullet leaves your gun, changes slightly in the direction towards the target – the bullets ‘magnetise’ towards the target. Generally bullets cannot magnetise past the outer circle, or maximum size, of the reticle image on your HUD. Bullet magnetism occurs even when the reticle isn’t red, and even if you are out of range.Bullet Magnetism has been proven to be equal across all precision weapons, except the Carbine which has more. For your proof, look no further than this video.
Bullet Magnetism is, however, a huge issue in this game. Most gun battles result in “see first, kill first” gameplay, as it is very difficult to miss your shots in this game. The game as a whole needs a decrease in bullet magnetism, but not the DMR specifically.
TL;DR: Bullet Magnetism is not a problem with the DMR, as all precision weapons suffer from equal amounts. The game, however, suffers from absurdly high amounts of bullet magnetism in general, but not the DMR specifically.
- Aim Assist
This is the category where the DMR hate has merit. Again, it is important that you understand what Aim Assist is in order to delve into the topic.
Aim assist is composed of reticle friction (slowing of the reticle) and reticle adhesion (reticle movement caused by target movement), and are in play whenever the reticle is red.
Reticle adhesion also requires you to be moving either your reticle, or player for it to be in play. If you are dead still and not moving your reticle, it will not stick to a target. Reticle friction always occurs though so long as your reticle is red.
Red Reticle Range
Red Reticle Range (RRR) refers to the maximal distance the target can be with your reticle being red (the maximal distance you can receive full aim assist at). RRR changes depending on what weapon you are using, and if you are using scope or not.
Unlike Bullet Magnetism, Aim Assist is effected depending on the distance of the target. If a player is within a weapon’s red reticle range (RRR), aim assist is activated. If they are beyond a weapon’s RRR, there is no aim assist and only bullet magnetism comes into effect. In Halo 4, Reticle Friction and Adhesion are the same for every precision weapon (documented in this thread on THC), but RRR is not. The RRR of the DMR is the direct problem when comparing this weapon to the others.
As you can see clearly highlighted in this image (also done by K2Five), the DMR has a massive advantage in ranged aim assist. Unscoped, aim assist is activated 7.8 meters FURTHER than any other weapon. Scoped, aim assist is activated a whopping 23.1 meters FURTHER than the Light Rifle, and an even more unbelievable 53.4 meters FURTHER than the BR and Carbine. This is clearly the problematic area of the DMR.
TL;DR: While all the precision weapons have the same amount of aim assist, the red reticle range (RRR; range in which aim assist is present) is absurdly high for the DMR. This is the issue present with the DMR, as it trumps all other weapons at a distance. This problem needs to be addressed by 343 in the TU. The RRR of the DMR needs to be nerfed to a distance comparable to the other precision rifles.
My suggestions for the TU are as follows:
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Drastically reduce the RRR of the DMR to a distance that is comparable to the other precision weapons. As it stands, the DMR has a near unbeatable advantage at range because of its RRR
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Improve the kill times of the other precision weapons. The Light Rifle Unscoped, BR, and Carbine have the three slowest kill times out of any precision weapons in the history of Halo. If you really want to see weapon diversity 343, you must decrease the kill times for these three weapons so they are comparable to the DMR
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Across the board reduction in bullet magnetism. It is WAY too high in this game. I played a few games of NBNS Reach a few days ago, and the difference is astounding. Reducing the bullet magnetism will put an end to the “see first; kill first” dynamic we’ve seen in Halo 4 and it will balance out a reduction in the kill times for the other three precision weapons.
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Return descoping. Ranged combat is nearly unbearable in this game. Without descoping, it is nearly impossible to out shoot someone who shot you first from a distance. Pinging them out of scope was the most effective way of limiting a players advantage at a distance and the entire mechanic was something unique to Halo. Now it is gone and the game has suffered.