Why is the shock rifle not a power weapon?

Games Halo Infinite
1

There’s a couple of arguments i can make on behalf of keeping it a tier 2 weapon, but i feel like the arguments in the other direction are stronger.

First, considering the traditional S7 sniper rifle, it’s a 1 headshot kill weapon, double body shot weapon, double zoom, four round magazine x2, with negative aim assist on a noscope when using mouse and keyboard while target is strafing.

The shock rifle is a 1 headshot kill weapon, triple body shot weapon, single zoom, twelve round 3rb magazine x2 (4 ‘shots’ 2 mags), and it doesn’t have negative aim assist on a no-scope with mouse and keyboard, regardless of target strafing, and has some juicy aim assist with controller that lets you no-scope pop skulls like a carnival game rigged to make you feel good about yourself so you’ll throw more money away on the (carnival) game.

It can also shut down vehicles, punish groups of enemies by chain linking damage from a visible enemy to an enemy taking cover, securing round-the-corner kills, and if you use chain reactions on clustered enemies, you don’t even have to go for headshots for reliable kills.

It SHOULD be a little trickier to get a 1 hit kill than a sniper rifle, for two reasons. The first is that you have to land all 3 of the rounds from the burst on the target’s head, and the second is that it can only zoom one time. But thanks to lack of negative aim assist and positive aim assist on controller, it’s actually easier to get headshot kills with the shock rifle than it is the S7 sniper rifle- spawning with it on fiesta let me get 3 ‘autopilot engaged’s’ without trying. It’s quite shocking how good this weapon is.

It ALSO punishes vehicles- I know I said that, but this is actually a different point- and it does so easily. Right now, a lot of people feel like vehicles are very easily punished in infinite. And that’s not entirely unfair. Shock grenades, shock pistols, shock rifles, grappleshots, rocket launchers, skewers, hell, even sniper rifles can end vehicles. Shock rifles can end vehicles while killing whoever is in them so your team can pick them up, instead.

It just feels like something that- if nothing else- should be spawning in a place that other people have to fight over, not something that spawns in the same place as the stalker rifle, something that feels a lot closer to being a souped up DMR.

What are your thoughts?

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2

I’m not sure that aim assist helps that much with the headshots.

You pretty much need the enemy to be stationary or running directly at you to be a gimmee.

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i’m pretty sure i went from never being able to kill with it to getting six headshots in a single game because of the aim assist on controller.

EDIT- go try it out on weapon drills 3. you don’t even need to zoom when using the controller. you can easily 3 star noscope the whole dang thing.

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4

Yeah this makes sense. I think what would make more sense, is adding snipers into their own category. I don’t think the S7 should be a “power weapon”, as that implies a lot more.

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Many people would rather pick up the Shock Rifle over the S7 Sniper simply due to having more ammo and better aim. S7 isn’t that impressive, even against vehicles. If it shot anti vehicle rounds, armor piercing rounds, and ricocheted off walls, then yeah, it would be a damn good power weapon.

It doesn’t though.

Nornfang was a good sniper. Could get a multi collateral with that beast of a sniper. Halo 4 and 5 had some very powerful sniper alternatives. A good sniper should pierce through everything, arguably even some walls like other FPS games

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6

Because 343 don’t evaluate their weapons based on in-game performance and map presence, but rather based on raw numbers and TTK.

It’s one of the best anti-vehicle options in the game. And it can do it from crossmap.

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Ever since they buffed vehicles, even a Warthog can take tons of S7 shots

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What’s been the standard in earlier halo games? That’s probably a good place to start.

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but shock rifle ttk is awesome.

I mean, hasn’t s7 been considered a power weapon in every other game?

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I’m not saying the Shock Rifle has a bad TTK, I’m saying that for all intents and purposes, the SR is basically just a better sniper. The only worthwhile downside is that it needs 3 body shots instead of 2, which hardly matter if you’re getting headshots.

In terms of utility, the SR is a much more viable gun in the greater scope of things.

11

I mean, generally speaking, it’s only really a power weapon in two scenarios.

1: Someone has REALLY good aim.
2: There is a vehicle on the map.

Otherwise, it’s extremely mid. It rewards precision and has a low-zoom scope, so… you really have to stay on target for way longer than any other weapon per squeeze. It’s REALLY tricky to do unless your target is stationary, but it absolutely deserves the headshot kill if you can get it.

But power weapons control the map - no matter the user’s skill. A Sniper rifle doesn’t require amazing aim to get a kill, you just need two body shots or a headshot.

With the Shock Rifle, you NEED a headshot to reasonably get a kill. It is extremely demanding.

12

I mean, it can be a beast in the right hands (usually not mine). Getting that one-shot is extremely satisfying, honestly more satisfying than sniper head shots. But I do think it really is in the perfect spot right now. In btb it spawns equally on both sides. In arena it is a contested weapon for anyone that has any confidence with it. It is on controlled respawn so it’s not going to be a bunch of shock rifle spam.

If you are not getting consistent head shots then it really is just a tickle rifle that gets you team shot very quickly.

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13

[Insert Mint Blitz Shock Rifle killstreak compilation]

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I have just taken to calling all tier two and power weapons “power weapons”.

I mean, that’s what they ARE, even if the game files and devs think otherwise. The shock rifle is a great example, it’s a one shot kill (I mean, if all 3 ticks hit in the shot). That’s always been a major guideline for what makes something a power weapon. The HMG turret and Cindershot are classified as power weapons but don’t get one shot kills.

So, it’s just not that cut and dried, and frankly the difference is just semantics. I made a video about how power weapon classifications work in all the games a while back.

Everything in this game is good anyway. Really the sandbox is more balanced than any other Halo, nothing feels useless or underpowered (except the plasma pistol, and really that’s mainly because of desync).

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I can’t link videos but if you search “Halo in depth power weapon analysis” on YouTube I made a video all about it pre-infinite.

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Bingo.

I have mixed takes on Mint Blitz, not a big fan of theirs, but their aim is extremely solid.

Granted, when you’re clubbing people below your skill, anyone can aim that good.

Let’s be real, the Pulse Carbine doesn’t feel great either, but that could very well be changing soon.

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This right here. I dunno why it’s more satisfying to get a perf with the shock rifle but not the sniper.

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Until a Spartan level bot gets ahold of one, then it’s a legitimate threat

19

Pfft, yeah, no kidding.

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I’ll give it a look. Thanks.

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