I gotta say, I’m sick and tired of Ragnorok. I enjoy BTB and play it a great deal, but this one map, which people STILL vote for, really can take all the fun out of it. There are just a few factors which make it really unplayable.
The Mantis: Could the machine gun on this thing be any more useless? It’s basically a close-range vehicle, on a huge map, where only its missiles can hurt anything past 10 yards. I for one would love to go back to the days where there were dual scorpions or wraiths.
Sniping while stealthed: I’ve been seeing this more and more. And with the ordinance of snipers, there can literally be 3+ people on one team doing this at once. Makes leaving cover even more of a death sentence.
The reign of the DMR: That’s all this map has devolved to in BTB, giant 8v8 DMR battles where people just duck behind cover when under fire. They can plow down ghosts, warthogs, mantises, you name it.
Especially with everyone having plasma pistols and plasma grenades, vehicles are even more useless than they could be.
I wish there could be an easy fix for all this, but in its current state, it’s simply not fun. Maybe if vehicles got a durability boost and maybe the mantis got slightly buffed, it could go back to where vehicles were a priority and fun, instead of what it is now.
I still find the map to be just as fun, who cares about all that little stuff? It’s just putting weapons and AAs to good use. As for the mantis: I agree the chaingun needs a tiny bit of a buff or something, but a good pilot would be able to get up close and personal anyways, and that pilot would make sure to stay somewhat close to the team in case he/she got EMPed. That also applies to people who pilot the banshee and ghost.
Hey, no one wanted Camo taken out as this is reflected by 343’s insistence on bringing back for Halo 4. So now we have to needlessly adapt around something that shouldn’t be put on spawn…AGAIN.
Camo should always be a power up; something to earn. At this point, i rather have it as a POD than an AA on spawn.
I think this may be the first time i have saw a Mantis complaint about it being took weak on Waypoint. I am usually see players -Yoinking!- about getting theirs stolen and getting owned by it. I have had only one chance to use the Mantis fully without being EMP by teammates, so i can’t offer much here.
The DMR being very good in BTB is not surprising as it’s good in about almost every playlist that it can be used in.
I agree that all vehicles need a durability buff. Right now, going into the Banshee in Ragnarok is a death sentence. Banshees and Warthogs are about as durable as paper right now, and you get so much more attention in them than just being on foot.
You’re right that the Mantis isn’t a long-range vehicle, but that’s okay. It’s almost purely a defensive vehicle, meant to hold down a certain area of the battlefield. If you’re crossing the hill in the middle of Ragnarok in your Mantis, you’re not helping your team. When used properly, the Mantis can be a very important piece on the field. Make it your goal to give suppressive fire to your teammates and keep them safe from vehicles, and you’ll go a long way to ensuring your team’s victory. Let your Banshee and Ghosts go on the offensive, you just stay on your side of the hill and defend your turf. The Mantis is less about kills and more about defense, intimidation and presence.
But the fact that anyone can start with a plasma pistol does put all vehicles at a disadvantage. I remember the days of Halo 2 where if you didn’t have a rocket launcher, brute shot, or a lot of plasma grenades, you had to stay clear of vehicles until you had an opportunity to hijack them.
> Hey, no one wanted Camo taken out as this is reflected by 343’s insistence on bringing back for Halo 4. So now we have to needlessly adapt around something that shouldn’t be put on spawn…AGAIN.
>
> <mark>Camo should always be a power up; something to earn. At this point, i rather have it as a POD than an AA on spawn.</mark>
> I remember the days of Halo 2 where if you didn’t have a rocket launcher, brute shot, or a lot of plasma grenades, you had to stay clear of vehicles until you had an opportunity to hijack them.
I kind of wish this was still true at least to an extent. All vehicles seem to be giant shoot me targets in this game. Only the gauss, tank, and wraith seem to be able to actually scare people off.
I really dislike the giant red indicators on the mini-map, again it’s just a giant give-away and points out if anyone on the opposing team even thinks of trying to use a vehicle.
The vehicles in btb should be used more for defense the anything. If you stay in the back of the map with a Mantis, you can survive for a really long time. Same with a banshee, just stay near/behind that tower structure in the middle of your team’s base.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg! That map is so -Yoinking!- ridiculous I can bare explain all of it, and like you said, EVERYBODY votes for it, at least all the eight-year-old kids from Reach. I think Mantis’ should be replaced with Scorpions (vice verso on Exile). And even worse is Ragnarok CTF. I cannot describe the rage I experience on that. I usually quit when I see Ragnarok on the voting, but now and then I try it out again thinking maybe I was just having a bad day, but no. That map is so -Yoinking!- broken.
Vehicles are more balanced now then they have ever been in the past. They just feel weak because in older Halos they were way overpowered. In Halo 3, my buddy and I could completely dominate Standoff BTB with just a Warthog. I have games were I went like 37-2 with nothing but the chain gun. That was a blast for me, but I think its safe to say that the infantry on the other team were not having any fun.
Reach overcompensated for this by making all the vehicles extremely weak.
Halo 4 has found a sweet spot. You can still get big sprees with vehicles (check Naked Eli’s channel) its just harder than it used to be because the infantry isn’t helpless anymore.
Ragnarok is fun the way it is and the Mantis does not need a buff. Considering how versatile it is, the Mantis is remarkably well balanced.
I couldn’t agree more with you. For me, Valhalla now is totally spoiled by DMRs and people sniping at their bases with camouflage. God, I liked that map, wasn’t my favorite, but still was a good one.
So far as Ragnarok is concerned, I have never had problems with the Banshee. I seem to do very well with it. You most certainly can’t fly around all willy-nilly anymore like I remember people doing in Reach.
My tactic is usually to hang back behind my teams base/spire or behind the giant rocks in the center of the map and boost in, kill somebody, and boost out. I typically get at least a killing spree when I get the banshee unless I run into a Spartan Laser.
As for the Mantis, I have had no luck with it. I just assume it is because I am awful with it. I know I get killed by it plenty.
I think a lot of people finally get to use the Mantis or Banshee and think they should be invincible. Come on, if that were the case people would be complaining about vehicles being too powerful.
Because the Ghost is a 21 DMR shot kill
Because flinch is so tiny and irrelevant it effects your aim as much as bloom does when your target is 10 feet away
Because the Mantis is only good for 5 shot rocket barrages
Because DMRs just rape at every range every time
Because Ragnarok has atrocious sight lines where you can see half the map from any given point and sit back there with your baby sniper.
Because somehow if you get shot and decide ‘i gotta get out of here and fight another day!’ you SLOW DOWN when you are getting shot.
Because somehow DMRs have become the premier anti tank weapon
Because Spartan Armor cannot withstand 3 rifle rounds
Oh, and concerning Camo in general…
They definitely need to tweak it somehow. Perhaps a shorter use time. I can’t remember how many times people will run right past me.
I like the idea of a camo function in multiplayer but this does seem rather unbalanced with the other abilities.
> > Hey, no one wanted Camo taken out as this is reflected by 343’s insistence on bringing back for Halo 4. So now we have to needlessly adapt around something that shouldn’t be put on spawn…AGAIN.
> >
> > <mark>Camo should always be a power up; something to earn. At this point, i rather have it as a POD than an AA on spawn.</mark>
