The vehicle situation in Infinity Slayer reminds me a bit of phase 3 of Invasion, only all the time.
Halo |OT12| Last One Out, Get the Lights
- Thread starter The Librarian
- Start date
The vehicle situation in Infinity Slayer reminds me a bit of phase 3 of Invasion, only all the time.
Even if Plasma Pistol were to be removed from loadouts vehicles wouldn't last much longer. Personal ordinance allows people to get Spartan Lasers and other anti vehicle weapons beamed directly to them. This is compounded by sniper weapons still doing significant damage to vehicles.
I liked Reach a lot but that was a bad decision, it makes the already useful Sniper Rifle a dominant force.
I liked Reach a lot but that was a bad decision, it makes the already useful Sniper Rifle a dominant force.
Steelyuhas
Member
Disagree, I think the Wraith is fine, it's been balanced pretty well. The Gauss Hog and the Scorpion are and always have been OP as shit with their insta-death cannons across the entire map.
NullPointer
Member
Same. I just don't charge down the middle really and stay away from the Mantis. Stay mobile and strike where the enemy is weak.
Orochinagis
Member
It a miracle if the warthog survives more than 2 minutes in a BTB that or the other team didnt have the chance to call a decent ordinance.
BTW, Random pic
The Gauss changes (the rate of fire being slowed down like it has) are probably more successful in toning that vehicle down, especially against multiple players, than the Scorpion, though it still has absolutely no business being in matchmaking. The Scorpion changes are completely laughable when you take into account that the only map it's on is relatively small for that player count and can be fired across with ease.
It's just funny, some folks were convinced that slowing the shots down slightly and making them drop a hair were going to balance that thing for general play. If you actually slowed the shots and made them drop to the degree that it was balanced, you might as well just color the thing purple and call it a Wraith, because that's what you've created.
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
Gauss needs to be off BTB maps. Keep everything else though. The key with the vehicles is not to charge the middle, especially on Ragnarock. I can stay alive in a Ghost for a good long while by hanging by the base and picking people off on the outskirts of the map. It helps that the Ghost is super agile when under the control of a good driver though.
Haha, reminds me of that Paula Deen meme image "Butter is everything".
Hydranockz
Member
Sorry, I meant OP in relation to previous iterations of the Wraith. It seems faster and not having a 'blindside' up front where the shots can't reach makes sprinting up to board one very tricky.
Steelyuhas
Member
Oh, I would still disagree. Anytime so far I've gotten in a Wraith or someone else has in a War Games match I've been in, the Wraith is destroyed in 10 seconds.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
That's not what I've seen. Vehicles usually have a pretty decent run from my experience. If anything, I'd say vehicles are too powerful (Edit : Maybe "too dominant" is the better way to put it). There are none I want to see nerfed, but I'd really like to have less in matchmaking (especially on Ragnarok, and on any map in Dominion).
Steelyuhas
Member
Ragnarok seems to be the exception in my experience, vehicles everywhere, getting shit on by the banshee. Fun™
The Lamonster
Member
A couple missed opportunities in Halo 4's campaign: we never had a chance to fight the sentinels and I don't believe there are any scorpion-centric scenes and I'm not even sure there are any scorpions in the campaign...
Also, why no brutes? They were fun to fight and why include the gravity hammer with no one to wield it?
Also, why no brutes? They were fun to fight and why include the gravity hammer with no one to wield it?
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Uh, right before the Mantis stuff, my nigga >_>
There are two Scorpion sections, one right before the first Mantis sequence, and one on...dunno what level. Reclaimer? Not sure. I found the first redundant and the second a shallow replay of the ending battle on The Ark, complete with call outs to advance to the next tier of Wraiths.
bobs...onGaf
Member
Bungie guys are really rubbing it in by throwing up videos for older Halo multiplayer. 
Halo 2 anniversary Multiplayer needs to happen. Make it like Counter Strike Go but dont even bother polishing it that much. Just port it over, maybe get someone to do a cheap gfx update on it and maybe patch the glitches and put it on the XBLA markerplace as a multiplayer only game. Go for the cheapest route possible to cut costs.
If the netcode held up well back then surely with everyone having better network technology now it will still hold up well? Im guessing the smaller sandbox/ cheaper in game resources mean the game is less prone to lag? Im no network engineer but I imagine a game like Halo 2 wont require half as much work on netcode as a game like Halo 4 does. Is a straight port possible there?
I guess with Halo CEA they didnt want to split the userbase and so on... but theres no need to even waste money marketing it too much, just put it out as a treat for the hardcore fans. Market it in that way and make it clear its not supposed to graphically beautiful or add anything new, be bold and proclaim it as a game for the nostalgic, it will still recoup its costs if its made cheap enough.
Its never going to happen.
Halo 2 anniversary Multiplayer needs to happen. Make it like Counter Strike Go but dont even bother polishing it that much. Just port it over, maybe get someone to do a cheap gfx update on it and maybe patch the glitches and put it on the XBLA markerplace as a multiplayer only game. Go for the cheapest route possible to cut costs.
If the netcode held up well back then surely with everyone having better network technology now it will still hold up well? Im guessing the smaller sandbox/ cheaper in game resources mean the game is less prone to lag? Im no network engineer but I imagine a game like Halo 2 wont require half as much work on netcode as a game like Halo 4 does. Is a straight port possible there?
I guess with Halo CEA they didnt want to split the userbase and so on... but theres no need to even waste money marketing it too much, just put it out as a treat for the hardcore fans. Market it in that way and make it clear its not supposed to graphically beautiful or add anything new, be bold and proclaim it as a game for the nostalgic, it will still recoup its costs if its made cheap enough.
Its never going to happen.
YourExWife
Member
Right. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you didn't play the campaign.
In other news, we just had a massive Thanksgiving feast at work and there was enough food to feed at least three SR 130s. I AM SO FULL.
The Lamonster
Member
haha, pretty sure I played that level on co-op and too late at night. Thanks for the responses. Definitely need to do another campaign run.
xxxstylzxxx
Member
Even with PP loadouts vehicles still play a pivotal role in BTB. Gone are the days of Hog killing sprees on Standoff and "Ramboesque" Banshee blitzkriegs in Reach but with enough of a tactical approach, map awareness and some semblance of teamwork a fair amount of kills can be had. In Halo 4 they seem to be less of a dominant force and more of an extension of the weapon sandbox requiring a bit more effort to utilize effectively without matches devolving into a game of "heavies". It may not resemble the large scale mayhem that many have become accustomed to but I for one prefer it that way.
Aside from the inclusion of the Gauss Hog, I think 343 did an excellent job with the vehicle balance in Halo 4. They still provide a significant advantage but if a player manages to get careless or stuck with a piss poor driver they won't last too long. I'll take that over running for my life from a flying tank in Reach for 10+ minutes any day.
A prime example is the Mantis on Ragnarok. In IS BTB it's effective in the hands of a skilled player without being OP'd in any way while being fun as all hell to take down. CTF on other hand is a problem. One that I hope is addressed soon because I think the map itself can work for that particular gametype.
Aside from the inclusion of the Gauss Hog, I think 343 did an excellent job with the vehicle balance in Halo 4. They still provide a significant advantage but if a player manages to get careless or stuck with a piss poor driver they won't last too long. I'll take that over running for my life from a flying tank in Reach for 10+ minutes any day.
A prime example is the Mantis on Ragnarok. In IS BTB it's effective in the hands of a skilled player without being OP'd in any way while being fun as all hell to take down. CTF on other hand is a problem. One that I hope is addressed soon because I think the map itself can work for that particular gametype.
I just replayed the first level of Halo 2 on Legendary, mostly for reference. It was admittedly fun, but there were way too many Elites, and the level design was poor (dated). If you didn't noob combo, you weren't going anywhere in that level. If you were not behind cover, you were dead. And fuck Drones, they will never be anything other than the worst enemy in any Halo campaign.
Just from that level, I much prefer Halo 4's campaign.
Just from that level, I much prefer Halo 4's campaign.
If you are going to play through a campaign for design purposes, play through on Heroic. Mostly because that's what the encounters were designed for. There's a good amount of Elites, and Jackal snipers aren't insta-kills.
I never understand people going through previous games to compare the toughest difficulty, because each game uses a different approach to making the enemies incredibly tough. Halo 2 and Reach it made the enemy AI ridiculous. Halo 4 throws large amounts of OHK enemies at you. Halo CE, Halo 3, and ODST made the enemies a bit more durable, and threw a few higher ranking opponents at you.(IMO perfect)
NullPointer
Member
So agreed. The reliance upon one-hit-kill weapons to add difficulty is cheap, cheap, cheap. It doesn't lead to more interesting battles, it leads to caution and relying upon a very small set of high burst damage moves.
If anything Legendary should be more resilient enemies that are more aggressive and coordinate better.
Bungie guys are really rubbing it in by throwing up videos for older Halo multiplayer.
Halo 2 anniversary Multiplayer needs to happen. Make it like Counter Strike Go but dont even bother polishing it that much. Just port it over, maybe get someone to do a cheap gfx update on it and maybe patch the glitches and put it on the XBLA markerplace as a multiplayer only game. Go for the cheapest route possible to cut costs.
Crazy wish that will never happen: MS open sourcing the Halo PC engine and sponsoring a community competition for making cool things with it
Semi relevant, Yu visited the Modacity forums a while ago and everyone posted all the great stuff they were able to do with HPC and then nothing ever came of it
I played through Halo 4 on Legendary, I'm going to play through Halo 2 on Legendary. Heroic runs can come later and I will tune my opinions to that level of play as necessary. That still doesn't change the level design, and the only part I was particularly impressed with was the outer-space MAC cannon encounter with three space chickens. It's only Cairo Station, so I'm only evaluating Cairo Station.
And Drones always suck.
No pop-ins + great framerate is amazing though. Halo never was so smooth.
GrimBrother One
Member
Been away too long. Missed you guys.
You mean the playlists with BTB SMG starts? lol
I can't wait for the Halo 2 remake with Live compatibility, and then hear all of you bitch and moan about how OP the PP combo is or the other 5,000 things wrong with that game, christ.
Valhalla works fine in Halo 4 too, I'd really like to get a copy of the game some of you are playing, because it's really night and day for me.
xxxstylzxxx
Member
Same. Flaws and all this game is damned fun.
The Infinity Slayer BTB game I played on it last night wasn't very fun. The entire center of the map is a death trap now, so everyone sticks to the peremeter. I spent 100% of the game either on cave side (I had the base by the waterfalls) or over by bubble, in protracted DMR fights with guys in the choke point above their base. Vehicles got toasted in around 10 seconds of becoming active. Once, our team pushed through to the other side and got in a long DMR fight with guys in the base. Then we got pushed back and spent the rest of the game in these long ping fests.
The middle is a deathtrap in the same way the center of Hemohrrage was. Other than one or two short lived vehicle runs and our one brief push, I never saw a member of the other team cross the middle of the map, because we were engaging from such long distances. It was....really boring.
I've only played a few games on it. But I'm wondering, what are the other ways to play it?
Ragnarok works for me as well.
No it isn't, unless you get outflanked. If that happens, it should become a death trap.
No it isn't, unless you get outflanked. If that happens, it should become a death trap.
squidhands
Member
Remove the horn of the FOTUS, and you'd be pretty close.
Since I wasn't following the outside the game fiction, I thought
Reclaimer was more like The One, a title for a specific person and not a race as a whole. Guess I never paid close enough attention to that, heh. I'm so used to that trope used elsewhere that it doesn't bother me to see it used here, in a format that to me has had consistently lackluster writing.
Every game I've played has still revolved around fighting for the top of the hill and pushing past it with vehicles. I regularly see my teammates push up to the tree side cannon landing with a Mantis while we engage from the hill or Pelican, it feels exactly like Valhalla in Halo 3. The map was never dominated by vehicles to begin with, there's far too much cover and uneven terrain for that to happen.
NullPointer
Member
In general, what we do is secure the turret side or pelican side with infantry and then use vehicles to flank the enemy from the sides and break up their positions. If you can get the enemy formation to break you then quickly move to take their positions.
The best case scenario for us is a strong infantry position on the hills, or strong to one flank and weak to the other, with a Mantis to support both and ghosts/banshees swooping around from the sides to keep the other side off balance. That's checkmate right there but it takes a good amount of work to keep that going.
If one team had a Warthog up and they had the laser, that was domination.
ElzarTheBam
Member
Legendary is the new heroic.
The Lamonster
Member
I'm obviously missing something. If Promethians are Forerunners why are they called Promethians? For example, I thought the light rifle was a Promethian weapon but I've also seen it referred to as a Forerunner weapon.
Prometheans were the warrior-class Forerunners. Just like Spartans are warrior-class humans. It's a designation.
The line becomes strained a bit, I suppose, when you have bio-material from other races to fuel your robo-machines.
Spartan ops was a bit surprising how they were reusing environments from the campaign and then reusing them again in other episodes but I have to say it is fucking fun. I think there is enough there for suspension of disbelief to kick in, mostly because I am really enjoying the combat.
It is mostly just waves of enemies but the enjoyment I am getting out of it really is miles ahead of firefight for me. I'm really sold on it to be honest.
The addition of load outs is adding to the variety of gameplay and the co-op side of things. I play with my dad and my brother. We all use totally different load outs which help us all have a seperate role to play in the game. Everyone kind of knows their roles. It's got my 63 year old dad exited about spartan points and armour as well.
Good stuff, thank you 343 for adding it.
Edit* also my dad is addicted to assassinating stuff.
It is mostly just waves of enemies but the enjoyment I am getting out of it really is miles ahead of firefight for me. I'm really sold on it to be honest.
The addition of load outs is adding to the variety of gameplay and the co-op side of things. I play with my dad and my brother. We all use totally different load outs which help us all have a seperate role to play in the game. Everyone kind of knows their roles. It's got my 63 year old dad exited about spartan points and armour as well.
Good stuff, thank you 343 for adding it.
Edit* also my dad is addicted to assassinating stuff.
I was never dominated by a Warthog on Valhalla, I've truly entered bizarro world.
I also don't understand the hate on SpOps reusing areas, did you guys honestly expect them to be able to crank out 5 new play spaces every single week?
NullPointer
Member
Yeah, loving Spartan Ops too, although mostly in co-op. My Spartan Ops loadout:
DMR
Magnum - for close range elite encounters, or to save DMR ammo when assaultingon grunts and jackals.
Frag Grenades - Get a nice bounce and its like a Bouncing Betty to take down a group of jackals/grunts and weaken the elites.
Hologram - so many tactical uses, and even more important when soloing.
Mobility - you will end up running back and forth a lot, so it helps.
Ammo - More ammo at spawn, more ammo in weapons you pick up. Works out great considering the number of enemies you tackle.
Orochinagis
Member
Yeah the center is a no man territory, reds camp the downed pelican while the blues camps the open area where the rocket launcher spawns. Sometimes the red camps the Open area and the center area then is a spawn killing fest when they get the binary rifles and take control of the downed pelican too. Mantis are camping in the caves areas while the banshees are afraid to fly in open space waiting in theirs bases.
Yea, that only took them what, 2 years?