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[op_ivy]

http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=weeklywhatsapril15th

and more

 

[op_ivy]

Wait a minute, what's this weapon balance issues!!??



WEAPONS CHANGES!

The scale of the autoupdate gave us a unique opportunity – a chance to implement balance changes on certain weapons to smooth out the Xbox Live and System Link experience, and in a couple of cases, we feel, subtly improving the overall feel of the game.

awesome. grenade fixes too sound really great. cant wait

EDIT, no plasma pistol tweaks? come on!

 

[GhaleonEB]

We posted at the same time, and mine has a better title...but you already bumped yours! : :lol :lol

I'm thrilled about the melee and grenade damage bumps. This will really make the combat better balanced.

Melee Damage

Melee damage has been increased across the board as a counter measure of sorts to close-up dual wielding. Jumping strikes are now much more powerful, often resulting in instant kills, while the general potency has been increased for normal melee attacks and the Brute Shot has been given a specific melee attack boost, in recognition of the fact that it has a huge scythe attached to it. This actually makes the Brute Shot a go-to weapon in a lot of new situations.

Examples of the increase in power include one-hit kills from many jumping strikes, two-hit kills from the Brute Shot melee attack, and far more power on torso and head strikes from all other weapons.

Awesome.

 

[radrelic]

YES! Melee and Grenades will actually have a purpose again! Hooray!!!!

BUNGIE HAVE MY BABIES!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Wario64]

Looks like I'm going back to Halo 2 starting Monday

 

[op_ivy]

We posted at the same time, and mine has a better title...but you already bumped yours! : :lol :lol

for the record, after posting mine, i went back to the front page, and yours still wasnt posted. i'm the winna!

i'm thrilled with the tweaks they have done. increaseing the effects of grenades is awesome, as is melee damage. toning down the smg/plasma rifle and human pistol in general i'm not so sure about yet though.

i still cant believe they didnt address the plasma pistol at all . at higher levels of play, the pp/battle rifle combo is sooo heavily exploited.

 

[FiRez]

seeing the changes of the gameplay they actually heard the halo2sucks.com guys and a lot of the community, I'm happy

More powerful grenades
More melee damage
Reduced magnum power
Reduce Plasma pistol tracking

 

[GhaleonEB]

for the record, after posting mine, i went back to the front page, and yours still wasnt posted. i'm the winna!

i'm thrilled with the tweaks they have done. increaseing the effects of grenades is awesome, as is melee damage. toning down the smg/plasma rifle and human pistol in general i'm not so sure about yet though.

i still cant believe they didnt address the plasma pistol at all . at higher levels of play, the pp/battle rifle combo is sooo heavily exploited.

For the record, I checked the front page right before hitting "post". I was robbed!!
:lol

It would have been nice if they had made the plasma pistol behave more like it did in the first game, but we (apparantly) can't have it all. But the melee and grenade changes....oh man I'm pumped. This addresses 90% of my complaints about the combat in Halo 2 - if you run into a guy who is dual wielding, and you are not, you're screwed. Now last ditch grenades can avenge your death and melee gives you a fighting chance. As it should be.

 

[Prine]

Looks like I'm going back to Halo 2 starting Monday

me too. So what about the Pussy combo? Any fixes?

Edit: What! No fixes! Cant be bothered, bungie suck

 

[Stinkles]

I would imagine that they would address the "pussy combo" in the next matchmaking update since it's an equipment issue, not a balance one...

 

[radrelic]

I would imagine that they would address the "pussy combo" in the next matchmaking update since it's an equipment issue, not a balance one...

More good news for the GAF clan, woohoo! :lol

 

[mas9055]

pussy combo?

 

[radrelic]

pussy combo?

Plasma Pistol + Battle Rifle

 

[mas9055]

Gotcha

 

[ToyMachine228]

Awesome! Now seriously, the only thing left to fix, is the Plasma Pistol/Battle Rifle combo. I can't wait! Stats reset and all. Nice!

 

[Prine]

I would imagine that they would address the "pussy combo" in the next matchmaking update since it's an equipment issue, not a balance one...

Brilliant, time to carry the GAF clan once again. You guys have been slippin, Cerrius especially.

Stop playin Future Perfect dude, its messing up your Halo skills

 

[Hero]

Maybe I'll start to like Halo 2 now.

 

[Brimstone]

We've fixed the tie resolution problems that automatically defaulted the red team as winner in a tie.

So if both teams now score on Zanzabar or Headlong and end up with the same score, the game is a draw now?

 

[duderon]

So if both teams now score on Zanzabar or Headlong and end up with the same score, the game is a draw now?

yes, and this autoupdate fucking rocks

 

[Brimstone]

The update does sound good. Increasing grenade damage should result in higher scoring games. Headlong and Zanzabar defenders better watch out for incomming grenades. It also good news for Coagulation where it's to easy to defend a base.

 

[GhaleonEB]

The update does sound good. Increasing grenade damage should result in higher scoring games. Headlong and Zanzabar defenders better watch out for incomming grenades. It also good news for Coagulation where it's to easy to defend a base.

One of the first things I thought of was Coag defense. Raining grenades down will be lethal now. Can't wait.

 

[Sp3eD]

Still don't know why they just dont' calculate tie winners on how much time it took to get the objective done compared to the other team. Much better way of handling that.

 

[op_ivy]

I would imagine that they would address the "pussy combo" in the next matchmaking update since it's an equipment issue, not a balance one...

arent you... in the know? <wink wink>

EDIT: nevermind

 

[radrelic]

arent you... in the know? <wink wink>

No, he's just some guy.


...

 

[op_ivy]

Brilliant, time to carry the GAF clan once again. You guys have been slippin, Cerrius especially.

Stop playin Future Perfect dude, its messing up your Halo skills

prine saying someone else is slipping!? :lol

 

[Great King Bowser]

Bit off topic; will playing Halo 2 online with a chipped XBox (Xecuter 2 lite - turned off) still result in a ban?

I wanna try Halo 2 online.

 

[Stinkles]

It'll boot you if it detects its modded. Same goes for hacked game saves.

 

[jkooXL]

All these changes don't apply to the still seriously broken single player campaign mode..


fuck you Bungie

 

[duderon]

All these changes don't apply to the still seriously broken single player campaign mode..


fuck you Bungie

multi >>>>>>>>>> single

sucks for you dude

 

[jkooXL]

yeah, it really does.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I was hoping that as a special case, the Needler would benefit from being fully loaded (with all of those spiky bits of ammo sticking outta them) so using it in melee would actually stick the victim with a random set of Needler hits as well as normal Needler melee damage. Of course, then you'd lose the ammo spent in such usage. It'd also make the Needler more effective in certain instances...since it's still not all that useful.

Oh and thank the Bungie gods that Halo 2 is getting fixed...finally.

Are the stats getting reset on Monday as well?

 

[GhaleonEB]

From over at HBO forums - Shishka works for Bungie...

Extra damage for Brute Shot melee = Awesome.

Not just the melee. Since the Brute Shot is considered a grenade, and grenades were globabally powered up...

It's no longer a throw away weapon.

-S

Better melee + more powerful grenades = good weapon. Yay! Always wanted that baby to be useful.

 

[BuddyC]

After the semester wraps up, Halo 2 and I need to spend some (more) quality time together.

 

[op_ivy]

From over at HBO forums - Shishka works for Bungie...



Better melee + more powerful grenades = good weapon. Yay! Always wanted that baby to be useful.

yeah, no kidding. such a bad ass looking weapon, cool idea, but man, it sucks right now

 

[LukeSmith]

look at everyone get back on the bandwagon

 

[GhaleonEB]

look at everyone get back on the bandwagon

I never got off it. The wagon is just getting an upgrade.

 

[DopeyFish]

I never got off it. The wagon is just getting an upgrade.

yeah. we just fell off. stupid broken wagons.

 

[FiRez]

Bit off topic; will playing Halo 2 online with a chipped XBox (Xecuter 2 lite - turned off) still result in a ban?

I wanna try Halo 2 online.

I use a X2.3 with a 4803 bios(it reboots the xbox if it try to connect to live with the mod on) around 4 months and no ban so far

 

[LordPhlegm]

About time. They should've done this from week two, after realizing how ridiculous some aspects of the game were.

Remind other companies to do cruddy jobs, and let the companies fix 'em later for good measure.

 

[FiRez]

All these changes don't apply to the still seriously broken single player campaign mode..
fuck you Bungie

I don't know the engine is the same in SP and MP, but if you bought H2 just for the SP :/, better get Halo 1 instead.

 

[GhaleonEB]

About time. They should've done this from week two, after realizing how ridiculous some aspects of the game were.

Remind other companies to do cruddy jobs, and let the companies fix 'em later for good measure.

There was lots about Halo 2 they nailed out of the box. Halo 2 is very complex, and the matchmaking/ranking system an aboslute beast - but I think it's brilliant.

What does bug me, though, is that these updates could have been staggered. Why not put out the ones that squashed the biggest cheats/exploits several months ago, and then do the other stuff later? I understand trying to do it all at once, but lots of folks (like you, for example) get pretty impatient.

I'm thrilled with the details - but they did take their sweet time rolling them out.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I don't know the engine is the same in SP and MP, but if you bought H2 just for the SP :/, better get Halo 1 instead.

I bought Halo 2 mostly for SP - and am impressed. Some stuff is much better in Halo, but Halo 2 is a great game on it's own.

 

[FiRez]

I bought Halo 2 mostly for SP - and am impressed. Some stuff is much better in Halo, but Halo 2 is a great game on it's own.

The game is good if you compare it with other FPS, but is the sequel of Halo for god's sake I played H:CE like 20 times and I can't stand H2 after the first time, But after all I love the MP so that's worth the 50$.

 

[GhaleonEB]

The game is good if you compare it with other FPS, but is the sequel of Halo for god's sake I played H:CE like 20 times and I can't stand H2 after the first time, But after all I love the MP so that's worth the 50$.

I admit I do come down in that camp as well; I played Halo - SP - on and off for two and a half years. Probably beat Legendary over 40 times (every level). I've beaten Halo 2 three times. I might do it again some day. As many is the hard-core Halo scene put it, Halo 2 SP is great, but not Great the way Halo is.

Thank God MP kicks so much booty. And will kick even more on Monday.

 

[Ramirez]

I dont understand this grenade power up business,anytime I didn't have full health and a grenade dropped down on me I died...plus I had no trouble killing people with 2 grenades.I'm confused on that matter,sweet news on melee though,it's practically worthless as it is now.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Great news. I was hoping they'd fix the shotgun :/ . Maybe next update. Otherwise, this should kick ass.

 

[Ramirez]

Im pretty sure the Shotgun isn't broken,it's just effected by lag the most of all the weapons...I play offline sometimes and the shotgun is fine.But it also seems that if you're playing with a bunch of Elites then it's very easy to kill with the shotty online,maybe they should make the Shotgun mode on the playlist turn everyone into Elites :lol

 

[FiRez]

I admit I do come down in that camp as well; I played Halo - SP - on and off for two and a half years. Probably beat Legendary over 40 times (every level). I've beaten Halo 2 three times. I might do it again some day. As many is the hard-core Halo scene put it, Halo 2 SP is great, but not Great the way Halo is.

Thank God MP kicks so much booty. And will kick even more on Monday.

I agree with that.

Iamtheganer: The shotgun issue is lag, I dont why it seems to affect only this weapon and the sword but AFAIK is just lag

Are these changes going to affect how the Campaign mode plays?
No. These are multiplayer-only changes. The Campaign doesn’t change as the community evolves, so it still plays as intended. Wait a second… is this some sort of dig about the ending?! Screw you, Frankie!

I'm intrigued that this changes will not affect the SP mode

-they say also that the game will have less auto-aim and the grenades will detonade faster.

I didn't expected this kind of changes on the gameplay, also they seem to accept that some Halo:CE didn't needed to be changed and they are trying to correct this I'm so excited if like the release of Halo 2 again

 

[Sai]

Are the new maps supposed to be available the same day as the AU?

 

[GhaleonEB]

I didn't expected this kind of changes on the gameplay, also they seem to accept that some Halo:CE didn't needed to be changed and they are trying to correct this I'm so excited if like the release of Halo 2 again

This is a classic example of, "If it ain't broke..." And combat in Halo CE was so not broken. Glad Bungie turned around on this. Since combat consists of melee, grenades and weapons, I basically considered two thirds of the combat in Halo 2 to be gimped - and it was STILL great.

Oh, and there's a very cool new 3D screen shot of one of the new maps up at Bungie.net. Those new landmines look wicked.

Are the new maps supposed to be available the same day as the AU?

Frankie said over in the HBO forum that he was "Still waiting on dates myself," when asked for the exact date the maps would release. I would say that makes it unlikely.

On a related note, Frankie said a week or two ago that the playlists would get an overhaul once the first two maps and auto-update were out.