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[Devin Olsen]

I don't really see how. All it does is limit the ways you can move around the map.

That said, I don't mind the implimentation. It's light enough that it doesn't prevent me from heading to the bottom of Sword Base from the top, but since it's there, I learn the timing of the crouch to eliminate or mitigate the damage. (Which is a differentiator between good and bad players; you've got to get the timing right.)

What I meant by this is your average casual gamer barely grasps the concept of fall damage (sorry to sound like an asshole). And they most certainly do not understand that crouching when you land, or aiming for a incline when you land will benefit you.

That being said if I am playing CTF on Sword Base against a group of casuals I will have a slight advantage in the fact that dropping down from the top balcony will not stun me or take off my shields, whereas the other team will be slamming into the ground and be stunned.

Those small things make a big difference in a game, and things like that do help separate skilled players for casual players. The same as a casual will mash right trigger without any understanding of the reticule bloom, where a skilled player will time their shots and get the head shot before the casual.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

I don't really see how. All it does is limit the ways you can move around the map.

That said, I don't mind the implimentation. It's light enough that it doesn't prevent me from heading to the bottom of Sword Base from the top, but since it's there, I learn the timing of the crouch to eliminate or mitigate the damage. (Which is a differentiator between good and bad players; you've got to get the timing right.)

I hate that idea that getting timing right with controller input is skillfull, the skill should come from the game itself, not from the controller. That being said I do think the fall damage adds skill, NJ Shlice's post demonstrates that well. Essentially you have to really think about where your going to land, and when your going to jump.

I have to admit im a fan of the fall damage, I love movement, but it does add a certain layer of strategy. I remember CTF games on Hang em High, where I would drop down with the flag and land in just the right way to survive and watch as the entire enemy team chasing me plummets to theyre death, lovely.

 

[Thagomizer]

You know, if the animation was cool enough, and I still had the flag in my hands afterwards, I might not mind so much. But as it is now, you drop the flag and do your normal assassination animation. Not cool.

There's a lot of opportunities for awesome animations. Ram the flag into the top of the spartan's skull, throw the body behind you like the Elites do.

 

[XenoRaven]

Anyone playing right now? I have the day off and I'm bored.

GT: XenoRaven

 

[Devin Olsen]

I hate that idea that getting timing right with controller input is skillfull, the skill should come from the game itself, not from the controller.

Not trying to start something here... But isn't 'timing it right with the controller' pretty much everything to do with video games?

 

[Man]

Anyone know how long this beta will last?

 

[Popeck]

Anyone have any rendered full matches of Invasion?

Not rendered per se, but here's a match: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSSjdevRHjs.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Not trying to start something here... But isn't 'timing it right with the controller' pretty much everything to do with video games?

Haha this is like opening a can of worms, and im nowhere near as 'in the know' as some people here, but I think that real skill in Halo comes from how you play, not how good you are at using the controller. Good players behave differently than poor players, and this has nothing to do with controller input. It may be pretentious to compare video games to chess, but chess is all about thinking a few steps ahead, the way you move the peice itself doesnt matter, I sort of think Halo is the same.

Clearly being able to use the controller efficiently is a barrier to entry, and the people who can fiddle with the analogue sticks better will win more, but the real skill comes from how you think in terms of the battlefield, not how you control the character. So with fall damage, the skill comes from knowing when to use that mechanic to your advanage, and when to take advantage of stunned enemies, not from the timing on the crouch button.

I guess dance dance revolution and guitar hero style games are all about timing controller input, but an expert at using the controller could be aweful at Halo if he just doesnt 'think' the right way.

 

[Jinjo]

So I uploaded my first killtacular ever to my fileshare, but would someone be so kind to render it for me? I want to keep this film forever.:lol

It's here (19 seconds iirc).

Also, shouldn't this have been an extermination medal since I killed every enemy on the opposing team?

 

[squidhands]

I was wondering if you could Spitroast someone with the flag. :lol

If it imitated the Elite-to-Spartan assassination by knocking him down and stabbing him in the back with the flagpole, it would probably be the best one ever (of the one's I've seen so far).

 

[Ramirez]

Crosshair bloom isn't skillful, throw in latency, and it's completely random in most games, or at the very least lets one side get away with shooting their guns faster and more accurate.

Is there any chance that bloom could be an option to turn off for custom games?

 

[Subtervotion]

Crosshair bloom isn't skillful, throw in latency, and it's completely random in most games, or at the very least lets one side get away with shooting their guns faster and more accurate.

Is there any chance that bloom could be an option to turn off for custom games?

I think the crosshair bloom is what makes the DMR so much more skillful than the BR. Good work Bungie

 

[Mr.Green]

I think the crosshair bloom is what makes the DMR so much more skillful than the BR. Good work Bungie

Except that I'm pretty sure it's not intentional.

 

[Subtervotion]

Except that I'm pretty sure it's not intentional.

What makes you so sure of that? It's pretty obvious Bungie doesn't want people firing off round after round with no penalty. Timing your shots is a little more essential now. IMO.

 

[Thagomizer]

Except that I'm pretty sure it's not intentional.

What?

 

[Ramirez]

I think the crosshair bloom is what makes the DMR so much more skillful than the BR. Good work Bungie

Yes, because it no longer comes down to ones aim or movement, it's about hoping you waited long enough for your shot to land. Throw out the skill thing, this mechanic isn't fun at all, but whatever floats your guys boat I guess.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Crosshair bloom isn't skillful, throw in latency, and it's completely random in most games, or at the very least lets one side get away with shooting their guns faster and more accurate.

Is there any chance that bloom could be an option to turn off for custom games?

The montages were people spam the Pistol trigger and get lucky with the bloom are already hitting Bungie.net's comm chatter:

http://www.bungie.net/News/Blog.aspx?mode=news#cid26353

=(

 

[Subtervotion]

Yes, because it no longer comes down to ones aim or movement, it's about hoping you waited long enough for your shot to land. Throw out the skill thing, this mechanic isn't fun at all, but whatever floats your guys boat I guess.

We have a difference of opinion then. I think being mindful, and not spamming your trigger is skillful. Oh and aim and movement are still factors, reticule bloom just adds to it.

 

[Nutter]

For me, Halo has not always been about multiplayer. That was ALWAYS secondary. The flow of quick FPS combat and vehicle action against the most fun AI enemies in any game I've ever played are what Halo was always about.

A lot of the people here didn't start out with CE, and some only started with Halo 3, and while there's nothing wrong with that, these people need to keep an open mind and remember that not all Halo fans are Super Duper MLG Players who's idea of fun is an all BR battle on Midship.


My bad, I just skimmed the post like a tard.

I just wanted to laugh at this post a bit. :lol :lol

So you are saying the BR loving people from Halo 3 started playing Halo with Halo 3? :lol

We have a difference of opinion then. I think being mindful, and not spamming your trigger is skillful. Oh and aim and movement are still factors, reticule bloom just adds to it.

So in the time you carefully aim and respect the bloom to land 5 shots, the other opposing person can shoot you 2 times with any weapon, and throw a grenade and kill you ?

Cool Skill Bro.

 

[Mr.Green]

What makes you so sure of that? It's pretty obvious Bungie doesn't want people firing off round after round with no penalty. Timing your shots is a little more essential now. IMO.

Well I can't access Bungie.net from work but didn't they mention something about placeholder reticles regarding the bloom effect in their latest update?

 

[Subtervotion]

Well I can't access Bungie.net from work but didn't they mention something about placeholder reticles regarding the bloom effect in their latest update?

Placeholder reticule art or not, they still meant for reticule bloom to be in the game.

 

[Miggytronz]

The montages were people spam the Pistol trigger and get lucky with the bloom are already hitting Bungie.net's comm chatter:

http://www.bungie.net/News/Blog.aspx?mode=news#cid26353

=(

wow

 

[bobs...onGaf]

We have a difference of opinion then. I think being mindful, and not spamming your trigger is skillful. Oh and aim and movement are still factors, reticule bloom just adds to it.

The trouble is, as you can see on the montages on Bnet's comm chatter, people can get very lucky by spamming the trigger. Theres also the argument that getting fun skillful multikills with the DMR is near impossible with the RoF the Bloom imposes.

Theres a fine line between tactical play which is fun, and tactical play which is dull, bloom adds more skill but it doesnt make the game more fun. No one can ever use the bloom is fun card, bloom is only there to add balance, and thats an important distinction to make.

 

[Ramirez]

We have a difference of opinion then. I think being mindful, and not spamming your trigger is skillful. Oh and aim and movement are still factors, reticule bloom just adds to it.

Hey, it'd be a great system if it was actually reliable. Sometimes I can get the bloom to work, other times it doesn't matter how much I wait, the guy isn't going to die. Of course this is all probably latency based, but it just seems silly to add something like that in when the host already has an advantage to begin with.

I also love the fact that we were given hitscan weapons, but then something worse than the BR spread in 3 was tacked on to it.

LoL, that montage is against some really good players. Where do I find these games where people just stand still the entire time they're shooting? Also, the sniper is way too easy to get no scopes with, I got like 5 in one game last night. :|

 

[Mr.Green]

Placeholder reticule art or not, they still meant for reticule bloom to be in the game.

Argh. Maybe. Can someone did that update, please?

The reticle bloom has been a constant complaint in the beta and they said they were addressing it, but I'm not sure how.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Argh. Maybe. Can someone did that update, please?

The reticle bloom has been a constant complaint in the beta and they said they were addressing it, but I'm not sure how.

I think bloom is here too stay, theyre addressing the problem that the reticule is hard to see.

I do think though that they should get rid of concept that crouching negates bloom, I just dont understand the decision behind that. If theyre going to make us adapt to bloom, dont give campers a get out of jail free card.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Let me get this straight, learning to time a stick press (crouch) to mitigate fall damage is the sign of a skilled player - but knowing when, where and how you will receive the fall damage is not?

Fall damage means you need to know which locations will cause you to get hurt if you fall from them. That's knowledge. (I also know head shots kill, but that doesn't mean I'll land them.) Enabling a way to avoid said fall damage with careful timing of a crouch is a skill. So, yes. But it's not a hard skill by any stretch.

I don't think fall damage in Reach is a very big issue either way. It is my strong preference that there not be fall damage in Reach, because I think encouraging the kind of vertical map movement that Halo 2 and Halo 3 had is a good thing. But the fall damage is both nerfed to the point where it's not a major factor, and also adds a way for people to avoid it altogether for all but the most precipitous heights. So most of the time, it's a non-factor anyways. I think the stun on falling is a much bigger issue, but never mind.

It's part of a theme in Reach: layers have been added to Halo's core gameplay mechanics, the idea seemingly that that will add depth to the gameplay. To wit:

• Fall damage is back, a method added to mitigate it, and a stun upon falling added
• Targeting reticule bloom
• Crouching increases firing accuracy
• The shield/health delimiter
• Turrets overheat
• Motion sensor tilted to show elevation

I might be missing some. On paper, they add up to more nuanced gameplay, where the people who master these systems will do better than those who don't. It will further differentiate skilled players from unskilled. I think that approach is a good one. And they might yet work as planned in the shipping game to accomplish that. Right now all that nuance is for naught because player movement and grenade efficacy undermine them. Removing the double-mêlée, adjusting grenade strength, and other changes they're working on for ship could go a long ways. But I'm concerned that the underlying changes to player movement - mostly jump height and player momentum - will continue to make firefights much less interesting and more predictable than they have been in the past.

And with that, I'm done with the subject until the Beta is over.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

I am not understanding this discussion about reticule bloom at all right now.

Bungie stated early on that the reticule bloom is just showing information that was already present just never shown to the player, so it isn't like the BR never had a spread or anything it just wasn't shown to you.

You guys really are just arguing something that was always present just not visibly shown. :lol

 

[squidhands]

Argh. Maybe. Can someone did that update, please?

The reticle bloom has been a constant complaint in the beta and they said they were addressing it, but I'm not sure how.

Whoa, what's up with those reticles, Candland? Kinda hard to make out, aren't they?

Yup, if you were wondering if you need to calibrate your television set you can stop fiddling with the levers and knobs, it's not just you. But it's not Candland, either. When I asked him about the thin and transparent optics on display Candland threw design straight under the bus.

Turns out our UI team didn't have much to do with the current reticles in question. Instead, they're what Candland calls, "Designer Art." They're just placeholder.

Fixed for fall.

Link

 

[Shake Appeal]

The montages were people spam the Pistol trigger and get lucky with the bloom are already hitting Bungie.net's comm chatter:

http://www.bungie.net/News/Blog.aspx?mode=news#cid26353

=(

What? :lol

Every pistol kill in that montage is legit.

 

[Ramirez]

I am not understanding this discussion about reticule bloom at all right now.

Bungie stated early on that the reticule bloom is just showing information that was already present just never shown to the player, so it isn't like the BR never had a spread or anything it just wasn't shown to you.

You guys really are just arguing something that was always present just not visibly shown. :lol

If you honestly believe that the past games had bloom this severe, then yea, there's no hope for you.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

I am not understanding this discussion about reticule bloom at all right now.

Bungie stated early on that the reticule bloom is just showing information that was already present just never shown to the player, so it isn't like the BR never had a spread or anything it just wasn't shown to you.

You guys really are just arguing something that was always present just not visibly shown. :lol

Do you really believe that?

It seems pretty clear to me that the bloom is a lot more over the top than anyone expected when it was first announced. The BR spread was really minimal, and your first shot always landed directly on target. Bloom is a visual representation of a new system they encoded specifically for Reach, its not a visual represenation of the minimal spread from Halo 3.

 

[feel]

Im sure ive come across the same thing, ive been given random medals that are totally unrelated with that I did at times.

I love getting the opportunist medal after 5shoting someone.. wtf :lol

 

[bobs...onGaf]

What? :lol

Every pistol kill in that montage is legit.

What, look at how fast hes spamming that trigger, now go emulate that in Reach, your reticule will be crazy! He doesnt give any pause at all between shots, and even in the video clips he slowed down, his pistol if firing like a fully automatic weapon. Infact its so bad his pistol still fires twice after his opponent is dead, the guy has no control. Just look at the 'gunfire flame effect' coming from the barrel.

He has nice snipes, and a decent DMR, but every time he whips out his pistol the gameplay turns to shit, yet he still gets the kills.

Letters, that picture is amazing. :lol

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

If you honestly believe that the past games had bloom this severe, then yea, there's no hope for you.

I am not saying the it had bloom this severe but it did have it to some degree.

I don't see the big deal and why this is an ongoing argument in this thread. The only thing that I see needing to be changed with the bloom is the consistency of it because really there are time when I spam the pistol out of fear and I shouldn't get the kill for it but I do. :lol

It just seems like people are arguing for skill/lack of skill when really it is just a different kind of skill that is required in Reach when compared to the previous iterations in the franchise.

 

[electricpirate]

After all the insanity about invasion that was going on here when it dropped, I wanted to really get a taste of it before posting any thoughts. I'd just like to say, I really do like it, but it could become something unbelievable with a few tweaks. I'm going to focus on standard invasion here, because I've only played about 3 games of invasion slayer so far, so I'll reserve comments there.

Phase 1:

I'm going to go way against the grain here, and say that bungie made the right call with no Nerfle loadout. I can imagine a Nerfle Loadout just resulting in 5 of the elites staying back and trying to beat the spartans in a shootout. Nerfles on Map is a great way to balance this, but their location needs to be more apparent, so a few elites can pick them up, and give support to their battle bro from range. As is, I almost never see anyone picking them up.

Phase one is probably my favorite from both sides, as I really enjoying making that run under heavy fire into the base, watching my Battle Bro go down, and spawning him.

I also like the layout a lot, there are 4 stairs into the base underside, and 3 entrances to the top side for the elites. There's a lot of opportunity for misdirection.

Spawn camping needs to be addressed though, lots of good ideas on this forum already, so I won't add any.

Motivation for the spartans at this stage is weird though, sometimes I'll let the elites cap it because I'm having so much fun. and don't want it to end. :lol :lol I'm sure in the final version, with team switching it will be better.

Spawning

Spawning on your bro is one of the greatest mechanics in the history of mechanics, as long as your battle bro is someone you can communicate with. It makes you value life a lot more, it opens up new stragies (one BB be invis with a nerfle, give support and back out when things go bad) and it speeds up the game. It needs some tweaks though, especially more feedback about what is preventing your bro from spawning back in, so the BB knows which way to go. Seriously, don't ditch this system, just fix the glitches and feedback Bungie.

Default spawns for elites are wayyyyyy too far away though, especially in tier 3. Spartan's crazy spawn room is too close at the end.

Phase 2

Probably my favorite phase, good objectives, good layout (love the top window over the core cap point). The vehicles are good, without being too crazy here, and without a hojillion counters. Ghost, hog and wraith all fit, and feel really good, spartans have limited Vehicle counters, as do the elites, forcing some preservation of resources. Spawn camping can be an issue for elites again though, as they don't have a nifty one way shield to protect them, and the distance at this stage is just damn frustrating.

stage 3

I won't re-enumerate all the issues with vehicles in stage 3, but I have some slightly different solutions than other people. I don't think the Pro Pipe should be removed from the loadout list, but it should be really limited. Like, no armor ability, or only get two shots and no secondary limited.

EMP blasts should also be less effective, so if you get tagged it's not "ohh, I'm dead already." Maybe require two EMP blasts, one to slow the thing down, and the second stops it cold.

Spartan's shouldn't have an super easy, filled with weapons spawn to stop the elites at the end, instead how about some mongeese to close the gap quickly?

Sword/Shotgun spawning is fine by me. They are only useful until the elites get the core in the open.

conclusion
The more I play Invasion the more I like it, just tighten up the load outs and vehicles on tier 3, get the spawns working as intended, and give some more info on where the weapons are for each tier and it will be something really special.

I can't wait for generator defense, and more invasion in the future, it's a mode with a ton of potential. I really love the way spartans and elites are balanced against each other, and the way it feels to blast away at the other species during epic charges, in tiers 1/2 it really feels like I'm playing co-op campaign against human players. Focus on that element, turn down the "HOLY SHIT WE NEED MORE SPLOSIONS" at the end.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

What, look at how fast hes spamming that trigger, now go emulate that in Reach, your reticule will be crazy! He doesnt give any pause at all between shots, and even in the video clips he slowed down his pistol if firing like a fully automatic weapon. Infact its so bad his pistol still fires twice after his opponent is dead, the guy has no control. Just look at the 'gunfire flame effect' coming from the barrel.

Letters, that picture is amazing. :lol

You have to take the distance into account, the range between him and the enemy is what is making the kills legit and the bloom not be a huge factor.

I admit it is a weird design choice because when it comes down to it, it really favors players cutting the distance and getting in close to be successful in the game.

 

[Nutter]

Oh just for kicks, I have been able to kill someone with a Needle Rifle quicker then a DMR at the same distance with the opponent having full shields. By the time I am the 5th shot for the kill, either the person is running away or my 5th shot never comes. [i.e shoot head but never registers as a head shot] Needle Rifle though, shoot 3 shot bursts at a time with a brief cool down between your bursts and boom you will be getting a kill 90% of the time.
Basically the bloom on the NR is much much forgiving and recedes back to its normal reticule much quicker then the DMR.

 

[Ramirez]

I am not saying the it had bloom this severe but it did have it to some degree.

I don't see the big deal and why this is an ongoing argument in this thread. The only thing that I see needing to be changed with the bloom is the consistency of it because really there are time when I spam the pistol out of fear and I shouldn't get the kill for it but I do. :lol

It just seems like people are arguing for skill/lack of skill when really it is just a different kind of skill that is required in Reach when compared to the previous iterations in the franchise.

This is all people are mainly complaining about, it seems completely random, which results in broken gunplay.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

You have to take the distance into account, the range between him and the enemy is what is making the kills legit and the bloom not be a huge factor.

I admit it is a weird design choice because when it comes down to it, it really favors players cutting the distance and getting in close to be successful in the game.

See I wouldnt even mind if that was true, but if I spam my pistol at close range my shots will probably go over the guys shoulders. That being said I dont have much fun spamming, getting those headshots is too satisfying, but I guess if spamming is the way to win thats the tactic I will have to adopt. :lol

Its a sad day when spamming a precision weapon is considered legit gameplay.

 

[Shake Appeal]

What, look at how fast hes spamming that trigger, now go emulate that in Reach, your reticule will be crazy! He doesnt give any pause at all between shots, and even in the video clips he slowed down, his pistol if firing like a fully automatic weapon. Infact its so bad his pistol still fires twice after his opponent is dead, the guy has no control. Just look at the 'gunfire flame effect' coming from the barrel.

I get pistol kills the way he does pretty consistently in Reach, and so can you! Go practise!

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

This is all people are mainly complaining about, it seems completely random, which results in broken gunplay.

My post right after that one I talk about why I think there is this inconsistency and I think it is because the gunplay is favoring "closer" encounters with enemies as appose to gunplay at a distance.

Players get close and spam with the pistol because it completely neutralizes the bloom due to the close distance, making the whole bloom system seem kinda pointless.

It just favors players who run in guns blazing to get their kills and then if they don't they abuse the melee system. :lol

 

[Spasm]

Spamming the pistol at close/medium range isn't very intuitive, but it has worked the few times I've tried it. It seems If you keep your target dead center, the bloom doesn't really grow larger than him if he's close enough. This is especially true when shooting at gimps who don't take evasive maneuvers, like in that Comm Chatter vid.

The bloom doesn't really bother me. When zoomed in with the Nerfle/Deemer, the reticule doesn't expand that much larger than your target unless he's really far away. The thing that's missing from the Deemer is hit feedback. It's not as easy to tell you're hitting with it, while the Nerfle is much more verbose. I'm much better with the Nerfle cause of it.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

I get pistol kills the way he does pretty consistently in Reach, and so can you! Go practise!

I hate how complaints about reticule bloom usually lead to comments about skill. I have adapted pretty well to the bloom, and dont need practise, but as I said just a sec ago:

See I wouldnt even mind if that was true, but if I spam my pistol at close range my shots will probably go over the guys shoulders. That being said I dont have much fun spamming, getting those headshots is too satisfying, but I guess if spamming is the way to win thats the tactic I will have to adopt.

Its a sad day when spamming a precision weapon is considered legit gameplay.

I would like to add that even if I can get kills more effectivly by spamming, thats just not very fun. If something isnt fun in a video game then you know something is wrong.

 

[vhfive]

I get pistol kills the way he does pretty consistently in Reach, and so can you! Go practise!

sorry you're wrong
I'm gonna agree with bobs on this one. The first 3 pistol kills are all him just spamming the trigger as fast as he can and after his shields drop getting lucky by getting the headshot on his first or second kill. Sure I get kills like that too but only once in a while. Most of the time when I'm shooting that fast I empty my full clip into the guy and he's still not dead.


EDIT: would just like to confirm that bobs has mad skillz and does not need to practice.

 

[Ramirez]

My post right after that one I talk about why I think there is this inconsistency and I think it is because the gunplay is favoring "closer" encounters with enemies as appose to gunplay at a distance.

Players get close and spam with the pistol because it completely neutralizes the bloom due to the close distance, making the whole bloom system seem kinda pointless.

It just favors players who run in guns blazing to get their kills and then if they don't they abuse the melee system. :lol

That's because it is pointless.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

See I wouldnt even mind if that was true, but if I spam my pistol at close range my shots will probably go over the guys shoulders. That being said I dont have much fun spamming, getting those headshots is too satisfying, but I guess if spamming is the way to win thats the tactic I will have to adopt. :lol

Its a sad day when spamming a precision weapon is considered legit gameplay.

You just have to get better at the spamming. =P

It is something that works though, I was pretty garbage at Reach for the whole F&F period and then I started adjusting my rate of fire not based on the bloom but based on the distance between me and the enemy (when using the pistol), having much more success even if it does feel a little broken.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

That's because it is pointless.

Keyword there is kinda. =P

 

[Prophet Steve]

See I wouldnt even mind if that was true, but if I spam my pistol at close range my shots will probably go over the guys shoulders. That being said I dont have much fun spamming, getting those headshots is too satisfying, but I guess if spamming is the way to win thats the tactic I will have to adopt. :lol

Its a sad day when spamming a precision weapon is considered legit gameplay.

Thinks of Modern Warfare rapid fire snipers.

 

[Shake Appeal]

sorry you're wrong

Nah.

1. Aim at chest.
2. Fire rapidly, allowing the recoil to lift your fifth shot toward the head.
3. If the fifth shot lands on the head, golden.
4. If the fifth shot doesn't land on the head, his shields are going to be down. Either close for the melee or pause for a second and fire the headshot. You aim is already going to be ballpark.

I am honestly staggered that you guys think that those are 'lucky' kills.