- Mutoid Log
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- Exalted Legendary Member
Everything in this thread concerns campaign only, specializing on higher difficulty levels.
Definitions:
Pistol = Weapon with zoom, gets headshots, weak against shields. Example : M6CS
Rifle = Weapon with zoom, gets headshots, effective against shields. Example: Carbine
Brute = Enemy with recharging shields, but after the shields are fully down they recharge no more. Example: H3 Brutes
Elite = Enemy with shields that always recharge to full power. Example: All Elites.
You can see that we've had 4 games, each one with different matchups for these weapons and enemies (H2BR is noticeably more effective against shields than M6D, although both are less extreme than the H3-era counterparts). What's the optimal?
My answer: Elites are to be fought with Rifles. Brutes are to be fought with Pistols.
Why? Let's start with Elites. If you leave an Elite alone after damaging it, the next time you see him, he's back to full power. And the (ideal) Elites like to hide when their shields are down. Thus, you want to be able kill him ikkini, in a single quick encounter I mean. For this, you usually need both anti-shield and headshot abilities. If you needed two weapons for this, you would have no room for other weapons. For example, you might want to carry around a shotgun if you're looking forward to close combat, but this would totally compromise your ability to engage Elites at mid-range. You either wouldn't be able to get through the shield, or finish him (of course he's simple to finish when he's alone, but when he's with other Elites it's a lot tougher). Thus, you need a weapon that can both dig through the shield and the head, which we defined as a Rifle.
But when against Brutes, you can take down the shield permanently. Taking down the shield also makes the Brute rage for a while, removing him from combat before the sort of turns into an enemy that can be killed with a single headshot. Now the combination of an antishield weapon and a specialized weapon is much better, since the antishield weapon alone can do permanent damage to a Brute pack, and also reduces their combat effectiveness for a short while. Later on, going around with a Pistol and specialized weapon becomes effective, as a large part of the Brutes are now armorless.
Alright, a Pistol works against Brutes. But how is it better than having a Rifle? By forcing the player to use multiple weapons instead of always having a rifle, the game gets more variety. Because so-called "antishield weapons" can range from spiker to plasma pistol, this also gives the option of engaging grunts while strolling around in "anti-shield mode"; engaging them in new ways. This gives the player a broader view of the weaponset and teaches them new ways to engage Brutes. And if theory isn't convincing, see how much funner Brutes are to fight in ODST than in H3.
So that's the idea, how about execution? In Reach, Brutes can be fun to fight if we are given a Pistol and little or none Rifles. The first problem we see: Carbines! This can be solved if the Carbines are rare enough and don't come with too much ammo, making them power weapons, somewhat equivalent to FRGs. There's no need for a no Rifles -order; they can be available for tougher encounters, but for standard-size battles they should be kept very rare. A player might start a Brute-focused level with a rifle and a SC-style battle, but not get more until a large battle at the end of the mission, making him use a Pistol for the bulk of the level. And when Elites are in full-duty Rifles are plenty. If Elites and Brutes are encountered simultaneously, enough Rifles for the elites are needed, but not too much. Also, in Brute sections the Rifle availability can be used to dictate the pace of the game.
That's a way to balance weapons/enemies, and a way to combine the best campaign infantry combat from the series into a single game.