- bansheeownz
- |
- Exalted Mythic Member
So the general idea is to make units far more versatile and not to compensate difficulty for handicap- the amount of stupidity the game is trying to cover up. What exactly is being changed?
What's changing for the worse?
Enemies will not know when to lay off the trigger (unless their weapon is about to overheat).
Their reaction time is increased across the board on Heroic and Legendary.
They carry a primary and secondary weapon at all times on Heroic and Legendary.
They know which weapon to use against you based on your distance from them.
They go for the head on Legendary; Grunts and Elites alike (Grunts with the Plasma Pistol, Elites with the Carbine), more then compensating for your extra resistance to damage.
Elites and Brutes throw grenades the same way you do on Legendary, making it much more risky to fight them in close range.
They melee as fast as you do on Heroic and Legendary, meaning it's no longer a trump card in a one on one fight.
Rare weapons spawn much more often on Legendary (more on that in a sec)
What's changing for the better?
You take just as much a beating on Legendary as you do on Normal, and you're gonna freeken need it for this challenge. Easy still has a handicap in your favor.
Getting more specific, here's the individual characters and classes of each. Each class carries both a primary and secondary weapon that need to be reloaded and maintained. The primary weapon can run out of ammo, but to ensure you can't find a way to abuse that, the secondary weapon can't run out of ammo. Units decide based on your distance away from them which weapon to use, and which one is better for that distance. If both weapons are both meant for the given distance, the character then decides which one is stronger. (Shotgun or SMG. Obviously, you'd know which one they'd pick) They can also RANDOMLY spawn with a rare weapon. This will not be scripted stuff you can learn to predict but priorities can be set to have more rare spawns for snipers then rockets or the other way around for rare weapons.
Marine (and ODST)
Primary Weapons: Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle (Rare), Rocket Launcher (Rare), Spartan Laser (Rare)
Secondary Weapons: SMG, Magnum
Marines will be just plain more effective then Grunts, Jackals, and Drones but there is one thing I want to bring to mind. They should be able to realize where I am and what I intend to do based on my weapon I'm using. I'm sick and tired of trying to use a Sword or Hammer in close quarters and getting grenaded to death by my own team! I will admit, the system is a lot better then it used to be, but cmon. Stop throwing grenades when you see me in melee and close quarters combat! If you see me standing back picking enemies off, by all means, throw away.
This can't be the only thing they've done wrong but it's one of the most common for me. That and blowing my vehicle up. The mongoose scene on the 4th level of H3 is suicide; suicide you cannot control being the key.
Grunt
Primary Weapons: Needler, Mauler, Fuel Rod Cannon (Rare)
Secondary Weapons: Plasma Pistol, Spiker
In terms of AI changes, I don't want much changing here. Making their weapons more effective actually helps their cause out a lot. Although, I won't make them use charge shots (lol). The real focus is on Brutes and Elites. What would be cool to see is Grunts beginning to carry light Brute weapons like the Mauler and Spiker when under the Brute's command. It'd be an interesting change to see.
Drone
Primary Weapons: Needler, Spiker
Secondary Weapons: Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol
It's funny how every unit in Halo 3 became nerfed. The only problem with Drones is they bombard you with overwhelming numbers making running into them more frightening then a pack of Brutes. This is exactly what I do NOT want changed. I'd more like to see this challenge as a standard all other battles strive to live up to.
What? Were you expecting something else?
Jackal
Primary Weapons: Carbine, Beam Rifle (Rare)
Secondary Weapons: Plasma Pistol + Hand Shield
The changes already mentioned make an enemy like a Jackal far more interesting to fight. The fact that they are more resistant to repurcussion animations, they always carry a primary and a secondary weapon at all times, and only switch when not in combat, and the Plasma Pistol is a freeken all purpose close range weapon. These changes will really change how you react to one of these guys.
Also, snipers guys and shield guys should be combined into the same class. Meaning a Jackal with a Beam Rifle still carries a Hand Shield for close quarters combat and units using shields still carry a Carbine on their back. This alone will massively improve their versatility.
Elite
Primary Weapons: Needler, Carbine, Energy Sword, Beam Rifle (Rare), Fuel Rod Cannon (Rare), Sentinel Beam (Rare)
Secondary Weapons: Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol, Plasma Rifle DW, Plasma Pistol DW (Rare)
(^^ DW mean Duel-wield ^^)
Looking down that list of weapons, you see nothing out of the ordinary, until you get the the bottom of course. Duel-wielding Plasma Pistols, a rare combo. Why is it rare? Because it's an instant kill. They will use charge shots against you but again I remind you, the shots do not home in so you CAN try to strafe.
Now in terms of personality, I want Elites to be far more aggressive; using their armor as confidence as the charge your position when their numbers begin to quell. They double as great commanders, using Carbines when at a distance doubling as spotters for Grunts to flank your position and Jackals to pick you off, or slowly move in shields equipped.
Brute
Primary Weapons: Brute Shot, Carbine, Gravity Hammer (Rare), Beam Rifle (Rare), Fuel Rod Cannon (Rare), Sentinel Beam (Rare)
Secondary Weapons: Mauler, Spiker, Mauler DW (Rare), Spiker DW (Rare)
Hear me out here. This is only IF there will be Brutes in Halo Reach (same as the Flood). If they are, they should behave different then Elites but equally as threatening. As you can see, the word Plasma has been completely removed from the Brutes vocabulary. That's the Elite's thing, not the Brutes. What is the Brutes thing is brute force. They often disregard their grunts when commanding them and prefer to take matters into their own hands. In this system, they are terrible commanders. When they do communicate well with are other Brutes as they will think alike. Their strength, swift justice. Their weakness, predictability. You get the idea.
Hunter
Primary Weapon: A big ass gun
Secondary Weapon: A big ass arm
These guys fight just fine already, but their weapon is pathetic. Fix the weapon, you've fixed the problem. Just a quick note, there were so few of these guys in H3. It was a real let down. Add more of them this time for god's sake. It's the easiest thing to do.
Flood Combat Form
Primary Weapons: Anything... they're parasites
Secondary Weapons: SMG, Plasma Rifle, Mauler
Flood can spawn with any weapons with equal rarity but seldom use them, and keep little ammo for their primary weapon. The only thing I want changed to Combat forms is to give them more resistance to headshots (when you hit the infection form controlling them). Maybe add extra flesh around the spot that the BR must chew through. (this is a case where gore is highly recommended) Say 3 bursts to finally get through. That alone will make things a heck of a lot more interesting.
Infection Form
Primary Weapon: Infect host...
Secondary Weapon: Make babies...
These guys should get better about rounding each other up to onslaught you, and when their numbers begin to drop, they'll know when to get away. (they're unfortunately a little too good at one of these but not the other)
Flood Pure Form
Primary Weapons: Tank Form, DPS Form
Secondary Weapons: Travel Form
(^^ Yes I so went there ^^)
Pretty sure this doesn't need much explanation.
Well I was planning to maybe add more to this, but I think this will do for now. Don't want to get TOO overwhelmed. This is actually pretty focused, so let's just stick to this. Now then. Waiting about 3 hours for someone to finally read to the end ROFL.