SilentGamer64

Actually, Reach's and 4's reduced the battery life to drain 25% instead of 20% per shot, which nerfed it from 5 to 4 shots. Also, ever since Reach, the Splazer seems to have a decrease in damage when you swipe the target as the laser is firing. Ive had several players walk away from me shieldless but not dead just because I was moving the reticule slightly in an attempt to lead my target. Halo 3's laser was simple: Anything that touches the big red laser...is dead.

I could go a whole match without Sprinting in Halo 4. And you know what? I would probably get sniped, gunned down, and have people run up behind me an backsmack me more often than if I were sprinting like everyone else. Likewise, I could also go a whole match with a BR and AR without duel wielding at all. Except in this scenario, no negative effects come of it. I just play to my weapon's strengths and the match remains balanced and fair. Yes, AA's offered at spawn are a bad thing. In fact, offering anything that the player gets at spawn that upsets the balance of the game is a bad thing. But with duel wielding, you aren't spawning with two weapons. You have to seek out those two weapons on the map, which makes it a much better balanced feature than AA's or sprint. I feel like the "concept" of weapon balancing that you are grasping is trying to make Halo's sandbox as close to CE's as possible, in that you want each individual weapon to be completely unique from the rest. It worked in CE because CE's sandbox was limited to less than 10 weapons. With more weapons being introduced in every new title, there has to be a sense of balance that doesn't make certain weapons more effective than others. If the AR stayed the way it was now, and the PR returned with the headshot bonus and stun effect you seem to want so badly, no one would want to use the AR anymore. It has a negative effect on gameplay by removing the opponent's ability to strafe. What more do I need to say? Halo is a game where you can be shot in the back once, be able to turn around, and end up winning the duel if skillful enough. And you want a weapon that has the ability to prevent players from being able to do that? And do I need to bring up Reach's terrible movement speed that was cut down in favor of sprint that made strafing nearly useless? People like being able to strafe, and slapping an effect on a weapon that hinders that ability is not a good idea. And yes, I know strafing was a big part of CE as well, but you have to understand that the PR was also balanced around weapons like the 3sk pistol, a shotgun with the range of an assault rifle, and mini-nuke grenades. I understand what you meant, and I know the PR wasn't able to kill with a single headshot in CE. But CE's PR mechanics could just as easily be applied to an actual single-wield weapon like the Storm Rifle so that the PR could remain a viable duel wield option. In fact, with a weapon as accurate as CE's PR, it would make way more sense to apply those mechanics to a weapon that was designed more like an AR such as the Storm Rifle. I understand that you don't want duel wielding to return, but I do. And whenever I go on to any video on youtube regarding Halo 5 ideas, I see lots of people who want it back too. You can even take a look at the first page of this thread. Most of the people who responded wanted it to return. Only you and two other people who responded seem to be the only ones who are against it. I'm against sprint, but I don't seem to find myself trying nearly as hard to get rid of sprint as you are with duel wielding.

It sounds like a good idea for custom games, but beyond that, I would have to say no.

How about themed pieces? Like forerunner grey (from Reach), UNSC tan/olive green (or the off-white stuff from Halo 4), Covenant purple, and possibly even flood pieces with patches of flood biomass on them?

I wasn't planning on going off topic, but I was just using it as another good example of features that are pretty much mandatory, whereas duel wielding is (as of Halo 3) up to the player's discretion. So long as you spawn with standard weapons, no one is forcing the player to duel wield. And again, its up to the player's discretion whether or not they want to sacrifice grenades and a slightly faster melee for an increased damage output. And that damage output doesn't have to be 50%, it can be changed to however effective it needs to be to be a balanced tradeoff. Nonetheless, the Mauler was still more effective duel wielded than single wielded, which is what duel wielding is supposed to accomplish. Another thing to note is that you don't spawn with Maulers, you have to find them on the map. These are the kind of things the boltshot should be taking away from the Mauler in order for it to be a more unique and balanced weapon that isn't just another shotgun reskin. Is that scenario any different than having a sniper rifle out with a Shotgun on your back? In fact, having that combo is much more likely than the noob combo with a shotgun, since the noob combo requires you to find the PP, the pistol (assuming you haven't spawned with one) and the shotgun on the map. Also take into account the slight delay it takes to switch weapons when duel wielding since you must first drop your duel wielded weapon. Your scenario ultimately falls flat since if the second player is competent enough, he/she will back off out of duel wielding's close range niche and finish the noob combo user off. Except to an extent they did, and they altered other weapons for Reach to feel more like CE as well (Larger AR reticule, scoped pistol, stronger PP, more range on the shotgun, ridiculous splash damage on grenades, etc). But they were building it off of Halo 3's sandbox, which included weapons like the Spiker and Plasma Rifle. Reach's plasma rifle didn't have that "stun" effect or headshot bonus like it did in CE for the same reason, it used Halo 3's already established sandbox to try and recreate CE's gameplay. You also have to realize that CE only had two actual headshot capable weapons, the pistol and sniper. In Halo 2, we had the BR, Carbine, Sniper, Beam Rifle, and pistol. The same goes for Halo 3 and (to a lesser extent) Reach. Having even more headshot capable weapons would be rather redundant, and IMO Halo 4's sandbox is already littered with redundant headshot capable weapons, partially due to the need for more "standardized" weapons to act as fillers for the concept of loadouts. As for the stun effect, it is neither impressive nor balanced, and ultimately reduces the victim's ability to strafe, which overall has a negative impact on gameplay. Duel wielding is not the reason Bungie took the PR's stun effect out, it was just an unbalanced feature.

By standard weapons, are you referring to weapons like the AR and BR? If so, then yes, duel wielding weapons makes them on par with those weapons at mid range, but they are far more superior than those weapons when used in their close range niches. A weapon like the SMG beats the AR up close due to the fact that it has a higher ROF and a larger mag. But the AR beats the SMG at mid range, since the AR has tighter spread while the SMG's spread as well as its recoil limit it to its specified niche. It was less unique when single wielded in ODST, even when most duel wield weapons received buffs to compensate for the lack of duel wielding. Sure, you could kill grunts with it with a single shot, but duel wielding would have definitely come in handy against those brutes. I honestly don't care for the boltshot either, but its new to the franchise and its a gun that 343i made themselves, so I expect it will return. As mentioned before, the noob combo is useless outside of 1v1 situations. If I have my PP/magnum combo charged and ready, and I come across two enemies at the same time, sure, I'll get one, but the other guy is going to kill me for sure. Like any other weapon(s), the only way to make the noob combo effective, or duel wielding in general for that matter, is knowing the appropriate time to use it. Single wielding duel wieldable weapons are only "sub-par" if you're absolutely clueless on how to use them. I could pick up a single SMG and kill an AR user. Why? Because I fire in bursts at longer ranges, and go full auto when I close the gap, all while managing the gun's recoil. And I use similar tactics on BR users when I have the AR, and Snipers when I have the BR. Interesting that you would bring up the golden triangle. Of course duel wielding will affect your ability to throw grenades and (while not by much) the time it takes to melee. But guess what happened to the third part of the triangle? Guns are now twice as damaging. Its a fair tradeoff. In the Halo 3 video, Bungie reintroduced the AR so that you never start off with SMG's (unless playing duels). They basically made it so that now whether you're duel wielding or not is a conscious decision made by the player to trade the ability to grenade and melee slightly faster for double the firepower. If you don't want to duel wield, then simply don't seek out those weapons. And if you skip to 5:00 in the video, a Bungie member talks about how the way the different kinds of weapons that you get to use are balanced to make the maps play right. He isn't talking about the AR and BR, he's talking about ALL the weapons in the sandbox, including duel wields. I know you're probably thinking that the AR phased duel wielding out in Reach, but Reach didn't include duel wielding simply because Bungie wanted to make Reach feel more like CE. Weapons like the Spiker, Plasma Rifle, and AR all suffered as a result, since the modern sandbox that Halo 3 brought about was not designed around the kind of gameplay that Reach tried to recreate from CE. I find it a bit sad that you are trying to prevent an optional feature like duel wielding from returning, while Halo 4's elephant in the room (Sprint) is getting away with being mandatory. And while AA's are optional, the fact that they are always available at spawn means you are putting yourself at a disadvantage if you're not using them, something duel wielding doesn't do. If fans of AA's and Sprint can get their cake and eat it too, why don't you want fans of duel wielding to have their own?

I loved both the Ark and the Covenant. The Ark was more infantry oriented (with some vehicle parts) and the Covenant was more vehicle oriented (with some infantry parts). And then Halo just gave me a blast of nastolgia when I saw Chief was assaulting the control room once more. And the Warthog run at the end, of course.

I voted for a budget limit. Because if I want to spawn 50 banshee's, then darn it! I will!

Gotta go with the beam rifle. Halo 4's feels a little too easy to get snapshots with though.

I loved the beta. But I'm going to wait until I have more time to play it before I get the actual game.

I'm doubtful Cortana will be back, but I would love for the Flood and Arbiter to return. For the flood, I hope 343i show how they have further evolved, like how Halo 3 had the three new forms of flood (two of which for some reason reminded me of the crawlers and knights of Halo 4). Maybe give them the ability to infect Jackals and Grunts. Infected Spartan 4's would also be an interesting enemy to fight as well.

Duel wields were actually quite unique from each other. The plasma rifle was better at taking down shields, and less effective on health. The SMG was the opposite, being less effective on shields, but more effective on health. Duel wield the two, and you get a very effective combo that can be damaging to both shields and health. The spiker in Halo 3 was like a mix of the SMG and PR in that it could take down shields and health very effectively on its own. It was also a good all-around weapon to duel wield with another SMG or PR.\ Reach's magnum's ROF was borderline spammable. That's why when it was brought back in Halo 4, they nerfed it from a 5sk to a 6sk. I'm not saying Halo 3's magnum was justified having as slow a ROF as it did, but if the pistol had a ROF somewhere in the middle, like the ROF of CE's pistol, the pistol could definitely be a much more viable duel wield option. The reason the pistol had no scope was because the BR replaced its role as a mid-range weapon back in Halo 2. The scoped pistol's return in Reach is justified since there was no BR to fill the mid-range niche. The suppressed pistol in ODST was trash. It was completely useless against shielded/armored targets, and was basically a cannon-fodder weapon. The Halo 2 pistol was equally as useless, but at least its ability to be duel wielded allowed it to kill a shielded enemy before reloading. :/ In addition to what I posted above, duel wielding doesn't really limit the weapon variety like you claim. The Mauler is another good example. Single wielded, it's a 2sk. But duel wield two of them, and it becomes as lethal as a shotgun. Its also a good cleanup weapon if you're duel wielding it with a full auto weapon and close the gap. IMO, Halo 4's boltshot should take a page or two from the Mauler. Having combinations simultaneously rather than having to switch weapons out makes it all the more effective. A lot of people claimed it was too OP in Halo 2, so Bungie nerfed it in Halo 3. Then people claimed it was too underpowered in Halo 3. That doesn't mean the concept should be trashed. Look at the pistol. In CE, it was too OP. In Halo 2, it was too UP. In Halo 3, it was still rather UP, but it was still an improvement from Halo 2. And yes, I understand the noob combo is something that is looked down upon, but when you think about it, its really only effective in 1 v 1 situations. And unless your plasma pistol can magically fire two overcharges at once, the noob combo user is going to have a rough time against two or more enemies. Halo 4 should have made it clear by now that we shouldnt be removing things, but adding on to what is already established. And duel wielding is a part of Halo that has already been established. Look at COD, it copied off of Halo by adopting "Akimbo" in MW2. Even now as we speak, COD Ghosts still offers the ability to duel wield. Go figure, COD actually copied something Halo did before it. Now it seems like the opposite is true.