Possible Promethean Vehicles!!!

[ProudDrunkIrish]

Now I know there are none in the game abd some argue since they can teleport they do not need any. All that considered it is my opinion that 343 missed a great opportunity to introduce some great new machines to Halo.

 

So what I would like are people to come up with Ideas on possible vehicles and flyers, now keep the following in mind:

• It has to be somewhat new but can be based on a current past vehicle.
  
• It has to be balanced with other vehicles, i.e. a heavy vehicle equivalent to scorion or wraith etc.
  
• Keep them sensible.
  

So I have the following for a start:

 

Name: Incinerator

Carrying Capacity: 2

Weaponry: Incineration cannon

Speed: Medium/High

Manouverability: Medium/High

Land based: yes

Armour strength: Medium

Special Abilities: None

 

Now the vehicle above is based on say a hog or the old covy equivalent from Halo 3, it is designed to be a challenge to the gauss. It would carry a driver and a gunner, its weapon is simply an incineration cannon that has roughly the same fire rate as a gauss. As in a hog the driver and gunner would be open to gunfire and the vehicle would take about the same damage as a Hog. It would run on antigrav not wheels being as they are a superior race.

 

So as you can see this is a mix of covy/unsc using current promethean weaponry, it would be less effective at long range than a gauss yet would be deadly close range to multiple enemies. It would have an equivalent vehicle kill power to a Gauss, this way they are about equal but have their distint advantages.

 

Name: Basilisk

Carrying Capacity: 3

Weaponry: Pulse grenade Launcher, Binary Rifle x 2

Speed: Medium

Manouverability: Medium/High

Land Based: No

Armour Strength: Medium

Special Abilties: Boost ability

 

This would be a flyer for the prometheans, it would have a driver and 2 gunners, the driver drives and has the ability to use a pulse grenade launcher that fires more powerful pulse grenades 3 at a time and at a respectable rate of fire (use rocket arm of mantis as an example). The passengers would each have access to a binary rifle which would have a 1 shot before reload thus slowing rate of fire.

 

The Boost ability would allow for boost in any direction as it would be slower than a banshee thus would need something extra to prevent say a tank from taking it out in 1 shot.

 

So let me know your ideas and what you think of these. Please lay your ideas out as above basics and basic explanation.

[ProudDrunkIrish]

I guess the 343 community has the same lvl of inventiveness as they do haha. :wallbash:

[Surveillance]

These sound like great ideas! I wish my creativity was like that. Great job!

[RedStarRocket91]

I guess the 343 community has the same lvl of inventiveness as they do haha. :wallbash:

 

Not necessarily, it's just that the really creative, interesting threads tend to get buried beneath replies to the ever-popular new threads about weapon balance, Call of Duty comparisons, and map complaints. I, for one, also hate bumping my own threads, so even when I think I've created a really good topic if it's off the first page in a day to make room for people starting duplicate threads I don't just post in it to get it back to people's attention. I know a lot of other members feel the same way. It's not that we can't come up with stuff like this and this (to indulge my ego for a moment), it's just that most people would evidently rather talk about stuff like DMR balance or loadout customisation than hypothetical questions about playlists, vehicles, and armour abilities.

 

Anyway, on topic.

 

I like the idea for the Incinerator, though not the name so much: something like the 'Titan' might be better suited, in keeping with the whole Promethean theme. I'd actually draw a comparison with the Rocket Hog, rather than the Gauss Hog, which is favourable as I consider the former to be much better balanced. I'm slightly surprised there's no passenger seat though: maybe it's more analogous to the Revenant than Warthog? At any rate, as long as it's not too tough for its speed, I can't see it being a problem.

 

The Basilisk I'm not so sure about. I think it's quite possible for a vehicle with a Binary Rifle to be balanced - and I'll detail exactly how in a moment - but not two of them, and definitely not when they're capable of being independently targeted and fired. Even assuming they're single-shot and take TWICE as long as a Gauss Hog's cannon to cool down, that's effectively the same firing rate as the Gauss Hog, with the bonus that they can target twice as many places at once, aim DOWN at targets instead of having to account for obstructions and cover, and can easily evade incoming fire without even the chance of a lucky grenade to bring it down. Vehicles aside - and even then only certain vehicles like the Scorpion, Banshee or Warthog - there would be almost no way to bring it down if it had any amount of health, and if it didn't have that health then it would conversely be too easy for opponents to score a triple kill against.

 

As I said before, I don't necessarily think there's no way a Binary Rifle can be balanced on a flying vehicle, it just needs to be very carefully thought out. So what I propose is fairly simple. Take the two-seat style cockpit and open canopy from a Revenant and set it up so that one player is now a dedicated driver and one is a dedicated gunner. From the Falcon, take the ability to hover and move in any direction, from the Warthog the fully-rotating mounted weapon (in this case, the Binary Rifle) and mount it on the underside of the chin, and from the Mantis a recharging energy shield, though significantly weaker (about 3/4 as strong as the average Spartan's shields) and applying exclusively to the hull of the craft (so if the Spartans driving it get hit directly, they take the damage instead of the vehicle, making it much easier to shoot them out of it - ideally they'd be almost as exposed as if they were in a Mongoose). A very low physical health under the shield would make it easy for a coordinated team to destroy as it would quickly fall under sustained fire, but the recharging shield would allow a good driver to keep it alive much longer.

 

EDIT: When I say low health but shielded, I mean basically that it would take two or three shots from the Fuel Rod Gun to destroy it at full shields, but a direct hit from a Rocket Launcher, Scorpion cannon or Spartan Laser would blow it straight out of the sky even at full shield and hull strength.

 

The Binary Rifle itself would also have a few differences from its regular counterpart. It would work, as you've suggested, on a single-shot reload/overheat system, to compensate for its unlimited ammunition: this would also pair with the recharging shield and low health to make it much more geared toward support than frontline combat, contrasting it with the Gauss Hog, as misses would be very costly and it would be unable to take on multiple targets at once. It would also be operated via a screen in the cockpit of the vehicle rather than held directly, meaning it would need to be zoomed in to avoid having the screen filled with the body of the vehicle rather than a clear sight at the targets. This would be somewhat offset by the fact that it would now stay perfectly accurate while not scoped in, meaning in an emergency or at close range it would still be possible to defend itself. Lastly, the orange targeting beam would be permanently enabled and the crosshair would move more slowly, giving other players a better chance to avoid it.

 

I also think it could be interesting to experiment with permanently enabling long-range Promethean Vision while scoped in, in a similar way to the Thermal Vision used in other modern FPS games when they're using something like an AC-130 or whatever. It would help reinforce the idea of being used for support rather than direct combat, and could help teams who're coordinated by allowing the gunner to call out targets and report enemy positions.

 

I think this would be pretty well-balanced overall. You get the raw power and range of the Binary Rifle, with the mobility and vantage point of an air vehicle, but with the drawbacks of low health and exposed passengers, high visibility and the need to stay still or move slowly to allow the gunner to hit anything. It also fits with what I feel would be the nature of Promethean vehicles: as their infantry seem to be more focused on tanking damage and frontline combat, their vehicles seem like they're be used more for support, and what better support vehicle than an airborne sniper?

 

As for a name, something like the Pandora or the Zeus would fit well with the Promethean theme. What d'you think?

[Captain Lasky]

Great idea!It would be cool to see a Promethean vehicle in H5. At least in custom games and Forge.

[AnimalDenWinter]

THERE HAS TO BE PROMETHEAN VEHICLES !!!!!!

[Sadly Just AL]

Definitely a few interesting ideas.