Halo Wars 2 Beta Official Discussion

[Sikslik7]

Halo Wars 2 Beta Official Discussion

 

 

Please discuss your thoughts and ideas on the Beta for Halo Wars 2 below.

 

 

If you are having issues with the Halo Wars 2 Beta, please post in the Halo Wars 2 Bug Thread: http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/44240-halo-wars-2-bug-thread/ 

[Halo6 Follower]

(WARNING: This post will feature unit roster and building spoilers, so if you want to experience things for yourself in the Beta, and have not yet played it, I would skip this reply). 

 

 

Just watching Fishy's stream (thanks Fish!), so this isn't personal experience or anything. I don't think it was even 2 hours, but a few things did stand out to me... 

 

 

Firsty, the UNSC roster seems to be a little weak in terms of firepower. With the exception of the Scorpion. For example I saw a Vulture do pretty much nothing in terms of damage. Unless there's some masterful way of controlling it, and that was missed, I was left disappointed in its abilities. This can also be said for the Turret call-in. Does it deal any damage? (perhaps more of a bug than actual game-play, it still annoyed me though). In addition, a Spartan (Jerome, no less)  with a Spartan Laser dealt very little damage. Was it blocked by a tree or something? Is that possible, why would a unit fire if the shot was going to get blocked? It seemed very underwhelming, but again, maybe there is a specific play-style for them that I failed to noticed. (Which is likely). Overall the UNSC units seem lacking, cool designs though!

 

 

In terms of the Banished, (Is that the correct term? Covenant doesn't seem appropriate) they are complemented with awesome units, with some fantastic designs. Classic units do make a return in the form of Wraith, Suicide Grunts, Banshees, you get the idea. One of the new units is the Blisterback, spawned from the Apex (Air production building), these are large vessels which act as artillery. They can fire from their aerial state, but their true power is revealed when deployed on the ground. They are cool. Very cool. No mention of the Scarab, My guess is that it's unique to another Character, and not available to Atriox. 

 

 

Another unique thing is the Commander Tree. It's the way for you to obtain your Leader-specific powers (It's kinda like leveling up in a RPG). Such as Cutter's ODSTs, Atriox's invincibly bubble. Something which stood out to Fishy and I was the Pelican Gunship call-in for Cutter. It deploys 3 Pelicans, armed with a gunchain and seeking missiles. They are really awesome, but kinda luckluster for a late tiered deployment.  

 

 

I will be adding to this over the course of the week, and aim to do a whole unit roster with upgrades and counters to them etc etc. Please feel free to comment details below (Or PM me, to keep the thread on-topic) that you think should be added or removed, I would like this to be a community driven thing. With constant updates and the like. (Population and resources of each unit being added soon)  

 

Banished

 

Warlord (Trained and upgraded from the War Council): Your on-field commander. A lot like how the Arbiter and Prophet appeared in the first game. Atriox is armed with a massive gravity hammer, and is further imporoved by upgrades. Such upgrades include the ability to pull a unit towards you or..    

 

Grunts: Cheap anti-air, as well as a capture unit. Effective tarpit, stick them in a garrison where your enemy might regret shooting them and instead prioritise another unit, only to be caught off-guard as the grunts dealt a decent amount of damage. Don't underestimate them, but also make sure to evaluate your targets before dedicating an obscene amount of firepower.  

 

Chopper: Your scout, is very fast. Can also ram and detect cloaked units. 

 

• Shrapnel Rounds: Explosive damage  

 

Raid Camp (Infantry production)

 

Passive upgrade: Infantry Boost. Tier I provides a 15 percent boost to damage and health. Tier II provides a 30 percent bonus.  

 

1. Suicide Grunts: Cannot attack air, anti-infantry, and dangerous in numbers. You know 'em, you love 'em. 

 

2. Hunters: Your anti-tank (duh), start with a single shot fuel rod, but can be upgraded to that annoying beam. They are slow but heavily armoured, and cannot attack air. A good vanguard unit, but make sure they are supported. 

 

3. Elite Rangers: Your new Jackals! Medium range anti-infantry. Why they are working with Brutes is beyond me. Perhaps they pay better? They are capable of detecting cloaked units, and can fire on aircraft.  

 

4. Jump Pack Brutes: Anti- building, good mobility, great for ambushes or a quick reconnaissance of an enemy position for leader abilities or planning a pronged attack. They are limited to melee only, and cannot attack air. They also have an almost 'sword lunge' attack, in which they will quickly close the distance between an enemy unit through a quick jump forward. Another idea is to sow destruction through your opponent's army buy just launching a few of these into the centre of it. They won't cause the most damage, but will create a massive diversion as stuff that should be firing at the rest of your force suddenly relocates its fire onto your Brutes! Either way, make sure to bring deodorant.    

 

• Dark Skies: Provides an additional squad member

 

 

Foundry (Vehicle production)

 

1. Marauder:   Common, reliable tank. Is able to take a surprising amount of fire before suffering from critical existence failure. The plasma death shot from the Marauder slows its victims, but doesn't do a lot of damage. Use to trap a Warlord or other valuable prize.   

 

2.  Reaver: Dedicated anti-air. Can Detect cloaked units. Little use against other vehicles, however. I think these should be incorporated throughout your force, or held back ready for a cheeky teleport.    

 

3.  Locust: Cardboard armour. Anti-structure, long range, massive damage potential. Make sure to keep protected, this includes remaining vigilant for any leader abilities that may be targeting them. It's a good idea to have Locusts spread out and not easy pickings for a MAC round.   

 

4.  Wraith:  No Honour Guard variant, sadly. Hopefully in the future... Your main tank, useful as artillery or for soaking up fire. Is able to dish out heavy damage. Make sure they don't get separated from the main force due to their large firing arc and picked off by Hornets.  

 

 

Apex (Aircraft production)

 

1. Engineer: 'Ol lovable engineers return. They form the same role as the first game; repairing, healing, and generally trying to avoid combat or they will die. (Unless you order them into combat just to die, you sick freak). Can detect cloaked units. Look after your engineers and they will look after you.

 

2. Banshee: Fast and low! Is super effective at dog-fighting with other air units! Great at ambushes, especially when teamed with jetpack Brute recon.  

 

3. Shroud: Interesting support unit, no combat abilities. Is able to deploy a cloak bubble. More on this unit coming soon 

 

4. Blisterback: Oohhhh boy, here we go.  This unit is awesome! But requires a bit of micro-management. Which is fine. You are, after all, playing an RTS. This unit can take a beating and is armed with heavy plasma artillery while flying. Find some high ground, and hit 'Y' to deploy it. You can also do this to avoid ant-air fire, potentially saving the Blisterback until a relief force is handy. (Needs citation). While deployed, justice rains from above the ground in the form of carpet-y missile death.  (More being added soon)      

 

 

Leader Abilites:

 

Tier I: 

 

Last Stand:

 

Plasma Mines:

 

Accelerated Expansion: Reduces to build, research and build times. 

 

 

UNSC: 

 

 

Tips and tricks:

 

Keep in mind that you can 'lock' your base so units are trained, but not actually deployed on the field until you 'unlock' the base (by selecting the same icon). Under attack by aircraft, but your constant stream of one Reaver is just dying instantly? Train 4 or 5 while your based is locked down, and then deploy then in unison to smash an air raid. This ability is also useful when coupled with communication. For example: Your ally informs you of an incoming force and you decide to lock your base down. While the enemy are attacking your base, have the ally attack from the rear and then unlock your base. You will essentially split the foe's fire, leaving both forces weakened instead of destroyed by a more numerous enemy. Make sure you

have Engineers on standby though so you can repair your ally's units and thank them for acting as the bait. The secret here is to lull your opponent into a false sense of saftey.      

 

Halo Wars 2 follows the same 'scissors, paper, rock' system as the first game. In such, infantry will beat aircraft, aircraft will beat vehicles, and vehicles will beat infantry. There are some exceptions to this, such as dedicated anti-air vehicles etc. Plan accordingly, adapt or die. 

 

 

 

Overall the game looks great (especially the missiles and unit animations), and personally I think it has great potential.       

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Edited June 15, 2016 by Halo6 Follower

[Guts]

My main concern is that it seems to be too focused on rock, paper, scissors.

 

I had a full of army of Scorpions to flush out the huge army of infantry the enemy had. I was attacked by several air units and eight scorpions didn't get a single kill. I also had a few groups of infantry which also got destroyed in the same manner by vehicles.

 

I'm not sure if I'm at fault but it's just annoying knowing that my troops are useless in certain situations.

 

My other problem was that my leader powers seem to do nothing. I've called in a Cleansing Beam as Atriox and it was directly attacking a group of Wraiths (not sure if that's the name). None of them died or even tried to move. As Cutter, I called in a fully upgraded MAC blast. I order the thing and nothing happens. Every time I call one in, it doesn't work! No explosion, nothing. Just takes my resources and puts a big recharge time on it.

 

I'm sure I'm doing it wrong but when I do the same for Atriox it works.....

 

Other than that, I like the game. Although I won't play it again because I've spent enough time downloading and I'm not updating it anymore.

[Fancy Phantom55]

I only really have 2 complaints

 

1.THIS GAME NEEDS IN-GAME VOICE-CHAT. I don't know if this was already planned for the full game, but I just want to put it out there.

 

2. I would like to see the Jackrabbit at least have some form of weapons.

Also a 3rd thing, u should be able to leave the game and still get credit as soon as all of your stuff gets destroyed,as well as being able to share resources with your allies

 

 

Also I would love a big-team-battle mode in the full version