Suggestions for new Sniper Rifles

[RedStarRocket91]

Two of the most popular complaints about Halo: Reach were the ineffectiveness of the Covenant's Focus Rifle in comparison with its human equivalent, and the supposed 'noob-friendliness' of the latter, seen as too easy for unskilled players to use and too powerful against both vehicles and infantry.

 

With Halo 4, there's a chance to create a whole new set of weapons, or at least rework how existing ones function. My suggestion is pretty simple: let's decrease the damage of the Sniper Rifle, but change its damage properties to plasma.

 

What are bullet and plasma damage properties and how do they affect gameplay?

 

Plasma does more damage to shields than it does to health, bullets do equal damage to both. As far as I'm aware, while bullet damage is equal to both layers of protection (i.e. one bullet will deal ten points of damage regardless of whether it's hitting a shield or a health bar), plasma damage deals double damage to shields but only half to health - so the same bolt of plasma that removes twenty hit points from your shields will only do five to your health. The ratios themselves may differ (it could be plasma bolts do normal damage to shields but only half to health, or normal to health but three times as much to shields, or whatever) but the fact remains that bullet and plasma damage are calculated very differently.

 

What's the point of swapping damage types for the Sniper Rifle and decreasing damage?

 

The idea of swapping damage types works because a single round is enough to pierce the shield of the target and do at least one point to the health below, but unless a headshot is delivered the reduced damage to health means that three shots are required to kill. At least one point of damage to the health of a fully-shielded opponent is needed on top of the damage that destroys that player's shield, as otherwise the round would only knock out shields on the first shot, preventing one-hit kills even if aimed directly at the head.

 

So how does this help gameplay?

 

It promotes a bigger skill gap, so that while a newcomer is still perfectly able to score four kills after picking up the weapon if every round is a non-headshot hit, a talented marksman could still score the twelve kills afforded by the weapon's ammo reserves. It may also help with the current problem of players being betrayed in order that their attacker can get hold of the Sniper Rifle due to it's extreme power and ease-of use. It promotes going for headshots rather than body shots, bringing the weapon back into the 'High Risk/High Reward' category where taking the chance of firing at the head is much more important than previously in terms of ammo, and also encourages newer players to aim for the head and thus improve their own games as even if the first shot misses, they can still be in a better position than someone who just goes for body shots if they land a headshot on the second round.

 

Is there anything else to consider?

 

Vehicles, for one. Another major complaint of Halo: Reach was that the human Sniper Rifle was incredibly powerful against vehicles as well as infantry. A possible alternative solution could be to keep the weapon's current damage type, reducing the amount of ammo available or the amount it can hold per clip, thus forcing the sniper to choose between killing infantry or vehicles and not both, as is currently possible. If clip sizes were reduced to two, then a sniper would not be able to afford a miss unless going for a headshot, preserving the skill gap.

 

It might also be interesting to try out both these weapon styles: a plasma-damage property, four round magazined rifle with reduced damage to vehicles (an anti-personnel sniper rifle) and a high-powered one capable of killing in two rounds to anywhere but the head and dealing moderate damage to vehicles, but with a reduced clip size and/or less ammunition (an anti-materiel rifle). The important note here is that both rifles are equally effective against infantry in the hands of a skilled player, unlike the current system whereby skilled Focus Rifle-wielding players simply cannot kill a player as fast as skilled Sniper Rifle users, creating an imbalance. The fact that one is more damaging in the hands of an unskilled player is less of a problem due to the fact that there are less kills to be had overall, and if a shot is missed it's more important. This system creates variety within weapons but without putting one inherently at a disadvantage.

 

tl;dr

 

Changing weapon damage types increases the skill gap, encourages attempts to improve skill levels, prevents the weapon being overpowered, and hopefully discourages betrayals by jealous teammates. It could also introduce variety without making one side at a disadvantage regardless of skill, unlike the current situation.

 

Feedback is sincerely appreciated!

[Mr Biggles]

i like the sniper just the way it is, don't get me wrong, Sniper rifles on vehicles is OP, but, the sniper is so good right now, and im really enjoying playing with it right now.

 

maybe tone down the auto aim a little bit too, it feels a bit like CoD, which is never good.

 

i enjoyed reading your thread, and i will definitely think about this when going into halo 4.

[Azaxx]

lol, love that tl;dr

maybe tone down the sniper on vehicles, but not infantry, i want my kills

[SixWaysToSunday]

Actually I rather like the Reach sniper because it allows players access to another power weapon. There is still an incredible skill gap, but casual players can actually use it instead of having to pass it up. An aspect you missed is the ability for multi-kills. I imagine Kampy would cry if the sniper had a smaller clip, as its perfect now for skilled players to exterminate a team.

 

But I would really like the human sniper to only be anti-infantry and a possible forerunner or covenant to be anti-vehicle. That way we dont have the massively OP vehicles like Reach's.

[Archangel Tyrael]

I agree with most of it, but i do not agree on the reduced clip size, the sniper is too over powered vs vehicles, i have killed many vehicles with it in BTB, and been killed many times by it as well. They should Just bring back the halo 3 beam rifle vs sniper rifle, but i doubt the beam is going to be in halo 4.

[Lᴜᴋᴇ]

I liked reading that, however I believe the covenant equivalent should be buffed and the sniper rifle currently kept the same.