--Weapons Theory-- (A Forging Tutorial)

Weapons Theory
An in-depth look at the heart and soul of Halo 3​

We all know what weapons are. Sharp objects that poke, or shiny objects that go boom. Either way, they are basically the center focus of Halo 3, seeing as it’s a shooter. Remove these and you no longer have a good game. Same goes if you try to remove them from your map; just because somebody spawns with a weapon doesn’t mean he’s good with it, and for all you know he may want to trade it out for something much sharper. Like a Needler. Regardless of what he wants, you have to realize that randomly placing your weapons is a horrible idea, because it can and will ruin your map. Since weapons are an important of what makes Halo 3, so then should they be an important part of what makes your map.​

Table of Contents:
[jumpto=1]1. Weapons Classifications[/jumpto]
1.1. Weapon Descriptions
1.2. Sub Groupings
1.2.1. Power Weapons
1.2.2. General Use Weapons
1.2.3. Skill Weapons
1.3. Advanced Weapon Details
[jumpto=2]2. Basic Weapon Placement Strategies[/jumpto]
2.1 Grenades
2.2 Moderation
[jumpto=3]3. Weapon Layout Classifications[/jumpto]
3.1. Competitive
3.2. HardCore
[jumpto=4]4. Advanced Weapon Placement Strategies[/jumpto]
4.1. Balance & Flow
4.2. Obtainability
4.3 Weapon Usage
4.4. Item Properties
4.4.1 Respawn Rate
4.4.2 Spare Clips
4.4.3 Place at Start
4.4.4 Symmetry
[jumpto=5]5. Conclusion[/jumpto]​

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[/aname][/jumpto]

Now, of course there are dozens of styles for weapon layouts and almost as many weapons to choose from, so you may start thinking that a little help would be nice, so that you can at least have something to build off of. So, for starters, below is a list of all the weapons.​

COVENANT
Beam Rife - Brute Shot - Firebomb - Gravity Hammer - Mauler - Spike Grenade - Spiker- Covenant Carbine - Energy Sword - Fuel Rod Gun - Needler - Plasma Grenade - Plasma Pistol - Plasma Rifle - Plasma Cannon

HUMAN
Assault Rifle - Battle Rifle - Flamethrower - Frag Grenade - Machine Gun Turret - Magnum - Missile Pod - Rocket Launcher - Shotgun - SMG - Sniper Rifle - Spartan Laser

FORERUNNER
Sentinel Beam

Weapon Descriptions​

There are of course many different classifications we can use when defining each of these weapons. We can characterize them based on range, power, handiness, or extra-purpose uses. For example, the Brute Shot has medium to short range, high power, it is a single wield weapon, and can be used well for jumping and such. I am going to classify each weapon based on these, and list the greatest weakness of each one. They will be in alphabetical order, just in case you are searching for a specific one. For information on what a given term within the chart means, check the spoiler.

Spoiler

|||Very Short Range means it needs contact to be effective. Short Range means less than ten steps. Medium range means 10-20 steps. Long Range means 20-50 steps. Extremely Long Range means it has unlimited range.|||Very High Power means it kills instantly. High Power means it kills in two shots, or extremely fast. Medium power means it kills relatively quickly, in several shots. Low power means it takes a very long time to kill.|||The Handiness is whether it is used as a Single-Wield weapon or a Dual-Wield weapon.|||Extra Uses are if it can be used as anything other than as directed.||| The Biggest Weakness is one thing that drags down the weapons usefulness the most|||

​

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Now that you know what every weapon is, and a few of its strengths and weaknesses, you should go out and play around with them to get a feel for how they all work. Doing this not only allows you to begin to understand situations in which a person might find themselves needing such a weapon, but to help understand that these weapons are ALWAYS located intuitively in well built maps. Always. You never find a Sniper Rifle in a tiny closed off room, you never find a Shotgun way out in the open, and Battle Rifles (BRs) are ALWAYS found it locations near corners, or along the edges of medium to large rooms.

Weapon Sub Groupings​

There are a few ways that people commonly label weapons that you still need to understand, to help you with correct placement. People usually group weapons into several categories, and you will need to be fluent in this entire lingo to properly utilize them. But first, you need to know what Risk vs Reward is, because that is what defines each weapon characterization. It’s simple really, the calculated Risk of using a weapon as compared inversely to the calculated Reward if using it. If it is like the Sniper Rifle, it is very difficult to use properly and has a slow fire rate, then the Risk of using it is unbelievably high. The chances of surviving with it if you are a player hasn’t had enough practice are very slim, and your chances or getting a kill decrease. Therefore, it has a negative Risk vs Reward for an inexperienced player. However, it is incredibly powerful and if you understand how to properly utilize it then the reward increases exponentially, giving it a very positive Risk vs Reward. I took the time to do much testing and calculated this all out, with one experienced player (me) and one new player (my little cousin.) The basic equation is this: Reward-Risk=Weapon RvR Number. The higher the RvR number is, the better the Risk vs Reward ratio is.

Over the course of a long time, me and my cousing got at least 50 kills with each weapon; i got 25+ and he got 25+. During thid testing we had to count every death we had with each weapon as our primary, and we were only allowed to trade when we were not in a battle to keep consistency. Since we both usually got 27 or 31 or some random number because of how we working it out, i had to come up with a more complicated equation, but here it is:

(tk[jex yoyo]+tk[cousin])/2ak - (td[jex yoyo]+td[cousin])/2ad = RvR Number​

tk=total kills; td=total deaths; ak=average kills; ad=average deaths​

Basically i added my total kills and my cousins total kills, then found the average, and then did the same for deaths, and subracted the average kills from the average deaths and got the number. At the moment, i do not have any test subjects who are from a more average skill range, i would greatly accept anybody willing to repeat all of the kill/death testing. I would personally do all of the math, if you choose to do this all you need to do is send me a PM of all of your data, and ill add it in and change everything accordingly. And, of course, give you credit for the time you took to help the community with some sick creds at the bottom

...::ower Weapons:::...​

Power Weapons are weapons that are very powerful, and most players rush to collect them at the beginning of a game. Controlling these weapons means controlling the other team, because they almost always provide a huge advantage in most battle situations. The majority of weapons you are probably efficient with are included in this list, because the very definition of a Power Weapon precludes nearly all easy to use weapons in general. There are many ways you could define power weapons, such as ‘weapons with high kill power.’ Regardless, the best way to term them is this; Power Weapons are weapons that offer an upset balance of Risk vs Reward, where the Reward is noticeably higher than the Risk. A better way to understand this definition of Power Weapon is "A weapon that people of any skill can usually get noticably more kills then deaths while using it is a Power Weapon" Strangely, by this definition a Sniper Rifle, even though it is one of the most deadly weapons in the game, is not a Power Weapon. Below is a list of weapons that follow this definition;

· Brute Shot
· Energy Sword​

· Flamethrower​

· Fuel Rod Gun​

· Gravity Hammer​

· Machine Gun Turret​

· Mauler

· Missile Pod

· Needler
· Plasma Cannon
· Rocket Launcher
· Shotgun
· Spartan Laser​

All of these weapons show a noticeable difference between Risk vs Reward; therefore they are all power weapons. Because of this, you should know that since these weapons can all offer the ability to unbalance the flow of game play, that they should all be used sparingly. The Rocket Launcher may be the one weapon with the highest Reward to Risk ratio, so you cant go putting it inside one team’s base at start in a fair game. And you defiantly can NOT have two of them on the same map. That is superbly foolish, and will ruin your map. One last thing about these; some Power Weapons are much more powerful in certain situations. Make sure that you know which ones go where, and if you are placing multiple of any that they are fairly balanced out with a equivalent or opposite weapon, or possible a location that renders them moot.​

...:::General Use Weapons:::...​

These weapons are the basic, everyday, general use weapons that people tend to think of as ‘common’ or even sometimes ‘weak.’ The latter is a huge mistake. When utilized properly, any of these can become powerful enough to change the tide of battle. For example, if you are dual wielding SMGs, they can kill faster than a flamethrower. And if you run around using the AR-Beatdown combo you are guaranteed at least 15 kills in an FFA match. So, you would define these weapons as such; A General Use Weapon is a weapon that offers very balanced Risk vs Reward, and very balanced gameplay in general. There are not many huge strengths or huge weaknesses. These are the General Use Weapons;

· Assault Rifle
· Firebomb Grenade​

· Frag Grenade​

· Magnum​

· Plasma Grenade​

· Plasma Rifle​

· SMG

· Spike Grenade

· Spiker​

You may notice that every single grenade is here. That is because they all fall perfectly under the above category, with the Risk being the chance of suicide and the Reward being the somewhat high chance of killing, or severely wounding an opponent. ​

...:::Skill Weapons:::...​

There is only one more of this type of classification of weapons, and these are skill weapons, also known as dynamic weapons. They are called such because they require a high skill level and knowledge of Halo 3 gameplay to properly use, so therefore they have a dynamic Risk vs Reward. Hence both titles. Basically, these are weapons that have a very negative Risk vs Reward ratio for an inexperienced player, while having a very positive Risk vs Reward ratio for a more experienced player. Skill weapons are commonly found in the most competitive and skill oriented maps, the HardCore maps, and are in fact the basis for what those maps represent. A list of these weapons includes;

· Battle Rifle
· Beam Rifle​

· Covenant Carbine​

· Plasma Pistol​

· Sniper Rifle​

Before you get mad at me for this, yes I am on an MLG team and yes I do ALWAYS rush for these weapons at the start of a game because they are what I am best with, particularly the Sniper Rifle. Anybody who is upset may NOT criticize me for having these weapons as Skill weapons instead of power weapons. Remember when you first started playing Halo, and the AR was the most important thing? You probably got used to the fact that the Battle Rifle was actually a weak weapon until you started getting better with it. So, you witnessed the dynamic change from poor weapon choice, to the most important weapon choice. Also notice how I included the Plasma Pistol, because it is the hardest to properly use weapon in the game. You have to charge it up and wait for the opposing team to get close enough to you. However, it instant wipes out any enemies shields, giving your teammates an easy kill. So when used properly this weapon become the ultimate support weapon for any team.​

Advanced Weapon Details​

This next section talks in depth about each weapon and a few details on how it should be placed. It is all written solely by thesilencebroken, and i have to thank him hugely for allowing me to use this. It is huge, and saves me an unbeleivable large amount of time. So, here we go!

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WEAPONS​

Weapons look best placed laying on the ground like they were dropped there. There are some exceptions, such as the sword which looks best on a weapon holder. Other weapons also look great propped against a wall or pillar, such as the shotgun or battle rifle. This allows for easier finding. Placing weapons on weapon holders or dangling from a wall or ceiling generally looks tacky to me. If it wouldnt be like that in a Bungie map, i wouldnt do it either. Thats my rule of thumb. You only want 3-4 power weapons on your map max, and generally less is good enough.​

1.1 | ASSAULT RIFLE​

The basic starting weapon in Halo 3, the assault rifle has many uses. It can handle both a close range scenario, and a medium range brawl.
Even at longer distances, the weapon isnt completely useless, but its not worth bothering with. Since everyone spawns with one of these,
they are not really a neccessary weapon to place on your map. Ideal locations are just basically wherever one might be low on ammo, such as
your teams base when you're defending a flag and you cant risk leaving the flag to get more ammo.​

Ideal Locations:
Team Bases, Anywhere refills may come in handy
Ideal Respawn Times:
30/45 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
0 to 4​

1.2 | BATTLE RIFLE​

Arguably the most popular and useful weapon in the game, the battle rifle is definately the fan favorite. Since the days of Halo 2, the battle rifle
has gone from a weapon to get your hands on to a weapon thats glued to your hand from the match start. While Team BRs never hurt anyone, I
do think it is a major reason gameplay has changed so much over the years. Old maps from halo 2 had a battle rifle or two, and it was nice to
get your hands on one. Now, Halo 3 fills its maps with more battle rifles than it has room for. Players rarely try anything new, and most other
weapons sit alone and dusty. It is for this reason that i recommend making it a little more of a weapon to aim for, rather than a weapon that you
dont even think twice about having.​

Ideal Locations:
Team Bases, Major respawn points
Ideal Respawn Times:
30/45 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
2 to 5​

1.3 | BEAM RIFLE​

The covenant equivalent to the Sniper rifle. The mere difference that makes this any different is that you cannot pick up spare ammo, meaning
that if both teams have one, and one sniper dies, the opposing team could then pick up the dead man's rifle and have two snipers, putting the
one team at a major disadvantage. Typically the beam rifle should go on maps with overly covenant-themed weapon sets, or asymmetrical
maps, since you dont usually want two Beam rifles on a single map.​

Ideal Locations:
medium height, equal distance from either team
Ideal Respawn Times:
120/150 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1​

1.4 | BRUTE SHOT​

The brute shot is a highly effective weapon at both close and medium range. It has a very large melee damage, making it very easy to destroy
opponents in narrow areas. The major places this weapon is useful is grabbing it on your way into a larger open area where the chaos
ensues. The explosive rounds are also very useful for vehicles that need to be stopped and flushing out enemies who are trying to set up an
ambush.​

Ideal Locations:
quick grabbing distance from defensive base / neutral central location
Ideal Respawn Times:
90/120 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1 to 2​

1.5 | CARBINE​

Many people compare this to being just like the battle rifle, but there are some key differences that make this slightly more powerful. The crystal
clear zoom and rapid firing rate of the carbine make it rather deadly in the proper hands. For this reason, you should not load your map up with
them. Two carbines should be enough to give the map some spice without filling the map with all medium/long range weapons. Keep them split
evenly between the teams as well. One team should not have easy access to both carbines unless the other team has equal access. ​

Ideal Locations:
higher defensive positions [ex: the gate on High Ground]
Ideal Respawn Times:
30/45 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
2​

1.6 | ENERGY SWORD​

This is an easy way to ruin your map. The energy sword can make any spot look nice, but you shouldnt just place this weapon in a spot
because it looks nice. Equally important, this weapon isnt for every map. Only larger maps with vast amounts of open play area should be
considered for having a sword. Putting the sword on a smaller map, or a map with large amounts of confined space can lead to camping. While
some players like to camp, the vast majority of players do not, and you want to appeal to many people. Ideally, you'd want teams to fight over
control of the sword, and make it so that it switches hands throughout the match. If you find that one player holds onto the sword for an
extended period of time, and does great damage with it, you may want to reconsider your weapon scheme. ​

Ideal Locations:
central locations that require effort to get to
Ideal Respawn Times:
180 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1​

1.7 | SNIPER RIFLE​

In almost any sort of competitive gametype, this will be most users main priority. It has an extremely long range fire, and is additionally lethal up
close in good hands. Any map can really handle a sniper, and most players love it. I recommend using this weapon, so long as you dont have a
billion other power weapons. You have a few choices on how to set this one up. For maps that focus on nothing but single sided objective
games, giving the defensive team the sniper and giving the attacking team the shotgun is a simple way to do balance. If you have more of slayer
in mind, that setup isnt as good of an idea. For the majority of setups, i recommend having either one sniper in a balanced location on the
outskirts of the map, or putting 2 on the map just outside the bases. Putting them outside the bases will allow for players to go out into the map initially to gather their setup for an defensive position, or make them move into a more tactical position for offensive gameplans. You never want to put a sniper in its ideal location overseeing a good portion of the map. The person should have to work for a good view, and shouldnt be able to sit in one spot forever being safe. ​

Ideal Locations:
1 - an outer area with a somewhat constricted line of view
1 - defenders base
2 - a simple quick jog from each base in a non-useful area
Ideal Respawn Times:
120/150 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1 to 2​

1.8 | SPIKERS​

The brute spiker is one of the most overlooked weapons in the game. It is more of a close range weapon, but can be somewhat effective at a
medium range as well. The nice thing about the spiker is that is can be put out in pairs, or you can put one by itself and it will still be effective.
You want to put these in well traveled areas, where people can see them easily. If you a single spiker, you can often put it with grenades so
that people may be more likely to use it. [Ex: default Foundry]. ​

Ideal Locations:
near a common spawn area, often on the outskirts
Ideal Respawn Times:
30/45 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
2 to 4​

1.9 | GRAVITY HAMMER​

Using the gravity hammer on your map can be somewhat like using the sword - you must have perfect conditions or it will ruin your gameplay.
Make sure that you avoid this weapon if your map has a ton of important and commonly used narrow hallway type areas. A basic clue that you
might be able to make this weapon useful is often in a more open, larger map. Usually, a map that largely depends on vehicles could be a good
match for it. The hammer was originally on Epitaph, and many fans hated it because of the outside walkway camping. You will want to avoid this. ​

Ideal Locations:
central lower areas, preferably somewhat open
Ideal Respawn Times:
150 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1​

1.10 | MAGNUM​

Since the days of Halo:CE, the magnum has become less and less popular. Its not entirely useless now, but it isnt very popular anymore, nor is
it commonly used. You can use this as a simple filler weapon in areas that need something, but nothing else quite fits the bill. Additionally, they
have a small fanbase, and you can easily stick this in to satisfy them. There is definately not a requirement to using it at all in your maps though. Try to pair it up with Frag grenades. ​

Ideal Locations:
any spot that feels like it needs a weapon, but nothing major
Ideal Respawn Times:
30/45 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
2​

1.11 | MAULER​

The mauler is a fancy close quarters combat weapon. It can be dual-wieldable. The maulers become far too powerful when used together, so
you want to avoid placing them close together. If you have two of them, i recommend putting one NEAR each base, but not in them. You dont
want players to have an instant defense with them. If you chose to use only one mauler, you should place it in a central location that both teams
can equally get to. If you use the sword, putting maulers on the map can be an easy way to balance the sword out and to give other players a
chance to overthrow the sword wielder. I would not recommend mixing shotguns and maulers unless you have a rather large and open map.
The effects of putting so many close range weapons leads to lots of camping, and many players will become bored or unhappy with gameplay.
You may also want to consider cutting it down to 0 or 1 spare clips.​

Ideal Locations:
ground based locations near the bases / central mid height locations.
Ideal Respawn Times:
90/120 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1 to 2​

1.12 | NEEDLER​

The needler is a very powerful weapon if used correctly, so you do not want to overload your map with them. I recommend placing them in
areas where the player can grab them on their way into a larger battle area. You want players to use them at a medium range, so placing them
in an area where its all up close and person will lead to them being rarely used. Often, the needler looks natural just laying around casually, so
try to envision where you could imagine picking up the needler. Usually, you'll be pretty accurate. Testing should prove whether or not the
placement was a good idea. ​

Ideal Locations:
ramps / just outside larger open battle areas.
Ideal Respawn Times:
90 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1 to 2​

1.13 | SPARTAN LASER​

It is easy to place the spartan laser on a map and forget what it is mainly designed for. The massive weapon is specifically designed to combat
against heavy vehicular assaults. I would only recommend using this weapon if your map is large, and has a ghost or warthog present. It still
has plenty of capability of playing the part of a power weapon, but it tends to become unbalanced. ​

Ideal Locations:
just outside defense base / central areas
Ideal Respawn Times:
180 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1​

1.14 | PLASMA PISTOL​

The plasma pistol is not a widely used weapon, but its usefulness is often overlooked. The pure power it holds is all in how its used. Many
people pick it up and try to use it as if it were an assault rifle and, finding it useless, toss it aside. Plasma pistols are insanely good at dropping a
shield to nothing with one simple charged shot. Paired with a battle rifle, this can be a very effective killing machine. Another fantastic use for
the plasma pistol is that a charged shot will instantly halt any vehicle leaving it helpless. If you can get the shot off and stop the enemy vehicle, they are then at your mercy. A simple grenade stick after will ensure their fate. The last good use is for close range defense. The ease of a single charged shot paired with a melee attack can leave a player waiting to respawn before they realize what happened to them.​

Ideal Locations:
ground level / wherever may be attacked by a vehicle
Ideal Respawn Times:
30/45 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1 to 2​

1.15 | PLASMA RIFLE​

Another weapon that is often overlooked because of its obscure usefulness. Many users become flustered with the Plasma Rifle when it
doesnt instantly kill an enemy like an assault rifle or SMG. The main perk of the plasma rifle is it's ability to eat away at a spartan's shield so
quickly. Pairing this weapon with another weapon such as an SMG or spiker will make you a very powerful enemy at close to medium ranges.
At close ranges, the plasma rifle can also be rather effective as shield-dropper/melee kill combo. These should not be overlooked when you are
placing your weapons on your map. Since it is rare for a player to pick up two of them together, i recommend putting them solo. ​

Ideal Locations:
common walkways / near ramps
Ideal Respawn Times:
30/45 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
2 to 4​

1.16 | ROCKET LAUNCHER​

This is clearly THE power weapon in the world of Halo. It can change the score very quickly if the right player gets it. Most maps that arent tiny
can handle having a rocket launcher on them. It can be used for any occasion, quickly making work of players or vehicles. You want the
players to be able to fight over this weapon equally so that its all chance on who gets it. Due to its extreme power, you only want to place it on
the defenders side if you give the other team something of equal importance, such as a Warthog or Ghost. Unless the map is fairly large, you want to avoid giving the players additional clips with the rockets ammo. Two shots should cause enough damage anyways ​

Ideal Locations:
central rush positions / just outside defenders initial reach
Ideal Respawn Times:
150/180 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1​

1.17 | SHOTGUN​

There are people who love this weapon, and those who despise it. To keep it enjoyable for all, the placement of this weapon is deeply
important. If your map is more than half hallways and narrow areas, avoid using it at all. You have several options for placement of the shotgun.
Your first option, if you gave the defenders a sniper rifle then you are clear to give the attackers the shotgun to balance that out. The second
option, is to put the shotgun in a semi-open and breathable area that is equal distance from either team. This ensures that its all chance as to
who gets ahold of it. Your third and final option is a risky one, but can make for excellent play if you have the right map. You can place a
shotgun near either base, such as done in The Pit. This will give both teams equal opportunity to destroy the other. You want to avoid having
multiple shotguns on your map unless you are sure that it is open enough to make the shotguns effectiveness drop enough to do so.
Additionally, avoid mixing with Maulers unless the play area is large and open enough. An example of a forge map that can handle both would
be Metro v2 by Paulie Walnuttz. ​

Ideal Locations:
both bases / attackers base / central area
Ideal Respawn Times:
120 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
1 to 2​

1.18 | SMG​

Players more familiar with Halo 2 often prefer it as opposed to Halo 3. One main reason I feel for this reason is that the Assault rifle is now the
starting weapon, and is too powerful from the start. Another reason is that forgers use Battle rifles as the main filler weapon, and everyone
just uses those instead. The SMG is not placed commonly enough to me, and I believe that if you place more of these instead of other weapons,
the gameplay may shift to a more enjoyable type. This is the perfect filler weapon. You can place it almost anywhere that feels like it needs a
weapon. I even recommend trying SMG starts for a more interesting and balanced gameplay. ​

Ideal Locations:
common walkways / ramps / major spawning locations
Ideal Respawn Times:
30/45 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
2 to 6​

1.19 | FRAG GRENADES​

Since players start with these, you arent really required to have many on the map. I recommend placing a pair with a battle rifle or magnum
spawn so that players who need them will grab them when they go for another weapon. ​

Ideal Locations:
places you may run to after a larger battle to replenish ammo
Ideal Respawn Times:
10 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
2 to 4 in pairs​

1.20 | PLASMA GRENADES​

Many people use this grenade because of its versatility. I recommend this type for almost any of your maps. You want to place them in spots
where the player doesnt have to go out of their way to get them, and you do not want to make them over plentiful. Place them in pairs in places
where players travel alot. If you do not know where the hot spots are in your map, play a game or two without grenades placed on the map to
see where the players travel most, and make your decision accordingly. Use on larger maps with human/covenant themed weapon sets.​

Ideal Locations:
at the top of ramps, common walkways
Ideal Respawn Times:
10 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
4 to 6 in pairs​

1.21 | SPIKE GRENADES​

These grenades should not be paired with plasma grenades. Having several types of grenades can be irritable to players under gunfire who
think they switched to one, but accidentally switched to another. Additionally, there is no real purpose to have both types of grenades, as they do roughly the same type of work. You want to use these ones on smaller to medium sized maps which use more brute styled weapons such
as the maulers and the bruteshot.​

Ideal Locations:
at the bottom of ramps, common areas
Ideal Respawn Times:
10 seconds
Ideal Amount Per Map:
4 to 6 in pairs

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Once again, huge thanks to thesilencebroken for this section.

[jumpto=0][aname=2][/aname][/jumpto]​

There are many different styles of weapon layout, but all of them fall back down onto the few basic principles that essentially define weapon placement. Several good maps show a great use of weapon layouts, but none are as versatile as my personal favorite, Guardian. It shows the best competitive weapon layout that I have ever experienced, in my opinion. Take a look;​

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This is an overview of guardian, with all of the default weapon locations add in. Anyway, you can see that all of the weapons are placed near or around walls, for the most part, and all of them barring the shotgun are in high traffic areas. Each and everyone one of them is placed in a very noticeable location, such as the Gravity Hammer. ​

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You can tell how this is a perfect location for a power weapon. Bungie placed it in one of the most trafficked areas on the map, and in a very memorable and eye-catching area. By doing this they draw your attention here and to this area of the map, and also turn the Hammer into the Focal Weapon of the map, or otherwise referred to as the main power weapon. It is almost a rule to have at least one of these, balanced out with a weapon or piece of equipment that is best effective against it, to keep gameplay fair. This main weapon should ALWAYS be placed in a memorable location, ALWAYS be nearly centered within the map, and NEVER be the most powerful weapon on the map. Never. Because when it is the most powerful weapon you create a location of overwhelming chaos and it can corrupt flow through the map. You want this to be the second, or third power weapon, depending on the size of your map. This is a common error found when building maps, and it is a problem that forgers of all skill fall into, because the natural assumption is that the best weapon goes in the middle. But that only clogs up, and sometimes removes all flow within the map.​

In a perfect team game, each spawning point for each team should have two weapons that are the two most powerful on the map, the two Auxiliary Weapons.. Guardian has this down to a science. For the red spawn, you get to start out with quick access to the Sniper Rifle, and because you are in the sniper tower, with long Lines of Sight, it is the best weapon for use in its current location. On the opposite side of the map you have the Shotgun, real close to the blue spawn. This is the best location for this weapon, because it is in a closed up area with very short Lines of Sight, so it controls that base. By adding these near the starting locations it gives each team a power weapon free of risk, and allows for each team to always have a tool that they can fall back on if the other team manages to get control of all of the other power weapons. And these same weapon locations also can completely change game flow in an FFA game. Instead of everybody fighting in the middle of the map over the Hammer, Bungie added these weapons to change the game flow and attract people to the outsides of the map, adding more of a figure eight flow to the game. Because the two most powerful weapons are in low trafficked areas, it pulls some of the flow out of the middle and directs it in the areas that were intended to house some locations of gameplay. Try playing a game without those weapons, and you will understand the drastic effect they really have.

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As you can see, it really adds two figure eights to gameplay. This is the flow of an actual game, with the middle being the most trafficked area but barely. Without the weapons placed as they are it would look more like the spokes of a wheel, with all of them going into the middle. The above, with more paths and less congestion, allows for the best possible gameplay for the design of this map. This is caused by the weapon layouts, and how they can slightly control and tweak the flow and focus and everything of a map. Remember this when building your own, because if you do it wrong you can hurt your map. Remember, the Focal Weapon gets used to sanctify the area of most flow, and the Auxiliary weapons are used to modify the overall flow.​

Now, back to the Gravity Hammer. I mentioned that it is placed in a memorable, attractive spot, and there is a reason for this. Bungie wanted the Hammer to be the Focal Weapon, so they built this strange antechamber around it, and added aesthetics that cause it to be the easiest to remember location within the map. This is because they wanted the weapon to be easy to find once. Think about it; if you see two paths in a map, one bland and boring and the other covered with flowing gold and cool designs, which would you go down? The shiny one, because our minds are aesthetically drawn towards pretty colors and unique areas. So, you would want to put the main weapons within the gold area so that they will get noticed, and then picked up and used. Bungie did the same thing by making a pretty cool looking area that everyone will want to check out, and making it memorable, and then placing the Focal Weapon inside of it so that it would get commonly used. So, the lesson you should learn is that the weapon you wish to control the maps gameplay and flow with belong in the most memorable location there. And, a weapon you don’t want to be overused should be placed off to the side in a location that is much less memorable. However, all of this doesnt mean you should build a map around your weapons. You should instead build your weapons into your map. Another way to word this, would be saying that all of these rules are subject to change, or even deletion, depending on how your map is made.

There is one more main point that I would like to cover within this, and that is that you must never randomly place your weapons. Each weapon is either placed in the flow to assist the players within your map, or placed outside of the flow somewhere that you believe needs a larger amount of traffic. The weapons either modify flow, or they change it and assist in directing it into different locations.

Grenades​

Another thing that you may have noticed is that grenades seem to always come in pairs, and unlike weapons they aren’t placed leaning up against a wall or in some magical holder. Well, that’s because even though people need grenades, they don’t need to go out of their way to pick them up. Grenades have almost minimal effect on game flow, however if there are two equal paths between a specific location, and you know grenades are along one path, chances are you will go that way.

The reason that grenades are placed in the middle of a walk-way or in an entrance is because they are places where people commonly walk, and people always need grenades. If you place grenades along a wall, chances are they won’t get noticed and they almost certainly won’t get picked up. So, you want to make sure you place them in areas people move through, in the middle of the floor or an entrance, preferably along a path that is three or less Spartans wide, assuring that they get picked up. Remember, do not place too many grenades on a map, and do not place them in anything other than pairs. Any more or less will unbalance gameplay poorly, and this brings us to our next topic.​

Moderation​

This is another incredibly important aspect of the Weapons Layout that is commonly overlooked, or even ignored. Some of you older members may remember a rant that somebody unnamed had about people overusing Battle Rifles, and I suggest you read that if I can’t help you here. Unfortunately, I cannot find it so if anybody has a linky, then lemme know and I will update this. But I agree whole-heartedly with this mystery person. There are way too many maps posted that involve way too many weapons, and this kills it. And once again, Guardian is an effective representation of this theory because it is deceptively large. Yes, that’s right; it’s about the same size as the Pit.

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When you look at this, it seems like there is actually a huge amount of weapons on this map. But if you take out the grenades, and remember that there is two floors on the majority of this map, it is close to bare. This is wonderful, because there is something I want you to see. The only weapons that have duplicates are the Dual-Wield weapons! That is allowed because they are meant to be held with one in each hand. I personally love that there is only one Battle Rifle, and only one Carbine. So many maps overdo one of these weapons. At most, you should have four in a large map. The Sandbox default map layout is one of the biggest maps ever made, and it only has six. So, there is no reason why you need to place eight of them in a very small map, or any map in general. ​

So I’m going to give you one last thing to think about. Every time you add another weapon, then every single weapon on the map becomes less of a threat to every other player because he has other options to counteract it. So, the more weapons you place the less dramatic of an effect each of the other ones has, and the mores stale the gameplay is. And since every weapon can move and moderate the flow of the map attempting to use too many of them can destroy the intent of your map.​

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Okay, so now that you know quite a considerable background in the different weapons and their uses within a map, we can start with the different weapon layouts. There are three major designs, each with many different and interesting variations. They all usually carry different starting weapons as well, but you can always tailor that to your personal map. I will list each one, and describe it and its several variations.​

Competitive​

This layout has the most possible variations, and is the most commonly used because it offers the best balance between skill weapons and power weapons, the best balance between flexibility and strictness, and the perfect line between too much freedom and none at all. The mainstay and fallback location for ALL competitive weapon layouts is the Assault Rifle. It is really incredibly easy to use, and offers a great amount of power when used as a support weapon.​

Because of this, most game types have Assault Rifle (AR) as the Primary starting weapon, with pistol as your Secondary. Possibly you may start out with a BR Primary and an AR secondary. On a few occasions, you may even find yourself with no AR at all, and only a lonely pistol. This depends on how many weapons are in the map, and how powerful the weapons are supposed to be. If there are an extremely large number of weapons placed in many different locations, and especially around spawn clusters, then you may want to consider Pistol starts. However, if there is just a few super power weapons on the map and the rest are weak you need to have and AR as one of your starting weapons so that the game will remain fair and balanced. You don’t want someone assured 10 quick kills just because they picked up a sword, do you? No, so you need to start with more powerful weapons to keep the game competitive and fair. ​

The point of competitive gameplay is to provide a game that gives everybody a chance to win, no matter how good or bad, or how long they have been playing halo. It provides a good balance of difficult to use weapons, and easy to use weapons so that anybody can have a chance at getting several kills and helping their team win, while still providing a slight advantage to those players who are most skilled. This gametype usually offers the most fair and fun gameplay, and is highly recommended as a great starting point for weapon placement and such, and most people enjoy it because they can use as many power weapons as there map will hold.​

When using this weapon layout, there are defiantly a few weapons that you should try your best to avoid. They are the Firebomb Grenade, Flamethrower, Fuel Rod Cannon, Missile Pod, and Sentinel Beam. The reasons are that these weapons add a strange flavor to gameplay, and usually don’t mix well. Its almost impossible to properly add these into your game, but not totally impossible. I highly recommend you avoid using these weapons because of the negative effects they tend to have. However, it is possible to use it correctly.

HardCore​

HardCore weapon layouts are reserved for the best of the best, especially MLG. These are for the most competitive maps out there, and are based on only one thing: Winning. There is no second place in these games, there are only winners and losers. They rely on using almost exclusively weapons that fall under the Skill Weapons category, rarely every stepping into the realm of power weapons for the weakest of the weak. Seeing as the only focus of this layout is competition, it fits that the starting weapon is usually a Battle Rifle, because that is the penultimate skill oriented weapon. All of this gametype is based on and around that, you may go pick up a Sniper but you’re holding it as a secondary weapon to your BR. Everything becomes a secondary when you have a BR, because for skill players it is the most generic and well balanced weapon you will ever find. But sometimes you may start out with a Battle Rifle and a Sniper Rifle, or possible just a Sniper Rifle.

There isn’t much to this, except that it revolves heavily on skill, and using the Battle Rifle/Carbine counterparts as well as the Sniper Rifle. The Beam Rifle is almost never used in these games because of the fact that it takes two shots before it overheats, which is enough to kill. So, in the hands of an experienced player it can destroy anybody, and becomes much too powerful for this game. The list of weapons that one may use for this is so very small, but that is because there are not many powerful weapons that are allowed to be used. The few weapons you may use for this weapon layout are; Battle Rifle, Covenant Carbine, Plasma Pistol, Sniper Rifle, Mauler. You may technically use any unlisted power weapon you want, but it is recommended that you avoid using them unless it is a VERY large map, such as the Pit.

While there are several other possible ways to do this, these are the two main weapon layouts. It is almost imperative you choose one of these because most other styles are not effective, and don’t do anything other than ruin your map. Now that we understand the majority of how to do this properly, there is one more thing that we need to cover. This is a very vague, and loose area but it is also very important. Possibly the most important of all…

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Weapons have such a dramatic effect on each map, that you should make certain you spend a ton of time testing just this. Unfortunately, too many forgers fall into the common trap of speeding through this. It makes sense, you have done all the hardest work with the aesthetics and stuff so you want to hurry up and share it with everyone! But that is foolish. That is the reason so many great maps turn out to play at a level much below the potential built into each one. Remember Alt Drei? It basically had some of the coolest aesthetics ever, and in all honesty had a great layout and wonderful default flow. But, it seems they spent more time making the actual post than in building the weapons layout. I don’t really know how long they spent with weapons, but I do know that their use of the Auxiliary Weapons along with a few fundemantal layout flaws almost trashed the game flow, and defiantly took the map down to a level below what it truly deserved. This section is to help you avoid mistakes like that.​

Balance & Flow​

Balance and Flow are what make your maps either the best or the worst they possibly can be. So many different things contribute to and modify this, not excluding weapons. I am going to use guardian again as an example, because by now you should have a halfway decent understanding of how this map works. Look at this:​

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This is a much more detailed look at the flow and movement throughout guardian. The double paths are the ones that are traveled the most. Notice how every power weapon coincides with one of these well traveled routes? Strange isn’t it. That is because of two things; first, Bungie wanted to keep the Power Weapons in areas that are well traveled, and second, because they noticed that without these weapons the flow was a little off what they intended. They wanted the bases to be used more often, so they needed something to help balance it out. The Gravity Hammer, or Focal Weapon, is placed in the center of the majority of the flow to make it easy to find. The sniper takes a leg of this flow, and stretches it out so that it is also included. The shotgun too; It not only stretches the main path of flow to the other end of the map, but it also creates its own seperate well traveled path, extricated from all others. The brute shot also does this, but to a lesser degree. ​

Now, look at what happens when we remove the Shotgun and Sniper Rifle;​

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I have made star-like shapes where probable spawn locations are. Notice how now the Shotgun area is blank, and every common path is just used as a way to get into the middle of the map. The only purpose is a game like this is chaos, and the only way to win it is to have the best grenade spam. This creates very hectic gameplay that could ruin any map, and quickly becomesstale. While it is wonderful for the Mosh Pit gametype, or really any type of KotH (King of the Hill,) it its horrible for any other type of game. And, it makes the Focal Weapon incredibly powerful. Since that is now the most powerful weapon, there are no longer any other weapons to counteract its power, so it will make everybody simply rush to the middle. Avoid this chaotic situation at all costs, by having balanced gameplay. But, how do you know the flow problems arent caused by something else in the map? Well, think about this; a weaponless map is a perfect canvas for testing, because there is no possible way to get a more balanced layout than this. Remember, less is more.

Obtainability​

There is another thing that you should almost definatly consider while placing your weapons. Sometimes throughout your gameplay you may have noticed there there are weapons placed in areas that are suicide to inhabit. Such as the Sniper Rifle on Construct; almost everybody who absent-mindedly rushes out to grab it ends up dead. This is a great stratagy to use when you think a weapon might be too powerful for a given map. By placing it in an incredibly exposed, somewhat hard to get to area and making sure it is in a "Death Zone," you make it so that a player doesnt just have to be like 'hey i want a sniper, lets run around the outside of the map and get it free of challenge.' Instead, it forces them to have to compete for it, and take risks and possibly die for it. Basically, you should decide that if you think a weapon is too powerful for your map, you should making it hard to obtain. Look at the Rockets on Citadel. They should be a very overpowering weapon, and theoretically could overpower the map, but to make up for it Bungie placed them on top of a hard to reach structure that you can shoot at from almost the entire map, making it a huge competition for the rockets, and a huge challenge to aquire them. Furthermore, they put them on a very high respawn time and changed the amount of ammo all the way down to one clip.

Weapon Usage​

This is a very important idea that one needs to understand. It is something most people don’t always realize, and I have found myself guilty of this offense. Because each weapon really can have different uses within different maps, and that is a strange thing to hear. I don’t think I can really explain it any better than IDave, but try thinking about it like this instead; In a map with vehicles the purpose of a brute shot is usually to flip the vehicles so the passengers become more vulnerable. In other maps it can be used to demolish people on the lower levels so that your buddies with BRs can take them out, or it can even be used similar to a Mauler, like in Foundry. When placing a weapon your should always ask yourself first, “what will the intended use of this weapon be? If I place it here, will the players use it as I want them to? If not, how can I fix it?” ​

Well, maybe you have a map that resembles Epitaph. You have a Sniper Rifle on the bottom floor, and if they take it and go upstairs they can see the majority of the map. Theoretically they should be able to help support their team almost anywhere. But for some unknown reason people are using the Sniper more like a Mauler, running around and using it for Shot-Beatdown combos and adding another Shotgun to the map. You find that this absolutely ruins your gameplay. Well, this is why we want to place weapons in a location that you intend for them to be used, because that’s where it will be used. The Sniper Rifle in Guardian is placed on the bottom of the Sniper Tower, and now it’s always being using within that tower, most of the time on the bottom floor to keep out unwanted pests. This is yet another reason why you must think deeply about how a weapon will be used in its location, because very few people pick up a weapon and carry it across the entire map before they completely use it up. So think it through; everything changes everything.​

Item Properties​

Item properties are a very vague, and harder to understand area of the Weapon Theory. I will try my best to make this as easy to understand as possible for all of the people who are newer to forging competitive maps. The Item Properties menu can be brought up by hovering your reticule over a weapon or item while in monitor mode, and pressing the blue ‘x’ button. This opens up several different traits each with different functions for you to edit and play around with. They allow you to edit some of the most basic traits for each item, and in our case the weapons, such as how fast a given item respawns, if it begins at the start of a round, and several other things. Most items have a few specialized traits as well, like the channel number for teleporters. I will break this down into several sections based on the different traits for weapons.​

…:::Respawn Rate:::…​

This is one of the more difficult to teach, but easier to understand traits. This one relies heavily on knowing that THEORIES ARE JUST THERE TO SUGGEST SOME RECOMMENDED TIPS FOR WEAPON PLACEMENT. In case you didn’t get that, there are no true ‘rules’ here, just pointers to help you along on your way with building maps. Anyway, if you highlight the Respawn Rate and click on it, it should allow you to edit it. There are several different choices here, and I took the time to write them down for you, as well as make a giant list that shows you a commonly used time for each one of them AND I even explained them all in a neat little summary afterwards. Aren’t I so nice?​

Respawn Rates: 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90(1:30), 120(2:00), 150(2:30), 180(3:00)
Assault Rifle::20​

Battle Rifle::30 ​

Beam Rifle::120​

Brute Shot::60​

Covenant Carbine::30​

Energy Sword::150

Firebomb Grenade::30

Flamethrower::180
Frag Grenade::10
Fuel Rod Gun::180
Gravity Hammer::90
Machine Gun Turret::180
Magnum (Pistol)::20
Mauler::45
Missile Pod::180
Needler::45
Plasma Cannon::180
Plasma Grenade::20
Plasma Pistol::45
Plasma Rifle::30
Rocket Launcher::180
Sentinel Beam::120
Shotgun::150
SMG::30
Sniper Rifle::150
Spartan Laser::180
Spike Grenade::20
Spiker::30​

Remember, as I keep saying, that these are only a few of the commonly used settings for this. There are so many situations where you may need to change this to something higher, or lower. Pretend you are making a map, and you notice that everybody is flooding into the Shotgun spawn during your testing. And then in the next session of testing somebody absolutely controls the game while using only the Shotgun. Well you look and see that it is on 150 respawn just like that magical guide told you. This is where a good forger would think “Well, if it is too powerful in this map it really doesn’t matter what the guy said. I can either delete it, or change the respawn rate to something higher, like 180.” And there you go, problem solved.​

While testing Assembly the Bungie team noticed that the Gravity Hammer was way to incredibly overbearing, and they needed to tone it down somehow. The problem was that people kept grabbing Camouflage then popping down for a quick hammer and essentially controlling the game for two minutes. Somehow there needed to be a way to fight this, and there was. The Rocket Launcher. Bungie took the Respawn Rate of the Rocket Launcher and lowered it down from three minutes. Now it was at a mere two. And guess what? Some people may complain about a rocket ***** every tenth game or so, but nobody ever complains about the Hammer Pro running around with invisibility, and Bungie managed to keep the flow of the game steady, as well as the balance still level.​

…:::Spare Clips:::…​

This isn’t the simplest one of these traits to teach, but its damn near close. And unlike the others, it doesn’t have any cool effects that can be combined together for even cooler outcomes. So I don’t plan to spend much time on it. Spare Clips is the number of full clips of ammunition that the weapon spawns with, assuming that the clip already in the weapon does not count. If you select this Variable, you are given the option to choose between 1, 2, or 0 spare clips. Let me reiterate; no spare clips does not mean that you spawned a weapon with absolutely no ammo, it means you spawned a weapon that doesn’t have an ability to reload, unless the carrier finds some ammo laying on the ground. This is another thing that can be used in conjuncture with Respawn Rate to help balance out the weapons. Lets take the earlier example, and pretend that even once you increased the Respawn Rate to 180 the Shotgun was still too powerful. Well, maybe if you tried setting the Spare Clips to Zero…. Yes! Success. The recommended settings for this Variable are the default for each weapon. However, almost half of the time this needs to be changed.​

…::lace at Start:::…​

Even though this one is rather self-explanatory, there are defiantly a few things that need to be covered. For example, what does this simple little thing do? It has got two variables. The simplest yet; do I choose Yes or No? Gosh, now I feel like I am taking a quiz… Well chances are you want to choose Yes. However, there are several occasions when a No would suffice just as well. This is, in its most basic form, whether an object will be there for you to interact with at the beginning of a round or not. It could be possible that you decide that a weapon is way too powerful to have in your map at the start of a round, but later on it becomes available because it will no longer be overwhelming.​

I really love this variable because there are so many different ways that it can be used creatively along with the Respawn Rate, and can create some of the most ingenious changes and alterations within your map. I suggest playing around with this and having fun a bit with it, and not always with the weapons. But, pretend you are creating the most OMG epic map ever, and you want the Energy Sword to change its location part of the way through the game. This is supposed impossible, but there is actually a way to do this. First, put one Sword in the place you want it to start the round, and set the Respawn Rate: Never. Next, place the second one in the location you want the Sword to change to, and set the Place at Start: No. Now, it will appear as if the Energy Sword changes locations halfway through! Remember to mess with this because it can add fun things to gameplay that nobody would ever expect.​

…:::Symmetry:::…​

This is undoubtedly the most difficult Item Property to understand. It essentially lets you decide whether an object appears in Symmetric, Asymmetric, or Both varieties of games. Now, how the hell do we know what that all means?? Well, Symmetrical games are team based and always have equivalent objectives for both teams, such as Team Slayer, Assault, Territories, and CtF. Asymmetrical games are FFA games, and gametypes that require one of the teams to have a different goal than the other team. A few examples of this are Neutral Bomb, One Flag, Juggernaut, and Infection. This is very difficult to incorporate into weapon uses, but can be useful for objectives and sometimes spawn points.​

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I realize that this is an insanely huge wall of text, so just in case you are one of those tl;dr people I’m going to give you a summary that should help almost anyone improve. Correct weapon layouts can* have just as much effect on a map as respawn locations, and and they are almost as important. The layout and locations of your weapons are what make your map what it is, and since weapons are the main focus of Halo 3, and all shooter games in general, it makes sense that you should spend a decent amount of your time perfecting this aspect of the map. Failure to do so could possibly unbalance the map, and corrupt gameplay.​

*I know i have said several times that the weapon layout can have a huge effect on gameplay, but this is only if it is used properly. I reccomend these tips because they can be used to help elevate your map to a new height, and when used improperly can either leave your map stale and boring or worse; not fun at all.​

[SIZE=+1]---This guide was made by jex yoyo. Thanks to my little cousin for help with the RvR testings, RightSideTheory for his epic weapon chart and all of the banners, thesilencebroken for the entire 1.3 section on Advanced Weapon Details, and and all of the people who had wonderful discussions on this topic with me that have enlightened me---​

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Update: Added a whole new section. Another one is on its way.​

Update: Added RSTs chart, & some of my own anchor links for convenience.

Update: Added Item Properties section, moved Grenades into Basic Weapon Placement Stratagies.​

Update: Moved Moderation into Basic Stratagies. Working on new section.​

Update: Added yet another section, Weapon Usage. Updated Table of Contents and fixed a few grammatical errors. Also added RST's epic banners.

Update: Added disclaimer about RvR and fixed a few spelling errors (still!)
Update: Added thesilencebroken's huuuuge weapon details section, something that saved me a huge amount of time. Thanks tsb!!!!!!!!​

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Yes, i did make all those pictures a whatnot, and I probably should go back and take the time to make some of them prettier... And i totally know what you mean lol
And at the moment i may have overstated a few areas of this, and im trying my best to undo that at the moment. I cant really tell if i am succeeding or not... So basically until its perfect and totally just, its not going anywhere

 

Thank you, im working on this atm. Took the time to clean the first picture, and discovered an easier way to do this. Now its just a matter of time before thats cleaner, and ill switch over to arial font. I had originally done this is office '10, so its default was like Cambria or whatever, and my chart did NOT translate over well...

Anyway, what i need most are comments about the content and how i could change it and improve it, not just aesthetic stuff. So anybody willing to actually have an in-depth discussion with me about this stuff (thank you Insane54) to help improve the entire theory, please step forward.

 

Oh thanks, i totally forgot about that. While doing the chart all i went for was weapons that an be used to modify your jumping abilities, or have other non-aggressive effects when used in a certain manner. I beleive though that the overheating should be added since the definition fits perfectly. But, im gonna wait a while on the chart cus i have to remove and replace the entire thing when editing it, and thats a hassle. Im also gonna make it prettier

 

Thanks for the compliment, but that is spammy and doesnt help me improve this in any way. What im looking for are mistakes, errors, or more hopefully major flaws in my judgement, because there is no way i got this perfect. I am looking for ways to improve it, any and all suggestions are welcome.

 

1) That definition of RvR has no tangibles, and therefore cannot be tested. Also in my opinion this does not have a weapon based effect on gameplay, because its the layout of the map that causes the weapon to be hard to aquire. But, this is a stratagy that i didnt meantion when you want a weapon to be used less. Updated.

2)A Sniper is catagorized as as a Skill weapon for this very reason; "In the right hands, a sniper will completely change the tide of the game." This is the most important part, because in the hands of somebody who doesnt understand how to use it, the Sniper might as welll be suicide. A better way to understand my definition of Power Weapon is "a weapon that people of any skill can usually get more kills then deaths while using it." Updated also btw

3) In my testing, the skill weapon catagory was needed, because there was such a huge gap in weapon skill between me and my testing partner, that rounding it together would be a sin. His k/d ratio with a Sniper was 0.27, while mine was 3.12. And something similar happened with all of the skill weapons. So, seeing such a huge gap led me to do a lot of thinking, about these weapons and a way to solve this problem, and it led me to remember that i used to SUCK balls with the Battle Rifle, and all of those weapons to the point where i wouldnt even pick them up. But now i get mad if i cant use them. So, since they show such a dynamic gap between different skill levels, they became skill weapons.


But, if you can prove me wrong i still have the ability to edit the OP. Any and all arguments are encouraged.

 

Well, any argument you give can effect and change anything, so there is no reason not to state all of your opinions.
Also, I see your idea there, but there could be many different variables affecting it, like all of the weapons on the map, the map layout, and the spawns. So, how could we remove those variables? Well, the first one we could delete all of the weapons. The second one we really dont want to because the map flow is what we are trying to figure out. But, we cant delete spawns so doing this involves making sure that the spawns are perfect first.

Okay... i just gave three points that go againts my own argument.... That means you are correct. Give me some time to try to mess with how to word this, i think it fits in quite well with the new section i just added. Check the very last one just before the conclusion, its thanks to you and its probably going to get bigger once i figure this out.

Okay, im apalled that i overlooked something so fundemental........
Yeah, i got no argument here. Ill try my best to do this, but along with the rest of what im doing it might be a while. Mind i i take you up on that help offer for the weapon bios? Because thats a brilliant idea.

 

Hahaha yeah i know i cant wait to do that!! I just had it in there until i could figure out how to post things in this forum from excel lol.

Tat layout looks pretty good, but weakness should come before the description, because the description is longer, and the last one should have the name HOW TO EFFECTIVELY USE IN FORGE. That last part is somewhat important.
Also, can you possibly add a picture somewhere inconspicuous within that? If not i can figure that one out.

And, what is the RvW? Risk vs Reward? I dont think that would be a good idea, because if you look at my equation for it, its difficult to understand and wouldnt make sense to most people who see it, until they have a good enough understanding of the weapons to no longer need that section. I didnt include any numbers about that in the OP because it is waaaaay too confusing if i do.

I do agree with your idea for all of those different map styles. I could go find a map for each catagory that does an excellent job and explain all of the things it did well, and some things it did poorly. But, i chose Guardian for a really good reason
So, once i get to a stopping point with what im doing right now ill start with that and the other section im about to add.

 

Okay. Thanks for the help ahead of time, i really appreciate it. Im going to get up the next subsection within the next hour hopefully, but we will see.... Anyways im glad there are people who care about this as much as i do. Hopefully we can get this as close to perfect as possible.