Our friend the AR

So you're one of those MLG ____s who believe one weapon should be all powerful for you to kill noobs with and every other gun should be worse than a melee attack, including the one everyone else spawns with, thus allowing you a killing spree until you run out of ammo. Did I get that right?

 

So you're one of those Action Sack ____s who believe all weapons should be close range pea shooters for you to melee other noobs with and every ranged gun should be worse than a melee attack, including the one everyone else spawns with, thus allowing you a lot of mutual beatdowns until the game ends. Did I get that right?

Lashing out against people who recognize that the AR isn't as good as other weapons makes you look like a tool who's unwilling to be good at the game. And all apparently out of some kind of anti-MLG rage. Sad, really.

 

I hate action sack and mutual beatdowns, and I strongly prefer ranged combat. It's just nice when there are different weapons that are actually useful so people need the right weapon for the situation, not jus a BR.

I appoligize for any offense caused.

 

The only beef I have with it is the range. I could honestly say that the AR could do well with a scope the same zoom as the Magnum but not being headshot capable. This could differentiate it with the Plasma Repeater in a lot more ways. The Repeater is strong as hell but you need to lead your shots for range while the AR is hitscan and a little weaker to the point where it takes a little under one magazine. Adding a scope to it will balance it out a little bit more compared to the Repeater.

Of course all the MLG kiddies that came from Halo 2 and 3 would hate this but it's clear that Bungie doesn't give two shits and a **** about those guys. I mean, it's an Assault Rifle. Giving it some more range would at least give it some more use but be balanced by the fact that it would take at least 3/4ths of a magazine to kill someone at range.

 

The AR wasn't too weak in the beta. It was actually balanced quite nicely.

 

The AR in the beta was fine. It was effective up close and sort of medium range. I don't see what the problem is. It will always beat the DMR and pistol short range. It has its own place among the weapons.

 

What game did you guys play? The Plasma Repeater, Plasma Pistol, and Magnum where leagues ahead of the Assault Rifle at close range in the beta. Not only that, but compared to the Repeater (its counterpart) it's a boring and flat weapon.

Let me break it down: The Repeater never overheats. Its rate of fire just slows down over time, which also increases the accuracy, but starts off faster than the Assault Rifle and gradually gets lower. The damage it deals against shields is significantly higher than it is to health, but doing a quick cooldown after the shields are depleted will usually make up for the damage loss with the reset ROF (in recent videos, this doesn't even seem to be an issue and the Repeater still looks like it can kill faster than most weapons at close to mid range.) Cooling time also depends on how long it's been fired. The downside to it is that it isn't hitscan, so you have to adjust your shot and lead it to hit people at range.

The Assault Rifle has a 32 round magazine and must be reloaded after nearly every kill with the reload time being the same for each instance unless you have an empty magazine, which in that case you must charge the bolt. In comparison to the Halo 3 rifle, it has less damage (18 rounds to kill a fully shielded Spartan compared to the 16 in 3) and has a slower rate of fire at 600 RPM compared to about 650 RPM in Halo 3. What really makes it so gimped compared to the Repeater is the constant reloading. Granted the Repeater needs to cool down but the time it takes varies and when cooled after every kill, it takes less time than the AR to reload.

I mean, they did nerf the pistol a bit and they did say that they buffed the damage for the AR a bit, but that still doesn't change the fact that it's a boring weapon that people from Halo 3 going into Reach will still use it as a BEELINE AND BEATDOWN spray weapon. What really gets at me is the fact that it's labeled as an Assault Rifle and is used like an SMG. What would really balance it with the Repeater is giving it a 2x Scope. For one, it would give it more range than the Repeater so going toe to toe with it at medium distances would give you a slight edge and it would also help in keeping ranged weapons out of the scope. The downsides would be the fact that it isn't headshot capable and would have to more than likely be burst fired to remain accurate. Not to mention reloading after every kill. At least then it would be a much more solid starting weapon. Of course it would not happen considering that's the reason they brought back the Magnum, to give you a ranged weapon at spawn so you weren't completely defenseless.

To further support the fact that the Repeater is better than the Assault Rifle is the fact that it's replaced by the weaker Plasma Rifle in the campaign mode.

 

I had about equal kills with the repeater and assault rifle in the beta. The repeaters shots are a lot easier to dodge around then the assault rifles. I was killed much more with an assault rifle then a repeater (Or should I say the ratio of me dying to killing when being encountered by a repeater was much lower then when I encountered an assault rifle). I think that each weapon has its own niche. I personally like the assault rifle better then the repeater because the bullets traveled faster with the AR.

 

i feel like when you get used to all the weapons you will start to know where they are best used. the Halo 3 ar sucked, until you figured out you could spray to beatdown prettyfast. the br sucked if you were the noob who didnt know the value of a headshot. the plasma pistol sucked except for the noob combo. i actually got very proficient with a plasma pistol shot than magnum headshot while dualwielding. its about learning to use it, i know you never touched a carbine until you were great at headshots. it was underpowered unless you could headshot all the time.

 

No, bungie said that they replaced the plasma rifle with the repeater in multiplayer so it would be as powerful as the AR, because the plasma rifle was weaker than the AR.

 

I wish that they implemented the effects that Halo CE plasma weapons had.

 

Bungie balanced them for the same role, and the AR is the slightly easier to use brother of the pair, while the repeater makes you lead shots and seems to kill a bit faster if you can hit with it. Pretty balanced if you ask me, the increased difficulty of using the repeater balances the (perceived) increase in power.

 

Like the freezing with the plasma rifle? what others were there? I thought that was the only one. And I think if the repeater froze people, that would be overkill. They would probably have to go back to the plasma rifle.

 

Not "freezing" but when you'd shoot at an enemy with a plasma weapon, their speed would decrease. It made the plasma weapons much more useful.

 

I just don't understand why everyone seems to think the AR was so underpowered. I used a variety of weapons in the beta, and the AR felt just right to me. I think the issue is that no one accounted for the lack of damage bleed. A beatdown only kills after the shields are popped.

If everyone is running around trying to use the AR the same way they did in H3, it's not going to work. I'm guessing that that's the root of the issue here. You just have to understand the new timing.

 

I hate when people in Halo 3 use the AR spray then a beat down method. It takes no skill. Weaker AR=better. Just use the AR then whip out your mag and you got yourself a kill.

 

I know. Me and my friends were like 8 and we just referred to it as freezing. However as I said earlier, it would have to be the plasma rifle if that effect came back.

 

Im really am not a fan of MLG stuff, but i honestly i really dont want an AR that isnt spray and whack. I dont think it should have the power to actually take somebody out at a range unless you have the time to release a clip on them. I like that bungie doesnt really make an auto gun that has range, thats the way it should be in my mind