Whoever said they wanted a power drain AA, think of Armor lock as power drain + overshield + no movement. And I think the AAs work fine, btw. I would like to see more drop shield and hologram inclusion, however.
Drop Shield in objective is ridiculous as a starting ability. Everyone just spawns Drop Shields everywhere, making bullets useless. It's great as a singular powerup, though...
Hmmm. I disagree with the idea that AA's should be used less frequently, this would would destroy sprint for me. I'd prefer if they were used more frequently, but over shorter periods of time. This way armour lock wouldn't last as long and wouldn't be used as a "hope my buddy comes along soon" escape route and more of a way of catching people off guard or as a grenade/rocket shield. However, I'm a really big fan of the AA's and the frustration they cause is in my opinion, less than the enjoyment gained.
I think they should either make it so armor lock can be done quickly many times to block grenades/rockets or whatever, or make it so they can only do it once for a long time and have to wait for a cooldown timer to do it again. I was thinking of the latter. Receiving damage for punching them is ridiculous too.
I would hate if they were pick-ups. This isn't Halo 3. New game, new rules. The time they last is just fine by me. I find Reach to be a lot faster paced than Halo 3. Only problem I have with the abilities is the Armor Lock. Such a sissified moved. Then again I hate any type of shield ability in a shooter. They should have at least let the stickies stick if they don't Armor Lock in time. It's just beyond annoying.
I agree that its a sissified move, but I don't think any of the mechanics should be changed. That being said, its a new skill to develop, throwing that sticky at exactly the right moment. I hate armor lock when someone wastes 45 seconds of your time and you still kill him and get away. Just stand and fight, you probably would have been better off.