Revenant

I don't know why it took me so long to realize this. I figure that someone might have posted a question like this when Reach came out, but just in case new readers haven't seen it:

The revenant was the replacement for the brute chopper. I don't know if the designers thought that driving the chopper was frustrating (I thought that it simply took some getting used to; it was possible to improve from barely being able to drive at all to driving near flawlessly, like everything in Halo) or if they just wanted the Brutes to have less technology in Reach, the story prequel of the other games. The spiker and hammer appeared (they had to have grifball and campaign brute weapons), but the brute shot was replaced with the concussion rifle.

It is not surprising, then, that the revenant had some similar capabilities: its durability made it relatively impervious to a single rifleman, but difficult for a warthog to destroy; its projectiles were slow, but could flip a warthog quickly, rendering the hog useless until it was destroyed (whether "it" refers to the hog or the revenant); it was not optimal for killing infantry, but its durability meant that it could be used for killing infantry, especially if the driver could aim accurately with the slow projectiles.

However, the chopper was difficult to maneuver and had some movement quirks that needed to be learned. It could not back up quickly, but it could turn quickly, though that could be hard to control. It had a very short burst which could be used for splattering infantry and vehicles. Its movement controls were similar to the warthog's; you could not strafe. Not being able to circle around opponents to evade plasma/frag grenades and plasma pistols, strafe around corners, or boost to flee (the rear and sides were very vulnerable), chase down enemies, avoid projectiles and just be everywhere almost at once were limiting, balancing, and skill differentiating factors which the revenant did not have. The revenant had the maneuverablity and speed of a ghost, but a weaker form of the projectile and durability of the wraith, with a greater ROF. You have no doubt heard or thought that it is a cross between them.

The chopper did take down hogs easily, perhaps more easily than it should have (I used the chopper much more than the hog). It was rare that the hog could escape to cover temporarily when being fired at, as rare as it was that a hog that didn't catch a chopper from behind outgunned the chopper. Even so, this is a bit more true with a revenant. Hemorrhage is really the only map in which a Revenant could encounter a hog at such a length that the hog would destroy or seriously damage the revenant before it caught up, but even then no one would chase in that situation. It is hard for the revenant driver to choose a wrong time to chase the hog with its long (and fast) boost time. While the projectile is slow, just one at the upper side of a moving warthog can flip it.

The revenant is very good at splattering enemies with its width, height, length, boost duration, boost speed, and durability. I am not sure that it is possible to jump over a boosting revenant on level ground, but if it is, it is near impossible. Considering how weak the gun is, the only deterrent to using splattering for any enemies not using a rock for an obstacle would be armor lock.

The revenant is not only by far the best vehicle for splattering, but by far the best for transporting objectives. The ability to almost instantly orient itself, avoid grenades and yet stay stable even when hit by them, and boost away, outrunning pretty much everything allows it to succeed in many of cases where a warthog would have failed due to concerted efforts by the enemy team.

When considered in light of its comparison to roles such as the chopper, the wraith and ghost, and in one way the hog, as well as its overall balance, it seems logical to me, almost intuituve, that the revenant should not have its current boost length, boost speed or strafe speed. If the boost length was cut in half, and the boost/strafe speeds slightly lowered (to give an idea, something like 90%, considering how much 110 and 120% affect player speed), it would still be very useful, and very troublesome to the enemy team. Why someone would give a boost length and speed of a ghost, as opposed to less than a ghost, when it has a passenger seat and needs to be balanced with the hog and chopper, eludes me. It seems like consciously rejecting the obvious choice, and going out of one's way to think of something that wouldn't be balanced.

That said, I personally never minded it much (even though getting splattered was kind of frustrating), and it's not a game breaker, and many players agree that other vehicles need more significant changes moreso. This is just from the perspective that apparent imbalances which can easily be fixed should be, whether they are unbearable or not.

Or at least, so I think. If you disagree, or know why the revenant has its current boost and speed, I'd like to know. Thanks.

 

I can see why you would think that the thing that I "realized" was that "the revenant was a replacement for the chopper" after you read the first sentence, but by the time you read the whole thing I would have guessed that you would have understood that the main point was that the revenant should not have had supreme mobility, considering everything about the vehicle sandbox.

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Edited by merge:

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Do you think that "character" would have been missing from the revenant if it had never had its current boost? You might not have ever considered what it would be like if it was changed, if it was always slower than it is now.

I am sometimes disappointed with the revenant's firepower, but that is because I (nor anyone else) is used to being given so much time to take damage. All other non-tank vehicles or on-foot encounters instill a need to get in and out quickly, either because you would be likely to die or there would be another faster way to get a kill, neither of which are true in the case of using a revenant.

And yes, when accurate, it can kill quickly if you combine its max rof with focus and appropriate leading on every shot- a direct hit strips the shields off a player, and a passenger with a DMR helps, increasing the overall utility of both players compared to being on foot, just as it would if it wasn't the fastest by such a large margin.

A greater jump height (H3) would probably give players a reasonable chance at escaping a splatter.

I agree that hogs flip over too easily. I get a full clip of a concussion rifle to use, and if I land just three projectiles in quick succession the hog often flips absurdly quickly, about one revolution per second. I think the H3 hog weight was fine, but it couldn't accelerate or turn as quickly. Even when controlling for speed the H3 hog didn't flip as easily, though it would get flipped often by frags and the brute shot. I think that the H3 hog's acceleration and weight with Reach's hog max speed and a similar maneuvarability would provide a nice balance between hogs vs. hog flippers (coming from a hog flipper).

 

I think it's harder to avoid a revenant than say, a warthog, because even the thinnest rock can shield you from a warthog if you move around it quickly enough. The revenant explosions may be weak, but if you catch them while they are slightly away from cover, splash damage can easily finish them off by the time they get to cover. Those peripheral elevated rock walkways on hemhorrage also protect you from linear fire, but not rev fire. Now it sounds like I'm trying to say that I think the revenant's firepower isn't balanced, but I think it's firepower is perfect.

The revenant is placed one per team with a relatively high spawn time on most maps (compared to other "sprinter" vehicles) because of its advantages, so it's not likely that you will find a revenant at the base a quarter of the times you spawn.