Armour abilities in Halo 4

Who knows.
Hopefully 343 will try something new, and it turns out to be the best system yet.
I like armor abilities, but only really sprint, camo and hologram. The rest are misused and annoying.

 

I wish Bungie would have experimented with AAs as pickups. I still maintain than everything other than Sprint is either too powerful (Evade, JP) or gameslowing (Invis), or a combination of the two (AL) to have as an option off start, and they just end up acting as crutches rather than what they could be doing: adding depth to the game.

I think whether or not H4 would work with AAs depends on a great many other gameplay aspects, so right now I don't think I could venture an opinion. Also, considering how much I loved all previous Halo games, especially CE, I could never say that I'll miss AAs totally and think that Halo games are inherently worse or more boring without them.

 

Pickups could have been awesome for some playlists, They do add a lot of depth though!

I've liked every Halo but going back to old games when there is a newer better version isn't my cup of tea.

They will be missed and be a mistake to not include them in Halo:4 maybe not the exact same way as Reach but in some way. (I think there will be with the trailer jetpack)

But my hopes are there is going to be more and they are better balanced.

 

Too many people compare Halo: Reach to Halo 3. I agree with pegasi that some armor abilities are bad but when you say they just act as crutches you sound like one if the idiots who wants Reach to just be an exact copy of 3. If grenades hadn't been in Halo 3 and were added to reach everyone would probably say they are just as unbalanced and acting as crutches rather than adding depth to the game.

Armor abilities are good no matter how much they mess up a few games, and considering master chief got a jetpack (I don't care what the real name is it's still a jetpack) in that trailer, I think we can be pretty confident armor abilities are returning.

 

Some armour abilities spoil the game and some add an interesting twist to the game.

Bad Armour Abilities: Jetpack, Evade, Active Camo
Good Armour Abilities: Hologram, Sprint, Armour Lock, Drop Shield

I agree though that armour abilities like Drop Shield and Armour Lock should be pick-ups only though.

The reason that the bad armour abilities are bad is:

Jetpack: It adds an element where it is easier to camp and makes some gameplay unfair in maps such as sword base. Getting to the top takes 5 seconds with a jetpack while a guy on foot takes about 20 seconds.
Active Camo: The powerup Active Camo was good enough and a better concept than a fully usable version. Of course it is basically the same but the loadout system means that everyone can have it as much as they want.
Evade: A pointless version of sprint that (on some maps) often results in death.

 

You use evade horribly wrong if you think it's just another sprint. You can use it like that, but you also use it to EVADE things like grenades or to confuse your opponent in a battle.

On topic, I fine with armor abilities back in halo 4. I would like them done a little differently though. Some of them could be pickups and some you could spawn with depending on which are more powerful. it also might help to scrap some current armor abilities and make some new ones

 

I think it would be stupid not to have AA's in H4, but not in their current form. Sprint should not be an AA, but a base ability that everyone has, because it shouldn't require a little piece of machinery to run slightly faster. Basically everything else should be pickups, though, and should be limited in their use, as in once or twice and they're gone until they respawn. Active camo and should be an instant use pickup, like in H3. Limiting their use like this would add more depth to a game instead of turning them into spam fests.

Evade, on the other hand, I dont have an opinion about, because I dont use it often and dont really play games where I encounter it a lot. Maybe it should be a base ability like Sprint? Dont know...

 

Personally, I'd prefer jetpack becoming permanent... not an ability, meaning everyone starts with it. All other abilities I'd like to see as powerups or single use pickups.

With jetpacks becoming permanent, current maps would need to change to world maps where heading too far in one direction takes you to the opposite side of the map. That way there are no real safe spots since someone will always be able to come up behind you.

 

you guys are forgetting about what made Halo so fun to play, and now you want AAs to be more complex? It has gotten to the point where the better player, or whoever made the better play does not end up on top. Halo 3 was so successful because everyone started out the same way with the same weapons. Adding AAs is the same as classes on "call of duty," there will never be a perfect balance between them. It has been about year since Reach launched and it is almost dead. Halo 3 wasn't even at it's strong point after a year.

Main Amour Ability problems

jetpack= ruins the exploration part of halo.
Armour Lock= become invincible. Even if someone has you beat, you wont die.
Active camouflage= An active camo use to be a treat that people would fight for. To make it something you spawn with is just dumb.

I'm not saying they should make new AA's, they should just get rid of them and return to the simple fair way of playing that made Halo 2 and 3 so incredible

BR > DMR

 

Ignoring the massive bump:

If Halo 4 has AAs at spawn I will not touch the multiplayer.

 

whatthefuckamireading.jpg

I like some of the AA's, but some of them really aren't that great. If they come back, make it so they function as pickups. This would make active camo redundant, so get rid of it and go back to the Halo 3 version of AC. If armor abilities were left in as loadouts in firefight, that would be fine.

Also, not related, but: bring back all the forge scenery objects from H3 maps, we need more variety.

 

IMO:


What made the older Halo and CoD games better was their simplicity. All accounting of balance and entertaining competitive play was severely screwed with once they decided to put more and more gimmicks (ex: AA's for Halo and evolved killstreak rewards wider variety of perks/attachments/bonuses for CoD) into it to "spice things up."

I liked it better when everyone was treated 100% equally and there was nothing playing with that concept (except on asymmetrical gametypes, where both teams were still balanced perfectly). I believe that this generated the least amount of bullshit because there were no excuses, there were no: "damn, I should have chosen this class in the beginning. It would have helped me more," instead of "damn, I should have played better. I shouldn't have thought my strategy out more"


I would have liked AA's to be pickups. But even that doesn't work so well because the abilities were designed to go with default Spartans for the most part. If no one has any AA, movement speed should be turned up so that the game isn't Fat Kid. If sprint or evade was a pick up from a movement buff, people would be going at light speed. Armor Lock, Drop Shield, and Camo would be pretty decent, I suppose.

 

Okay, since I saw the exact same kind of topic on Halo Waypoint I might as well copy and paste the post I made over there.

On a side note, I would love it if they converted the Hologram and converted into a pickup like in Halo 3. I think this would be cool, plus if you don't like it, just delete it in forge.

 

No AA's for Halo 4. No no no.. Lets being halo back to halo. No gimmics! Just plain halo. I hope 343 doesnt make Halo 4 another little kiddy game like Reach was. If they do, i am not buying it/

 

I would keep AAs but change them so that they are team orientated like the deployable gravlift Dizzyman mentioned. There could be a medic-like AA that regens the health of friendlies around you but affects you at a much slower rate for example.

I know that example may be OP but you get my point.

 

lolwut. I can agree with on the jetpack and camo observations, but Evade is far from useless. It is, by far, the most useful (and overpowered) armor ability. Also, armor lock is terrible for the game. It slows down the game so much.

As it is, I'd like to see AA's return as pick-ups, although more refined than they are currently. I'd also enjoy it if sprint was just a default thing instead of an AA, but I doubt that will happen.

 

If there are AA's in Halo 4, I will not be buying the game. It'll be a win-win for me, since I'll be saving $45 to buy Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in XBLA instead.

 

Jetpack: Does not work with maps that aren't designed with it in mind. Sword Base is the only map that comes somewhat close to being able to support them. All other maps were designed without it in mind (Bungie admitted to having added AA in quite a late point in development) and it shows. Jetpackers can ignore pretty much all geometry and just fly over it which obviously isn't intended.

Armor Lock: A pause button which does nothing but slow down gameplay. It adds nothing to the game. The only thing I like about it is the use against vehicles. I don't like that you can actually destroy them with it, though.

Drop Shield: Removed from matchmaking (right?) for obvious reasons. It was virtually unbreakable unless you have heavy weaponry and it ruined objective gametypes and was an annoyance in Slayer matches.

Evade: Does not work on small maps. Certainly not if in objective gametypes. You can cover too much distance in only a second or two with evade. You can cross over half the map on Asylum and Zealot which completely ruins objective games like I said. It's also an easy escape-from-death card. Hitboxes are also screwed up during a roll. Should've stayed Elite-only.

Active camo: Is ridiculously lethal in combination with a sniper. Also jams EVERYONE'S radar while it should only do so for the person using it. It's already hard to spot in invisible guy, adding a radar jammer only makes it harder.
The active camo powerup was a much better balanced alternative.

Sprint: Is not as offensive as the AAs listed above but is still something I don't want to see return. Like Evade it makes it too easy to get away from sticky situations and can make up for making dumb decisions which should be punished.

Hologram: The only one I don't have any problems with. It's easy enough to distinguish a hologram from a normal player, but it's useful in chaotic situations.


One thing that would get me back into Reach matchmaking is if they would place the AAs on the map instead of being able to pick one at spawn. This way the AAs can be more map-specific without making an individual gametype for every map. The AAs should be treated like power weapons simply because they have an enormous impact on the game. Halo 3 had it almost nailed down, but it littered equipment all over the map on way too short respawn-timers.

I'm really interested in seeing what 343i will do with Halo 4 and AAs. Especially for me since it's a decisive factor on whether I'm gonna buy the game or not.

 

I think sprint should be built into the control scheme.

All other AA I could part ways with and power-ups like overshield and camo should be the only advantages players can get and fight for.