I just came up with this idea and I thought it was pretty good. It is a cross between Equipment and AA's and instead of just using it and the rest happens automatically, you have to activate it and then try to use it right, not simply pressing one button for invincibility. I think that in Halo 4 they should have Equipment, Combat Utilities and AA's and mix them with different Playlists and in Custom Games one could give a Loadout either of 3. Now here are my Ideas, you can also give your own, but they have to be like some kind of rechargable Equipment, or at least more tactical, they can also be reborn Equipment or AA's. Format: Name: Recharge Time: Effects: Uses: Name: Flare Recharge Time: 10 seconds(Doesn't sound as much but it's plenty) Effects: You throw a flare on the ground, just like a piece of Equipment, and it starts to emit smoke in your team color and it goes pretty high. Uses: Block vision(slightly), call for help. Name: Flight Pack Recharge Time: 10 seconds, single use. Effects: Instead of a Jetpack, which elevates you steady, this one launches you in the air in a burst of blue light. Uses: Get to higher ground, gain a very short overview. Name: Health Pack: Recharge Time: 15 seconds Effects: Drop a Health Pack. Uses: Healing teammates, healing yourself. Sorry I'm in a hurry but I'll name more soon.
I'm not quite clear on how this differs from armor abilities, except that they're slightly less useful than the existing AAs. Also, about this: "I think that in Halo 4 they should have Equipment, Combat Utilities and AA's and mix them with different Playlists and in Custom Games one could give a Loadout either of 3." That sounds like a mess. Personally I think it benefits the game if the developers decide what they fundamentally want it to be, and stick to that. Reach is already significantly more complicated as as game than CE was - which is fine, but I don't think it needs to get a lot more complicated than it is now. It makes balance hard and ends up dividing the online community too much (because inevitably people will either get confused, or actively dislike certain playlists because it's so different from how they like to play). A little customizability is a good thing, but a lot ends up weakening the overall game, IMO. There's a reason that Reach did away with dual wielding and equipment at the same time that it added AAs.
I'll gladly take H3 equipment and H:R AA's in Forge. But in all seriousness, this **** needs to stay away from matchmaking.
I think H3 had it right and Reach took it a step too far. Now Halo is more similar to CoD in the sense that you get to choose your loadout and essentially have different powers than everyone else. I'm a die hard Halo fan, but Reach is definitely my least favorite of the series. I can honestly say that many of us would agree too. I just hope that with H4 they get it right and bring back that classic Halo many of us miss. That being said, I'm sure you'll understand why I disagree with this thread.
After watching the Halo 4 trailer and seeing the MC attached a grenade to his pistol in order to blow open an escape route, I realized just how brilliant that could be for game-play. They need to do away with AAs (very likely to happen IMO) and reinstate a new form of equipment. What could be implemented is a weapon/armor attachment system, allowing you to temporarily modify your Spartan on the fly during combat. Pick up a jump or speed booster to allow higher jumps/unlimited sprint for 30 seconds. Find a grenade launcher and slap it on to any non-power weapon for some extra killing power. Obtain a thermal visor to more easily spot enemies from afar and see through walls for 20-30 seconds. Enhanced radar could be a more toned-down version of this. Some of those may be broken in practice, but something like this could really add to game-play and encourage map movement. Rather than only being after power-weapons, players may decide that that thermal visor is more important since they can quickly call out enemy locations to their team, making them into more of a support role in that sense. Higher jumps would allow for intricate maneuvers without allowing players to completely break a map like the jetpack does. There's a huge amount of potential here. The more I think about it, the more I'd like to see this kind of compromise between AAs and equipment realized.
I would love at least something like equipment placed on the map to pick up to give injured team-mates health packs, maybe 1 or 2?
Call it whatever your still describing AA's I had the idea of using AA's and equipment but equipment was just AA's with longer cool downs longer then 10 seconds. Don't just say AA's=No. If it was purely for custom games/forge would you be against it? If the equipment AA's where pickups (basically like halo 3 equipment but if you can survive a 60~ you get 1 more) would you be against it?
I just watched the trailer again and it sure looks like the magnum with a nade attached to the barrel. If you pause it at 1:07 you'll see it's nearly identical to the pistol we all know.
They better not plan on replacing the nade launcher with whatever it is. It's the best thing that ever happened to Halo's weapon set.