The good: BR, Rocket Launcher, Assault Rifle, Sidekick, Sniper Rifle and Bulldog all work as you would expect and are solid weapons. Actually a huge fan of the Bulldog once you realize trading power for firing rate actually makes shotguns better in Halo.
Agreed, but I do think a lot of this is pretty harsh though. I feel a lot of these weapons need skill to use unlike previous games, but I think some could get a power boost to make them more worth grabbing when playing.
Heatwave: I actually like this weapon. People seem underwhelmed by it but in its vertical firing mode this gun shreds. Two shots is enough to kill in most cases if you can land it
I think it could be boosted up a bit when it comes to mid-range damage, it seems the most success I have had with it is when you're 1v1 someone where you get the first shot.
Cindershot: not quite like the plasma caster like I thought it was. Hits pretty hard if you can land your shots or use it to area control. Not bad I guess.
Great gun, got destroyed by it a lot yesterday but I didn't mind it.
Pulse carbine; absolute garbage. Sucks at short range and you're a fool if you're trying to use it at longer range since anyone taking a long range fight with you probably has a BR or something that isn't this which will proceed to mop the floor with you
Absolute junk, not sure what the point of this gun is. It seems that 343 came to the conclusion that the carbine and plasma rifle were useless by themselves, so they added them together, but there is nothing appealing about it. I don't think I have ever died once from someone using it. My suggestion is that the Covenant guns should be the style like in Halo 2 where they rip your shields and stun you (or make your movements slower), but shouldn't necessarily finish you off. In comparison to human weapons who have a slower shield damage rate, but easier finishing off ability.
Plasma pistol: is as it always was.
I think they fine tuned it to be the best overall pistol, but I don't really see many people using it though, so perhaps they should increase the shots tracking range a tad.
Sentinel beam; is as it always was
I don't agree, I've gotten shredded with it at times. They made it really long distance compared to previous versions and beefed up some of the power level. Good gun to shoot from your hip and not a crazy recoil like the Commando has.
Needler: also is what it always was. Never liked this weapon since I sucked and still do suck with it lol.
Needler could be one of the most powerful medium-range projectile weapons, it is an automatic kill if you're able to land a certain amount of needles into a bloke. Really good gun to get kills from the grave.
Mangler: supposed powerful "hand cannon" that takes three headshots to perfect. Anything that isn't a headshot feels especially weak compared to other weapons. Not a fan
I think it's a pretty good gun, but the fire rate is slow, which I noticed on a lot of weapons like the rocket launcher and throwing fusion coils. It is a beast close range and based on my observations, has one of the best melee damage of any gun. I would recommend trying it again.
Commando: Incredibly fun gun to use but also incredibly junk. It's in this weird area of being bad at shorter ranges (takes 8 shots to down shields, AR is superior) while also being bad at longer ranges (BR superiority, bloom, etc) leaving its niche to be weirdly specific. Love how it feels but it's still junk
The insane recoil is fine, but not at the damage the gun is currently at. From what I can tell the gun is almost like a "last resort" gun. Where you're in an intense 1v1 battle and your main gun's clip is running low so you switch and just go to town firing as fast as possible trying to hit anything. Maybe that's why they have it, but I want it to be more useful for me.
Shock rifle: actually kinda deadly. Have to charge between shots but it's a one hit kill to the head + can chain to nearby targets. Love it.
Shoots WAY TOO slow for my liking to consider it valuable. I was on BTB yesterday trying to use it and it was never a one head shot kill for me. I might need more time, so take this with a grain of salt.
Skewer: this weapon f***s. Dumpsters vehicles and is a guaranteed one hit kill if it hits a Spartan anyway. Tough to use with its slower reload and projectile drop off but the trade off is worth it.
I actually got a kill yesterday with it across map on someone I wasn't even aiming at lol. This gun or the commando takes the title of hardest gun in the game, but I like how much of a wildcard it is. Obviously it is an anti-vehicle, but it is more fun trying to use it against infantry players.
Ravager: hate it. Weird ass projectile arc on regular shots and then takes a million years to use it's charge shot. Somehow got an achievement for killing someone with the damaging pool of plasma it leaves behind on charge shots
This is another gun that is a bit too slow for my liking. Also, I feel that it is underpowered, especially when it comes to the plasma fire that it spreads when you charge it. I actually have no problem if they were to upgrade it to the level of the rocket launcher and have the plasma fire pool be as strong as the fire grenades in Halo 3.
Hydra: this weapon exists in this game apparently. Can't imagine it was much different than it is in 5 so it's probably okay.
Needs a bit more power, but I like the auto-lock feature (can't remember if it was in Halo 5 too). I actually got some good kills with it by getting a vehicle or player locked on, and firing away without caring too much if my reticle was as precise as it needed to be.
Grav hammer/sword: melee weapons, basically the same as they've always been
Sword feels great, Gravity hammer got NERFED big time because of the introduction of the repulsor. That and it takes so effin' long to swing the damn thing. Very much dislike how the hammer is essentially useless for me...and I've only been able to use it on huge BTB maps that make it even less effective.
