Halo: Infinite (Dec. 8th, 2021) - Xbox Series X

[JaegerDice]

Re: Grenades

They’re not actually overpowered. Not in the traditional sense. As far as raw damage, they’re actually noticeably weaker than previous Halo games.

The issue is the blast radius is way too wide. So even though grenades dont hurt that much, they still damage you from ranges you think you’re safe. And thats a big problem since taking any damage at all resets your shield recovery timer.

I would actually make the grenades more damaging, but tighten up the blast radius sphere a ton. Reward players for precisely placing grenades, rather than haphazardly tossing them.

If a grenade 2 meters away is no threat, then grenade spam becomes useless, since its much easier to avoid the blast. But if Im right on top of it, it should kill me.

 

[Beau Knows]

The other issue with grenades is in the unranked playlists where friendly fire is off. There's not much reason to not throw a grenade at two people fighting since you can't hurt your own teammate. I get that friendly fire on caused issues with dickhead teammates, but having it turned off makes the game a bit dumber. Being able to blindly fire rockets into a group of players with zero concern feels silly, but the game rewards you for it.

 

[JaegerDice]

The other issue with grenades is in the unranked playlists where friendly fire is off. There's not much reason to not throw a grenade at two people fighting since you can't hurt your own teammate. I get that friendly fire on caused issues with dickhead teammates, but having it turned off makes the game a bit dumber. Being able to blindly fire rockets into a group of players with zero concern feels silly, but the game rewards you for it.

Yeah, the problem is the average quickplay player wouldnt even care if they accidentally killed teammates (let alone the jerks who do it on purpose), so I dont think adding friendly fire would curb grenade spam much.

 

[Jussi]

They really need to have the option for forced controller play for crossplay.

 

[chicagoskycam]

343 needs to add a massive tool tip to the beginning of every CTF match to tell people that sprinting with the flag reveals your position to the enemy. Everybody who takes it sprints immediately, even if there’s nobody around or they’re sprinting to a friendly vehicle 10 feet away.

Well, an audible alarm goes off with text on the screen every time you're revealed, plus your AI tells you. I really think that's enough. lol. There is nothing wrong with sprinting to a vehicle as the opposing team was just notified their flag was taken and you're likely in their base area.

 

[Dolemite]

Yeah, the problem is the average quickplay player wouldnt even care if they accidentally killed teammates (let alone the jerks who do it on purpose), so I dont think adding friendly fire would curb grenade spam much.

Yeah it would.

 

[chicagoskycam]

The repulsor sucks and I’ve not found a good use for the shield wall yet. The bubble shield was way more convenient

I used it quite a bit over the weekend. It's good in panic situations and helped me reverse some losing battles. It throws opponents a decent distance away which allows me to finish them off with a few shots while they figure out what happened. I've also knocked opponents off the map with it. Really good when the sword or hammer is rushing at you.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I love Behemoth. I think its my favorite map.

Using the grappleshot to take people out of vehicles will never get old.

 

[JaegerDice]

Yeah it would.

How would it curb grenade spam if the people spamming grenades dont care about hurting their teammates? Whats the disincentive?

 

[Hammettf2b]

Yep, it's actually completely turned me off the game right now.


Im fine with SBMM in the Arena Playlist and actually enjoy playing competitive tight matches.

But My close group of friends I play with normally have a very wide range of skill with myself being a fair bit better then everyone else.

It ruins the experience for all of us when I try and play with my buddies because they get shit on and we lose 90% of games.


Like two of my buddies yesterday were playing together, winning a lot and going generally positive every game. As soon as I joined them we lost 4 games in a row and they both were going like 5-15 every game while I was holding my own.

It sucks for them mostly because like they even said they were having fun until I joined.



The algorithm is definitely in effect already and it's more aggressive than any other shooter I've played yet honestly.


I'm not trying to brag when I say this but in most shooter games I play I'm essentially a Top 0.1% sort of player. Which is fine when I search solo or play with my one other buddy who is also a Top 0.1% sort.


But when we try to play with our more casual buddies SBMM absolutely sucks and yeah It's turned me off of the game right now outside of Arena when I play solo.

This is very alarming for me. This is the main reason I quit playing COD. If Halo goes in the same direction of the strict SBMM/broken lobbies, I won't be playing much longer.

 

[Dolemite]

How would it curb grenade spam if the people spamming grenades dont care about hurting their teammates? Whats the disincentive?

There’s an unwritten rule in CoD that if you do something stupid like that, you shoot your teammate in response that way they know they f***ed up. If they keep doing it, auto kick from the game kicks in.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I haven’t really noticed the SBMM.

 

[Hammettf2b]

I haven’t really noticed the SBMM.

I haven't played much to have noticed it but I see a lot of posts online talking about how its the strictest its ever been. i don't mind sbmm. I do mind the strictness of the COD games though. It was more than obvious. It got to a point where I could predict the level of competition after every game which is not fun imo. Broken lobbies just added to the frustration for me. If this game goes down that same path, especially in quickplay modes, I will indeed stop playing this as well.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I haven't played much to have noticed it but I see a lot of posts online talking about how its the strictest its ever been. i don't mind sbmm. I do mind the strictness of the COD games though. It was more than obvious. It got to a point where I could predict the level of competition after every game which is not fun imo. Broken lobbies just added to the frustration for me. If this game goes down that same path, especially in quickplay modes, I will indeed stop playing this as well.

I have the opposite problem. Too many people that want to play forcing us out of ranked matches and to BTB, which I don't like.. You need to group up with some people on here so you're not worrying about changing out teammates so much.

 

[Hammettf2b]

I have the opposite problem. Too many people that want to play forcing us out of ranked matches and to BTB, which I don't like.. You need to group up with some people on here so you're not worrying about changing out teammates so much.

Normally, I wouldn't mind, but I haven't had good experiences in grouping up with ppl when there is a strict SBMM system. In the past (COD games), if I grouped up with ppl, (they would be better than me as I'm not particularly good in shooters) I would have to play in a lobby that matches their skill which would mean I would be the worst player in the lobby. It doesn't make for a fun experience.

 

[chicagoskycam]

Normally, I wouldn't mind, but I haven't had good experiences in grouping up with ppl when there is a strict SBMM system. In the past (COD games), if I grouped up with ppl, (they would be better than me as I'm not particularly good in shooters) I would have to play in a lobby that matches their skill which would mean I would be the worst player in the lobby. It doesn't make for a fun experience.

Yeah, have you been ranked yet? I'm a platinum 5 so when I play with most of my friends they are silvers and gold we all do fairly well. If I go ranked alone it's really challenging though. You can also just play quick play but I find that equally as challenging. I'm better off with a BR so I prefer ranked.

 

[Hammettf2b]

Yeah, have you been ranked yet? I'm a platinum 5 so when I play with most of my friends they are silvers and gold we all do fairly well. If I go ranked alone it's really challenging though. You can also just play quick play but I find that equally as challenging. I'm better off with a BR so I prefer ranked.

not yet. i only played 1 ranked game so far.

 

[chicagoskycam]

not yet. i only played 1 ranked game so far.

Get ranked and see how you do. Keep the chat open and if you find people communicating well ask them to party up. In COD I could do my own thing and still help win the game. Halo 4X4 has always been crucial for call-outs and controlling power weapons. Marking players helps as well. The one thing I can tell a new Halo player is don't be caught out in the open. Stick to the sides of the maps in Slayer and always have an exit option. Don't expose yourself unless you're sure you can finish them off. Also, do not throw grenades in the middle of a BR battle unless you know you're going to lose.

 

[S E P H]

I would expect SBMM to be in the ranked playlists since you get ranked into "precious metal tiers", but that would be strange if the game had it in the unranked playlist like BTB or quick play. I've played a lot of quick play and I have faced a wide-range of skill levels and teams from really good individual players to very good teams to very bad teams and bad individual players.

My theory is that if you go in as a team, you get matched up against teams. Where teams tend to be filled with better players than going into the game as a lone wolfe.

 

[JaegerDice]

I havent bothered playing 10 ranked games yet, still just trying to break habits from Destiny 2 PVP (I still try double jumping and whiff on melees way too much for my liking).

Has 343 outlined the ranking algorithm? Is it based mostly on K/D, objective completions, wins, etc?

 

[Hammettf2b]

I havent bothered playing 10 ranked games yet, still just trying to break habits from Destiny 2 PVP (I still try double jumping and whiff on melees way too much for my liking).

Has 343 outlined the ranking algorithm? Is it based mostly on K/D, objective completions, wins, etc?

From what I have been reading, it looks like K/D takes precedent.

 

[Beau Knows]

I havent bothered playing 10 ranked games yet, still just trying to break habits from Destiny 2 PVP (I still try double jumping and whiff on melees way too much for my liking).

Has 343 outlined the ranking algorithm? Is it based mostly on K/D, objective completions, wins, etc?

I sure hope it's only wins and loses. I don't want to see players trying to protect their kill/death ratio instead of helping the team.

 

[JaegerDice]

I sure hope it's only wins and loses. I don't want to see players trying to protect their kill/death ratio instead of helping the team.

On the other hand, having your rank tank because the people you matched with sucked is infuriating.

 

[Beau Knows]

On the other hand, having your rank tank because the people you matched with sucked is infuriating.

That should even out after hundreds of games though, you'll get bad teammates sometimes, and bad opponents sometimes. I also wouldn't bother playing ranked with randoms anyways.

 

[JaegerDice]

That should even out after hundreds of games though, you'll get bad teammates sometimes, and bad opponents sometimes. I also wouldn't bother playing ranked with randoms anyways.

True. I only saw solos and duos as a matchmaking option for the two options I played. Can you jump in with a full team of 4? It seems reasonable, but maybe only becomes an option when selecting the mode with a full party.

EDIT: Ah, I see, limiting the controller input method (which I did) also limits parties to 2 players. Probably for the sake of matchmaking times.