Halo 3: Improvement Techniques 4.) Weapons

Last blog I spoke about how (remember your team mate's position) and when (If you don't have the first shot on your enemy or are outnumbered) to run away from an encounter. Now I'm going to give you some advice that should allow you to charge the enemy more often and with more success. I'm going to tell you the basic strengths and weaknesses of the weapons (for those of you wanting a more comprehensive overview of the weapons, I'll be posting that sometime early next week), your grenades, and the beat-downs. I'm also going to tell you the mantra you should whisper in your head every time you play a Halo game.

Weapons in Halo fall into one or more of five categories; Power weapons, Scoped (or ranged) Weapons, Dual Wields, Specialized or Beat Down weapons. I say they fall into one or more categories because some weapons, like the rocket, which is a power weapon and beat down weapon, don't fall into only one category. It is helpful to know what kind of weapon you posess to figure out what kind of tact you will take with the enemy should you run into them.

A brief explanation of the weapon categories is required before I continue and their definitions are as follows. Each category has it's strengths and weakness:

Power Weapons are weapons with one shot or hit kill capabilities. The Spartan Lasar is the ultimate power weapon. Other weapons in this category are the rocket, the sniper, any turret and the hammer. While the strengths of these weapons are obvious, (one shot one kill) the weaknesses differ due to which other category these weapons fall under. The thing that makes these weapons "powerful" is the on shot one kill factor.

Scoped Weapons are pretty much self-explanatory. Any weapon that posesses a zoom feature with cross hairs is a scoped weapon. The Battle Rifle, Carbine and both types of sniper rifles are the only scoped weapons. The strength of scoped weapons is they are less limiting on your personal tactics. A person with a scoped weapon can seize initiative from a distance, limiting his chances of dying in an encounter. The drawback to these weapons is they suffer when you happen to be in close with an opponent. The sniper rifles alone continue to hold an advantage in up close situations, but because they are often difficult too control without zoom, only more experienced players tend to have any success up close with them.

Dual Wield Weapons are extremely limited in their offensive capabilities. They are the only weapon category that does not possess a power weapon in their ranks. By themselves, dual wield weapons are don't posess much killing power, and their range is severly limited, but when you actually dual wield them, you'll find that nothing else but a power weapon is better for killing up close. Dual SMG's, or a combination of a plasma rifle and an SMG can make quick work of anyone close up. Another strength to Dual Wields is they are the mopst common form of weapon on a map. Because of this they make excellent back up weapons. Don't fall in love with one if you have one though. Discard it for an upgrade as soon as possible.

Specialized Weapons are weapons that generally posess great killing potential, but have an immediate drawback that is readily apparant as soon as you pick them up. Turrets, the rocket pod and the Spartan Lasar fall into this category. A plasma or bullet turret can make short work of anyone from a distance or close up, but you must keep in mind you can not beat anyone down with them should someone manage to get close to you, you can not store them as secondary weapons on your back, and they severely limit your speed when carrying them. The Rocket Pod is even more limiting in the fact it only locks onto vehicles with an enemy at the wheel. Always keep in mind what your limits are when using these weapons, and don't be afraid to drop em should the situation require you to.

Beat-Down Weapons are weapons that require contact or extreme close range in order to do their dirty business. The Sword is probably the best defined beat down weapon because it requires you to actually touch your enemy in order to do damage. The hammer is less limiting than the sword because you don't need to touch the enemy, only be in the radius of the attack range. This range is limiting though, and the person who charges with the hammer is at an extreme disadvantage until he closes within range of the killing blow. I have added shotguns to the mix in this weapon category as well. They do fire projectiles, but because they are often hit or miss unless right next to someone, and because a beat down is often required to finish someone off with them, i have added them to this category.

The only weapon that does not fall into any of these categories is the assault rifle. This weapon is not spectacular at anything, nor is it severely limited by anything. It has no scope, so at medium distance it is close to worthless, but better than beat down or dual wields. And its fire power in close range will be overwhelmed by anyone dual wielding or possessing a beat down weapon but it is better than most scoped weapons at this range. The assault rifle's versitility is what makes it the perfect default starting weapon, and I always try to hold onto one throughout a game should I need it.

Grenades in Halo 3 I've noticed are not as powerful in Halo 2, but they do have their place. Frags do not start their 2 second countdown to explosion until they have made contact with a surface. This is helpful to know. You do not throw frags at people, you throw them, on the bounce, to where you think they'll be. Frag grenades are great for herding enemies where you want them to go. Plasma grenades are the grenades you throw directly at an enemy. One stick is as deadly as ever. Sticky grenades are essentially plasmas that explode in one direction and stick to any surface. They can be used like plasmas for instant kills, or frags, for herding, but where they really excel is in walling off an area of attack or escape for an enemy. If your shields are severly damaged and you must run away to survive, throw a sticky directly in front of you to make your pursuer hesitate in his advance either killing him or giving you time to get away. If your target is hurt and is running away, throw a sticky a ways infront of him cutting off his escape route and forcing him to either fight you and die, or run into the grenade and do the same.

Beat Downs can be executed with any weapons save the specialized weapons. This is useful to know because if you find yourself in a very close in battle, you should always be looking to get even closer to finish off your enemy.

This leads us to our lesson for the day.

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!

This may seem to be at odds with what I've been telling you the past couple of days. It isn't. I want you to recognize when you need to run. Do it decisively and quickly, and in a manner that may seem weak to your enemy, but is really an agressive ploy to lure them to their deaths. Should you find yourself in position to strike the first blow on an enemy, do it in such a manner that they won't have the opportunity to run away.

This is done simply by hitting them with all you have as fact as you can. If you have grenades, throw one first, then charge while firing your weapon until you are close enough to beat them down should you need to (you shouldn't need to if you threw the grenade first).

If you have a ranged weapon, hit them from a distance and put pressure on them to make a decision to hide or turn and fight it out. If they don't have a scoped weapon, then turning and fighting you is what you want so long as you stay out of their killing zone and keep them in yours. If they turn and run, don't follow, just take their position.

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!

Always be shooting. If you find yourself in a position where you have no targets and can not fire, you aren't doing your team any good. Find someplace you can help shoot at what they are shooting at. If you know someone is hiding behind a pillar, shoot the pillar in case they pop their head out again. Don't save anything. There is no reason for you to save grenades. As you travel around the map you will always find more. If you die with four grenades on you, that is a waste. You should have thrown those to kill for yourself or to help kill other your teammates are shooting at.

Shoot what your team mates are shooting at. Team shooting is a must in Halo. If you and a team mate come upon two other enemies and start shooting it out, shoot who your team mate is shooting.Bboth of you shooting at one person means that one person dies faster leaving you with a 2 on 1 situation. You are both then free to fire at the one remaining guy. This increases your individual chances at survival and increases the odds that should one of you die, you'll still come out positive in the encounter with a 2 kill to one death ratio.

In single combat, Shoot your AR for one second while moving to beat down. It is an instant kill because all you need to do is lower his shields by a quarter to have the beat down kill him.

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!

Your assignment for tonight is to take into account the past 3 lessons and now if you find an opening to attack, throw your grenades first, then shoot while charging for the beat down. You are also to try and fire more than 700 rounds in a game without using a turret. Accuracy stats are over rated so don't worry if you fall to below 30%. Use your grenades to move people where you want them, and if you decide to attack, make sure you are as aggressive as possible. Don't get tunnel vision too early and rush to suicde, keep looking around and if you know someone is ripe for the pickings, show no mercy and take them out. If you use your grenades you'll find it to be a short battle.

Tomorrow's lesson will talk about movement like jumping and strafing, and various other methods of making your opponent miss.