Five Cent Deposit

So, I'm new to this game and I am still pretty lame. In fact, I just now played a couple of quick matches against strangers for the first time. What I am wondering is, why am I being put up against players with ratings above 10 when my own rating is a lousy 2?

Canis Firebrand

The matchmaking isn't the best in the world. In fact, I think it needs to be retooled.

I played a rumble pit game earlier today. My rumble pit ranking at the time was a 4. My highest ranking is 10.
There was a guy that was ranked 7 in rumble pit and he won the game, talking smack after the fact saying he ruled, we all suck, etc.
I looked him up after the fact, his highest level was a 20. Why on earth should I be put up against him. THey need to average your ranking in that playlist, your highest ranking and then match you accordingly.

DamingR

I always take off the headset during rumble pit games. Why listen to jerks talk smack? Just kill people, get killed, have fun.

Five Cent Deposit

That's what I'm talking about- I did rumble. Then it would find 7 other players, and it would look like the highest rated ones were at 5. But then after the game when I checked my "recently played" list of tags, I saw that some of them were like 13, 15, or even 19. I don't get it. Hey, at least I got a few kills though, right?

metman86

Need HELP!!!! My 10 year old son and his friends, and well, pretty much anyone else that subscribes to XBox Live is kicking the crap out of me. How do you get better? Is there a beginners level? or is it just practice, practice, practice.

zutroy

You're not alone - I'm horrible too. It's ironic because I used to be great at Quake 2/3 online... it's just harder with a controller, IMO. I'm getting better, but it's still frustrating to be devestated by 12 year olds.

Once I get my mouse/keyboard adapter, we'll see who's laughing then.

DamingR

The quickest way to get better:

1) Play in practice mode and memorize the maps/weapon locations (especially the plasma rifle, magnum, rocket launcher)

2) Find your favorite dual-wielding combination. I would recommend for beginners either:

a) SMG/Plasma Rifle
b) SMG/Magnum
c)Plasma Rifle/Magnum

3) ALWAYS aim for the head area, especially with the magnum -- it's relatively accurate, especially in medium range.

Xander

Good points, all. I especially agree with the "learn the maps" thing. It has made a huge difference in my play to know where to go to get a better weapon, instead of running around with an SMG and a needler all the time.

metman86

Thanks for the tips. Is the SMG the automatic with the scope? Which is the needler?
What is the keyboard / mouse adapter?
Can this be used as a secondary player?

Calico

According to Bungie.net, the home of all things bungie, matchmaking matches you up with players within +/- 5 levels of your current rank in that type of match. So if you're a 6 in Rumble pit, you should be matching with anyone from level 1 to 11. At least, that's how I understand it.

As for some tips, I'm far from a great player, but these are some that keep most folks from getting heavily worked in games -

1. Create your own private game and learn the maps. There are tons of hiding places, sniping spots, weapons, etc on the maps that you should be aware of at all times. Just create a private game, don't invite anyone, and run around on your own for awhile. This is a good way to test out which weapons you like too. Fly the vehicles around to find nice high sniping places nobody thinks to check. (Ascension has tons)

2. Some weapon tips -
Grenades - if someone is chasing you, do NOT turn and throw grenades, they just aren't accurate enough. Instead, keep running forward and aim down a bit, throwing grenades just a bit ahead of you and at the ground. They'll bounce between your legs and roll right in front of your pursuer

Combos - new players are best with dual SMG's or SMG + Plasma Rifle combos. As you get better, try SMG and Plasma pistol. Keep the pistol fully charged at all times. When you see a target you can lock onto, fire the pistol (tears up their shields) then rush in to shred with the SMG.

More advanced players get really good scores with dual plasma rifles and dual magnums, but it takes practice.

Snipers - if you miss the shot- find a new spot to hide. Go find a new spot, since those sniper bullet tracers (and the sound of the shot) give away your location. I find that the covenant beam rifle is better for stealthy sniping, but is weaker since it usually takes two+ shots to kill with.

Avoiding the sword - for me, I jump to the left and right, which makes that "dash and kill" move the sword guys use completely ineffective. I'm not a master of it, but I can usually avoid 75% of the sword attacks against me. The other option is to jump over the guy as he dashes at you and deliver a clunk to the back of the skull with the melee attack, but that takes tons of practice.

3. Making vehicles go BOOM!

There's nothing more annoying than those guys who just live to run you down with a ghost, so here's a tip to make quick work of them. First, learn to time jumps so you can leap over the ghost if it's boosting after you. Next, look at the left side of the ghost (easier to do when you're practicing in a game on your own), there's a big silver cylinder sticking out. Two bullets detonates that big fat bullseye and ejects the driver with a ton of damage. As you get better, you'll be able to dodge an incoming ghost, get on the left side and detonate it. Nobody will chase you in a ghost once they see you blow it up in two shots

The Warthog is a big more of a pig to kill. Most people go for the chassis, which takes forever to blow up. Take out the tires first! Throw grenades under the tires and 2-3 will finish off the hog.

4- learn your fighting style, grasshopper!
A lot of people just run and gun, and that might not be the best way for them to play. Everyone has a fighting style, if you will, that's best for them.

It sounds obvious, but bears repeating - some people are born snipers, some are good at the mid range (using SMG and plasma rifles) and others are close-up hitmen. I'm a close combat person, which I learned by playing a lot and finding what weapons I was best with. For example, I ususally carry either the shotgun, or two SMG's. I rush the enemy as soon as I see him, giving him little time to react and pop 'em with a flurry of rounds. If I'm using the SMG's, I spray some fire up close, and finish with a melee move. Sure it leads to me dying a lot, but I also score pretty well. But if I try to be a long range shooter (sniper), I end up never hitting a thing. And of course you have the anti-vehicle guys, who may not score big, but are very handy to have around, since they grab the rocket launcher and just wait to blow up vehicles with it.

And if you need to clobber someone - just add Calico to your friends list.

Calico

1- The gun with the scope you're thinking of is the battle rifle. It fires three shot burts, and can zoom. Nasty at medium range, a nice harassment weapon (keeps the enemy in hiding) at long range. The needler is the pistol with big pink needles sticking out of the top of it. Fires those needles in a stream at the target, and they have limited homing ability

2. More info about the adapter (the Smartjoy frag) is here http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3538 I haven't tried it, but it's getting good reviews.

hardcore

Hey, don't knock the SMG and needler! In Big Team Battles there's a limited number of good weapons, so someone has to take it for the team and use these guys... I just hope to take out the first guy and salvage something better from his corpse.

Calico

I used to be a machine with the dual needlers, but it's hard to find two needlers on a map before someone kills you. Having just one is uh..bummer

Canis Firebrand

Double needlers is pretty effective when firing at the same time. Each little needle picks away at their shield.
ANd firing both at the same time unleashes a flurry of needles.. I've taken someone down quick with dual needlers before.

Xanager

Probably one of the best combos in the game IMO is the plasma pistol / battle rifle. Fire off a charge plasma and then switch to the battle rifle. One shot to the head will finish them off. Most of the upper level players I've played with can dominate with this. It's really difficult to dodge out in the open and proves very effective.

K&AJones

Sorry guys but I've already laid claim to the "King of the Halo Loosers" title. And like you I spent many of nights with keyboard and mouse but on Unreal Tournament. With this controller I feel like all thumbs. I too have started eyeing the KB/Mouse setup - again!


Kenny J. - a.k.a - Buzz Starhopper

edstein

Question:

I am wanting to connect 3 xboxes locally for a Halo 2 party. I would like to add a few other players from the internet. What would be the best connection setup? Do I need 3 gamertags? Would the lag be too much?

Michael Corvin

If you want to play in matchmaking on LIVE everyone playing needs an account. I tried this once and couldn't get it successfully working. 4 guys on one box, LAN with 2 guys on another box in the same room and another 1 guy over Live. The game kept kicking all of us out leaving the one man to fend for himself.

As for weapons: I love the SMG and Magnum duo. The Plasma is also good as well, but it takes practice to get locked on to fire it before you are getting blasted.

- A good tip I read (from an interview with a bungie developer) concerning the SMGs. Usually if you get in a firefight and you are the one with duel SMGs you will lose, it just isn't a very accurate weapon. BUT, if you fire it in short bursts, like the Blaster Rifle, and not just squeeze the triggers to your hearts content, it does more damage. I tried the other night and it works amazingly well. Even took out a sword guy coming at me, twice! I would have never thought it possible with SMGs. It isn't good enough to pass up other weapons for the duel SMGs but in a pinch it works rather effectively.

Draven

I'd also recommend upping your "look speed" to as high as you can tolerate. I've noticed that helps me overcome the lack of a mouse, to the point I don't know if I'd be as good at Halo 2 with a keyboard and mouse now.

When you have dual SMGs, it's all about the circle strafe. And keep those things trained on their head. I usually win my dual SMG fights.

Remember, generally Covenant (plasma) weapons are for knocking down shields and Marine (ballistic) weapons are for punching through armor. I've been playing the single player on Legendary and the plasma pistol/battle rifle combo is the ONLY way to go. You can kill any Elite in two or three shots, easily. The charged plasma gun drops shields to nothing, even if they have an overshield.

goLUCKY

I've been reading that this somethimes can be a bitch to get working, but since I've never done it this way please add the appropiate grain of salt.

You will need at least 1 gamertag per xbox, and enough bandwith from your cable/DSL provider. You figure that Xbox Live is supposed to use 128kbs of bandwith for each xbox, now times that by three.

Sometimes you need to open specific ports on your firewall/router to get this to work, becuase xbox live has a problem addressing different xboxes on the same subnet.

DamingR

You have to have 1 Gamertag per every three players (two guests on one box). I wouldn't recommend trying to do much more than 3 ppl unless you have a truly bad-ass internet connection. The lag gets pretty bad.

edstein

This Halo party sounds like a good idea but, the logistics can be tricky as you have mentioned. My friend has one big screen tv, one projector, another small tv (maybe 27") and the appropriate router of course. I really hate playing on split screen. Once you've played on a 65" widescreen it's hard to go smaller. I would rather have everyone on xbox live but, on the other hand, it is fun to gather, eat, drink, etc. I'll let you know how it turns out.

sniper308

did this at a buddy's house and we had 5 X boxes going with about 9 people on one net connection connected to live and a couple of other friends connected from other sites and didn't have any issues, on a cable connection (that he has hardwired to multiple rooms, etc)

edstein

Thanks, that sounds promising.

Dragon Fly

I've been playing halo 2 since the first day it came out and I just ain't getting any better. I get some crazy stuff happen to me like I unload 2 full SMG's in a guy with his back turned and he turns around and pops me with two bullets from a magnum and I die, it's pretty frustrating. Then again some cheaters like to lag you out so they can win, hopefully bungie will fix that this month though.