Carbine Needs a Buff

[Wolfboy702]

I was under the impression that the carbine had the lowest DPS out of all the precision weapons, that combined with the need for very consistent accuracy arguably does make it underpowered. The reward for the carbine has always been a faster kill time for those skilled enough to land every bullet on the target. Perhaps make it less accurate but more powerful?

[Hᴜᴍᴘsᴛʏʟᴇs]

I loooove the "idea" of the Carbine. I can't use it effectively enough yet to out-DMR and out-BR on a normal basis, but I'm slowly getting better with it at close-mid range. It definitely cannot contend frequently in a long range battle against either though.

[upton889]

I rarely see the carbine used. I wouldn't be opposed to a slight buffing in order to keep balance with the DMR/BR/Light Rifle.

[Bloody Initiate]

A 10% damage boost nearly completely fixes it by making it take 7 shots instead of 8 to kill. Your kill time only improves slightly due to the short amount of time to fire one shot from a carbine. You remain competitive with a DMR in your chosen range, and you have slightly more padding in your clip in case you make a mistake. It's simple enough for 343 to implement a 10% boost to one weapon's damage, although I don't think they're plan to improve certain weapons, they should.

[SatanicBagels]

I'm only using it because I have mastered all of the UNSC Loadout weapons. And honestly, 75% of the time, it gets destroyed by almost every other starter weapon. That's a red flag right there.

 

I disagree. I believe that it needs some sort of buff for it to even compete with the other starter weapons. I think they should try it out in the next update, and if too many bad things come out of it, then they can change it back, or tweak something else.

I do not believe, however, that having a game where everyone is practically forced to use the DMR/ Boltshot or BR/ Boltshot combo is the way to go. Buffing the carbine might make people think twice about charging with a boltshot.

 

I don't see how buffing the carbine would have any effect on charging the boltshot...

[Infinity1129]

8 shots to kill right? 18 rounds in the clip? I haven't bothered counting, so I could be wrong, but if I'm not it has 2.25 kills in the clip before it has to reload. It kills faster than the BR, so it's at least as good as the BR, which is a horrible gun, and a terrible standard. I honestly think I'd rather have an AR, at least with that gun you know you suck and you don't make the mistake of starting fights against real guns.

 

By the way if anyone was wondering why I use the kills per clip measure so much, it's because you often actually miss your shots, but you have so much killing power before you have to reload (and die, because that's what happens when you have to reload). It's like a countdown measured not by seconds but by shots, when it runs out you die. In a fight, every shot you miss is a second off the clock, and in Halo 4 some guns just have shorter countdowns than others.

 

Anyone ever watch Burn Notice? In the very first episode he says he'd rather have duct tape than a gun, because guns make you stupid, and duct tape makes you think. While there is no duct tape option in this game, there are guns that are only as good as a roll of duct tape.

 

Guns like the carbine and the BR make you stupid because you think they work. Guns like the AR make you think because you know it doesn't work. I remember going for my fully-automated and up close and personal challenges with an AR loadout, and finding myself doing well in the games. It wasn't because the AR was good, it was because I was focusing hard on surprising people and taking fewer chances. The carbine and the BR are probably close to being only as good as an AR, but people think they work, so they rely on them.

 

The carbine sucks. The only thing it has going for it is the long standing urban myth that if you're awesome, it's the best. That way a bunch of people keep using it thinking if they just got better, they'd be unstoppable. Instead they get slaughtered, as we know, but at least we have someone to shoot until they figure it out.

I agree with what you said. I'll take your analogy a step further, if you don't mind. The AR is, like you said, duct tape. The carbine is like duct tape that doesn't stick most of the time. I can count on the AR to get the job done in CQ, however, I can't count on the carbine in any situation.

I don't see how buffing the carbine would have any effect on charging the boltshot...

I'm sorry, I didn't clarify. Let me start out with this- the DMR is an all-purpose weapon, the BR is useful at mid range, the LR is useful at mid-long range, but the carbine's use is limited to close range, in most cases. Therefore, the carbine would be the only weapon that would be able to compete with short-range BS weapons such as the boltshot, but because the carbine is so underpowered, it simply fails. Giving the Carbine a buff would be a very simple fix, but I doubt that there will be a fix unless the majority of the community feels it needs it.

[Chris Hansen]

Ok, so I got the Rogue stability perk today. This completely changed the Carbine, I was able to scope in and follow through all my shots without being hindered by any outside damage sources. In other words I understand why the Carbine is the custom skin gun of Rogue now.....

[SatanicBagels]

I'm sorry, I didn't clarify. Let me start out with this- the DMR is an all-purpose weapon, the BR is useful at mid range, the LR is useful at mid-long range, but the carbine's use is limited to close range, in most cases. Therefore, the carbine would be the only weapon that would be able to compete with short-range BS weapons such as the boltshot, but because the carbine is so underpowered, it simply fails. Giving the Carbine a buff would be a very simple fix, but I doubt that there will be a fix unless the majority of the community feels it needs it.

 

But the Carbine is not a close range weapon... It sounds like you are looking for a BR buff. The BR is more of a close quarters weapon.

[Kiing 0f Coffe]

Its hard to say if the Carbine is UP. I do well with the gun, but I might just be that good

[Bloody Initiate]

But the Carbine is not a close range weapon... It sounds like you are looking for a BR buff. The BR is more of a close quarters weapon.

 

Neither one of them is a close quarters weapon. They're both mid-range weapons designed to forgive different mistakes. The BR is designed to forgive a poorly placed shot, the carbine is designed to forgive a completely missed shot. If you miss more you want a carbine, if you have a hard time landing that headshot you want a BR. If you have a hard time with both then you might want to consider a different weapon and playstyle.

 

Most people end up preferring the BR between the two because any weapon that takes more shots to kill is just a bit harder to use because you have to perform the same action more times without making a mistake. There's some law of the universe that if you perform the same action ENOUGH times then you inevitably make a mistake. So fewer shots ends up being easier to handle, and you have to adjust less as well. With both you tend to pull the trigger and fire the weapon as fast as possible and then make adjustments for your enemy's movements when you aim. Fewer shots to kill means fewer adjustments. That's also why you see clips of people in mid-range marksman fights and even when their reticule is way off they keep firing, because their index finger is on auto-pilot while their thumb tries to keep up.

 

Someone in a video I was watching said that the automatic weapons are basically designed to make you make a mistake. You don't keep your cool and your auto-pilot index finger wastes a shot before your thumb is ready. I thought it was a pretty accurate assessment. I still think automatic weapons need a buff so even a perfect marksman loses a CQB fight against one, just because I think playing to your weapon's strengths and avoiding its weaknesses is part of being good.

 

That was a lot of text to just say that neither the carbine or the BR is a close quarters weapon, they're realy designed to engage enemies at roughly the same range. The BR DOES seem to have a slightly closer "mid-range" than the carbine, but really the carbine's strength is its rate of fire, which is also a sort of "closer" feature.