grunts of war

[spartan_j03]

Everyone who has ever played a Halo game is intimatly familiar with the covenants first choice in cannon fodder, the grunts. Now, being designated as cannon fodder usually implys lack of good training/equipment/job satisfaction and generally everything else that makes an effective soldier, but if they WEREN'T some what effective in combat, why would the covenant wouldnt use them right?

   My point in all this is that through out every halo game, grunts seem to only ever receive the barest amount of adjustments. they really never get any smarter, faster, or tougher in any gamee. thats fine because they a kind of a pathetic race to begin with anyways, but then some would ask "why keep putting them in?"...well, because they're adorable and fill up space/time, and give the player more to shoot at (and they're good for witty banter), but how to make them a little more interesting without changing them to much?

   Well, lets look at how grunts do their thing and why. so the grunts are basiclly slaves to the covenant/elites who are forced to either fight on front lines and die, or carry out the most dangerous/heavy/dirty work, and above all else protect their leader. they're primary strengths in combat are their large numbers, the limited pieces of heavy weaponry they can opperate, and they're strength for their size.

   So this is what i was thinking: what if grunts came in squads with specific configuration to achieve certain tasks in game. for example; squad of 3 grunts, two of them have special harnesses with little mechanical control arms on the shoulders and the 3rd has a large plasma cannon folded up on his back. the first 2 drop to all fours then the 3rd mounts the cannon on their shoulders. there, now you've turned 3 normally pretty harmless enemies into a moving heavy weapon support team. more to come later, but im at work now, and its time to go home.

 

  

[spartan_j03]

okay, better now. Anyways, ^ that would actually be cause to be concerned about grunts. Im trying to keep ideas for tweaks for grunts small enough to not be a complete overhaul of their look and feel, but to make them more fun.

it'd be funny to see this little 3 some of grunts trying to shimmy together to get this huge gun in range of you.  

perhaps even small additional roles/classes they can fill to help other races. like a little grunt that holds a larger, tower varient of jackle shield that he carries with 2 hands, hed follow important elites around and hold the sheild up to block fire/grenades from hitting his leader. Maybe make some grunts bold enough to leap onto live grenades like soldiers in WW2 used to do to save their buddies.

Another thing though, in the books it was said that they were capable of walking on all fours and that they were pretty nimble on all 4...that would be interesting...ninja grunts. j/k. but making them a little faster on all 4s would change the pace of fighting them.

thats it until i come up with more grunt stuff. i love grunts, so if anyone has ideas on how to make grunts a little more epic, feel free.

[haloman 2]

i think they should make grunts more quick, not for fighting but to avoid your attacks and to sneak behind enemy lines. remember in halo 2 when you play as arbiter and go invisible? well the grunts did too. and then in all of theother games they couldn't. so why take that out i think they should go invisible like elites can and then sneak behind enemy lines to ambush you or distract you from the real enemy. i do this all the time in team fortress 2 when im a scout, so it would make sense if grunts and jackals can do this

[spartan_j03]

i think they should make grunts more quick, not for fighting but to avoid your attacks and to sneak behind enemy lines. remember in halo 2 when you play as arbiter and go invisible? well the grunts did too. and then in all of theother games they couldn't.

lol, I totally forgot they did that! that mission was awesome. "shh! im hunting hewwaticks!". but even just putting that back in would be cool, and would make sense too. My buddy claims he once saw a grunt armor lock and kill a hog in reach like 2 weeks after release, but im skeptical...would kinda be funny though, little grunty pylons of death.

[Buns]

I like grunts how they are now. Just cannon fodder. Changing them would ruin the balance of the covenant squad structure. Although I love the idea of active camo grunts making a return. 

[haloman 2]

they could sneak around and sabatouge things with their EMP blast. or destroy your vehicles before you get to them or damage them before you get to them. it would make you focus on them and their destruction while it gives enemies the advantage, to stage another attack after you deal with the grunts