Since some people have asked, I’m not ranking grenades anymore. They don’t really count as traditional weapons and don’t come with an opportunity cost. Compare this to the turrets where, despite not taking a weapon slot, they force you to move slower, so I opted to rank them instead of grenades / equipment / AAs Edit: People keep bringing up the second Spartan Laser on The Covenant. It doesn't spawn on Legendary. This tier list is based off of Legendary playthroughs, hence why I mention you only get the one you spawn with and that's it.
@@awsomebot1 all grenade are only carry 2 so it will be low rank i guess. frag - B it's ok to grunts and jackals, but it's rare to find. and we can use brute shot, so not needed to much. plasma - A easy to get from enemies. and useful to stick and kill enemies. spike - B it's ok to stick to enemy. fire - C only get by brute stalker. so not so much use.
that's my favorite part about that piece of crap, they only give it to you on flood levels, you know, the flood who just sprint directly into you.... and are now on fire... and spreading that fire to you... great weapon bungie, thanks!
2 things: 1: You forgot to mention that the Flamethrower is probably the most efficient way to accidentally delete yourself or allies because of how much damage it does. 2: Personal opinion but I love the Mauler, even if it is unremarkable, it's such a shame it only appears in the last 4 levels in the game, because it's so cool. Great video as always Vadam, can't wait for the Multiplayer tierlist
Yeah the Mauler should absolutely not be below the Pistol which frankly belongs in D tier, maybe even Why tier considering how common the Carbine and BR are which make it completely redundant
@thepulle4722 I think the Halo 3 magnum is one of the worst weapons in the series. I have tried using it as a decent weapon, and I have never been able to.
even tho i used it on some enemies time to time, just tap firing 1 flame just insta kills most or all enemies and yet even during halo on legendary (while doing legendary dailies) i still have ammo left after guilty spark boss fight but i did keep it after the boss fight, along with the spartan laser (yes i weapon juggled, LASO style), plus i do play halo mods on scuffed LASO cus im a mad man and i do like a challenge, regular heroic and legendary feels like ez mode if you know what your doing
The mauler (IMO) is like the halo 4 light rifle in the sense that 1.) This weapon could simply not exist and the game would play mostly the same 2.) It is absolutely not a power weapon. 3.) Nobody will actively seek it out if there are *other* options. And yet, if you just find one randomly or steal it off an enemy, its not hard to fight with. Both are also amazingly designed when it comes to appearance.
Deeply disappointed 343 ran with Reach's balancing philosophy for Infinite. Nerf stuff in the player's hands and buff it in AI hands, all while removing the casual fun weapons. The PVE just falls apart on higher difficulty settings.
@@limonbattery What? If anything, some weapons are nerfed when the AI use them (I'm looking at you, AR marines). If you're talking about the Stalker Rifle, Shade turrets, or the special brute choppers used by the two idiots you fight after taking out the AA guns, then yeah no arguing there. Thankfully the AR (buff marine AR damage FFS 343I) is the only weapon that follows Bungie's Halo: Reach style balancing when it comes to friendly forces using weapons.
i ain’t gonna lie i nearly teared up when i remembered being thankful for when i started watching. My friends and family are safe thankfully from the fires. it’s friday. I have a steak waiting in the fridge for me. i’m on my lunch break now at a very chill day at work after a busy holiday season watching a video from one of my favorite creators about my favorite franchises. Despite me watching halo videos since 2008, you are still the only person who still regularly teach me new things about the games i love most
I think you’re severely undervaluing the plasma pistol for the EMP anti vehicle effect alone. This effectively allows you to trivialize no less than 5 segments of difficult missions (tsavo, the storm, the arc, etc) by assuring an easy hijack onto enemy wraiths. This is particularly strong on the roadside ambush on Tsavo, where you can bypass all the enemies and hijack the wraith before absolutely destroying everyone. Still a really fantastic video, nobody does it like you do it
One interesting point to note about support weapons is they can be given to the Arbiter like the other weapons. This isn't really that good but when given a Missile Pod on The Storm, the missiles track all enemies. Not a commmonly known thing but it's cool none the less.
@@xScruffyDaSasquatchx It's even less fun to use in ODST. Bungie made the dumb choice to nerf bullet weapons in ODST (because fuck being creative and making the gameplay actually feel like playing as a non-Spartan human).
@@andyfriederichsen ODST was not a fully fledged sequel. Its limitations are most likely due to its lesser budget and its extremely short development time.
The Plasma Rifle is such a workhorse in the final stretch of the game. Once I finally gave it a fair shake on Cortana, I realized how good it is against Flood. Completely changed my experience with the mission from the most difficult in the game to one of the easiest. I definitely rock a BR or Carbine with a secondary dependent on which point of the game I'm at for the majority of Halo 3. But for those last two missions I usually have dual plasmas and either a Sword, Needler, or Hammer to handle pure forms with.
I tend to keep a Brute Shot in my pocket for the same reason. The rounds delete most combat forms and stun ranged forms, knocking them off walls, and the blade one shots almost any flood form with the exception of shielded combat forms. Carbine, Brute Shot, and twin Plasma Rifles are just that good.
I really don't know what it is, but there's something about this series that scratches a sweet spot for my ADHD. I'll throw these on in the background while I work and pick up a new weapon detail every listen.
"every flood form dies in one hit" when referring to the energy sword then in that same clip a shielded elite form survives a swing xdd. Great list though, I never realized the brute shot and hammer had even better melee damage outside of the modifiers since I looked at the spiker/mauler way back and assumed the others had 72 damage as well.
For what it's worth, I would recommend making the Halo 3 multiplayer tier list about the MCC version, but mentioning what changed from the 360 version. The MCC version is the one that everyone plays nowadays and it'll likely stay that way for a long time. A 360 tier list wouldn't be that useful for 99% of Halo fans.
Not entirely true. The 360 version was revived with the Sunrise project, and people gather weekly to play it in the Original Halo 3 Discord. discord.gg/nKC3aBCvhS
@TheVengefulVadam You're missing my point. I know about the 360 revival community, but how many people is that compared to the tens of thousands on Steam, Xbone and beyond? If nothing else, I think comparing the differences between versions is the best option so everyone wins.
@@QuintessentialWalrus Yeah doing both would be the best compromise, though I think the MCC should still get the main focus since it is by far the most accessible version, guess that also means the ODST weapons backported into 3 should be covered as well
Agree The lower rate of fire and smaller clip are worse than any damage buff the magnum could have. You don't use the magnum for damage, you use it for headshots, and it's worse at getting them. It's worse at double tapping, and can't spare the ammo in the clip anyways. And then the nail in the coffin is that most brutes figured out helmets... so it's actually a two shot anyways, so the lower fire rate matters even if you're consistent. The only thing the Halo 3 Magnum does better than the Halo 2 Magnum is be slightly better at shooting wildly into clouds of Drones, because it'll two shot on body shots. And if your plan for Drones is shooting wildly in their general direction, then like, half the weapons in the game do that better.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 I dislike even using the Halo 3 magnum. It doesn't feel good to fire, and it is one of the earliest weapons you are introduced to. I don't like much of the weapon sandbox in Halo 3 at all.
If you are patient with the magnum it’s a real sleeper in multi player. People don’t expect it to work on them but are pleasantly surprised, and humiliated when they get taken out by it. Takes a bit more skill to be consistent with but it’s great winning duels against people with BRs and carbines. As long as you don’t miss, and it’s not at close range it’ll win against an AR wielding opponent every time.
Its crazy that in the pre-release build of Halo 3 the Brute ranks all had unique colours, then they decided to change it so 90% of the ranks are just shades of blue for the final game. I will never understand that change, they also still had fur in the pre-release so they could have been peak Brute design if they stayed that way.
The weird thing is that most of the ranks have very similar health anyway. So if they only kept the blue brute major and golden captain major, the problem would be solved
The Cut damage type feels like an error or leftover. I can really imagine it originally being "20" but then, either on purpose or by accident, had the 0 deleted to neuter it
This is my favorite Halo series recently. I love all the detail and extensive research you do. I've played these games for so long and so many times that I'm stunned I keep learning more. It's so fascinating and I love how much work you put into this. Take your time. This series is special. You're fully uncovering so much of a beloved series and sharing knowledge most of us would never find out on our own. You're The Librarian.
This is _much_ easier to do on keyboard and mouse as well, on a stick you have to find _just_ the right angle whereas on movement keys it's as simple as W+A/D.
42:15 There's actually a second Spartan Laser on The Covenant (but not on legendary). In the first section with the anti-air wraith there's a crashed pelican. You can find a laser on the ground nearby. So you can use it to clear the vehicles in the first encounter and give one to an ODST then keep the new one with a full charge for later encounters. Edit: Thank you to the people who pointed out the second laser is not available on legendary. I had forgotten.
@@Pandnn216 The covenant who knows grunts suck at not getting scared and accidently nuking themselves, and everyone around them, with impact explosives.
There’s something about videos like this that make me appreciate halo even more. These videos show the random depth that Bungie decided to put into their games.
Nice video Vadam. If you don't mind though, I want to make some corrections and add some things: *Brute Chieftains have 400 points of body health on Legendary. They have 300 on Heroic. *Grunt Heavies got a health buff to have Ultra tier health, at 110 health on Legendary. *You forgot to list Carrier Forms, who got a massive health buff to 110 health on Legendary. *The Sentinel health you listed is only relevant for the sole, non-descript Sentinel "Captain" on the Covenant. That's an ally so it doesn't matter here. Sentinels in Halo 3 got a health nerf, having 40 shields/45 body for the "major" variant ("Minors" you just remove the shield health). \*The AR has *11* spare magazines. (: *The Halo 1's AR spread values are 2 - 6.5. *The Halo 3 Pistol forces a hard ping on body damage. It's not much, but it can force unshielded targets to flinch. *The Halo 2 Brute Shot has 20 point impact damage effect, allowing it to do up to 70 damage per grenade. Still worse than H3's, but still *The Halo 3/Reach support weapon movement speed penalty is 40%. It's ODST that has the 20% one. *The Halo 3/ODST Sniper Rifle has a fire recovery time of .7 seconds. Reach has the .75 fire recovery time. *No mention of the Halo 3 PR's projectile velocity increase that sort of helps out against its spread increase? (: \*The Rocket Launcher's velocity *increases* from 8 to 16. *The Mauler properly has the anti_flood damage type. Since it's the Brute shotgun, I think it'd be relevant to mention it. (: *Might've been worth it to mention that Halo 3's player melees don't depend on their movement and/or velocity for their max damage anymore. *While I know you won't include grenades on these tier lists anymore, it might've been nice to have a short, separate tier list for them since H3/ODST have 4 of them... There's enough to rank them. (: *Might've been more clear for everyone what every weapon's damage type was. Some were not mentioned. *Anything else I can think of later. Anyways, thanks for the video. I look forward to your future ones and Reach Evolved. :)
Great weapon tier list, I really like how in-depth you are with all the weapons and their stats! As for the Halo 3 Multiplayer tier list, I would suggest doing the MCC version as while the 360 version of Halo 3 has been revived with the Sunrise project, it would be better to focus on the version most people are currently playing Halo 3, much like how Halo CE on MCC is the current version most people play CE Multiplayer on. Halo 3 MCC also has ODST weapons backported to the game's multiplayer so it would be worth bringing those weapons up as well. You can bring up changes made from the 360 version to the current MCC version so others may know the differences between versions where present.
I think the Magnum is too high. It's only "useful" in Sierra 117. The Storm has BRs before you really fight anything. Compared to the turrets that have a situational use (throwing shields in front of them, shredding some enemies, whatever have you) the Magnum is just useless. Its slow fire rate punishes you for missed shots despite having wide spread even while using just one. The weapon and its ammo are SUPER rare. The damage is laughable too. So it isn't even a neat gun to use. The AR will get you through that first section just fine. From there, you can grab something better.
With dual SMGs, if you time your shooting so you’re firing one while reloading the other, allowing for a constant stream of fire, it mostly negates the downside of the slow reload. It’s arguably much more viable in Multiplayer, especially with unlimited ammo in customs, but dual SMGs can make a real mess of the Covies in campaign when used strategically.
Absolutely fantastic video my friend. Ive heard other halo youtubers mention you but ive never seen your videos in my feed until now. I absolutely intend of procrastinating at work binge watching your library of content!
Mauler is actually really useful against Flood towards the end of the game due to it being a shotgun with the cutting melee damage bonus. Probably better than the Shotgun outside of ammo capacity.
I kinda stuck to what I learned in Halo 1, not really paying much attention to things. Plasma = anti shield. Bullets = anti meat. TIL Brutes have bullet resistance and the AR is good at breaking shields in H3. That's kinda crazy. I did pick up on some things like plasma rifles absolutely wrecking flood but never knew about the AR. There's also the fact that the precision rifles being dominant means that I mostly stuck to 'headshotting' stuff than caring too much about what's good vs meat.
42:55 I highly recommend mcc. Many people have never played the original 360 version and it can't even be played online anymore (at least for 90% of the community) I get that there's differences but I feel like the analysis would be less impactful if it's for an older version of the game nobody can play right now. Many people wouldn't be able to relate at all. Also I really like those tier lists. idk why no one made something like that before. I can't find anything like it anywhere else. Seems like a no-brainer, but you're the onlu oone who does it loll
Interested in seeing how these weapins translated to Halo 3 ODST and if they stack the same in that game and also against the new weapons introduced in ODST
Man, once again great content! I always get excited when I see one of your videos pop up on my feed (especially the tier lists). I saved this for my evening whiskey after work. Thank you.
Awesome video. I've never seen anyone rank the campaign weapons. I'm currently playing through the campaign right now and I agree with your rankings. Nice to see the numbers behind the weapons I've been using for almost two decades!
Dual Plasma Rifles are my go to weapon on Cortana. They’re everywhere, they shred everything, and the hallways are perfect for the range the Plasma Rifles are effective at. Keep a brute shot in my back pocket for really sticky situations and the worst hardest level in the series becomes a breeze
Luckily you can run past everything in Cortana, it's mandatory on LASO. I am never gonna shoot my way through that level ever again like I did in the past decade+.
If only marines were able to wield the Brute Shot The Spiker us underrated. Burst that thing and you’ll shreds Brutes. It’s common enough so you won’t run out of ammo 38:08 I’d argue it’s worse on your allies due to their team killing. Fuel Rod is better, rarely miss Cept that specific Phantom
Yes this is the right ranking! I'm so sad about the Mawler though. I think it's a really cool weapon. Very fitting of the Brutes and I like the gameplay it offers of bargaining with going up close and choosing which weapon to pair it with like all dual-wield weapons. The dual-wield nerf, the scarcity (as you mentioned) and the fact you have so many nerfs when dual-wielding is so bothersome. I think that it shouldn't get a dual-wield nerf, you should be rewarded for daring to attempt that which has its drawbacks already. Also, dual-wielding has the drawback of not being able to melee, no grenades and slow reload, it's overkill. In hindsight, they should have kept the melee, at least and allowed you to drop the gun with pressing Y or something, like it became possible to do in Infinite.
Don't know if anyone else commented this, but at 7:17 when you say that the magnum is a starting weapon on two levels, Sierra 117 and the Storm, while you are right about it being a starting weapon on the two, the thing about the Storm is that there is a battle rifle in the first open area (the one where you get out of the warthog), so technically you don't even need to use the pistol at the start, since there's a BR available. Also, if you played Tsavo Highway before and had say a BR AR loadout, it'll carry over to the Storm, (however if you have power weapons or non-human weapons they don't seem to carry over from my experience, could be wrong though), so that's another way to "skip" having to use the pistol at the start of the Storm.
Clearing the second factory on floodgate with dual wield plasma rifles with a squad of elites in tow and the music ramping up is seared into my brain Good time :) Good video!
The spiker has always been my guilty pleasure weapon. I love the effect of the physical spikes that appear sticking into enemies. I wish it was more viable on legendary for that reason alone.
I learned so much new stuff today despite having played the campaign to death. Scaryness factor??? The brute shot melee being best against flood? Crazy eye openers
Id put the spartan laser in s tier. It's crazy good on so many levels. As you said its anti vehicular, but you can use it against infantry like brutes if you line them up you get more then one. It's devastating abilities don't end there. In Halo 3 ODST, ive used it to shoot through one chopper to kill another chopper, or a ghost to shoot and weaken a wraith, then wait for a passing chopper and kill the wraith along with the chopper with one shot. Its just so satisfying to use it that way. Conserves ammo on that first part of the mission. Then you have some shot left to try and get some banshee kills, for no other reason then revenge. Spartan laser = 1 shot to wraiths and banshees=satisfying revenge
mmmm, yes, I will watch a 43 minute video about Halo 3 weapons Tier List while waiting for FarCry 3 to download. Thank you :3 Edit: got to 20:04 when FarCry 3 completed its download, just want to say that this video is really well made. Glad to get to it early :D
Great to see the Plasma Rifle and Needler get their love in this game, both got pretty good buffs from Halo 2 IMO. The Needler can shred a Brute in seconds without needing to combo it with another weapon, and has come in clutch against ranged/tank Flood. Even the Plasma Rifle shreds through the Flood, an underrated use for the weapon is that it's great at taking down Elite Flood, who seemingly have indestructible shields in this game. I've never been a big fan of dual wielding but I make an except for the Plasma Rifle in this game. Also, the Spiker at D-tier is pretty funny, it feels like you only die to like 3 spikes from a Brute on Legendary yet it's completely worthless when you use it. Looking forward to a possible weapon tier for Reach, which definitely has its unique pool of weapons.
oh yeah, random fun fact, the Beam Rifle does have better penetration than the Sniper Rifle. I once tested it by setting up a bunch of pallets on their side in Foundry and shot through them, the Sniper seems to be able to only pierce one, but the Beam Rifle will pierce all of them(I dont remember how many I setup)
36:44 you can actually save the Marine and the missile pod if you’re quick enough with a ghost and picked up a bubble shield. You’ve just gotta throw it on him before the covenant start shooting at him. It depends on lucky mostly. Also marines and elites can reload weapons clips and magazines for you completely without wasting any ammo, as long as it’s not the last mag, then it’s partial.
Can you add stat comparisons back to the video, it’s not a big thing but it helps visualise what you’re saying. Good job can’t wait to see what you do next.
note on the covenant with the spartan laser, there is a second one at the crashed pelican behind the first AA Wraith. which you can pick up after clearing the first tower.
I just realized that that a great way to balance the Splazer’s firepower in multiplayer would have been to make its charge up time cost energy, thereby reducing the effectiveness of “pre-firing” that made it such a nuisance in the first place.
Unless you did not buff its energy use per shot to compensate for the extra usage then that would make it more oppressive vs vehicles which is already pretty severe.
@@ShawFujikawa What do you mean? It'd still fire the same way, it's just that charging it up would now have a cost to usage. It's not like the targeting laser would do damage like the Halo 5 REQ variant.
Thanks for this. Excellent breakdown, just like your last tier lists. I'm going to try the Cortana level again after modding the the anti_flood modifier back into the Shotgun (and maybe play around with increasing its range). I never liked how it wasn't the ideal weapon to use in that level. I wonder if the Spiker and Mauler were supposed to have the cutting modifier and were given a lower melee damage value to prevent them from being overpowered, but then Bungie forgot to use that modifier. That'll be another thing I'll try out after messing around with the Shotgun. Part of me also wants to try giving the Machine Gun Turret the bullet_vehicle modifier, but it having bullet_fast feels more intentional than whatever happened to the Shotgun, Spiker, and Mauler. I'm looking forward to the ODST tier list. It's my favorite campaign, but I don't like that the Assault Rifle can't reliably strip Brute shields in it. After looking at the spreadsheet, I wonder if it's because bullet_slow only does 0.5x damage against energy_shield_thin there while it did 1x damage in Halo 3. That would explain why the Shotgun felt weaker against Brutes in ODST too. The Flamethrower is actually quite useful in the Cortana level...but only there and nowhere else because of the tight spaces, quick time to kill against the Flood, and lack of allies. You can get the Flood's attention, burn then as they charge you (even better if you do it from around a corner), and not worry about friendly fire. Hokiebird428 showed how well it works in his Legendary walkthrough of Cortana. Outside of that level, it is indeed trash. That being said, even in Cortana, the Flamethrower is more of a fun thing to use that just happens to work in that level's design rather than being something you actually have to use.
Pretty respectful tier list. Personally, I would move the Plasma Pistol to S Tier. It's not great on its own, but combined with any precision weapon, you can easily beat the whole legendary campaign with just that. And if you add LASO to the mix, the Plamas Pistol moves into its own SS+ Tier class.
Lightning strikes again! I'm loving these videos; I think every one has prompted me to go back and replay the associated campaign. I'm a carbine enthusiast, but definitely don't begrudge using the battle rifle if my carbine is running low. I think I would have ranked the brute shot as S tier, it is just so dominating in the flood levels and still perfectly usable against most other enemies as well. I didn't know that the sentinel beam was actually good in Halo 3, I don't think I've ever picked one up after being so thoroughly underwhelmed by 2's rendition 😂
I'm a certified Halo 3 shotgun hater even over Halo 2's. Worse range. Worse damage. Halved mag and capacity. It can't oneshot any brute. Not even that good against the flood. Oh it's good at melee follow-ups? Yeah, so is a melee followed by another melee because Halo 3's melee is busted in the campaign. C tier for me.
One thing to mention about the Energy Sword is that Flood Combat forms can block it somehow if they perform a melee at the right time!? I don't know if it's a glitch introduced by MCC but if you're really unlucky a Combat form can take 10+ swings (one Elite form took 20+). This lead to me always preferring the Bruteshot over the Sword as a melee weapon on Flood levels duo to it being far more reliable/ not being blocked by Flood melee attacks...
![[TF2] Bad Weapon Academy: Sharpened Volcano Fragment](/img/n.gif)
Since some people have asked, I’m not ranking grenades anymore. They don’t really count as traditional weapons and don’t come with an opportunity cost. Compare this to the turrets where, despite not taking a weapon slot, they force you to move slower, so I opted to rank them instead of grenades / equipment / AAs
Edit: People keep bringing up the second Spartan Laser on The Covenant. It doesn't spawn on Legendary. This tier list is based off of Legendary playthroughs, hence why I mention you only get the one you spawn with and that's it.
Off the record... where would you rank the grenades if you had to?
@@awsomebot1 they're all A tier imo, maybe B in the case of firebombs because those are rare
@@bosyogurtlight C for Spike nades. They're Plasma nades with worse AOE damage
@@awsomebot1 all grenade are only carry 2 so it will be low rank i guess.
frag - B
it's ok to grunts and jackals, but it's rare to find. and we can use brute shot, so not needed to much.
plasma - A
easy to get from enemies. and useful to stick and kill enemies.
spike - B
it's ok to stick to enemy.
fire - C
only get by brute stalker. so not so much use.
Equipment seems like it does come with an opportunity cost. But eh. Understandable to not bother with them.
Flamethrower is great against the user
FACTS
that's my favorite part about that piece of crap, they only give it to you on flood levels, you know, the flood who just sprint directly into you.... and are now on fire... and spreading that fire to you... great weapon bungie, thanks!
its good if you know how to use it
If you’re bad sure
Actual skill issue but yeah 100% the first couple of times using it
rip explosion_largw, we lost a real one in 2007
🫡
I really slept on the Brute Shot so much as a kid and never realized how solid it is
It's hella underrated
Never slept on it, just slept on its ammo count for campaign always felt like I had less shots than halo 2's brute shot
Bro is a time traveler commenting on a video before its even uploaded. Crazy work.
VERY good anti jackal weapon (just like in Halo 2)
Brute Shot is so good in the level Cortana
Easy splash damage, melee can deal stupid damage to flood
0:59
HALO 3 RAT SPOTTED
*YEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH HALO 3 RAT!!!!!!!! LESGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!*
RAAAAHHHHHHHH
Btw something to mention with turrets is that they increase enemy grenade chance since they count as a vehicle for some reason for ai logic.
I wonder if they count as vehicles in all ways. They sure do for achievement purposes.
Could be an easy way to code the effect of "Oh shit. Big gun. Kill fast.", or could just be some jank. Pretty cool to know, though.
Sure Byz
It makes sense strategically speaking
This might be on purpose and makes logical sense for the grenade spam.
2 things:
1: You forgot to mention that the Flamethrower is probably the most efficient way to accidentally delete yourself or allies because of how much damage it does.
2: Personal opinion but I love the Mauler, even if it is unremarkable, it's such a shame it only appears in the last 4 levels in the game, because it's so cool.
Great video as always Vadam, can't wait for the Multiplayer tierlist
i'll take the mauler over the shotgun any day.
Yeah the Mauler should absolutely not be below the Pistol which frankly belongs in D tier, maybe even Why tier considering how common the Carbine and BR are which make it completely redundant
@thepulle4722 I think the Halo 3 magnum is one of the worst weapons in the series. I have tried using it as a decent weapon, and I have never been able to.
even tho i used it on some enemies time to time, just tap firing 1 flame just insta kills most or all enemies and yet even during halo on legendary (while doing legendary dailies) i still have ammo left after guilty spark boss fight but i did keep it after the boss fight, along with the spartan laser (yes i weapon juggled, LASO style), plus i do play halo mods on scuffed LASO cus im a mad man and i do like a challenge, regular heroic and legendary feels like ez mode if you know what your doing
The mauler (IMO) is like the halo 4 light rifle in the sense that
1.) This weapon could simply not exist and the game would play mostly the same
2.) It is absolutely not a power weapon.
3.) Nobody will actively seek it out if there are *other* options.
And yet, if you just find one randomly or steal it off an enemy, its not hard to fight with. Both are also amazingly designed when it comes to appearance.
I feel like the Halo Reach weapons tier list is going to look like a total disaster lol
Deeply disappointed 343 ran with Reach's balancing philosophy for Infinite. Nerf stuff in the player's hands and buff it in AI hands, all while removing the casual fun weapons. The PVE just falls apart on higher difficulty settings.
What? You don’t like the concussion rifle being terrible in your hands, but god tier in that elite with a melee that’s practically unavoidable?
Everything in why tier except the grenade launcher, rocket launcher, plasma pistol, DMR, needle rifle, and sniper rifle.
@@gmgzAnd magnum
@@limonbattery What? If anything, some weapons are nerfed when the AI use them (I'm looking at you, AR marines). If you're talking about the Stalker Rifle, Shade turrets, or the special brute choppers used by the two idiots you fight after taking out the AA guns, then yeah no arguing there.
Thankfully the AR (buff marine AR damage FFS 343I) is the only weapon that follows Bungie's Halo: Reach style balancing when it comes to friendly forces using weapons.
i ain’t gonna lie i nearly teared up when i remembered being thankful for when i started watching. My friends and family are safe thankfully from the fires. it’s friday. I have a steak waiting in the fridge for me. i’m on my lunch break now at a very chill day at work after a busy holiday season watching a video from one of my favorite creators about my favorite franchises. Despite me watching halo videos since 2008, you are still the only person who still regularly teach me new things about the games i love most
I'm wholeheartedly happy my content makes your day that much better. Thank you for telling me!
I think you’re severely undervaluing the plasma pistol for the EMP anti vehicle effect alone. This effectively allows you to trivialize no less than 5 segments of difficult missions (tsavo, the storm, the arc, etc) by assuring an easy hijack onto enemy wraiths. This is particularly strong on the roadside ambush on Tsavo, where you can bypass all the enemies and hijack the wraith before absolutely destroying everyone. Still a really fantastic video, nobody does it like you do it
One interesting point to note about support weapons is they can be given to the Arbiter like the other weapons. This isn't really that good but when given a Missile Pod on The Storm, the missiles track all enemies. Not a commmonly known thing but it's cool none the less.
Holy shit, that’s actually sick. I think the Rocket Launcher is still a better choice for the Arbiter, but yeah that’d be pretty cool for novelty.
Like, if you put one down next to him and kill him he'll pick it up when he reanimates?
@@trekker105 Yes. When he jumps back up, he'll be carrying the Missile Pod and its missiles will home on anything.
Guarantee the AR would be in A tier if it didn’t have the shittiest firing sound known to man
-ahh sound
No, the firing sound is not that bad. The projectile speed and accuracy leave much to be desired.
@TheVengefulVadam does that mean its going to move up a tier in ODST?
@@xScruffyDaSasquatchx It's even less fun to use in ODST. Bungie made the dumb choice to nerf bullet weapons in ODST (because fuck being creative and making the gameplay actually feel like playing as a non-Spartan human).
@@andyfriederichsen ODST was not a fully fledged sequel. Its limitations are most likely due to its lesser budget and its extremely short development time.
The Plasma Rifle is such a workhorse in the final stretch of the game. Once I finally gave it a fair shake on Cortana, I realized how good it is against Flood. Completely changed my experience with the mission from the most difficult in the game to one of the easiest.
I definitely rock a BR or Carbine with a secondary dependent on which point of the game I'm at for the majority of Halo 3. But for those last two missions I usually have dual plasmas and either a Sword, Needler, or Hammer to handle pure forms with.
I tend to keep a Brute Shot in my pocket for the same reason. The rounds delete most combat forms and stun ranged forms, knocking them off walls, and the blade one shots almost any flood form with the exception of shielded combat forms. Carbine, Brute Shot, and twin Plasma Rifles are just that good.
Dual Plasma rifles were always my go to against flood. Cool weapon.
I really don't know what it is, but there's something about this series that scratches a sweet spot for my ADHD. I'll throw these on in the background while I work and pick up a new weapon detail every listen.
That's actually really cool that my videos are therapeutic for you to a degree. I'm happy to help!
"every flood form dies in one hit" when referring to the energy sword then in that same clip a shielded elite form survives a swing xdd. Great list though, I never realized the brute shot and hammer had even better melee damage outside of the modifiers since I looked at the spiker/mauler way back and assumed the others had 72 damage as well.
That’s an oof on my part lmao, yeah the shielded elites are the only ones that live one swing, should have mentioned that 💀
@@TheVengefulVadamalso maybe look up what’s with the code/stats where they sometimes take like 5 swings.
The only good Halo tuber has uploaded
Aww shucks
@ these tier list videos are seriously well made and in depth. I really hope you go all the way to Infinite!
woaaah man, Installation00 and Mint Blitz are solid too. But Vadam's thoroughness of pure game mechanics is unmatched.
What about HiddenXpieria?
Generalkidd?
For what it's worth, I would recommend making the Halo 3 multiplayer tier list about the MCC version, but mentioning what changed from the 360 version. The MCC version is the one that everyone plays nowadays and it'll likely stay that way for a long time. A 360 tier list wouldn't be that useful for 99% of Halo fans.
Not entirely true. The 360 version was revived with the Sunrise project, and people gather weekly to play it in the Original Halo 3 Discord. discord.gg/nKC3aBCvhS
@TheVengefulVadam You're missing my point. I know about the 360 revival community, but how many people is that compared to the tens of thousands on Steam, Xbone and beyond?
If nothing else, I think comparing the differences between versions is the best option so everyone wins.
@@QuintessentialWalrus Yeah doing both would be the best compromise, though I think the MCC should still get the main focus since it is by far the most accessible version, guess that also means the ODST weapons backported into 3 should be covered as well
@TheVengefulVadam do the OG H3 not MCC pls
@@noahbirchill With MCC being more readily accessible, it only makes sense that you use the more readily accessible version.
@6:00 I would argue that Halo 3 magnum's is worse than Halo 2's. At least, you can pretty easily kill grunts and jackals with the Halo 2 magnum.
Agree
The lower rate of fire and smaller clip are worse than any damage buff the magnum could have.
You don't use the magnum for damage, you use it for headshots, and it's worse at getting them. It's worse at double tapping, and can't spare the ammo in the clip anyways.
And then the nail in the coffin is that most brutes figured out helmets... so it's actually a two shot anyways, so the lower fire rate matters even if you're consistent.
The only thing the Halo 3 Magnum does better than the Halo 2 Magnum is be slightly better at shooting wildly into clouds of Drones, because it'll two shot on body shots.
And if your plan for Drones is shooting wildly in their general direction, then like, half the weapons in the game do that better.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 I dislike even using the Halo 3 magnum. It doesn't feel good to fire, and it is one of the earliest weapons you are introduced to. I don't like much of the weapon sandbox in Halo 3 at all.
At least h2 magnum is kinda fun with how fast you can shoot it. H3 magnum just feels and looks terrible
If you are patient with the magnum it’s a real sleeper in multi player. People don’t expect it to work on them but are pleasantly surprised, and humiliated when they get taken out by it. Takes a bit more skill to be consistent with but it’s great winning duels against people with BRs and carbines. As long as you don’t miss, and it’s not at close range it’ll win against an AR wielding opponent every time.
Hard agree. The faster fire rate of Halo 2's seems way more valuable than anything the Halo 3 magnum has.
I really wish the Halo 3 Brutes were more diverse in color-coding like in every other installment. They were near-perfect.
Its crazy that in the pre-release build of Halo 3 the Brute ranks all had unique colours, then they decided to change it so 90% of the ranks are just shades of blue for the final game. I will never understand that change, they also still had fur in the pre-release so they could have been peak Brute design if they stayed that way.
The weird thing is that most of the ranks have very similar health anyway. So if they only kept the blue brute major and golden captain major, the problem would be solved
The Cut damage type feels like an error or leftover. I can really imagine it originally being "20" but then, either on purpose or by accident, had the 0 deleted to neuter it
i'd love a mod that boosts that damage type and fixes the shotgun kill_flood damage type thing
Forgot to add the damage table spreadsheet in the description lol, it's there now!
forgot to put a ring on that finger when i had the chance
Also equipment? Also the gravity hammer is a good grenade jump alternative. The newer hammers lost that.
This is my favorite Halo series recently. I love all the detail and extensive research you do. I've played these games for so long and so many times that I'm stunned I keep learning more. It's so fascinating and I love how much work you put into this. Take your time. This series is special. You're fully uncovering so much of a beloved series and sharing knowledge most of us would never find out on our own. You're The Librarian.
One thing about the turrets that I realized is that you move significantly faster if you walk diagonally.
This is _much_ easier to do on keyboard and mouse as well, on a stick you have to find _just_ the right angle whereas on movement keys it's as simple as W+A/D.
42:15 There's actually a second Spartan Laser on The Covenant (but not on legendary). In the first section with the anti-air wraith there's a crashed pelican. You can find a laser on the ground nearby. So you can use it to clear the vehicles in the first encounter and give one to an ODST then keep the new one with a full charge for later encounters.
Edit: Thank you to the people who pointed out the second laser is not available on legendary. I had forgotten.
"Sir! A second Spartan Laser has hit the towers!"
I think the second laser doesn’t appear on Legendary or I’m just misremembering
The 2nd Splaser doesn't appear on Legendary however
@@GohanScholar Doesn't appear on Heroic either. Only in normal and easy
35:00 Note about the Fuel Rod Gun: It bounces!
WHO THE HELL DESIGNS A GUN THAT BOUNCES?!
@@Pandnn216 The covenant who knows grunts suck at not getting scared and accidently nuking themselves, and everyone around them, with impact explosives.
@@Rafael_Fuchs R/whoosh
@@Pandnn216but he’s still probably right.
Not to sound harsh but that was probably the worst R/whoosh ever……of all time.
@WokeDEMOCRATShaveASPD sorry
There’s something about videos like this that make me appreciate halo even more. These videos show the random depth that Bungie decided to put into their games.
Nice video Vadam. If you don't mind though, I want to make some corrections and add some things:
*Brute Chieftains have 400 points of body health on Legendary. They have 300 on Heroic.
*Grunt Heavies got a health buff to have Ultra tier health, at 110 health on Legendary.
*You forgot to list Carrier Forms, who got a massive health buff to 110 health on Legendary.
*The Sentinel health you listed is only relevant for the sole, non-descript Sentinel "Captain" on the Covenant. That's an ally so it doesn't matter here. Sentinels in Halo 3 got a health nerf, having 40 shields/45 body for the "major" variant ("Minors" you just remove the shield health).
\*The AR has *11* spare magazines. (:
*The Halo 1's AR spread values are 2 - 6.5.
*The Halo 3 Pistol forces a hard ping on body damage. It's not much, but it can force unshielded targets to flinch.
*The Halo 2 Brute Shot has 20 point impact damage effect, allowing it to do up to 70 damage per grenade. Still worse than H3's, but still
*The Halo 3/Reach support weapon movement speed penalty is 40%. It's ODST that has the 20% one.
*The Halo 3/ODST Sniper Rifle has a fire recovery time of .7 seconds. Reach has the .75 fire recovery time.
*No mention of the Halo 3 PR's projectile velocity increase that sort of helps out against its spread increase? (:
\*The Rocket Launcher's velocity *increases* from 8 to 16.
*The Mauler properly has the anti_flood damage type. Since it's the Brute shotgun, I think it'd be relevant to mention it. (:
*Might've been worth it to mention that Halo 3's player melees don't depend on their movement and/or velocity for their max damage anymore.
*While I know you won't include grenades on these tier lists anymore, it might've been nice to have a short, separate tier list for them since H3/ODST have 4 of them... There's enough to rank them. (:
*Might've been more clear for everyone what every weapon's damage type was. Some were not mentioned.
*Anything else I can think of later.
Anyways, thanks for the video. I look forward to your future ones and Reach Evolved. :)
I can't believe ODST's suffer only half the burden a Spartan does when moving turrets
YES this is like the most looked forward to series on UA-cam, thank you for all the hard work you put into these videos
Great video, looking forward to the MP section!
Thank you!
Wow, I cant believed I slept on some of these. Next time I play Halo 3 I should try some of these (even the low tiers). Great video as always
36:39 Its actually possible to keep it attached thus having unlimited ammo on that section.
It’s hard though because the marine using it that you need to keep alive dies easily.
damn right the plasma rifle is A tier
even tho it rarely appeared, its probably my favorite automatic weapon in 3 as a kid
Even when nobody gots my back, I know the halo 3 brute shot still does.
22:02 GET DOWN MR. PRESIDENT
Consider me seated (edit) thank you for giving my boy, the H3 bruteshot, the love he deserves!
Great weapon tier list, I really like how in-depth you are with all the weapons and their stats! As for the Halo 3 Multiplayer tier list, I would suggest doing the MCC version as while the 360 version of Halo 3 has been revived with the Sunrise project, it would be better to focus on the version most people are currently playing Halo 3, much like how Halo CE on MCC is the current version most people play CE Multiplayer on. Halo 3 MCC also has ODST weapons backported to the game's multiplayer so it would be worth bringing those weapons up as well. You can bring up changes made from the 360 version to the current MCC version so others may know the differences between versions where present.
I think the Magnum is too high. It's only "useful" in Sierra 117. The Storm has BRs before you really fight anything. Compared to the turrets that have a situational use (throwing shields in front of them, shredding some enemies, whatever have you) the Magnum is just useless. Its slow fire rate punishes you for missed shots despite having wide spread even while using just one. The weapon and its ammo are SUPER rare. The damage is laughable too. So it isn't even a neat gun to use. The AR will get you through that first section just fine. From there, you can grab something better.
It's about time Vadam, been waiting for this list for awhile. Can't wait for the multiplayer list and than possibly ODST's list, also RIP grenades
it makes sense I always gravitate towards the Carbine and Brute shot with this tier list, they're just really good and really common
With dual SMGs, if you time your shooting so you’re firing one while reloading the other, allowing for a constant stream of fire, it mostly negates the downside of the slow reload. It’s arguably much more viable in Multiplayer, especially with unlimited ammo in customs, but dual SMGs can make a real mess of the Covies in campaign when used strategically.
Thanks dude I’ve been longing for someone to make a list like this specifically for the campaign.
Great Job Vadam! Well worth the wait! You had me dying with the jokes 😂
Really proud of the Chieftain trauma vs the Needler one lol
finally it's here. ive been waiting for so long 😭 ty
Absolutely fantastic video my friend. Ive heard other halo youtubers mention you but ive never seen your videos in my feed until now. I absolutely intend of procrastinating at work binge watching your library of content!
Mauler is actually really useful against Flood towards the end of the game due to it being a shotgun with the cutting melee damage bonus. Probably better than the Shotgun outside of ammo capacity.
It also has the correct flag for its shots, so does extra damage to them as it should
I kinda stuck to what I learned in Halo 1, not really paying much attention to things. Plasma = anti shield. Bullets = anti meat. TIL Brutes have bullet resistance and the AR is good at breaking shields in H3. That's kinda crazy. I did pick up on some things like plasma rifles absolutely wrecking flood but never knew about the AR. There's also the fact that the precision rifles being dominant means that I mostly stuck to 'headshotting' stuff than caring too much about what's good vs meat.
The brute at 5:17 got me weak bro 😂😂😂😂😂
42:55 I highly recommend mcc. Many people have never played the original 360 version and it can't even be played online anymore (at least for 90% of the community) I get that there's differences but I feel like the analysis would be less impactful if it's for an older version of the game nobody can play right now. Many people wouldn't be able to relate at all.
Also I really like those tier lists. idk why no one made something like that before. I can't find anything like it anywhere else. Seems like a no-brainer, but you're the onlu oone who does it loll
Bro I didn't know you posted this but 3 hours ago I was actually doing a Halo tier list lol.❤😂
Interested in seeing how these weapins translated to Halo 3 ODST and if they stack the same in that game and also against the new weapons introduced in ODST
Man, once again great content! I always get excited when I see one of your videos pop up on my feed (especially the tier lists). I saved this for my evening whiskey after work. Thank you.
today is a snow day and im here watching vadams first video of 2025 video, its been awhile since i watched a vadam video.
I just got around to watching your Halo 2 tier lists today, what a pleasant surprise this video is.
I have been in pain waiting for this and now it is finally here 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I am so excited!
Cortana is hard until you realise how exceptional the Energy Sword is against everything and how it's pretty much everywhere in the mission.
Awesome video. I've never seen anyone rank the campaign weapons. I'm currently playing through the campaign right now and I agree with your rankings. Nice to see the numbers behind the weapons I've been using for almost two decades!
The AR and BR combo you spawn with as chief in coop makes a LOT more sense now knowing that the AR is a shield stripper deleter
Dual Plasma Rifles are my go to weapon on Cortana. They’re everywhere, they shred everything, and the hallways are perfect for the range the Plasma Rifles are effective at. Keep a brute shot in my back pocket for really sticky situations and the worst hardest level in the series becomes a breeze
Luckily you can run past everything in Cortana, it's mandatory on LASO. I am never gonna shoot my way through that level ever again like I did in the past decade+.
i always love when these videos come out since they suit my particular nerdy interests
thanks vengeful vadam
can't believe I joined the stream one time and hear flamethrower getting flame"thrown" in the trash
absolute cinema
Lmao, thanks for becoming a part of the Needler Gang
The AR in everything after CE was nerfed so hard.
If only marines were able to wield the Brute Shot
The Spiker us underrated. Burst that thing and you’ll shreds Brutes. It’s common enough so you won’t run out of ammo
38:08 I’d argue it’s worse on your allies due to their team killing. Fuel Rod is better, rarely miss Cept that specific Phantom
Yes this is the right ranking! I'm so sad about the Mawler though. I think it's a really cool weapon. Very fitting of the Brutes and I like the gameplay it offers of bargaining with going up close and choosing which weapon to pair it with like all dual-wield weapons. The dual-wield nerf, the scarcity (as you mentioned) and the fact you have so many nerfs when dual-wielding is so bothersome. I think that it shouldn't get a dual-wield nerf, you should be rewarded for daring to attempt that which has its drawbacks already. Also, dual-wielding has the drawback of not being able to melee, no grenades and slow reload, it's overkill. In hindsight, they should have kept the melee, at least and allowed you to drop the gun with pressing Y or something, like it became possible to do in Infinite.
Subscribed and turned notifications on specifically for this and the follow up video. Wasn’t expecting it so soon!
Let’s go! One day closer to Reach aswell
Glad to see another upload by yours truly. Hope life treats you fairly going forward, Vadam. Keep up the good work. 👍
So you know, "yours truly" is typically used to refer to yourself...
I'll keep that in mind. 👍
Today I learned after all my time with Halo 3 that the bullets aren’t hitscan. And I was in college when this game came out.
@ 17:08 "killing a brute this fast will cause grunts to scatter sooner"
*Red grunt proceeds to divebomb the chief and the camera cuts away.*
I love the Jurassic Park reference you did
The wait is over friends, we are blessed with the next installment
Don't know if anyone else commented this, but at 7:17 when you say that the magnum is a starting weapon on two levels, Sierra 117 and the Storm, while you are right about it being a starting weapon on the two, the thing about the Storm is that there is a battle rifle in the first open area (the one where you get out of the warthog), so technically you don't even need to use the pistol at the start, since there's a BR available. Also, if you played Tsavo Highway before and had say a BR AR loadout, it'll carry over to the Storm, (however if you have power weapons or non-human weapons they don't seem to carry over from my experience, could be wrong though), so that's another way to "skip" having to use the pistol at the start of the Storm.
No matter how many Energy Swords I'd get. I would never kill Arby
Clearing the second factory on floodgate with dual wield plasma rifles with a squad of elites in tow and the music ramping up is seared into my brain
Good time :)
Good video!
Dual Plasma Rifle is just a vibe.
The spiker has always been my guilty pleasure weapon. I love the effect of the physical spikes that appear sticking into enemies. I wish it was more viable on legendary for that reason alone.
I learned so much new stuff today despite having played the campaign to death. Scaryness factor??? The brute shot melee being best against flood? Crazy eye openers
Id put the spartan laser in s tier. It's crazy good on so many levels. As you said its anti vehicular, but you can use it against infantry like brutes if you line them up you get more then one. It's devastating abilities don't end there. In Halo 3 ODST, ive used it to shoot through one chopper to kill another chopper, or a ghost to shoot and weaken a wraith, then wait for a passing chopper and kill the wraith along with the chopper with one shot. Its just so satisfying to use it that way. Conserves ammo on that first part of the mission. Then you have some shot left to try and get some banshee kills, for no other reason then revenge. Spartan laser = 1 shot to wraiths and banshees=satisfying revenge
13:00 plasma turret doesn't make you slower per se, moving the stick rightfront or leftfront will cause you to move at normal speed
mmmm, yes, I will watch a 43 minute video about Halo 3 weapons Tier List while waiting for FarCry 3 to download. Thank you :3
Edit: got to 20:04 when FarCry 3 completed its download, just want to say that this video is really well made. Glad to get to it early :D
never clicked so fast in my life, love your tier lists :D
Great video! I would suggest you base the multiplayer tier list off the MCC version, since that's what people are playing these days
Great to see the Plasma Rifle and Needler get their love in this game, both got pretty good buffs from Halo 2 IMO. The Needler can shred a Brute in seconds without needing to combo it with another weapon, and has come in clutch against ranged/tank Flood. Even the Plasma Rifle shreds through the Flood, an underrated use for the weapon is that it's great at taking down Elite Flood, who seemingly have indestructible shields in this game. I've never been a big fan of dual wielding but I make an except for the Plasma Rifle in this game.
Also, the Spiker at D-tier is pretty funny, it feels like you only die to like 3 spikes from a Brute on Legendary yet it's completely worthless when you use it.
Looking forward to a possible weapon tier for Reach, which definitely has its unique pool of weapons.
oh yeah, random fun fact, the Beam Rifle does have better penetration than the Sniper Rifle. I once tested it by setting up a bunch of pallets on their side in Foundry and shot through them, the Sniper seems to be able to only pierce one, but the Beam Rifle will pierce all of them(I dont remember how many I setup)
BRO I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS WITH MY BUDDY I CANT WAIT FOR THE MULTIPLAYER TIER LIST THIS IS PEAK HALO CONTENT! 🔥💯💯
36:44 you can actually save the Marine and the missile pod if you’re quick enough with a ghost and picked up a bubble shield. You’ve just gotta throw it on him before the covenant start shooting at him. It depends on lucky mostly. Also marines and elites can reload weapons clips and magazines for you completely without wasting any ammo, as long as it’s not the last mag, then it’s partial.
Subbed. I knew there was something off with the brute shot's melee when I was one tapping flood with it.
Can you add stat comparisons back to the video, it’s not a big thing but it helps visualise what you’re saying. Good job can’t wait to see what you do next.
note on the covenant with the spartan laser, there is a second one at the crashed pelican behind the first AA Wraith. which you can pick up after clearing the first tower.
It doesn’t spawn on legendary
Something to note about support weapons, if you move diagonally, you move much faster for some reason.
I just realized that that a great way to balance the Splazer’s firepower in multiplayer would have been to make its charge up time cost energy, thereby reducing the effectiveness of “pre-firing” that made it such a nuisance in the first place.
Unless you did not buff its energy use per shot to compensate for the extra usage then that would make it more oppressive vs vehicles which is already pretty severe.
@@ShawFujikawa What do you mean? It'd still fire the same way, it's just that charging it up would now have a cost to usage. It's not like the targeting laser would do damage like the Halo 5 REQ variant.
thats pretty smart
Insane quality and depth of content. Dude deserves 500k subs minimum
Bro I literally just looked for this yesterday and only found the streams, and now it's here, scary
Thanks for this. Excellent breakdown, just like your last tier lists. I'm going to try the Cortana level again after modding the the anti_flood modifier back into the Shotgun (and maybe play around with increasing its range). I never liked how it wasn't the ideal weapon to use in that level.
I wonder if the Spiker and Mauler were supposed to have the cutting modifier and were given a lower melee damage value to prevent them from being overpowered, but then Bungie forgot to use that modifier. That'll be another thing I'll try out after messing around with the Shotgun. Part of me also wants to try giving the Machine Gun Turret the bullet_vehicle modifier, but it having bullet_fast feels more intentional than whatever happened to the Shotgun, Spiker, and Mauler.
I'm looking forward to the ODST tier list. It's my favorite campaign, but I don't like that the Assault Rifle can't reliably strip Brute shields in it. After looking at the spreadsheet, I wonder if it's because bullet_slow only does 0.5x damage against energy_shield_thin there while it did 1x damage in Halo 3. That would explain why the Shotgun felt weaker against Brutes in ODST too.
The Flamethrower is actually quite useful in the Cortana level...but only there and nowhere else because of the tight spaces, quick time to kill against the Flood, and lack of allies. You can get the Flood's attention, burn then as they charge you (even better if you do it from around a corner), and not worry about friendly fire. Hokiebird428 showed how well it works in his Legendary walkthrough of Cortana. Outside of that level, it is indeed trash. That being said, even in Cortana, the Flamethrower is more of a fun thing to use that just happens to work in that level's design rather than being something you actually have to use.
Awesome video! Been waiting for this a loooong time
Pretty respectful tier list. Personally, I would move the Plasma Pistol to S Tier.
It's not great on its own, but combined with any precision weapon, you can easily beat the whole legendary campaign with just that.
And if you add LASO to the mix, the Plamas Pistol moves into its own SS+ Tier class.
Lightning strikes again! I'm loving these videos; I think every one has prompted me to go back and replay the associated campaign.
I'm a carbine enthusiast, but definitely don't begrudge using the battle rifle if my carbine is running low. I think I would have ranked the brute shot as S tier, it is just so dominating in the flood levels and still perfectly usable against most other enemies as well. I didn't know that the sentinel beam was actually good in Halo 3, I don't think I've ever picked one up after being so thoroughly underwhelmed by 2's rendition 😂
Welcome back! I hope to see more content from you soon!
I'm a certified Halo 3 shotgun hater even over Halo 2's. Worse range. Worse damage. Halved mag and capacity. It can't oneshot any brute. Not even that good against the flood. Oh it's good at melee follow-ups? Yeah, so is a melee followed by another melee because Halo 3's melee is busted in the campaign. C tier for me.
Halo 3 shotgun is arguably the worst in the series.
One thing to mention about the Energy Sword is that Flood Combat forms can block it somehow if they perform a melee at the right time!?
I don't know if it's a glitch introduced by MCC but if you're really unlucky a Combat form can take 10+ swings (one Elite form took 20+).
This lead to me always preferring the Bruteshot over the Sword as a melee weapon on Flood levels duo to it being far more reliable/ not being blocked by Flood melee attacks...
swordblocking has always been a thing from what i remember, but thats almost always for pvp
plasma pistol standard fire is still great at taking out shields and is more ammo efficient than overcharging