So, I used to be good at Halo. Halo 2 and 3, Reach - even 4, I'd take to the online and just RUIN dudes.

Halo 5 though? I'm getting creamed, like almost every match I just can't seem to connect melee attacks like I used to, and every time there's any remote one-on-one showdown, I die. Every time.

It's kinda devolved into 'Hold Right Trigger And Aim For Your Head: The Game' right now, and that's bumming me the hell out. My own two cents would be to make sure you're constantly in the air, but MAN if you're not locked onto a dude's head and making sure every bullet hits, it feels like you might as well just give up. Oh and also, f**k the extended respawn time - god dammit, just get me back in the game. 6 seconds is a lifetime when you're 'in the zone' or whatever you wanna call it.

Any help/advice from you guys is most welcome, not only for me but anyone else who's inevitably struggling from time to time!

Shoot that guy

I was playing earlier and was doing pretty well, considering the last Halo game that I actively played often was Halo 3. I played a fair bit of Reach off and on but never as much as I played 3.

I find myself using the pistol more than the AR and, well, going for headshots. You shouldn't be holding the trigger for most fights, and you should probably just drop that AR for something else as soon as you can. Storm Rifles seem like a more effective replacement if you can find one (have 343 just scrapped plasma rifles completely?)

Some people were complaining about the AR/Pistol starts, but it's not actually a problem. The pistol can compete with BR's and DMR's and Carbines, as long as you are within the pistols aim assist range, this would be where the rifles come out on top. Remember, head shots only matter once you have the shields down (aside from the sniper rifle, of course), so try to get into the rhythm of 4 shots to the body, one to the head. This applies to to the Pistol and DMR, BR is 3 to the body, one to the head. To me, being able to be decent at Halo has always consisted of that technique and map awareness (meaning, being aware of where you are and where the weapons spawn).

If you are coming straight off of those other Halos, you might also be relying on the radar too much; the range on it in Halo 5 is much, much shorter. You could be looking at the radar, round a corner, and there is a dude right there.

I never really played shooters online aside from Battlefield 4 and Team Fortress 2 and I've been having great success with the assault rifle and pistol. Pistol's good for bagging dudes at a distance, but I've really been working dudes with a combination of AR and melee. The AR's good. Like, really good. Dropping into AR range against anyone with a precision weapon has been ruinous for them. Blast em with the AR and punch em. And use those jet boosts. I've been able to turn the tables on a ton of dudes by playing matador. It's gotten to the point where I only drop the AR for Needlers, Shotguns, swords, or Storm Rifles.

I think the melee system is ok, and I don't think that the head shots to kill is much different from before, however the addition of the boost allows for people to get out of the way of the killing blow in ways no possible in the previous games, so that takes some getting used to. I'm actually really surprised how much the AR is good this time around, and how much range and accuracy you can get with a long view Scope AR. I'm still waiting to open an DMR and start destroying people, but for now the LSAR will do me well. Already 5/5ed the BR commendation, so AR and SMG it is.

My major complaint so far is the re spawn locations. I have spawned right next to an enemy so many damn times, or in Warzone, I've chosen a base, and spawned no where near it. It's super annoying, especially when trying to get somewhere for defense. My other HUGE issue is how fucking pointless the radar is this time. It has the smallest range in any Halo game, and sometimes doesn't even pick up someone running right at you. I love no radar modes in Halo, but the fact that it is there but pointless annoys me to no end. Just get rid of it for all modes and give me the screen real estate.

I think melee is my 2nd beat weapon in arena. In arena I usually swap AR with SMG or a power weapon and the pistol for dmr/br/light rifle. Pistol can hang with the rifles if you play it safe and you don't have an alternative. I also Spartan charge people a lot and finish them with the AR or SMG.

I've come to a realization that the xbone controllers are a huge factor for me. I like having much more tension on the sticks. Last gen I much preferred the 360 controller cause the dual shock 3 had such loose sticks, but it's like Sony and MS did a switcheroo because now the xbox controller has these loose sticks and the dual shock 4's offer much more resistance.

Oh dear.

I got tired of gettinrg blinded no matter where I went on the map so I've become a wall creeper. I stay to the edge of the maps which makes awareness easier. The maps just feel so chaotic. The people I keep gettinrg matched up with though are just so damn good. They don't miss. So I'm still getting creamed. I just gotta git gud I guess.

@rtoast: But the Dualshock 4 is also way less durable and cheap feeling, so in that case, they haven't really changed since last gen I guess. Although to be fair I've never had a single Dualshock 3 straight up break on me before.

Keep playing, the lack of magnetism takes a while to get used to, also melee should be a last option, not something you're trying to do every time you get a kill, if you're trying to do that you're going to get destroyed by any decent player.

SWAT is slowly becoming my favorite game mode for this reason alone. The respawns are near-instantaneous. Sometimes I will respawn, still trying to shoot the guy who killed me in the previous life. I guess that means my reaction time is slower than the respawn time in swat. This all adds to how fast and deadly swat is. There's no time to scream at the game as to how "that was bullshit" because you have already spawned by the time the first word leaves your mouth.

I have found that I get an average of 1.5 curse words out before I respawn.