Halo 4 Hologram...buffed?

[ehmon]

I should be receiving Halo 4 in the mail soon, but I am trying to think of some load out's before I play the game myself. I have a pretty solid understanding of the weapons, but the rest of it is pretty grey for me. Based on what I have seen, it came down to PV and hologram, but I think the Hologram will be my go-to ability in the long run, especially after hearing from a friend that using PV pings them on the radar??? Not the best source, and I'm having trouble finding evidence of this.

The hologram is all about mind games and deception, which really failed to manifest itself in Reach, rendering the ability practically useless. However, it appears as though Halo 4 is bringing it back with some extra fortitude.

Based on what youtube footage I could find, this is what I have observed:
1) Your hologram now appears on the radar as an enemy
2) Turns red when they put their cross-hairs on it
3) ***I don't know for sure, but it may drag their auto aim as well??? Hard for me to tell without having the game. Feedback, please.
4) Shows up on PV, possibly fooling opponents. I see great potential when combined with the Wetworks/stealth package.
5) Has an incredibly fast cool down time (from what I have seen on Youtube).
6) Holograms can tea-bag dead bodies. This will rarely be functional, but the lolz factor is nice.

At a glance, it seems as though there can be a serious amount of utility with the new hologram. Some feedback would be nice, e.g. how it flows in normal matchmaking, how auto aim reacts to the hologram, does PV ping (if so, how long), etc. I understand the game is still in its infancy, but I'm open to anything any of you bros have to say, because....

You are my bro, bro.

[wittyscorpion]

I have not unlocked Hologram myself but I have seen it used in games. It is almost impossible to tell a hologram from the actual player until 1) you shoot at it, which will cause it to flicker, 2) it moves forward in a straight line, too straight to be human :-)

I imagine that it would be fun to use. But as I mentioned in the "first impression and tip sharing" thread, when coming to try hard classes nothing beats Premethean Vsion or Jet Pack.

It's great that you'll get the game today. Have fun!

[brandon7s]

The Hologram is fantastic if you take advantage of the map. You can easily trick people into breaking out of their ambush if you use it and some creativity.

[Z3R0FLAME]

With all the other AAs there, it's kinda tough to put my money into Hologram as opposed to other more practical abilities. I don't deny the enhanced deception factor, but there's very few circumstances in my play style that I'd sacrifice it over another AA.

[beavernator]

Nov 9, 2012 16:57:24 GMT -5 wittyscorpion said:

2) it moves forward in a straight line, too straight to be human

But what if this happens?

[ehmon]

This is just one of many instances where hologram trickery can be used to break a standoff. I was thinking of some other ways to utilize the holo, and the possibilities seem to only grow as I think about it more;

1) I can see it being used in "ring-around-the-cover" sort of fire fights to cause them to start shooting in the wrong place

2) drawing out campers without giving away your position

3) wasting their precious sniper or rocket ammo

4) sending the holo up a gravity lift, a variation of 2 & 3.

5) walking with your hologram, slightly to the side and behind it; seeing one dot on the radar, and coming around a corner seeing two people may throw them off long enough to get an edge on someone in a firefight

6) long range "bunker" sort of situations, where both players are behind cover. Send holo to poke out at one side, go out the other soon after to catch them off guard

7) saturate the opponent with holograms (2-3) to the point where they are tired of burning ammo, and they start to second guess themselves.

8) ***throw off PV players by using the stealth/wetworks package, if the stealth DOES NOT apply to your holo. You will "appear as an outline" while your holo will be exposed, this will make them think it MUST be a real player.

9) Just having two guys run at a player has the potential to draw their focus away from you, even if it is only for a split second. they may panic and try to shoot both entities running at them, one of which being fake. If nothing else, their eyes may creep over, which can be detrimental in a 1v1 rifle fight, which takes so much focus. Pretty much a more wordy explanation of #5.

Since the holograms now show up on radar, this sort of fake out will be easier to execute, I feel. There is definitely some room for creativity with this ability, but the other abilities are quite strong as well. I for sure will have a PV class, and probably a jet pack, too. The existence of other such powerful abilities breeds variety, which makes the gaming experience so much more rich. Not to mention, with less people using hologram, the more deceptive it will be

Depending on the map and the types of players you are up against, every ability has its place. I'm glad 343 decided to balance by upping the ante, rather than bringing everything down.

[aidsaidsaids]

I might get this game at some point just to embarrass you with PV. You know I whored EV in Shadowrun in the most shameless fashion imaginable, smoke or no smoke. Seeing through walls is just on a completely different power level from these tricks brah

Edit: fuck now I want to play Shadowrun.

[danoski666]

Nov 9, 2012 14:22:03 GMT -5 ehmon said:

6) Holograms can tea-bag dead bodies. This will rarely be functional, but the lolz factor is nice.

That's reason enough to use it over everything else that's avaiable in the game.

[eLantern]

I have a buddy who's thinks the Hologram is the best AA in the game. I honestly disagreed with him considering the JP and PV, but when we were playing 4v4 Infinity Slayer with 8 people I got pitted against him and saw the true effectiveness of the Hologram... wow. It is a very useful and deceptive AA. I, and the majority of our team, must have fallen for it countless times. Not-to-mention, he used it as a great deterrent too, he either outright halted our team's flanking attempt or he slowed it down, plus he was able to effectively flush us out of some stronghold positions by fooling us into thinking a much great number of opponents were approaching then there truly were, which pushed us out into his own team's firing positions.

Amazingly, we won the game 600-590, with the last kill coming down to me being fooled once again by the Hologram, but thanks to me having a sticky detonator, I was able to recover and just detonate the explosive by his feet before I died to him. Epic match and yes the fact that the Hologram shows up on the radar, PV, plus when fired on the Hologram can appear as if it's just an individual who moving w/ cloaking all makes it a very strong deceptive tool. Not-to-mention, Holo-bagging.

Personally, I feel naked without the Jet Pack, so that's my go-to AA, but I can appreciate the strengths and usefulness of the Promethean Vision, Hologram, Active Camo, Regeneration Field, and even if to a slightly lesser degree the Hardlight Shield as they all can be extremely useful in their own manner. The Auto Sentry can find ways to also be quite useful, mostly when used with a group of teammates when facing off in a head-on battle, but it's also useful as an area deterrent in objective games or as a method to watch for flankers. Personally, I wouldn't choose it over any of the others, but like I said it certainly has it's uses. I would just stay away from the Thruster Pack except when you are playing as the Flood.